North Georgia Classic Camaro - Parts car sources

North Georgia Classic Camaro
(MadMike’s Camaro and Chevrolet Engine Parts (Buy/Sell/Trade))

Parts Car Descriptions & Background
Why am I putting this in here? Because it can be helpful in making a decision in buying parts. For example, lots of people use "buzzwords" when selling a car, "Southern Car", "Florida Car", etc... but I get stuff all over the place. Therefore, if I get a car from New England, I won't call it, and you won't accidentally ASSUME it's a "southern car". This is mainly usefull if you need body parts. Also, I'll try and put the mileage in here. It could be interesting if nothing else....

As you may imagine, most of the other photos of car parts can be found in the carparts page, which is how you probably got here. Individual parts mentioned there will have usually come from one of the below mentioned cars. These photos used to be plopped all together in the photo gallery. I think this presentation is easier to read and figure out now.

1979 Camaro aka "Sloppy". - Obtained Summer 1996 from Gainesville Georgia.
This is the bad-boy that started the ball rolling. I had just blown up my 1990 Cavalier, and being sly... convinced my wife that this car would hold us (me) over until I got the cavalier running again. Meanwhile, I'd drive this thing. Then, I could toss the 350 into the suburban after I got the cavalier going again - yada-yada. My wife KNEW I'd keep the car, soup this up (just like I had done to my 1980 Z28 which was in the garage), so I had to twist her arm a bunch to buy the car, but I got my way (temper tantrums work sometimes).

So I bought it. I drove it a while (couple weeks). The bearings were knocked out of the car. I could tell cause the car would lose oil pressure by the time I got to work. Tracing the history of this car - it was owned by a girl in South Carolina. It was auctioned off to a dealer in Gainesville Georgia, who I bought it from. I saw the dealers kid tooling around town in the car with a "For Sale" sign on it, so I called.

The car was billed as a 350, but I suspected the engine was a 305 (it had a 305 HO head on it - the other side was a 882). I parked the car for a couple months, then found the 73 Z28. I tried to trade - as partial payment - the car to the fellow I bought my 73 Z28 from, since I was about to take a serious beating buying that car. The fellow didn't buy it, and I paid 100% cash for my 73Z.

I wound up selling sloppy to my friend as a project. However, I found the engine was coded CKT - which is a 1972 Z28 block. it's also a 10/20 block - BONUS. I traded the 350 in "franky" with the 79 Camaro to my friend Christer.

Christer traded sloppy to my (by now) partner Andrew, for a sterio and a pistol (.380 acp).

Andrew swapped sloppy back into the pile and took the below mentioned 73 RS shell out of the pile. Then I sawed up sloppy. Now it looks like this. In summary.... it ain't going anywhere anymore, next stop is the dump. Sloppys roof and a door is saving a 71 Z28 and the firewall is saving my 74 Z28. The 1/4 panels on this car are fine.

Condition:
Disposition: Scrapped, 11/99

1975 Camaro - Obtained Spring 1998 from Athens Georgia, Background: Race Car, previous unknown.
Condition: drivetrain stripped, body solid. [ I'm disappearing! ]
Disposition: Scrapped 3/99

1978 Camaro - Obtained Summer 1997 from Cumming Georgia, Car sold into Georgia new, stayed in georgia.
Condition: Blown engine (spun bearings), door damage.
Disposition: Scrapped.

1986 Camaro - Obtained Summer 1997 from Tampa Florida.
Condition: Wrecked (total). [ The side of the 1986 Camaro | The 86 Camaro | I just became a parts car :^(]
Disposition: Scrapped.

1971 Impala aka "Franky" (Frankenstein) - Obtained Summer 1997 from Dawsonville Georgia, blown transmission.
I kept a couple things, and had the car hauled off to become beer cans.
Disposition: Scrapped.

1987 Firebird - Obtained 6/19/98 from Tolland CT, mileage 127K.
Condition: Nose damage. [ The '87 Bird Dash | The '87 Bird | The '87 Bird Rear | driver side | nose view ]
Disposition: Storage shed.

1986 IROC Camaro - Obtained 7/15/98 from Philadelphia PA, mileage 118K.
Condition: Nose damage. [ The '86 Roc Rear | 86 IROC Door panel | IROC Interior ]
Disposition: Scrapped 3/99

1982 Z28 - Obtained 7/16/98 from Birmingham AL. Rolling parts car. (Mainly spares for the A/S Car).
[The '82 Z Rear | The '82 Z Nose | The 82 Z w/IROC wheel]
Still have the front of car with 305 & 200R4 trans. Kept 2.73 rear drum.
Disposition: Scrapped.

1974 Camaro - Obtained 7/19/98 from Cary NC, mileage 120K.
Condition: Rolling parts car. [ 74 Camaro roof | 1974 "shop table" ] Rear 1/4 | Rear of car
Disposition: Almost scrapped - 11/99, has good rear glass, trunk floor & rear end.

1977 Trans Am - Obtained 8/98 from Dawsonville Georgia, mileage ?K.
Condition: Front end totalled. Mice lived inside for long time. (squeek squeek).
[Minus nose damage and doors | The Hood]
Disposition: Scrapped 3/99

1989 IROC Camaro - Obtained 8/28/98 from Beverly NJ, mileage ?K.
Condition: Front end - car totalled. [ ouch ]
Definition of Totaled: [ Whoops | notice Sears can opener | Poor IROC | Buckled Shock tower | Smashed up BIGTIME ]
Disposition: Scrapped

1972 Rally Sport Camaro - Obtained 9/98 from Montgomery Al. True milage unknown
Condition: Due to rust on the rear rails of the car, this car is for parts only.
[ Nose view | Front 1/4 | Rear 1/4 | Passenger side ]
Disposition: THE NOSE IS GONE. THE FLOOR IS JUNK. The exterior sheet metal will be used to salvage my 1971, at which time this car will disappear. (aka "scrapped").
4/00: Rear End. | Cowl, Firewall & Subframe

1971 Z28: - Obtained 9/98 from Montgomery Al. Former drag car, sat around outside for 20 years.
Disposition: Sold 12/99

1976 Camaro: - Obtained 12/98 from Camden County Georgia. Stripped in anticipation of going dirt track racing.
Rear view | Nose view, from inside the 75
Disposition: Scrapped 3/99

1979 Camaro: - Obtained 12/98 from Banks County Georgia. No engine/trans.
Rear View | Rear 1/4 view
Disposition: Scrapped 4/00, kept rear 1/4 section which is fine.

1979 Z28 Camaro: - Obtained 3/99 from Douglas County Georgia. Mostly stripped. No engine/trans. Originally from Florida, but it's severely rusted (ocean salt?). Disposed of car so quickly that no photos of it were taken.
Disposition: Scrapped 3/99

1973 Rally Sport Camaro: - Obtained 4/99 from Barrow County Georgia.
350, 2 barrel, TH350, EXCELLENT 14" Rally Wheels, surface rust. straight and running.
Minus Front end sheet metal | Dash. Notice 8 track tape.
Disposition: THIS CAR IS GONE. COMPLETELY.

1983 Z28. Obtained from Alpharetta Georgia. Was supposed to go A/Sedan Road racing, but I'm gonna focus on my drag car and my older stuff. All the cool 3rd gen Camaro/IROC/Z28 stuff is up for grabs.
Disposition: Rolling chassis with roll cage is being retained by a friend of mine. All other items of value will be sold. 305 A/S legal engine is for sale too.

1971 Z28: - Obtained 9/99 from Augusta Georgia. Was a fellows project, he bought a lot of parts from me. He lost interest and I bought all my parts back, plus the car. Resold car immediately and kept most of my parts.
Disposition: Sold Immediately (with condition that I restore it)

1972 RS/SS: - Obtained 12/99 from Dawsonville Georgia. I was going to race this car, then came to my senses.
Disposition: Sold 4/00, car now resides in Florida.

1981 Z28: - Obtained 3/00 from Wilson NC (formerly from NJ). I traded some stuff to a friend and rather than him strip the car, give me the 4 speed transmission and then dispose of it, I took the whole car (transmission & all). Or what was left of it.
Front end section | Rear end on it's way to the dump.
Disposition: Scrapped 4/00.

1980 Camaro: - Obtained 4/00 from Dawsonville GA. My friends wife wanted it, thought it was a Z28. But it wasn't. So now she don't want it and the guy wants it out of his yard. Now it's in my yard. This car is surprisingly rust free, all glass is good.
Disposition: Sold - 8/00, car now resides in Rome NY.
Note: This is the only car that has ever came back "up the hill" intact. I'm getting SAVED! (new owner cut the hell out of it).

1972 Camaro: - Obtained 8/00 from Woodstock GA. Body panels not suitable for sale, but they'll probably be sufficient to go stock car racing. We'll see what happens.
Disposition:

J-Bodies & a Beretta
I got a couple Cavaliers to store parts in. I was going to repair and run the 89 Wagon, but.... everything of value will be sold off these as well. I'm not in the J-body biz, but I have noses, front ends, interior seats, rear tail lights, glass, some drive train items....

Notes: "Storage shed" means that the car is still around in some shape or form, usually watertight, and it's full of "stuff".
"Scrapped" means the car has been cut up into little pieces and disposed of accordingly. Either as usable sheet metal, or off to the crusher/dump.

Scrap procedure:
Strip everything out of car.
Remove bolt on panels, doors, trunk lid.
Remove exterior hardware: Lights, mirrors, trim, emblems.
Remove gas tank.
Remove rearend & suspension.
Remove front end sheet metal.
Remove subframe. Strip subframe.
Strip firewall.
Remove dash, under dash.

Then, saw the thing up.
The way cars are generally cut up:
Remove all the glass.
Take off the roof. Instant convertable.
Saw straight through the floor leaving the firewall section as a piece.
Try and save the floor.
Saw straight down the driveshaft tunnel. Save the frame rails and 1/4 panels.

Usable pieces left over, if any:
Rear deck (where speakers are).
1/4 panels. Complete, or as "patch panels".
Frame rails.
Floor sections.
Console/trans tunnel section.
Door jambs.

There's 2 things to note: #1: Scrapped may sound a little rude. It's a bummer to destroy a Camaro. Scrapped cars are generally too far rusted or wasted to be saved.

#2: While this may sound like fun, it's actually A LOT OF WORK. Figure to strip a car takes 50 hours of labor. It's also slightly dangerous. Even with all the precautions we take, we still get stung by bees, smashed knuckles, burnt, cuts & bruises....

Some reality, You need:

A place to work. Once you begin to strip the car, it's probably not going anywhere ever again.
A LOT OF STORAGE: As the car is taken apart, you need to store all the goodies somewhere.
Tools. (special tools, including torches and air chisels/hammer).
A way to transport the thing (truck/trailer).
A way to dispose of the car. Most places charge money to haul off junk.

Once you start disassembling pieces and taking parts off a car, nobody wants the thing. For example, someone may take a car (for nothing) if it has an engine/trans. Once the engine/trans are gone, the thing is "worthless" to a scrap yard and they may charge money to take it.

However, don't get me wrong: I BUY CARS (Camaros). While I can/will/have hauled off junk Camaros for nothing, I've also paid upwards of $3000 for (most of) a car as well. Every time I hook my truck & trailer up I just spent a minimum of $30. If I go anywhere I usually spend $80 - 150 to recover or pick up a car. I'll take a Camaro regardless of what's in it, or condition, I'll often take a whole car even if it has a couple parts I'm looking for. You'd be surprised what type of stuff you'll need down the road when restoring something and you can't find it (hmmm, I probably have it). A car is generally worth what the one single most expensive item in the car is worth, everything else is thrown in.

Other concerns: Environmental - Economical: Most parts yards don't want a 1976 Camaro. They want a 1996 Lexus or BMW. I mention this because sometimes, before reality sets in, people will think their scrap of iron that says "Camaro" is worth a lot of money. "Hey, the transmission alone is worth $300". Well, "Name that tune - I say". Once you remove the transmission, the car is "useless" to 99% of everyone and now you gotta pay to have the car hauled off. Cause it ain't driving anywhere anymore.

I got into doing this to help me and some friends restore our stuff. Therefore, I'm eating the labor. I need the stuff for myself, and I sell off whatever I don't need. At best, I break even.

Did I mention I have a 7 car trailer? This is the visual description of "scrapped". Here's me before I make a "dump run". There's about a years supply of beer cans in this photo. We got a 1986 IROC, a 1989 IROC, 1977 Trans Am, 1975 Camaro, 1986 Camaro, 1976 Camaro & a 1978 Camaro. There is absolutely NOTHING of any value in this photo (other than the trailer). Anything usefull is stashed. If I was playing music on this website, you'd be listening to the "Joe Walsh - There goes the neighborhood" album (picture the cover).

Last updated: 8/24/2000
Author: MadMike Maciolek
Email: iracez28@alltel.net

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