From Camaro to Firebird

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MusclecarChhris

133
Hey, I decided to try and change my '88 Camaro into an early 80's firebird by removing the exterior fascia parts and putting some firebird parts on it. Can anyone tell me all the stuff I would have to do? like, what would I need to cut, such as the lights, and all the stuff I would need to buy other than the panels, hood and nose piece?
 
You're probably going to want to pick up a restoration book for the Firebird, and then just order the parts direct from the catalog. I'm pretty certain that the Camaro and Firebird shared door skins and roof pannels, but I believe that everything after that was Chevrolet or Pontiac specific.

You're looking at big money here, getting all the new pannels off the different cars, not to mention going from fixed lamps to pop-ups. That may require a bit of a re-wire for the lights as well, and I have no idea what goes into that.

Going from this:

url


To this:

gunner823-1988-trans-am.jpg


Time and money there, and I would not look forward to the paint bills...
 
Why not leave the Camaro along and buy a couple of the Firebirds. Then fix one of the Firebirds. The dashboards are differant on these cars also I think.
 
As covered, doing this (and a few things you mentioned in regards to increasing your car's performance) for the sake of being different (which was the gist of what I got in your original thread) is not really a very smart thing to do. While in theory the two cars were badge-engineered brothers, in practice that would probably turn into a nightmare for you and it is nowhere near worth the amount of time, patience and skill, not even mentioning money, it would require to do what you want to do. Either buy an old Trans-Am or leave your car alone, but don't try to turn it into a Trans Am.
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Toronado
As covered, doing this (and a few things you mentioned in regards to increasing your car's performance) for the sake of being different (which was the gist of what I got in your original thread) is not really a very smart thing to do. While in theory the two cars were badge-engineered brothers, in practice that would probably turn into a nightmare for you and it is nowhere near worth the amount of time, patience and skill, not even mentioning money, it would require to do what you want to do. Either buy an old Trans-Am or leave your car alone, but don't try to turn it into a Trans Am.
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what he said ^
 
The only thing he has to worry about is the front bumper and how the rear taillights mount. Everything else can be interchanged 100% easily. It wouldn't cost more than $2000 to buy new exterior parts, I can provide him with the needed companies for him if he desires new parts. Trust me guys as someone who not only owns a 3rd gen but knows people who have actually done the swap. On a scale from one to ten it is a 5.
 
JCE3000GT
It wouldn't cost more than $2000 to buy new exterior parts, I can provide him with the needed companies for him if he desires new parts.
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Which is all well and good. But again, why bother? And in any case, after parts and labor, you have just spent probably $2000 or so on your V6 Camaro to make it look like a Trans Am when you could have just bought a faster V8 Trans Am, which would have the dual effect of incredibly cheapening his main goal of making his car faster. It is downright ridiculous to spend more money on a dumb body-swap when he could just as well spend that on the full pre-made piece the swap came from without the worries of any screw-ups during conversion; with the added benefit of it being considerably better than what he started with. A fool and his gold are soon parted.
JCE3000GT
On a scale from one to ten it is a 5.
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Buying a used Trans Am is a -3.
 
...I'd just assume the 350, as it is usually the more common engine, but it could have the 400. But apparently they came with options on the Formula, instead of the usual one-model-one-engine rule.

It would be a hell of a lot easier if we knew how many cogs were in the transmission...
 
I agree with Toronado. It does sound like an nightmare, unless you are a bodyman with no life or something. :scared:
 
Actually, the quarter panels, hood and nose piece would fit on, after I fix the light mounts and wiring. The main problem would lie in the tail lights. And, I am NOT buying one, not around here anyway. Finding Camaros around here is easy enough, but noone around here likes to let go of there F-bird for less than 5k, in any fair condition. Trust me, me and my dad have looked. But, we might be able to but two or three wrecked ones from that junk yard I was talking about and "cut and paste" one out of them.
 
http://www.yearone.com/serverfiles/fbshopmain2.asp?cat=G
http://www.yearone.com/serverfiles/fbshopmain2.asp?cat=G

That's the entire catalog of the parts, you can basically order everything from Year One and build the damn car in your driveway if you want.

Either that or Summit Racing, Jegs, and JCWhitney all offers body panels for sale and their shipping while expensive isn't all that bad when you compare it to what people charge on eBay.

I really don't see the point of switching things around, but it's not my car or money so good luck to you and I hope you can figure everything out.
 
throttlehappy
with the costs involved you'd be better off saving for an ls1 or an lt1 i reckon. ditch the 6
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Oh. My. Gawd. If this guy wasn't already banned for being a jerk elsewhere on the site, I'd have banned him for this. I mean, seriously - how many times can somebody talk about an LS1? Sheeee-zeus.
 
The LS1 is a legitimate swap for the 3rd gen if you have the money. Maybe his post wasn't very imformative or "wordy" but it was a legitimate comment.

My $0.02.
 
Personally speaking, the cost of paint alone (not including the pannels) just cuts the idea in two right here, right now. If it was nearly $300 just to paint a piece of trim on my VW, I can't imagine it would be worth the thousands of dollars it would cost to get all the pannels matched up.

Call me crazy, and I know this isn't what you want to do, but you'd almost be better burning the money than converting a Camaro to a Firebird. They are the same damn car... Just fix the Camaro to something better, or just buy an old TA or Formula.
 
JCE3000GT
The LS1 is a legitimate swap for the 3rd gen if you have the money. Maybe his post wasn't very imformative or "wordy" but it was a legitimate comment.
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Yes, it was a legitimate comment, agreed. But out of 897 posts he made before he was banned, probably 882 of them mentioned the LS1. Enough, already.
 
Its like he forgot that we're two generations ahead of the LS1 these days...
 

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