I have an '77 Z and want the '78 up nose on it....Do I need new front fenders also? What about the front bumber inner frame? Basically what all do I need to convert to the '78 nose? thanks Blue

No offence to your plans or anything, but this is my opinion. I'd leave the 77Z alone and find a 78 or up car. That's just me though. If it was a plain jane 77, I'd go ahead and you will need nose, bumpers, inner bumper supports, and fenders.
I haven't seen too many intact 77 Z's, and I for one like the big bumper cars. However, I'm in the minority http://www.nastyz28.com/ubb/smile.gif

What would you do with the back end? Leave the big bumper or put a soft bumper on it?

Good luck

[This message has been edited by Nick76 (edited September 29, 2003).]

Well that would be one option but the car is pretty much a project $200 car, so I want to do the soft front and rear bumbers. And add '70 tail lights for the rear.I know a lot of welding and cutting but I can do that. Blue

doing the rear bumper might be a much bigger challenge than the front. The quarters are different, the rear fascia and tail panel understructure is different. I'm thinking a lot of cutting and welding.

I'd say forget it.

Nick76 has the same opinion as me. In 77, there were only a little more than 14,000 Z's made. If you fix it up original, then it'll be worth more and you'll probably have less into it and it'll definately be easier. I would buy it as a 77, but never as a 70/77/78 hybrid.

To each his own but i agree with the rest. I would use plane jane for that job.Just sold unrestowed 77z for 11,ooo very nice car but still needed some work to finish. Traded the car for some paintand cash to finish restow on 76LT bone stock 28,817 all origanl except tires shocks wheels.

mmm, 78 nose 70 tail lights. :9

OK I have decided to restore this Z. Thanks to all of you. Please read my new post. Thanks Blue

Dude, do the car the way YOU want it. It's a late 2nd gen Camaro.....I don't see you making much money on the sale of a total resto car considering you're starting with a $200 project vehicle. It's your car, your money, and your time.

it looks avery out of place with the 78 front on a 77, just not right


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1977 Camaro Sports coupe
350 +.030
flat top pistons
AFR1 195cc alum. heads
Preformer RPM intake
670cfm Street Avneger
Dynomax headers and sidepipes
TH-350 w/ stage II shift kit
stock tourque converter
3.73's with Eaton posi unit

PLEASE don't do that !!!!!
Especially to a Z. Sell the '77 if need be, to get a later model but keep the original stuff together.

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'77 Sport Coupe; 350/330 HO crate; 350 trans; new suspension, interior, etc.

I was watching Muscle Car today and they were trimming up a bumper on a mid 70's Buick to clean up the body lines. Popular Hot Rodding did the same thing with a 1976 Camaro and painted the bumpers body color. This mod did seem like a lot of work, but if you were wanting a more more modern street machine look instead of a resto, it seemed to make sense when paired with dechroming and modern big wheeels with short tire walls. But if that is what you are going for, it seemed easier to do the urethane front bumper swap instead as a bolt on. I was thinking of my 2nd 1976 Camaro I bought back in 1986, which was had a pretty molested front end. The bumper, headlights, and hood were the only parts that were not damaged. Both fenders were rusted out and one had a strange dent in it (you could almost sit in it like a seat). The front upper valance was cracked and grille broken. The lower valance had been torn up good on cement parking barriers. Ultimately I ended up fixing all that, but it was a lot of bodywork. At the time I had come across a rear ended urethane Camaro in a salvage yard, while I was looking for a rear spoiler. It would have been a perfect match for swapping front clips, but it never occurred to me then. Chevy was going to introduced the urethane bumper on the 1976, but design problems moved the intro back. I'm not sure if that would have included a urethane rear bumper too. But swapping the light front bumper onto a big bumper car makes sense from a weight aspect. Putting a lighter bumper on front while retaining the heavier bumper on the rear retains the weight where you want it on the rear axle, while trimming weight off where you don't want it on the front. The Firebird had sported the rear chrome bumper and urethane front bumper look until the mid '70s, so the look isn't unprecedented. I suppose to modernize the look, the rear bumper would be painted body color (maybe the rub strip too, or removed, but there is the recess for it underneath), and maybe tuck it a bit too. But if the anodized or polished aluminum look were kept, the front bezels should be the chrome versions to balance the shiny, maybe retain the gray grille too.

OK I have decided to restore this Z. Thanks to all of you. Please read my new post. Thanks Blue
You have made the right choice. ;)

I wonder how Caterpillar's 77Z restoration is coming along?
I'm expecting an update any day now....... http://209.85.62.26/12281/64/emo/waiting.gif






Lifeguard.. You gave this one the breath of life after almost eight years! ;)

I wonder how Caterpillar's 77Z restoration is coming along?
I'm expecting an update any day now....... http://209.85.62.26/12281/64/emo/waiting.gif






Lifeguard.. You gave this one the breath of life after almost eight years! ;)
Lol Terry
His last post was October of 2003

I wonder how Caterpillar's 77Z restoration is coming along?
I'm expecting an update any day now....... http://209.85.62.26/12281/64/emo/waiting.gif






Lifeguard.. You gave this one the breath of life after almost eight years! ;)

Nice....I hate posting a new topic if someone had already been discussing it previously. But I didn't look at the dates on it, just the content. Now if I can just find a urethane bumper Camaro that has been rear ended by a big bumper Camaro, and are locked together I'll have the perfect candidate for this project.

A friend of mine did this swap way back in the late 80's. We were all poor high school kids,he wrecked his big bumper Camaro,went to a junk yard and unbolted the entire front clip off a rubber nose car from the firewall foward including the radiator support,radiator ect and bolted it to his big bumper car all in one shot. He then proceeeded to dump the entire wrecked front clip over the wall behind the high school into the river,then got caught and had to carry the whole mess back up the rocks and get rid of it the right way.

I just figured I would throw some humor in.

A friend of mine did this swap way back in the late 80's. We were all poor high school kids,he wrecked his big bumper Camaro,went to a junk yard and unbolted the entire front clip off a rubber nose car from the firewall foward including the radiator support,radiator ect and bolted it to his big bumper car all in one shot. He then proceeeded to dump the entire wrecked front clip over the wall behind the high school into the river,then got caught and had to carry the whole mess back up the rocks and get rid of it the right way.

I just figured I would throw some humor in.

Yes, please do not illegally dump any discarded parts from your project car. Kind of an odd thing to do, since metal reycylers will pay for scrap metal and that was a lot of steel and aluminum.

So, what was the verdict on the final appearance? Did the rear end stand out, or did it look OK?

Who is discarding parts!!!!!!