i dont know but seems like evertime imove acouple of steps further another house project takes its place , car is in primer almost ready to paint and it runs its just taken 10 years to get where im at today . does anyone else have one thats taken longer than expected

dude you need to get your priority list out and move the camaro to the top !!! :D :D

realy a good resto job takes a while you will get it done don't give up

well, mine started out as a daily driver, so I could only do my restoration bit by bit... and it's not really a "restoration" as much as a "refinishing" since I've departed from stock quite a bit. But, so far it has taken 6 years... and I'm going to put the interior back together this summer which will mark a milestone... I will have refreshed every aspect of the car (drivetrain, brakes, suspension, steering, etc, etc). Then it is time to drive it for a few years before I tear it apart and start again! graemlins/hurray.gif

My SS has been in primer for over 20 years! Hopefully this year is the year some progress will be made.

Project was interrupted by marriage, kids, 2 houses! 2nd 69 camaro smile.gif (needs tlc) and other assorted things.

I finally got all the ducks lined up and ready to go, just waiting for for some warmer weather and free time.

It took me over 8 years, I swore it would only take two. graemlins/clonk.gif

It seems to go like this... when you have the time, you don't have the money, and when you have the money, you don't have the time.

JD

Originally posted by John Doyle:
It took me over 8 years, I swore it would only take two. graemlins/clonk.gif

It seems to go like this... when you have the time, you don't have the money, and when you have the money, you don't have the time.

JD I know what you mean. My Camaro has been done for a year so I moved on to the wife's Chevelle. I'm at the point where the body is ready to go on the frame and had most of the interior, paint, etc lined up and ready to order. I was going to order about $3,000 in parts until I found out yesterday I lost a $160,000 addition/garage/ kitchen remodel contract. All because of one health department engineer feels a perfectly good well and septic system needs to be replaced to make him feel safer with the extra 500 sf of living space :mad: . No added bathrooms or bedrooms, just a family room.

The homeowner refuses to pay the extra cost involved so the project is canceled. That puts a hold on the Chevelle. One guy has caused this F**kin mess :mad: ! Sorry to vent, but I completely understand about the money issue.

Ongoing…… :cool:
Mark (A.K.A. Z28 Mark)
graemlins/waving.gif

HA!!!!

i've got you all beat. my camaro has been in restoration mode for 22 years. but finally, finally, finally everything is coming together now. this poor car has spent more time in storage than in my garage being worked on. here's the kicker. i bought all my sheetmetal directly from gm...1/4's $180 each, rs fenders $140 each, cowl induction hood $225, door skins, rear tail panel, upper and lower valance, inner fenderwells. man if i had seen the light i would have bought truck loads of sheetmetal and stored it with my car in storage. graemlins/clonk.gif i'd be a millionaire now. and i could hire somebody (quite buxom of course) to polish my lug nuts. never give up on that dream!!! NEVER!!! these are beautiful cars and deserve our utmost patience and care during this time. do it once, do it right. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

LOL Dad and I bought his orig Camaro back in 1991 graemlins/clonk.gif :D

Mine will forever be a work-in-progress!

My '69 Camaro Coupe took 4 years.
My '67 Chevelle took 2 1/2 yrs.
My '65 SS took 8 months.
My wifes bitchin, 20 yrs in August.

Kidding of course she loves my cars graemlins/beers.gif

Wacky

Take what you think it will take and then at least double it..... or triple it.....

Same for the budget for the project.....

That's so true. This is the first car I've owned that I've gone to such a major extent to fix it up..... and the word "restoration" NEVER entered my mind when I was looking for something new to play with and then found the Camaro.

When I decided to go all out and make it right (as far as it's condition and my final vision for it, not factory correct), the first thing I read and was told was to double or triple the time and money you THINK it'll take to finish. So far it's absolutely true.

I get so impatient at times.... especially when I see other folks driving theirs! :rolleyes: I JUST WANNA DRIVE IT! But like everyone else.... something always gets in the way. The same things as always: kids, bills, Honey-Do projects, general laziness, lack of resources, etc.

Patience Grasshopper!
graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Ditto. Seems like something is always keeping me from working on the car: house remodeling, yard work, weather (too cold/ too hot), money (lack of), work , wife, relatives...yadda yadda yadda!

I haven't driven my car in over a year, mainly because of the rusted out floors, electrical system restoration, a/c installation, bracket/ pulley conversion, steering box and steering column upgrades. Since the interior is also out I plan on soundproofing once the floorpans are back in.

One of these days I'll be complete!

25 years and STILL not done! :D graemlins/waving.gif

-Mark.

Owned the car for going on 6 years. I had it planned out to take about a year and had what I thought was a pretty fair price figured in my head. It took a year at the body shop alone and more then double what I thought it would cost! I figured by this fall I should have it mostly done. My biggest killer is my own stupidity (and just plain bad luck at times) ...I have a good one to add to that "what's the dumbest thing you have ever done" post!! (Do I share??... Why not!) I don't have a lot of room in my garage and my kids like to ride their trycycles in there so to be on the "safe side" I put blankets on the roof of my car and stored the hood up there while I put the engine in. Looked like a good idea on paper!! Needless to say that when you jack the front end of the car up (even a little) the spoiler on the trunk makes a really neat ramp for the hood!! It landed out in the driveway -not much hang time but it was amazing at the distance it covered!! The damage brought a tear to my eye -still can't get past that. (STOOOPID!!!!!) Seems like every time I do something I have to do it again!! Gets old man!! So as soon as it is done it will have to go BACK to the body shop to fix MY screw-up!! Maybe NEXT year it will be done.

Well...I hired a guy to replace all the sheet metal back in '93. I too had all GM body panels that I collected back in the 80's. Then the car sat for about 7 years while I partied, met my Wife, got married, bought a house, had kids, fixed up the house. Finally in the Summer of 2001 I started working on it again so...I guess if I added up all the REAL time I've been working on it, it would be about 3 years and 3 months of restoration time so far. I'm nearing the half way point...hopefully this Winter.

Yeah right...lots-o-luck! graemlins/clonk.gif

You mean it ends at some point? :eek:

I started my resto in January of 2003 and it's now completely restored body wise. In a couple months it should be together. I planned on 8 months and it took twice as long. I planned on a decent budget and it tripled. Best part is it's almost done and then I can enjoy it like a fine bottle of rare whiskey. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

My 67 was owned by my dad who parked it in 72 when he found out I was on the way! It sat in our garage until 88 when he passed away. I put it in storage until 93 when I bought a house. It sat in my garage until 02 when I finally got the time and money to dig into it properly. At some point over the years the original 396 was stored with water in it and the block froze and cracked. It was drag raced mostly up until 72, the car is rock solid but needs paint, brakes, and tons of other tlc. It wasn,t really stored as much as just parked which is a bummer. It currently only has 26,400 miles on it but needs to be really gone through because of mostly garage neglect! I'm just glad it was always indoors. It's not really a long restoration as much as a long wait to get to it! I'm really hoping to get it done over this summer and next winter. I've been dreaming of driving this thing since I was a child. It's a really crappy way to aquire a car like this but I look forward to finishing what my dad never could because he chose a family over racing.