I am glad you guys liked this years April Fool's day offering. Not sure if anyone noticed...but I tried to capture three of the biggest reasons why all of us would not (or should not) attempt to restore a first gen Camaro. Each year represents a reason why we should pass on a "deal of the century" old Camaro for sale. I am sure we all remember learning of a first gen Camaro that's for sale and before we even see the car, we start to think about how it would be great to buy it and fix it up. Then, when you actually go look at the car, you get a sinking feeling (or reality check) that you may just have to pass on this one.
First, there is the Camaro that is so rusted out, there is absolutely not a single panel that doesn't need to be replaced. Unless the car is a ZL-1 or a Yenko, there is just no darn way this car can or should be repaired. It's served its time and it needs to be allowed to go to Camaro heaven (or Camaro hell depending on how its lived its life). What is scary is that for a few moments, many of us try to justify that the rust ain't that bad and we actually consider the work a challenge and laying out good money to bring the bucket of hematite home. Thank God we either come to our senses or have a wife to answer to.
Next, there is the Camaro that is for sale because it was in a little fender bender. Not much rust, but still not a single usable body panel anywhere on the car. So we start to think, heck, it's only sheetmetal, that can be replaced. Then you look at the frame and think, hmmm, do factory horns look like that. Then we try to think which cars at the junkyard are good frame donors and we remember there was a Nova that would be a perfect donor. This is the car that no matter how much work you put into it, you will always leave more than two sets of tire tracks coming out of a puddle. Again, unless it's free and has a few good salvageable parts (and even then maybe not), it's best to pass on this one as well.
Finally, there is the Camaro that isn't rusted out like the Titanic or looks like a Porsche after a road trip with James Dean, but still may not be the best choice in finding a good candidate to restore. These are the Camaros we have seen advertised as "90% restored" or "ready for paint" with disillusioned sellers asking way too much money. This is the car many Camaro owners have now. After countless owners and 40+ years of repairs and "improvements", there is not too many original parts left. These cars are the victims of previous owners wanting to make them race cars or wants to install every aftermarket offering that guarantees better looks and more horsepower. The original motor is long gone...most likely blown up during a street race that just had to be won or in a previous owner's friend of a friend's work truck. the steering wheel has since been replaced with the most awesome three spoke racing wheel that is way too tiny. The carpet is now shag, the seats look like the remnants of an old tweed jacket, the radio hole once accomodated a 1 foot by 2 foot 1970's quadraphonic sound blaster, old slapper bars on the rear springs and wiring that has been spliced into more times than a DNA genome strand in Dr. Moreau's laboratory. The car is certainly salvageable, but will never be original again, unless of course you believe in miracles or in the search results of eBay. However, it still has a chance to be a beautiful Camaro and someones pride and joy.
I am sure many of us can relate to these three incredible Camaros. Again, I am happy as can be that you guys liked them and now, I have to start preparing for next year's April Fools day presentation. OMG...any ideas?
