turning a 76 into a 70

long story short I have come across someone who is selling a 76 camaro with a 302 that came off of a 69 camaro z28 for a mear 1200 bucks. NICE interior every thing is cleaned and cromed under the hood and it comes with nice rim's. Plus for a little 302 it sounds EVIL. :eek:
Well anyway I am really leening twords getting this car but I personaly HATE the way 76 camaro's look but the 70/73 camaro's are one of my car's.. something about the round tail lights.. hehe. So my question is how hard would it be to put in a 70/73 rear bumper/lights and front? As far as i can tell(with out having one to look at inperson) everything is basicly the same and should fit right in...



oh and I would just like to state that I wont be trying to pass this car off as a real 1970 camaro when/if I ever sell it(saying that I actualy get this car..). ;)

If its a real 302 it worth what hes askin just for the motor.

I have no idea about the body panel swaping your talkin about but I doubt it would work easily

Check with you're local laws to see if its even legal to make the conversion first. In 1974 new mandetory safety laws required those God awful ugly bumpers in the first place. You may be causing problems with selling the car down the road if you remove them.

However, you probably can legally swap the later skinned safety bumpers they used from 1978-81. Just instead use the 1970-73 rear valance if you want the round lights. (You may want to check the legality of that as well.)

Out here in California, we wouldn't even be able to swap that 69 302 into a 76 Camaro. While cars built in 1974 and earlier are exempt, for any newer vehicle the swap motor has to be the same year as the vehicle or newer.

However I'm with DarthIROC. If its a real DZ-302, then its worth at least $1200 by itself.

`75 and up cars have the wraparound rear window and tailights which makes the quarters different. :cool:

70-74 had a different rear window, it did'nt wrap around the sides as much. So I don't think you can use the 70-73 rear 1/4 panels, which means you probably can't use the 70-73 valance panel. It should be no prol to change the nose, but with the 76 rear it'd look funky.

After thinking about it I say go for it. Im kinda interested as how this would turn out :D

yes you can convert!!! you need the full front end from a 1970 and the lights/split bumper from the 70 as well. I was going to do the same thing on my 76 but I sold it

Your looking at alot of work to turn a 76 into a 70 the front clip is not the problem, the rear window and the quarter panels , tail light panel and trunk floor are all different, as the 70s had a flat trunk floor and the 76 would have a floor with a raised section on the pass side while you can buy MOST of the panels to convert it last time I looked at factory quarters , which would be needed to correct the window and tail panel problems the were over 1.000 a piece IF you can find a set + the welding fitting and removing the old parts ... my suggestion keep looking if you like the first design better...:(

http://camaroz28.cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?
almost... but it gives me an idea on how round taillights would look wiht rap around rear window wich I must say is kinda growing on me... Any opinions?

Well anyway I have a freind who offerd to will cut/weld the the peices in for me. As for the rear window's they stay as is. I like not having such a huge blind spot on each side of my car(remembers 68chevelle...) Plus it makes ppl like you guys take a second look at the car and think "umm wtf?" :p

btw, I WILL be selling that 69 z28 engine thats in there but not before I check the numbers and look it up and can personaly varify that it's the real deal.
:D

thanks for the feed back. I'm still (very)open for opinions/tips/advice

:bow:

Keep us up to date, I'd love to put the round taillights on my '77...

I had a '77 (10 years ago) that we put a '70 nose on - everything bolted right up, and it was an interesting combination. As for the rear lights, you shouldn't have to replace the quarters, maybe some fabrication where the taillights wrap around? The pieces inside the trunk are kind of a pain, but probably doable. If not, I think the original rear looks good with the older nose (from experience). If I ever find an old picture I'll post it.

It would probably end up being cheaper to buy an earlier Camaro.
Just look around, they can be found. I sold my 70 SS in June for a little over $3k.

As stated before, the wrap around rear window and wrap around tail lights will be the big obsticals. I wouldn't worry about the trunk floor, that isn't noticable and should work fine.

you need the full front end from a 1970 and the lights/split bumper from the 70 as well.

Just an FYI: split bumpers were an RS option not a standard 70 Camaro, SS or Z28 option. Granted, those models could come with the RS option too.

Originally posted by Greed4Speed
the wrap around rear window and wrap around tail lights will be the big obsticals.

Leave the rear window - looks better, and is safer. Heck, the car has a big enough blind spot WITH the wraparound window - I almost get claustrophobic when I turn around to look behind me! Can't imagine it with the square rear window...

The wraparound taillights would be the problem though. Maybe some creative welding with the rear section of a 1/4 panel?

Leave the rear window - looks better, and is safer. Heck, the car has a big enough blind spot WITH the wraparound window - I almost get claustrophobic when I turn around to look behind me! Can't imagine it with the square rear window...

Looks better would be an opinion. To me it doesn't. Safer? I drove my '70SS from '91 until just this past June with no problems, and it came with only a single side mirror.

true, true, and every driver is different in how much visibility they feel 'safe' with.
Heck 99.9% of the times I have driven a car, I *could* have not worn my seatbelt and been A-ok. But, because of those handfull of times when I needed it, I always buckle up.

Okay, so it's a minor bit, also partly depends on where you live, how much traffic there is, do you drive it in rush hour, etc?
Just saying it's a nice bit of extra visibility there.
Besides, it'd be a real PITA to remove!

If you were going to really change to a 70 about the only thing you would use off the 76 is the windshield,firewall and frame.
Its not worth it.
When your done if you could take on a large task like this it wouldn't be worth a dime to somebody.
Don't do it.
And as for the 302 I would bet its not a 302 in the first place.

well, I dont meen completely make it look like a 1970-73 camaro. Just the front and rear bumper/lights and hood. I LOVE the 76's dash and the wrap around window grow's on you.

and I am 100% sure its a 302. But I'm still not sure its from a 69z, I have yet to look into it. :hope:

:D

Originally posted by ne1469
well, I dont meen completely make it look like a 1970-73 camaro. Just the front and rear bumper/lights and hood. I LOVE the 76's dash and the wrap around window grow's on you.

and I am 100% sure its a 302. But I'm still not sure its from a 69z, I have yet to look into it. :hope:

:D Check the engine code on the passenger side of the block, just below the head. If its a "MO" or "MP" code, then its probably worth more than a "DZ" 302 anyway.

I don't think he's after anything THAT major, just convert to the general exterior look of a '70.
No, having the diffeent nose if VERY unlikely to add value, but if it makes you happy, go for it.