The $600 1986 Camaro (Re)Build

Specs:

• 1986 Camaro 2.8L V6 M/T - Teal
  • Original motor is long gone
  • Relatively rust free
  • Aftermarket sunroof (Leaks)
  • Repainted from the original factory color
  • Limited edition "mold and cat urine" scented interior
• 350 V8 (Carbureted with an HEI Distributor) from a 1984 Blazer
  • Edit: Motor was found to be a 1992 Goodwrench Crate Motor
  • More detailed information on the motor found in this post
• T5 5 speed manual transmission (overhauled and never used)
  • Edit: Transmission was found to be the stock V6 T5

This summer I decided to take on yet another project, but rather than another Toyota Truck, I wanted something different. Something I could work on without being on the clock to get to work after the weekend, or be worried about potentially ruining a perfectly good vehicle. Oh, and I have been dreaming of owning a V8 for quite some time now! Enter the (now engineless) 1986 Chevrolet Camaro 2.8L V6. I have always enjoyed the look of the third gen Camaros, and when my high school shop teacher suggested this project car to me, I couldn't resist! Even if I don't succeed, this will be a very valuable learning experience for me.



First, a little backstory on the car: The car was originally from New Jersy, but about 10-15 years ago it was involved in a front end collision. Either immediately or shortly after this event, the car was purchased by an individual in Minnesota, who removed the stock engine from the car in hopes of completing a V8 swap. He worked at a transmission shop, and completely overhauled a T5 transmission before selling the project to another guy who worked at the shop. At some point, a 350 V8 out of a 1984 Chevrolet Blazer was purchased and intended to go in the car. The third owner managed to complete a lot of work on the car, such as relocating the motor mounts and installing a V8 exhaust. However, having a family began to take more and more Camaro time away from him, until the car sat untouched for years. In May 2018, I purchased the car, engine, and transmission from him, and became the fourth owner of the car and the third attemptee at the project.

Here is the car as I found it:



The interior reeks of mold and cat urine, but that is the least of my concerns as of right now. In order to keep from blowing my money on an "impossible project," I am going to completely ignore the body until I get the engine running. Thankfully, the underside is almost completely rust free!



My plan for the project:

1. Power wash and do a basic clean/organize of the car and interior - COMPLETE
2. Clean and disassemble engine for painting - COMPLETE
3. Remove all old paint and surface rust from the engine - COMPLETE
4. Paint the main engine (block, intake, valve covers, oil pan) - COMPLETE
5. Measure crankshaft bearings - COMPLETE
6. Replace bottom end gaskets/seals - COMPLETE
7. Put motor back together - COMPLETE
8. Test motor on engine test stand - COMPLETE
9. Clean out the interior and make it bearable - IN PROGRESS
10. Begin the process of trying to fit the motor in the car - Scheduled to begin in May 2019
11. Hook up motor to the car
12. Get the car is running/driving
13. Cosmetics

Sounds simple doesn't it? In theory it is, and hopefully it will all go as planned! Stay tuned for more!

 

Holy shitballs that's a project I wouldn't take on. Good luck with it!

 

After looking at the car the first weekend and deciding to go ahead with the project, I picked up a used Harbor Freight engine hoist from Craigslist. I also picked up a new HF engine stand as well. With these two items I was all ready to pick up the car!

 

Here's few photos from picking up the car. It was no less than 90* out, and using a come-along on a car with a seized brake drum was not a fun task!

 

Now the car is sitting in it's new home. We left the body in a shady spot by the pole barn, and sat the engine and transmission in the garage to be worked on. No complaints on the Harbor Freight hoist or engine stand! I also power washed the car and organized the interior. It looks a lot better now that the moss and leaves are gone! There seems to be a lot of fourth gen Camaro parts that I will have to get rid of. Not sure why the previous owner(s) thought those would work!

 

Shorty after picking up the car, I scored a passenger fender for the car from craigslist! I don't have any pictures, but it fit well and as of right now I only need a hood to complete the body! (the car came with a driver's side aftermarket fender and an IROC front bumper).

By this point I had stripped the accessories from the engine, namely the alternator, water pump, exhaust manifolds, and a few other pulleys and brackets. As I was doing this I was using both degreaser and surface cleaner to get off as much oil/grease as possible. A few pictures of the engine before I removed everything and began to clean it:

 

Once the engine was stripped and cleaned to the best of my ability, the tedious task of wire wheeling and using laquor thinner began. It took about a week and a half, but I got almost the entire surface of the engine down to bare metal! When not working on it, I sprayed the completed sections with WD-40 to keep the metal from rusting.



Once the whole engine was done, I did another round of degreaser/surface cleaner to get rid of the WD-40 and attempt to get as much oil and grease out of the metal as possible. After that, It was time to tape off the engine for painting! Pro tip: using a ball peen hammer to lightly tap the edges of areas such as where the exhaust manifold lines up and where the carburetor bolts on will give you a near perfect cut on your masking tape!



Then came painting the engine, a very satisfying task! I decided to go with "Chevrolet Orange" for the bulk of the motor, with the intent of painting some of the smaller parts such as the valve covers black for some accenting. I did two coats while the motor was right side up, then I flipped it upside down for two more coats.

The first coat makes every hour of wire wheeling worth it:



Here is the motor after four coats and with all the masking tape removed:



I think that the motor turned out very nice! It looks so much better than the greasy thing I brought home a month before. Very excited to open it up and move past the painting stage!

 

Currently I am in the process of measuring the connecting rod bearings and checking the wear marks to see if it is worth replacing them while I have the engine out of the car. I have to admit, I was a little scared to open up the engine in fear of what might be in there, but I was pleasantly surprised! Other than some mysterious wear on the rear of the crankshaft, everything looked alright! So far I have completed the first two connecting rod bearings, and both are in spec. I may just assume that the others are in spec as well, in order to save some time and move on to the main bearings and putting in new gaskets. After that, it'll be time to test fire the motor!

 

Bad ass!!!!!!

 

Thanks guys! I'm pretty confident in my abilities as I already rebuilt this type of motor in a class I took in high school. Also, my shop teacher is a wealth of knowledge as he has been working with small block chevy engines for more than 60 years!

 

Go for it! Awesome build. I'd suggest not assuming all else is good, since time is not an issue. One bad bearing will ruin your day, believe me. What are you building for? Drag, road race, all around bad assitude? Digging it.

 

Honestly you're probably right about the bearings, just for peace of mind it is worth the time to do.

Right now I'm just building it to be an all around bad ass car to drive around. I'm trying my best to be smart about the car financially, so I figure that priority number one is getting the motor running on the test stand, then comes hooking it up to the car. Once it's actually running and driving then I can justify spending money both cosmetically and performance-wise! I've never really been into drag racing, but road racing events have been catching my interest lately, maybe I'll give one a try when it's all said and done!

 

It's been a hectic week or so schedule-wise since I last posted, so I haven't gotten as much done as I had hoped. I finished up with the bearings, measuring two more crankshaft bearings (numbers five and six) and main bearings number two and number four. All are in spec on the "tight" side, so I feel confident in the motor's bearings.



The above cardboard may be hard to read, but the crank bearing measurements read as follows:
In Spec: .0013-.0035
Bearing #1: .00175
Bearing #2: .0015
Bearing #3: N/A
Bearing #4: N/A
Bearing #5: .001
Bearing #6: .0016
Bearing #7: N/A
Bearing #8: N/A

As you can see, bearing #5 is out of spec, but on the tight side. My teacher and I both agreed that this was a non-issue as it will wear into spec as time goes on.



The above main bearing measurement are as follows:
Inner Bolt Torque: 75 ft-lbs
Outer Bolt Torque: 70 ft-lbs
In Spec: See the photo from my reference book above
Bearing #1: N/A
Bearing #2: .0015
Bearing #3: N/A
Bearing #4: .0015
Bearing #5: N/A

After measuring and removing the plasti-guage from each of the bearings (main and connecting rod), I applied a coating of Amsoil Synthetic 5W-30 to both sides of each bearing and torqued them into place. I made sure to keep the caps facing the right way and kept the nuts and bolts in their factory locations.

 

Next up: Gaskets

I scraped off all the excess gasket material from the oil pan area using a gasket scraper, and removed the rubber end caps as well.



After that I cracked the timing cover and checked out the inside. There was a little over-spray from painting, but it easily rubbed off with my finger. I also took the opportunity to align the motor to TDC on Cylinder #1.



The gasket on the timing cover was rock solid, and even with the gasket scraper it was very difficult to get all the small pieces off. I cleaned up some of the oil sludge on the inside as much as I could, but just like the gasket, it was baked on there as well.



I also took the time to replace the timing cover front seal while I had it off, which was a quick two minute job. Just use a screwdriver and a mallet to remove it, and then use the same rubber mallet to pound the new seal into place!



I didn't grab the correct gasket sealer at NAPA, so I had to leave the oil pan and timing cover sitting on the motor for the time being. Luckily I was able to stop by NAPA on my lunch break to pick up a tube of the correct stuff today.

 

Still young enough to attempt this crazy project! I'm starting my second year of college this August.

 

I was reading your thread the other day! Very impressive job bringing your truck back from Davy Jones' Locker!

 

I'm lichen this project, get it?

 

You're punny my friend!

 

If you want to paint in the engine area before installing the engine. Instead or wrapping stuff with painters tape use aluminum foil.

 

Never thought of that! Would there be any worries about paint getting underneath the foil or does it provide a pretty reliable seal?