I had my Camaro entered in a car show contest. the contest was between me and a 1971 Dodge Challenger. Yeah, i was challenged by a Challenger, and my winning was a miracle. The contest winer gets 3000 dollars to restore their rides. The winner was the one with the most votes from car show goers. how did my 1980 Camaro get more votes than a 1971 Challenger? Well, some of the voters said it was the story that i wrote and set on the tables in the concessions area next to my car. if your not interested in the story or reasons for it being as awesome as it is now, then scroll down to the bottom to see the finished product. but i garuntee you, the story behind the car is the most amazing thing it has to offer.
(the challenger's Challenger)
The Legacy of the Camaro
I turned 16 last May, and I decided to look for a car. I wanted something classic enough to gain value over time, something fast enough to be fun, and something loud enough to make all the people with giant tail pipes on the imports to simultaneously wet their pants. What I was looking for was a Muscle car. Maybe a Mustang, those are fast and loud and fun to drive. But, I wanted something unique, something that you didn’t see everyday. Something that would make people say “what is that?!” I didn’t know what I was going to find.
And then… I saw the movie Transformers. I loved it; it was probably one of the most amazing movies I had ever seen. I stepped out of the theatre with my friends and a smile on my face, and then I looked to my left. Right next door to the theatre, was this Camaro for sale. I popped the hood and saw the engine, and I was breathless. I had found my car, I had found my Camaro.
The Man who originally owned it actually used it for racing. Like Gran Prix and Circuit racing. He built the engine ground up using the block off of a truck. After he got the Camaro, he tore it apart to the frame and rebuilt it ground up, using all the high performance parts he could afford. It’s like he built it with his soul. He even installed a CB radio inside, it’s actually pretty sweet, and I can talk to bus drivers and truckers and stuff. He told me, that if he had the money, that car would be his. I promised I would take care of it.
The guy I bought it from wasn’t the original owner though; the guy I bought it from was some punk from Cottonwood High. Apparently he needed the money for something, so he was selling it. I saw that he had disconnected the stereo, Alarm system, CB radio, and the carburetor was in need of major adjusting.
I reconnected everything but the alarm system, the stereo that was in it is amazing. For 80’s tech anyway, there are two amps in the back connected to some cheapo-brand red subwoofers and some Wal-Mart brand tweeters, and I think the stock 8x9s. I can’t tell you how many times I have pushed those cheap speakers to the limit blasting Sweet Emotion by Aerosmith. I got myself a pretty nice deck but, I have the windshield antenna deal, so I don’t get very good radio reception, but that’s OK, it still rocks.
I loved that car, and it loved me. It even saved the Def Leppard, Foreigner, and Styx concert. It overheated in the traffic jam on our way to USANA Amphitheatre, so we pushed it to the side and walked to the concert. We noticed that most of the people in the traffic jam we were in missed not only Foreigner, but Styx as well. So, because my Camaro overheated and we were forced to walk we were able to see the entire concert.
Then on February 23rd 2008, I was on my way to Battle of the Bands with my friends, Scotty and Ryan. I always keep Scotty in the front seat because I have never been good with directions or distances. Scotty on the other hand seemed to know exactly where we were going no matter where we are. So he is my extra set of eyes and my GPS. We passed the street we were supposed to turn on because there was no sign on the street light. Scotty noticed this an 78th South and about 480 West and said “just flip a U-turn right here.” I got in the turn lane and came to a complete stop. I checked for cars and pedestrians, there were no cars and the only pedestrians were a ways down the road. I counted the lanes…2, so I figured that it was enough room. I went for it. Unfortunately, while I was looking for pedestrians and cars, I was not looking for poles. I didn’t even notice it until I hit it. The sound will forever echo in my mind. BLAM! I can never get over it. I hit a pole. This was like, a monster pole, like… it was made out of melted down civil war canons and then filled steel from melted down failed atomic bomb experiments creating the most evil and deadly pole ever. There was no power coming from the battery so I couldn’t turn on my hazard lights, we were stuck in the middle of a lane, with my entire front end smashed into a pole.
:'(
Who should we call, the cops, my parents, the National Guard? We had no idea, but right in the middle of the debate a police officer pulled out of a side street and I waved him down. And he turned on his lights, he was very understanding. He helped us call a tow truck to move the Camaro out of there. I wasn’t going very fast, but that’s where physics jumps in to add damage to my car. Since I was doing a U-turn, all the force was concentrated to one side, so I may have hit it going 10 miles per hour, but it was like I hit it going 25 miles per hour.
As the tow truck left with my car, I looked at the pole I hit. I saw that there were many rust filled slashes and scratches, as well as some clean slashes from my car. This pole had been hit many times before… well; chalk another win up for the pole. I stood there beating myself up my mind. What was I going to do?
I took off the passenger side fender to survey the damage. It was extensive. My front sub-frame was bent; the only way to get my car back to normal again was to swap it out with another one. Simple right? Wrong! In order to do that I have to pull the engine and transmission, I’m just a high school student, I don’t have the money, equipment or the experience to do an operation of that magnitude. That’s why I entered in a radio contest to fix up classic cars, so that by some small chance, I could get the help I needed.
About a month before the accident my Dad and I had entered my car in the 103.5 the Arrow’s Transform Your Ride contest. The winner gets three thousand dollars in body work. My car was awesome, but not perfect. After the accident I begged the arrow for help and I put on some pictures that Ryan took at the accident. I told them my story, and I guess that they took pity on me. I was a finalist! I couldn’t believe it. I got the opportunity to take my Camaro here, to the car show. I never thought that would ever happen. It’s kind of ironic how my car is at the car show because it is a wreck. If I win this contest then I could repair my car back to her former glory.
Please, I need your help. I need the money. That car was my daily driver I can’t get to school or work without it, my entire life is thrown off balance. I know my competition has an awesome car. In fact, I very much like it. But I really need your help. I need you to save my Camaro. I have learned my lesson; I will never do another U-turn as long as I live. And I will always make sure I am familiar of the area before I drive there.
This story doesn’t have an ending. Why? Well, that’s because it is written by you, the voter. Did you vote for the 1980 Chevy Camaro, or the1971 Dodge Challenger? Do you doom my car to save his, or is it the other way around. Looking at the Challenger, what do you think it’s story is? Could it have been a trophy winning race car, or a daily driver? Or is it just another project? I don’t know the answer to those questions, but I do know that the owner is around 50, and has a shop. And I know that the Challenger has no engine or transmission, and has been sitting in its owner’s shop for who knows how long.
Now, it’s up to you, write the ending. You can vote however you want, but the Camaro needs your help. Just write your name on a card and put it in one the boxes. The box on the left is for the Camaro, the one on the right is for the Challenger.
gotta promote the car, i need the votes
THANK YOU
R.J. And the Camaro
*THE ENDING*
They said that they would announce the winner on Monday maybe Tuesday, on the radio, between the times of five ‘o’ clock and seven ‘o’ clock. I listened to the radio all day well into nine at night on Monday. There was nothing.
Tuesday came, and again, I listened all day until about the start of 3D animation class. I turned off my portable Wal-Mart radio, and logged on to www.Arrow1035.com I always did this because I get better quality when I listen to the radio online. As I went to click the “listen online” button I noticed that the “Transformer contest” button was back. I went straight to it. The page loaded and there it was. “The arrow congratulates the winner of the Transformer contest.” Right below that text, was a picture of my car.
I won! I couldn’t believe it. I had crashed my awesome car, and then won a contest to fix it. If you Google searched the word “lucky” my name would appear, because it just doesn’t get any luckier than that. The Camaro is saved, and the Legacy lives on.
It has taken lots of work on my part, 3000 dollars only goes so far. I got it as far as drivable. it was up to the body shop guys to make it look good. Right now, it is at a Joint called Fast Fredy's. Unique Auto Body was a little too lazy to do my car themselves, so they handed it over to him. Fredy has done a great job so far, it's all ready to paint. It was supposed to be done May 30th. Just in time for the School District Car Show. it didn't make it, so the new date is June 2nd. the radio station has asked me to take the car with them on June 7th to show it off at the Night Ranger concert in Wnedover. i guess i'm still getting stuff from them. i'll upload pics of the finished product then. For now, here are some progress photos
took the fenders off, just started
usually it smiles back
i don't know if you can see it, but that is my bent subframe
that's the Shasty McNasty parts car i used. i paid 300 for it and then made 600 off of parts i didn't need, like the T-tops and Exhaust. i kept some stuff though. it had a brand new rear end with 3:11 gears and posi-traction. can't wait to put that on.
what i had it too before i gave it to the body shop
BODY SHOP. i got money from the contest for body work, so this is the process of the paint job.
BEFORE THE CRASH PHOTOS
the interior before radio contest
my seats are full of holes under those covers, your practically sitting on the floor because there are no sprigs in driver's side.
my deck is an alpine hooked up to 2 8x9's and 2 8 1/2 inch subs and 2 400 watt amps. it has a switch for under-glow but it was disconnected, as well as the alarm system. and yes, that is a CB radio. :) and it saves on cell phone minutes.
my Cragar mags. they may look a little dirty, but they clean up nice. my rear window louvers are Cragar as well. from what i hear, they only made a few of those.
The original owner gave me this L88 hood, but it was a fiberglass hood on a metal scoop, and since they expand and contract at different tempratures, it ended up cracking and bubbling all over the place, so i sold it. I wish i still had it. Here are some pics.
when i first bought it.......................... after i shined it up & removed broken things
Autobots man.
engine looks much shinier since i pulled it out and cleaned it. i also painted the whole engine bay a gloss black. this is what it looked like when i first bought it.
idk if i mentioned this, but the engine is a 350 that was built from inside out. it has an Offenhauser intake, a Holly Double Pump (7 mpg, hahaha), a sway bar that they don't sell anymore because it is too big. Traction bars, soon to be put on Mr. Gasket pull cable exhaust dumps. stall converter, Turbo 400 tranny (no kick-down), all bushings are urethane, and a B&M racing shifter. the gear ratio is really really high because it is a circuit car, poor acceleration, killer top speed, previous owner said he clocked himself at 185 on the salt flats. of course i will never know unless i use a radar gun. speedometer only goes to 85. after i finish my other upgrades I'm shooting for 400 horse. and I'm changing the rear end to a 3:11 posi. total street light car.
so far i put on 2 new goodmark fenders, and a goodmark cowl hood, but i still miss my old L88 hood.
i painted my engine compartment and everything is spick and span on the inside, all i am waiting for is the paint and the seats. i got $1000 in upholstery, $1000 in body work, a year of free oil changes, and $400 in glass repair.
finished things pics.
i cashed in on my upholstry coupon. And Dale Hancock reupholstered my seats.
i decided to keep the original red leather color.
IT'S FINALLY DONE. (the engine compartment still is covered with dust, i'll upload engine pics after i shine it up a little)
before....
after....
now.....
MORE PICS.
transformers 4 life, still looking for a name for my car. my friend suggested "The Wasp" but after taking a vote here on Car Domain, the name was decided to be "Fire Bee"
fuzzy dice & disco ball. WOOT!!
i made the headliner myself. every time we cruise around in the Camaro and see an awesome car, we take a picture of it and tack it up there. it has collected quite a few. some that aren't in the picture are, 1969 mach 1 with boss 302. my friends 1961 cadillac. my other friends 1968 ford f100 hot rod truck. A 1968 firebird 400, a Grannys Pride Bread sticker, with a lambo on it that was at the car show my crashed car was at, a BACA (bikers against child abuse) sticker because they were at the car show too, (i think they voted 4 me) . i made the dome light myself. it is a red light that most people would put on the outside of a truck. the cab looks really cool at night when it is all lit up with red , and i get the light to reflect off the disco ball. yea, you know what i'm talkin' about. the headliner itself is made of black leather with this cool metallic red plastic-ish stuff going along it like racing stripes.
anybody reading this, will think I'm an idiot... thats ok, because i am.
i crashed again... i might just get in my car, and drive it til it explodes and takes me with it.
i was driving on about 40th south. i turned onto left onto State Street (the main drag here in Salt Lake), then had to make an immidate right. i checked, no cars coming on either side. the light was red. i turned onto state, had my signal on... checked my mirror, nobody, then i slowed down and turned... boy was i wrong, there was somebody, in my blind spot. A dinged up Nissan Sentra, about 1993. we hit side on side. my Cragar SS center cap bent, then cut open my front passenger tire. i think my rim is just about trashed.
its worse than it looks in the pic. the fender is trashed, but more importantly, i can't afford insurance for 3 years.
we pulled into the 711 parking lot. i didn't wanna make it worse with a hit and run... he called the cops. i assessed the damage to my car... and got some pictures with my phone... sorry, not the best quality
MY CAR
my passenger front fender is garbage... the louver is still good. the rim might be trahsed. paint damage all along the side... other than the tire, no damage to my car that would make it drive bad.
HIS CAR
this car was already pretty dinged up to begin with. it had paint stains and splotches, and random dents and cracks in the car. his entire passenger side was dented up, from me . we traded a little paint. his car is fully functional. working door and window. car runs and drives fine.
the turnout
failure to yield citation -- $80, hopefully traffic school option
fix his car-- i want to just pay him in cash out of my savings... so in insurance company won't know... hopefully the 3 repair estimates he gets are something fair that i can afford. i think he wants cash cuz his car isn't really something to scream about... probably cheaper to buy a new car than fix that jalopy....
fix my ca r-- $700 thats how much i guesstimate i will spend on parts and paint repair
insurance -- if the company finds out, im EFFED for 3 years... i won't be able to drive anything, i can't afford to drive with insurance that high. so the Camaro will sit... hopefully i can take traffic school and pay the Sentra guy in Cash so they don't....
i'll keep ya updated... post some better damage pics. i don't think i deserve a car this beautiful though... i'm just a retard that ruins every good thing he gets.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Well, the guy i hit got his estimates. $3000. i can't afford that. i would have to claim it on the insurance. so i went to the guy's father. he was actually a really nice guy. he knew the car wasn't even worth $3000 before i bashed into it, heck it wasn't even worth $500. We compromised and i paid him $1000.
i also got an estimate on the Camaro. i am going to have it fixed by Fast Freddy again, because he knows what he did to it, and can match the custom metallic paint... cuz he made it :D. He told me $1000. Full repairs, i wouldn't have to do a thing.
as for the ticket... i can't do a plea in abaience and take traffic school, because i have already done that to pay off my only other ticket for 5 mph over. so its going on the record. but what they don't know is that there was an accident, they just know that i failed to yield. so its not gunna go up too bad. i did however, pick up a form for Defensive Driving School... that would lower my insurance rates about as much as the ticket would make it go up, but it cost $40.
and the worst of the worst news... i have severe TMJ. what that is, is my jaw is not lined up correctly. it causes headaches in early stages, then it will start to pop, then by the time i'm 30 i will have complete LockJaw. the only way to fix it would be corrective sergury... yeah... they break my jaw off, then with a little duct tape and bailing wire, they hook it back in place. i won't be able to eat solid food for 3 months they say. mmmmmmm, liquid burger. but the worst part of that is that i can't work... that means no money to fix the Camaro for quite a while...
but, all this time i have had where it just sits, has given me the opertunity to upgrade stuff a little bit. i still had that $1000 coupon at ARA remember? here is what i have done.
Power locks and alarm system
Latest and greatest GPS system with backup, blindspot, and birds eye cameras :D
new flowmasters
electronic header dumps
HERE ARE SOME PICS OF THE HEADER DUMPS AND THE UNDERNEATH OF THE CAR!!!!
And now i got laid off from my job... I'm pretty much screwed now.
Well, i got my job back, but at a lower pay. Oh, and the surgery on my jaw was a success. Fire Bee was back at Fast Fredys and was being painted, so i bought a parts car.
It was a true Z28 from 1979, i got it for 300 bucks. yeah, i took the parts i wanted off of it. like the speedometer that goes up to 130mph. (Mine only went to 85mph) I decided to either sell or part it out...
it actually had the original motor and trans. and it DID RUN!!! i was able to sell the car for $1200. that means i made $900 off of that plus parts for my Camaro.
And here it is. Back from Fast Fredy's a second time.
Just got a job as an EMT for Wendover Ambulance service. hahaha what a fun drive that is. straight line for a hundred miles. First time i went out there i melted my speedometer cable i burried it so bad. then i wasn't paying attention and got a speeding ticket going 102mph!
Me and my girlfriend, Kourtney, took the Camaro out to the salt flats to see speedweek. unfortunatly, we were just a day late and everyone was either gone, or just finishing packing up. The sign said "Bonneville Salt Flats Recration Area" so i did a little recreation. 130 on the salt before i was feeling it go squirly and i had to back off. And that was on street tires!
Can you say, 80mph drifts lol. The salt flats feels a lot like going boating in your car.
Anyway. that's my Camaro and this one really did transform. from race car, to first car, to crashed, to stunning. ;)
As you can tell my the extremely long page you just scrolled down, I like to write. LOL! I have actually written a novel and published it online. Its about Fast cars, the salt flats, Street racing, and the whatnot we all love so much. Its like a more modern, action packed take of Smokey and the Bandit. Check it out! here is the link, just copy and paste it! Be sure to leave a comment at the bottom! I love feedback!
http://authspot.com/novels/smokey
