Page One

Come along for the transformation of my son's 1986 Camaro from a $50 pile of rust to a pretty nice first car for a teenager.

It had T-Bottoms as well as T-Tops. When I saw this I told him he should part it out and apply the money toward something more substantial, but he wanted this car.

Thus began an 18-month ordeal, during which it narrowly escaped being cut up and hauled away on several occasions.

Most of both windshield posts came out with the windshield. I couldn't find aftermarket replacements, so I had to rebuild them.

He didn't have a ton of money to spend on new parts, so I made my own floors instead of buying floor pans. I started with a framework of 1/8" steel strap...

...and welded new sheetmetal to it. Note how much of the lower A-pillar needed to be replaced. I'm amazed this car hadn't split in two before he got it.

Floors are welded in and painted with POR-15. Time to turn it right side up and finish the interior side of the floors.

Floors, firewall, and rocker panels all patched and ready for POR-15.

As long as I had to weld new sheetmetal around the wheel openings, I measured the flares on a friend's 1976 Corvette and duplicated them in sheetmetal.

Adding the flares really delayed the project. I grossly underestimated how much time it would take for all of the hammerforming, welding and grinding.

I wanted to do something with the hatch because I've never really liked the way wrap-around glass breaks up the lines. I made this mask out of fiberglass to replicate the roofline of the 1970 Camaro. Keeping with the retro theme, I made a second-generation Z28-style spoiler from sheetmetal - another time consuming diversion.

With the rear end styling moving back in time, I decided the front end should point to the future. I made a fiberglass mold of the stock urethane bumper cover...

...then I stretched and lowered the nose, and rounded out the headlight openings to resemble the fourth-generation Camaro.

Who says you can't have fun watching paint dry?

Finally done! His total investment is under $3,000. (I wonder what it would have cost if he had to pay for the labor)

I think he likes it! (This is one of his senior portraits)

I named it the "Camvette" early in the project, when the plan was to add the flares, sculpt Corvette-style vents in the sides, and make a fiberglass rear hatch in the style of the 1968 Corvette. If I had done all of that, the reason for the name would be obvious, but I'd still be working on it. I was also concerned that it would be too gaudy if I overdid the styling tricks.

This project proves that with a lot of time, work, and a complete lack of common sense, anything is possible...