My camaro is a 98 V6 that was abused before I got it. I've sunk a few thousand in this car just fixing all the mechanical problems. First it was brakes, tires, tie rod ends - typical wear stuff. Then it was lifters, then the whole freakin' motor, then fixing all the crap that the "mechanic" screwed up when putting the motor in Would have loved to swap to an LS1 when the motor blew up but I didn't have the time, place, or additional money to do it. The car was a bad buy now that I look back, but hindsight is 20/20. So much for that.

The car now has 120K miles on it, the motor is a little over half that. I finally have it mechanically all fixed up now (unless I break something else but I've replaced or repaired almost all the big stuff by now). The rear and transmission looked good when I did fluid changes.

Body-wise, the car needs:
- front bumper repaired or replaced (semi-large crack in it from previous owner hitting a deer. I replaced the destroyed fender last summer.)
- Hood has a dent in the middle probably from the deer's head and some small dings from its shoulder that need fixed. The dent it larger but very shallow, can't always see it unless the light and angle is right.
- passenger mirror replaced
- minor dings in rear quarters fixed
- larger crease in passenger quarter needs fixed (from a hit-n-run last fall )
- door sills sanded and repainted (paint chipped off and there is some very minor surface rust)
- some rust underneath fixed and underbody sealed
- Some paint bubbling on the spoiler repaired
- Numerous scratches all over the car fixed (mostly on the passenger side).

Probably due to all the scratches and blemishes it would be better to repaint the car (same color of course, I love the MTM color).

Part of me hates this car for all the grief and money it has caused me, but a bigger part of me loves the car, even though it is only a v6. Is it worth doing the body work and repainting it? How much could I be looking at? I wouldn't be going for a show-car paint job, but I'd want it done right and come out decent. Resale value doesn't matter much anymore since I've put more into fixing this car than I'll ever get out of it a long time ago. I considered maybe using tax return money to do it, if it would be enough to cover it.

Opinions?

 

honestly id said no unless your doing all the work yourself. i went through something similiar with my 95 Z28, as much as i loved the car it just didnt make sense repainting it. i made my decision about it after the thinking about what happened if the car got hit. in my case, it would be totalled and id be out the money for the paint job, just something to think about.

 

I say no. It sounds like you want a ls1, and I cant see spending this cash on the paint and body. I say save the cash that you would spend on body and paint, sell v6 camaro and put all cash into decent ls based camaro. (they are getting cheap)

You can tell yourself that you want to swap engines later after paint, but that is a PITA im sure. If the car really means something to you (like maybe first car) then by all means fix it up.

 

I'd say no also, it would be fun for a bit and then you'd be pissed on spending a lot more money on the car when it has little to no resale value.

 

Well I do intend to eventually get a 5th gen SS. That is my ultimate goal.

Maybe I'll just drop by the body shop and get an estimate for fixing the worst stuff that really sticks out like a sore thumb - crease in the quarter and crack in the bumper, maybe the sills to keep those from rusting out on me.