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This page documents the replacement of my mechanical parts of my Camaro.  There are many parts on this car that are worn, and ready to be replaced.  Many trips to Auto Zone and the shop, and my dream car will be street worthy!

Phase 2: Replace worn parts, and getting my car to start

After I purchased my car, cleaned it up a little, and took some close looks at it, I realized that  it was now time to do the hard work.  The fuel pump is the reason why the car would not start in the first place.  So the first project was to get at the gas tank and see the damage.  My car sat like this in the first picture for a few weeks.  It took some time to find new parts and to find the time to get at the job.  I was working close to full time and my dad works full time, so we had to find time where we could work on it together.  In order to get at the gas tank where the fuel pump is located we had to drop the rear end out of it.  You can see in the middle picture how the differential is dropped down.  When we got the tank out and examined it we came to a conclusion that a brand new tank would be the best, because the old one was very tarnished.  In the far right picture is the new fuel pump.  Pretty intricate piece of equipment, and VERY important!

Well it took a few days to get the new gas tank ordered and get everything put back together in its place.  There were so many steps to take in order to get at the tank and replace it.  If you have ever replaced a fuel pump in a gas tank you know exactly what I am talking about.  Well the tank and pump fit back in perfectly.  On the left is the new tank being bolted in place by my dad.  Nice shiny tank ain't it?  In the middle my dad is buttoning everything back up.  We had to drop the differential and take down all of the sway bars, and even hacked the mufflers off in order to get at the tank.  No worry about the exhaust system, I am replacing that too.  Well, a very disappointing time now.  My dad got everything put in properly, but on the turn of the key, we didn't hear the fuel pump kick on!!!!!!  On the right my dad is sitting in the car reading the owners manual trying to figure out why the car won't start even after replacing the broken pump.  Many things could have been the problem, and my dad tried to think of every possiblility.  You'll be surprised to know what the problem was!!!!

In the mean time of getting the car fixed to start, I was able to purchase new brakes for my car.  On the left you can see the remains of the passenger side brake rotor.  This rotor was burt up in the "tire incident" during the trip home.  You can see the burt tip of the brake line laying on the rotor.  This rotor was rusted and severly warped.  No way was I keeping that on my car.  I purchased two new rotors, calipers, pads, bearings and brake line for my car.  The drivers side caliper (the brand new one) was a problem.  The piston in the caliper was frozen, so the brake didn't work.  I had to take that caliper back and get a new one, and that fixed the problem perfectly.  Now I am able to stop on a dime.  The rear drum brakes are yet to be replaced.  I was given a set of shoes for the brakes by a friend of ours, Thanks Mr. Rheinhardt!!  It looks as though the drums will need to be turned or just replaced all together.

I was able to purchase a whole new exaust system, from catalytic converter on back.  I purchased a new muffler, and duel tail pipes.  Not too long ago, I got the catalytic converter replaced.  In the time It took to get my car running, I was able to replace the following items on my car;  Console cover, and other various interior parts, 4 stock white Camaro rims, Fuel pump relay, fuel pump, gas tank, exhaust, rear shocks, hood pumps, air filters, fuel filter, oil filter, brake rotors, calipers, pads, light bulbs, head lamps, battery, spark plugs.  I am sure that there were some more things that I replaced.  The Lord's timing was perfect, because I was able to get these parts replaced now instead of worring about it after my car was up and running.

Well, my Dad got tired of worring about what it was that was causing my car not to start.  As you can see in the picture it is winter.  He also didn't want to work outside in that kind of weather!  My dad called a tow truck and had it towed to a mechanic.  My car spent a few days in the shop and the mechanic got my car to run!  The problem with my car was that I purchased a FAULTY fuel pump!!!  Can you believe it?  My dad would have had to drop the tank out again and work on it.  My dad went to look at it and he said that the car was sputtering and shaking and was really struggling in idle.  The mechanic suggested that I get new injectors to fix the grogginess.  That would have put my bill to over $700.  I just decided to let my car open up on the highway and let the injectors clean themselves.  Some fuel additive helped out too!!  I am so happy at this point my baby is finally alive!!!!

On the far left are the old rims. These were Keystone rims, I thought that they looked really nice, but I love the way the stock Camaro rims look!!  I purchased these new white rims at two different junkyards.  Two in Boonville, IN and two here in Evansville.  I got a great deal on these rims. I think I payed roughly $175 for the set.  I got white rims, because they will match any color that my car will be painted.

Sorry this is a bad photo, my hand was in the way :) but I did have to replace my water pump.  The old one had a leak something fierce.  I was going through a jug of antifreeze a week just about.  Finally I got a round to fixing it.  I went to Auto Zone and purchased this new one.  Origionally I had pulled off the old pump and exchanged it at Auto Zone to get a cheaper price on the new one, but the new one I got had the wrong bolt line up for the pully.  I didn't find this out until I had the gaskets all sealed and the pump was all bolted on and I was getting ready to put on the pully.  Well I ripped off the wrong pump and returned it for what is now the new one.  I was holding coolant very well, until a few weeks later at baseball practice I noticed that my car was smoking.  It smelled like coolant.  When I

popped the hood I noticed that the coolant was dripping from my heater core hoses located on the firewall behind the engine.  The coolant was dripping right on the exhaust pipe and was steaming off.  I purchased new heater in and out hoses for the heater core.  It was a nice cramped area to work with, right behind the engine.  Those who have had to replace them know :)  Problem solved!  Nice and shiny ain't it?  I also went ahead and drained my coolant system.

Again, before I was able to get my car to start, I replaced many of the mechanical parts of the vehicle.  The rear shocks were one of them.  I purchased new Gas Ryder shocks for the rear.  The old ones were more fun to play with, because I could dribble the back of the car like a basketball.  Fun for a while, but it wouldn't be fun to dribble down the expressway doing 55mph.  I had to pull down the rear bench and pull up the carpeting to reach the top bolt and bushing.

This process was much later on down the road, but I thought I would stick this information in here......I spent a Saturday afternoon inhailing some fumes while cleaning my carpet.  The stain remover was quite odoriferous, and quite effective, I managed to pull up many grease spots, one major one on the passenger side floor.  I was thinking of buying new carpeting, maybe later.

for more part swapping information...

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