I miss my old car ...

[racolvin]

I had a 1981 Camaro, Z-28. Grey metallic paint, silver vinyl interior, T-tops, man that car was loaded. Ran beautifully, sounded great .. was just an awesome car until I cut a telephone pole in half with it and ended up with the engine block in the passenger seat next to me.

Now that I'm older I've tried to find another one like it but alas that was the last year they made the larger body style (before they went with the wedge shape in 1982) and there weren't that many produce in '81.

Oh well 🙁

 

[ViviTheMage]

heeeeeeey, my buddy has one of these sitting in a shed....no rust, but it needs some engine work....we are planning to get it up and running in the next few years, when time permits 🙂.

I am not 100% sure on the year, but early 80's Z28 sounds right, 3xx engine? I can't remember.

 

[kalrith]

Sounds like a sweet ride! Don't give up looking for one, because I'm sure you'll be able to find one eventually. I've got a 1979 Monte Carlo from the same era, but it's not as decked out as your Z-28. I'm glad that I have it now when I'm older and will take good care of it rather than back in my high-school days.

Edit: Unfortunately it's just sitting in my garage waiting until I have time to fix the power window, which is stuck half way down.

 

[alkemyst]

so you are saying you can't find a 1981 Z28 anywhere?

 

[racolvin]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
so you are saying you can't find a 1981 Z28 anywhere?

No, I'm saying I haven't been able to find a duplicate - there's a difference 🙂

I've found all sorts of ugly-ass ones in brown, white, even in this nasty looking coagulated blood color. But finding one just like the one I had, that's been a challenge 🙂

 

[SearchMaster]

Originally posted by: racolvin

Originally posted by: alkemyst
so you are saying you can't find a 1981 Z28 anywhere?

No, I'm saying I haven't been able to find a duplicate - there's a difference 🙂

I've found all sorts of ugly-ass ones in brown, white, even in this nasty looking coagulated blood color. But finding one just like the one I had, that's been a challenge 🙂

Heh - it won't be the same now anyway.

 

[racolvin]

Well no, you can never really get all that back and heck the car would be 28yrs old now. But to me it was a beauty and I think that's the appeal of older cars for most of us - from whatever generation you are, the cars you grew up loving will always be "better" somehow 🙂

 

[JDub02]

My high school car was a 1978 Chevy Malibu coupe with a 305. The stock motor had 140 hp. 😱 When it bought it, it was only running on 4 cylinders. The cam had rounded on the other 4. I did all of the motor work with my dad. We put in a Crane cam, a Holley 4bbl to replace the stock 2bbl, an Edelbrock high-rise intake manifold, and Hooker headers going to dual glasspacks. I even stole the rally wheels off of my dad's project Corvette. That car sounded awesome and would run pretty good, too, despite the really tall gearing.

I miss it.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: racolvin

Originally posted by: alkemyst
so you are saying you can't find a 1981 Z28 anywhere?

No, I'm saying I haven't been able to find a duplicate - there's a difference 🙂

I've found all sorts of ugly-ass ones in brown, white, even in this nasty looking coagulated blood color. But finding one just like the one I had, that's been a challenge 🙂

chances are you will need to restore it anyway...paint and a set of upholstery and you'd be in business.

 

[Arkaign]

Wow, stock they were incredibly weak, but I bet they're pretty easy to mod (at least the 305 and 350 models) into decent performers.

rofl @ the 110hp Camaro 😉

 

[TehMac]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Wow, stock they were incredibly weak, but I bet they're pretty easy to mod (at least the 305 and 350 models) into decent performers.

rofl @ the 110hp Camaro 😉

Amazing what government regulations can do, isn't it?

 

[JulesMaximus]

I had a friend who had a '79 Z-28 with 4 speed manual. Oddly enough his car met the same fate as yours did.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: TehMac

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Wow, stock they were incredibly weak, but I bet they're pretty easy to mod (at least the 305 and 350 models) into decent performers.

rofl @ the 110hp Camaro 😉

Amazing what government regulations can do, isn't it?

Hah, you bet. Automakers took sooooo long to figure out how to make decent power output under the more stringent regulations. Sub-200hp Vette FTL.

 

[racolvin]

Yea it was never a screaming demon but it was sharp looking thing - oh the cheerleaders that got ridden in that car ... or on that car I should say 😉

 

[exdeath]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: TehMac

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Wow, stock they were incredibly weak, but I bet they're pretty easy to mod (at least the 305 and 350 models) into decent performers.

rofl @ the 110hp Camaro 😉

Amazing what government regulations can do, isn't it?

Hah, you bet. Automakers took sooooo long to figure out how to make decent power output under the more stringent regulations. Sub-200hp Vette FTL.

More like it took a long time for our understanding of physics to evolve , and for technology to allow for mass based electronic fuel injection.

Prior to either, it was basically "approximately throw some air and flammable stuff together and it should work, the bigger the better". Now it's an exact science.

Feedback carbs and 9 miles of vacuum hoses and slow clunky mechanical actuators... *shudder*

The 70's and 80's had to wait for technology of the 90's that we perfected in the 00's to do what everyone had an idea they should be doing in the 1800's in the first place. The carb was a kludge hack from day one and everyone who ever pioneered anything regarding the internal combustion engine knew it, they just couldn't do anything about it. And well, for a hack, it worked so well for so long 🙂

 

[racolvin]

Ok, you guys are NOT going to believe this. As stated in the OP, I've been looking on and off for years for my old car. Well thinking about it today and being slightly bored at work, I did some surfing between phone calls and holy shit I found it!

81 Camaro Z-28 Link

I've already called the guy and left voicemail 🙂 Its 2000 miles away from me tho, so how I'd get it back home I have no clue 🙂

 

[alkemyst]

there are quite a few on autotrader...more pricey but a bit more details on them. On a car 2k miles away in a snowbelt area...I'd really need a lot of details to make that flight and drive/ship home. The 1981 is one of the nicer looking ones, it'd have to be non-stock though as far as engine goes 🙂 the 80's produced all crap until the mid to late part when the 5.0 got back to 225HP and the 5.7's were 250ish or more.

 

[racolvin]

When they went to the new body style in 1982, I completely lost interest in the Camaro and the Corvette .. that slant-nosed look just turns me off and still does.

 

[IcePickFreak]

Very nice, I had a black 81 Z-28 back in the early 90's I picked up in a good deal. I had a lightly massaged chevy small-block sittin around I needed to toss in something. Was a fun car, and I agree they looked much better than the 3rd gen that started in 82. I remember getting pulled over when I took it out for it's maiden shakedown run after I got the motor in; didn't put the hood back on yet, didn't have any exhaust past long tube headers, and had the license plate on it from my other car to "blend in". Yeah, in retrospect I wasn't going to blend in anywhere with or without a license plate, but young & stupid sure was fun.

 

[angry hampster]

I know how you feel, man. My grandfather gave me his old farm truck for my first vehicle. It was a 1984 Chevy 1/2 ton 4x4 pickup. When I got it, the power steering didn't work, the exhaust was almost completely rusted off, the valve covers were leaking, it had large spots of body rust, and the interior was screwed. When I sold it 4 years later, it looked like it'd just rolled off the lot, and ran brilliantly with a different motor. I've been considering picking up another one as of late, even though I don't have much use for a pickup.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: racolvin
When they went to the new body style in 1982, I completely lost interest in the Camaro and the Corvette .. that slant-nosed look just turns me off and still does.

I like the Vette, but agree about the Camaro/Firebirds.

70-81 was the best of the Firebird/Camaro.