Story:
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Bret had always wanted a first
generation Camaro. In the spring of 2001 he made his initial
purchase off of eBay. He and a friend started to make the trip to
Houston to pick it up, but not before the first mishap of the
restoration. On the way down to Houston, the trailer suddenly
disconnected from the truck doing 30 mph. Luckily, no one was
injured except for an ill-fated stop sign / road sign combination
that was quickly overpowered. After the safety chains were purchased
and put in place, they were back on the road. Bret was told that it
was a SS clone because there were no X codes and it only had the
standard Bowtie emblems. He just recently learned that it is a true
small block SS thanks to the keen eyes of some first generation
experts. The car looked like it was in fair condition, but Bret soon
learned that it is pretty easy to make Bondo look good if there
isn't much metal to begin with. What was supposed to be an 8-month
project, soon exploded into a 2-year ordeal that involved replacing
both quarter panels, tulip panel, both fenders, hood and valence
panel. Bret and a friend did all body and engine work which involved
a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and a few small fires caused by the
MIG welder. Finally, after exceeding both the timeframe and budget
for the project, Bret got the car painted and back in the garage on
Christmas Eve. Although the car is not done, Bret is able to cruise
around and enjoy some of the fruits of his labor. Some future
improvements he wants to perform include a Vintage Air system and
replacing the late model 350 with an original SS 350. |
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