Hey!

I've been reading builds on this forum all day and I've seen a LOT of hard work put into restoring rust buckets, and to those people, my hat is off.

I'm not someone who's all to talented at patching metal, I'd probably forget or mess something.

My question is, has anyone bought a complete set of replace (reproduction) parts and put it completely together? Would it be worth it to do, or get a rusty car and slowly swap new parts on to it?

I don't mean buying that entire chassis that is for sale for $13k, I mean completely individually.

I'd really like to own a 1968 Camaro, and I think piecing one together would be a good experience, however difficult it may be.

I bought a rust bucket and replaced almost every piece except the roof, taking
apart the car is a lot of work. Next time I would look or wait for a good roller
then finish it. If you bought new metal I think it would cost around 7000.00
plus you need to build a jig, they sell plans on ebay or have them on this site.
You need to know how to spotweld. It's not real hard to build one with all the
advice on this site, these guys really help you out, Good Luck

I bought a rust bucket and replaced almost every piece except the roof, taking
apart the car is a lot of work. Next time I would look or wait for a good roller
then finish it. If you bought new metal I think it would cost around 7000.00
plus you need to build a jig, they sell plans on ebay or have them on this site.
You need to know how to spotweld. It's not real hard to build one with all the
advice on this site, these guys really help you out, Good Luck

Ok, awesome.

But, if I hand built it, it would have no VIN. Could I still register it? That's the one reason I wouldn't want to hand build it, if I couldn't drive it.

Just so I'm sure, a jig is the stand that holds up the frame while working, right?

Find a shop that can supply a rolling shell with the work you need done already complete. We just finished one with all the sheetmetal done, mini tub, in epoxy primer. Another we just did all sheetmetal done, painted and rolling.

http://www.brandnewmusclecar.com/camaro.html

It would nickel and dime you to death if you did it part by part. Find a nice rolling car and have some reputable shop do it for you, or find a seller that sells a rolling chassis. Like mentioned above I bought what I thought was a decent car to start as a project and I ended up replacing just about everything even the roof myself. Gratifying that I did almost all the work myself, but it was expensive and took me 4 years.

Maybe find a car thats for sale that someone has almost finished and lost interest or funds.

Good luck

The answer to your other question is yes if you built it completely from parts it can still be registered (DMV can issue a serial number) but you'll never get the same valve as you would for one with a proper 1st gen serial number attached to it. If you get a chance check out Belair Bob's site he has all the sheet metal listed there including kits with most of the front end stuff incl. or rear end stuff incl. there would still be some stuff you would need to purchase if you go that route. For what its worth I think the rest of the replies are steering you right look for a solid project and finish from there.

It would nickel and dime you to death if you did it part by part. Find a nice rolling car and have some reputable shop do it for you, or find a seller that sells a rolling chassis. Like mentioned above I bought what I thought was a decent car to start as a project and I ended up replacing just about everything even the roof myself. Gratifying that I did almost all the work myself, but it was expensive and took me 4 years.

Maybe find a car thats for sale that someone has almost finished and lost interest or funds.

Good luck

I wanted to do this for the learning experience. I'd never let a shop touch my car.

I own a 2001 Z28 and I didn't know a single thing about cars, now I have a pretty good idea how it's built and how to build an engine, all from taking it apart and putting it back together.

Not exactly what you are looking at but I am building a 70 camaro basically from scratch. All that's original is the "A" pillars, very little of the cowl and that inner panel under the rear window that the trunk hinges mount to. I'm building a pro street though so it's missing a lot of (well all of) the inner panels. Not having to deal with rust is worth it to me. I hate diggin' out rust. :yes:

Cool...good luck! Just keep in mind the aftermarket parts could make you want to pull your hair out trying to align and fit properly. Ask me how I know... and mine wasnt all that bad :)

It is a great learning experience especially having the support from TC members.

Keep us posted

I wanted to do this for the learning experience. I'd never let a shop touch my car.

I own a 2001 Z28 and I didn't know a single thing about cars, now I have a pretty good idea how it's built and how to build an engine, all from taking it apart and putting it back together.

Cool...good luck! Just keep in mind the aftermarket parts could make you want to pull your hair out trying to align and fit properly. Ask me how I know... and mine wasnt all that bad :)

It is a great learning experience especially having the support from TC members.

Keep us posted

Yeah, I know about aftermarket parts, haha.

I was just checking to see if it was possible, but I think I'll buy a rusty one and replace the bad parts, I'd probably be Hell trying to find out where all the parts go.

Not exactly what you are looking at but I am building a 70 camaro basically from scratch. All that's original is the "A" pillars, very little of the cowl and that inner panel under the rear window that the trunk hinges mount to. I'm building a pro street though so it's missing a lot of (well all of) the inner panels. Not having to deal with rust is worth it to me. I hate diggin' out rust. :yes:

Yeah, I'm not too keen on rust either. If you have any pics let me know, I'd love to see what you're working on!

I thought of this too, but it would be cheaoer in the long run just to buy a well restored camaro.

Yeah, I'm not too keen on rust either. If you have any pics let me know, I'd love to see what you're working on!

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=128953&page=5

Thanks Vicinity. I have a few pictures scattered through this thread starting with post #72.

Cool...good luck! Just keep in mind the aftermarket parts could make you want to pull your hair out trying to align and fit properly. Ask me how I know... and mine wasnt all that bad :)

It is a great learning experience especially having the support from TC members.

Keep us posted
Trying to get all those repros to fit would... drive you outta your mind, as Gary pointed out!

Also, remember that you can't get all req'd parts that you will need that have been after market.

By the time you spend 13K on a repro shell or buying all the parts and assembling, I would think you could find a decent roller to get you on your way and not have to hassle with registration issues...

I added up all the individual pieces for the body (minus front fenders and subframe) and it came out to 4500 w/o shipping, which isn't bad.

I may actually consider trying to piece it together. I guess I could register it as a kit car or something, its not like I'd ever sell it.