rwjohnson06

I've got a 1980 Camaro and have $8,000 to spend on it. Should I do the engine work then interior then paint, or paint first then interior then engine.
I need the fuel mileage for college transportation so not many engine upgrades for now, but id like to do a full job on the interior (floor, doors, new seats, cieling, pilars, the whole nine yards) but i dont know how much that is going to run me in the pocket. There's also a lot of work that needs to be done electrically throughout the engine compartment and inside lights and everything work but a/c and heat dont, and theres a wad of mess around the alternator, and under the dash, well its not pretty. Any help on any of these subjects would be greatly appreciated, Thanx.

94B&RZ-28

Figure at least half of your purchase price will be in doing the upgrades the right way, so you'll be in it $12,000

rwjohnson06

In which order should I begin the resto process?

94B&RZ-28

I did my tranny first, interior, motor.
Since I ahd the motor out, my neighbor work on it and I tackeled the interior. But I sorta did mine in no order, I was all over the map. But she looks good now. Just make sure when you pull the motor, clean the engine bay real nice, use chassie black to paint the engine bay.

angel71rs

I'd do interior last so there is less risk of getting it dirty during drivetrain work or from painting.

IRONFIST

Do the body work first, then do the interior... then do the mods. That is what I should have done.

IHI

To do a proper paint job your going to have to strip the car anyways so make that your starting point. Then once you get in back you can easily use old blankets around the house or even spend $30-40 for new moving blankets and lay them over the fenders/header panel or any place else you'll be working. You'll get a better paint job this way since your not having to cut corners to tape/paint around everything with a chance of over spray. Then do your interior and finally drivetrain.

84firebird

yea it depends, I'd do the motor work, because that way if the crane hits the car and chips the paint who cares.... but... if you want awesome paint you wont want that motor in there, or the interior in there for that matter when you paint it, so you have to put it in painted anyway, might as well pull it then, and rebuild the motor on the outside, locate the interior components etc. then paint it, then put it back together, if you dont care about paint, I'd put the money in what you want most first, then cheap out on paint and whatever else if you dont have the money left....

if you want a super paint job, strip it clean and do the paint and body, and then piece it back together, with the motor and interior. anything requiring wiring and suspension work will be easier with the engine out for the most part, just leave extra wiring for any engine electrical systems being installed, the motor you can build however you want, and for economy you're looking at stock parts for the most part, small updated cam and VS carb, but you can expect a good $1500 in the engine work, just plan for the worst, $300 to clean and bore the block, rotating assembly $150 crank, $100 pistons off ebay, $50? bearings, $300 for heads, new carb $250 ish, $150 hei distributor, $100 aluminum intake, $50 good set of plug wires, $100 cool alternator. performance... shoot for the sky that price is high.

interior, stock might cost as much as aftermarket, i dont know much about 1980 camaro value, so you would want to look into that. but this area can be dealt with anytime, interior has little to do with the motor and little to do with the paint, unless like i said, you want a perfect paintjob, then it comes out for paint anyway, so hit it after paint.

paint once you get into it can be done from $200 for a cheap job, (if you're going cheap then you probably wont waste time stripping the car down) anywhere on up, i'd go and get a thick filler primer and sand it forever, expensive primer, but it pays off if you sand it down good enough, and paint, assuming it's your first paint job, pick something simple, not black or silver, and less flake runs waaaaayyyy less, like compared to a lot of flake, no flake is hard to make it run. so yea, if you have the equipment to do a base coat clear coat, it'll look better and cost more, if you dont have the equipment, it'll cost way more, too many ways to do it. but paint is what everyone sees so make it at the least decent, if you want a cheap paint job, it doesnt matter when you do it, if you want an awesome paintjob, do it first with everything out. Then be REALLY CAREFUL.

but because there are so many ways to do everything, you really have to decide where it's important to you for your car to stand out, if it's paint, then spend a couple grand on paint first, go to the junkyard find some cheap seats, and do as little to the engine as possible, if you want power spend $5000 on the motor get a cheap interior setup, and do a couple hundred dollar paintjob with whatever you have left in the end. once you decide where you want to stand out , see how much it'll cost to be exceptional in that area, and then spread the remainder out like a pennypincher

rwjohnson06

Ok thanks guys, i got a $4500 quote for a paint job the other day but ive only got $9000 to spend, and if anything i want it to run nice and interior to look good. I seen a picture of a 1980 Camaro on the internet a while back and it was primer gray with a black 4 inch cowl induction hood. To tell ya the truth I kinda liked it. So i think i might go with that...cheap paint, and well most of the money into interior and drivetrain. Although its been kinda hard looking for the right place to do the job on the interior. I was wandering if anyone could key me in on how much a good interior job would cost. (door panels, carpet, new seats w/ 4 point harness, is what i liked, cieling, and a pro-comp gauge dash, possibly the stock dash pad but with a aluminum insert to hold the gauges, and then of course wireing which all throughout the car needs to be replaced) im probably looking at 8,000 in interior expenses huh. lol

Deckstripes

A few words of advice from somebody who's been there.

First, spend 2K on a reliable 4 cyl beater. As long as you gotta drive the project tomorrow, you will have to cut corners, and the end result will show it. If it can't be down for a month, then it will end up a POS. Every time. Old cars also break, especially when custom. You need cheap, reliable backup.

Second, don't spend a bunch on paint. Either live with what you got, or do the 899 maaco thing. College life = Questionable parking situations and nice paint will get torn up. Flat black will ruin your driving record, cops hate it, and flat black also makes you a poser if running a stock 305. Same with hood scoops.

All that interior stuff is available repro, try the Paddock or Year One for prices. Forget the 4 point harnesses without a rollbar to mount to, they'll pull down in an accident and break your spine without proper mounting. 90% of the ricers mount them wrong.

Last, you've not really mentioned any mechanical stuff, and I guarantee that any 80 camaro needs a bunch. Start with the core stuff, subframe connectors, transmission rebuild, new springs, suspension bushings, etc. Then move on to making it pretty. A 300hp 350 with overdrive and 3.42 gears would probably get the same mileage as a stock 305.

If all that seems like nonsense, then spend that 9K to buy an already completed car. That kind of money could buy you a mint condition 1980 Z28 with a hipo 350, nothing needed.

Good Luck!

angel71rs

That's what I did. I put a nice paint job on my 71 years ago. It was keyed within 2 weeks, ugly little X on the drivers door. Then dings, scrapes, etc. I decided to go with flat black lacquer, sprayed it myself. Looks like black primer, but doesn't fade to gray or get ashy like primer, plus it seals out moisture. Pic with my 98: http://www.geocities.com/angel71rs/1998SSCamaro.html

I scraped the paint on the drivers side in front of the rear wheelwell backing out of the garage last summer. No biggie, just sanded it down, squirted more flat black on. I'm free to enjoy the car without worrying about nice paint getting damaged.

merriman44

Deckstripes hit it right on the money! Go pic yourself up a free AutoTrader and find a pos 4 cyl. Old Honda's or saturns are cheap, they run forever, and you'll get great mileage off a car you could car little to nothing about. Save your money while your going through college, then get a real job and do the resto any which way you like it. In the end you'll be glad you did.
I am doing the exact same thing. I have a 69 camaro that I've slowly been fixing up while going to college. Take it slow or it will look like a pos