Chevrolet Camaro 1967-2002 - Wrecked the Z: The Rebuild Project Thread

So I was on my way home from the F-Body Beach Bash this past Thursday and had an accident. I was leaving a rest stop on 220 in the rain, I hit about 1" of standing water in the road and hydroplaned. I kept the car off of the guard rail, spun into the median and into the catch cables at about 60 MPH. Luckily I walked away unharmed and the damage to the car wasn't too extreme. I'm using this as an opportunity to really take my time and do the car the way I want it done. I'm going to keep all of my progress documented with this thread. First off is the pictures of the damage done to the car:


http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/IMG_0454.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/IMG_0453.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/IMG_0452.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/IMG_0451.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/IMG_0450.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/IMG_0449.jpg

First update

I've already started collecting parts.

Spoiler that I may or my not use:

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/IMG00345-20120720-1543.jpg

Rear bumper cover:

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/IMG_0456.jpg

Wheels to use to drive around on during the whole process:

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/IMG_0455.jpg

Ouch, that sucks man. But ditch that Z spoiler and go with an SS ;).

Ouch, that sucks man. But ditch that Z spoiler and go with an SS ;).

I got the Z28 spoiler given to me, just an in case kinda thing. I'm seriously considering a 98-02 SS spoiler but I'm really looking for an Ultra Z spoiler. I'm starting to realize that I stand as much chance at finding an Ultra Z spoiler as I do finding the Loch Ness Monster. :disgust:

Sorry about the accident. they suck but you know you are very lucky it wasn't worse. good luck on the rebuild!

Sorry about the accident. they suck but you know you are very lucky it wasn't worse. good luck on the rebuild!

Thanks and I know I was very lucky, it still scares me to think about what could have happened. Off the subject lemme ask you, what setup did you have spring and strut wise on the T/A?

just the qa1 f series, their heavy front springs with v6 rear springs

that's a bummer....good luck on the rebuild.

get some better tires and slow down in the rain!(take it from a guy who travels 80k+ miles a year)

Man that sucks. Did you still drive it home?

Good luck with the rebuild

Man that sucks. Did you still drive it home?

Good luck with the rebuild

Thanks, no I didn't drive it home. I was going to but when the tow guy started pulling it out I saw where the front wheel had gotten bent. I ended up getting him to take it back to his place and my step-dad had to come from 2 1/2 hours away to get the car and me. Man what a way to end my vacation. :disgust:

glad your okay. car doesn't look too bad. keep us updated with new pics

Ok, I've got 3 Ultra's and 2 Z's. Any vendors on here that can make me another Z?

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/IMG00358-20120730-2215.jpg

try emblem pros.

Update 9/13/12

Finally decided to go ahead and get a storage unit to keep the Z and work on it. No things should start progressing much quicker. Anybody got any good idea for me to get some light in my storage unit that doesn't have power in it?

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/Zinstorage1.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/Zinstorage2.jpg

I got to work with some help from the girlfriend, (she really surprised me how much she enjoyed helping lol), really starting to tear the Z down. I tore it down like this to change the front bumper cover to an actual GM one before I paint it but now that I've got it this far down I'm thinkin' it may be cam time...:devil:

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/IMG00389-20120915-1248.jpg

Got the new bumper on, picked it up from the junkyard for $50. I also got an RS 3 piece spoiler and another sail panel off of a '95 Z28 for it but haven't put them on yet. I started messing with getting the old sail panel off and that is gonna be a total pain in the ass!

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/DSCN1508.jpg

Nice keep it up. And yeah I think it is cam time

Looks like some good progress. Man that sail panel aint that bad from the pics....Id fix it before I changed the whole thing. Its a pain in the ass.

You need a generator and some lights in there!

Looks like some good progress. Man that sail panel aint that bad from the pics....Id fix it before I changed the whole thing. Its a pain in the ass.

You need a generator and some lights in there!

The sail panel was starting the notorious 99+ bubbling before the wreck so it needed to be changed anyway. I've been looking around for a small generator just to run a few lights. Maybe a power inverter and hook it to my truck could be another idea?

Glad you're okay! If it were me I'd put an SS wing on it because I love them so much more than the Z wings lol. And since you have a nice flowing intake such as that BBK you should DEFINITELY cam the car. Will wake it up more than you'd believe

That really sucks about the car..as far as lights you don't have to many choices but remember if you use an invertor to use some cfls or led light bulbs as the invertor is held back on wattage so don't go crazy with a big ass light for ALOT of light.

I got a new sail panel a while back from a local junkyard. What's the easiest way to take off the old one? Do I need to try to get the old sealant off the new sail panel?

if you don't want to save it, which I doubt you would want to, then start ripping and pulling it. Make the biggest mess you can and then ship it to GM so they can see what crap they put on our cars. LOL.

As far as lights go just pick up some coleman lanterns and run them they put out plenty of light and don't require power.

If it has a overhead lite screw a socket into it that has outlets or Harbor Frieght has a generator that will do the job for under a hundred bucks

Looks like I'm going to be getting the car out of storage soon and over to the house I just moved into. I'm going to be able to get it in the basement to work on it. It's going to be time to really get the ball rolling then!

Finally starting to get some more progress on the car. Got the 3 piece spoiler on, wire mod done and built the spare tire nitrous bottle bracket.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/DSCN1553.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/DSCN1555.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/DSCN1554.jpg

Looking good, keep up the good work.

Almost forgot, got the 8.8 from a '98 Explorer and got it torn down.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/DSCN1552.jpg

What are your plans with the explorer rear end?
Those came 31 spline right?
Are you cutting and welding the section off your 7.5 to keep the bracketry setup or are You going to be cutting and welding the brackets and using mustang brakes?

What are your plans with the explorer rear end?
Those came 31 spline right?
Are you cutting and welding the section off your 7.5 to keep the bracketry setup or are You going to be cutting and welding the brackets and using mustang brakes?

I'm planning on cutting the Explorer tubes off and using F-Body axle tubes with my stock brakes. The Explorer rear comes with 31 spline axles and I want to use that diff so I'm going to get custom axles made.

I'm planning on cutting the Explorer tubes off and using F-Body axle tubes with my stock brakes. The Explorer rear comes with 31 spline axles and I want to use that diff so I'm going to get custom axles made.

and what sort of jig have you made to make sure that all your angles will be correct? (i.e pinion angle and angle of the bracketry for your spring perches etc). What sort of welding will you be doing tig, mig or arc? sorry for all the questions, I'm considering doing the same thing and any input would be greatly appreciated.

Looks good. The Explorer mod is new to me. Will be tuning in.

and what sort of jig have you made to make sure that all your angles will be correct? (i.e pinion angle and angle of the bracketry for your spring perches etc). What sort of welding will you be doing tig, mig or arc? sorry for all the questions, I'm considering doing the same thing and any input would be greatly appreciated.

Not too sure of all that yet, my roomates dad is going to be doing most of the welding and fabricating, I'm just going to be helping and learning. As far as the welding I'm pretty sure its nodular iron which isn't easy to weld but can be done with the right tecniques. Do a search on wedling nodualr iron and it should turn up some good information.

Not too sure of all that yet, my roomates dad is going to be doing most of the welding and fabricating, I'm just going to be helping and learning. As far as the welding I'm pretty sure its nodular iron which isn't easy to weld but can be done with the right tecniques. Do a search on wedling nodualr iron and it should turn up some good information.

In my experience it is not as bad as people like to say. I did a housing for a rock crawler and all you have to do is heat with a torch, weld, keep warm with a torch, and then wrap with a fiberglass blanket. Did that and no breaks or cracks in the weld. The reason it can go wrong is the iron holds heat better than the steal and the different cooling rates causes the weld to fail. If you are feeling fancy you can also get nickel impregnated rod and stick weld it.

Finally after a long day and night of work its starting to look like a car again...

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/DSCN1558.jpg

Got the car back together and driveable again. The new sail panel, mirrors and grille are off now getting painted. I'll be dropping the car off this week at the shop to get painted. Here are a few more progress pics...

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/DSCN1559_zps55d12633.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/DSCN1560_zps8bec2711.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/DSCN1561_zpse604247b.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/DSCN1562_zps810ca879.jpg

That good looks badass on your car!! You keeping the car NBM or changing it up?

I usually dont like the 3-piece spoiler but it works on your car! Can't wait to see it done.

Thanks guys, and yes its staying NBM :burn:

I went ahead and replaced the sail pane before I dropped it off at the shop to be painted. Here's some pics of the job...

What I started with, the wrecked tore it up but it was starting to bubble so I was going to have to replace it anyway.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/IMG_0453.jpg (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/slow97LT1/media/IMG_0453.jpg.html)

Tools used to remove the old sail panel and the 3M 8609 Windo-weld used to put it back on. We didn't end up using the windshield removing tool very much at all.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/photo19_zps720b836c.jpg (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/slow97LT1/media/photo19_zps720b836c.jpg.html)

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/photo21_zpse7ade2da.jpg (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/slow97LT1/media/photo21_zpse7ade2da.jpg.html)

Rob working on pulling the old sail panel off.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/photo23_zps30078291.jpg (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/slow97LT1/media/photo23_zps30078291.jpg.html)

The old sail panel removed from the car.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/photo18_zps41ac1e84.jpg (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/slow97LT1/media/photo18_zps41ac1e84.jpg.html)

Sail panel remains.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/photo22_zpsbacc8176.jpg (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/slow97LT1/media/photo22_zpsbacc8176.jpg.html)

New sail panel installed.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/slow97LT1/photo20_zps371a31ae.jpg (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/slow97LT1/media/photo20_zps371a31ae.jpg.html)

Very nice...I had no idea that part of a Z could be replaced!

Came back together nicely!

Subscribed for upcoming pictures. You should ditch that 5.7 badge on the back, looks kinda gay in my opinion.

Midnight blue has always been my favorite color on the Fbody Camaros.