my 78 camaro is back in my possession.... and she's out for blood!
some back story on Christine and me.
15 years old.... I was looking for a car. didnt want to spend a whole lot, but still wanted something that I could be proud of. A friend of mine told me about an old camaro sitting out in a bean field that the guy was wanting ~$500 for. So I stopped off at the local gas station, went inside and saw a friend of mine working behind the counter. stopped and talked with her for a little and told her what I was doing that day. she mentioned that her brother had a second gen camaro out at their house that he was wanting $250.00 for. Seeing as how her house was on the way to where the other camaro was reported to be I decided to swing out there.
as I turn off the road I realize that the two camaros are one and the same. I pull up to the house and I see her sitting there. then it dawns on me that I know this car. I have been in it and driven it before as well. the car had changed hands a few times before I came to procure her. I knock on the door and Ryan answers. we chat for a little bit and we start talking about the car. he said he was wanting 500 for it, I told him his sister told me 250. he said that would work.... so I snapped a few pictures and shook his hand and went off back to town.
I get home that evening, mom and dad ask where I was at. I told them I was out making a deal to buy my first car. dad kinda scoffs and says "oh really?" Mom asks "what kind of car?" (mind you they had been thinking I was going to do the same thing my sister did.... cosign on a used grand prix or something like that).
I tell them "its a 78....Camaro"
and I see my dads eyes light up just a little. (I could tell he was proud. then again, he had a '65 impala with a blown 502BB back in the day)
mom just kinda shook her head. lol
next day, I get my paycheck from work for $246.00. I endorsed it and handed it to ryan with a $5 bill. he signed the title and I drove her home....
then two days later I was out at my grandparents house in the country hot rodding around.... redlined the car in reverse then slammed it into drive.... car lurched forward.... transmission kept going backwards. lol so I walk about a half mile thru the fields back to grandpa's house. fire up the tractor and tow the car home. grandpa comes outside and asks what happened and tells me to pull the trans out of his old 65 pickup. so I crack open the door on the truck and notice its a manual...."Hey grandpa, this truck is a stick"
"So?" he replies.
"ok..." I say and the swap gets under way.
fast forward a couple years later and I'm shipping off to the military. leaving my baby out at grandpa's house.
finish up with basic, fly home and pack all of my stuff up in a u-haul trailer and hook it up to the car.
1200 miles later I'm back in Charleston. I had a slight problem enroute.... the rear wheels I had on the car were 15's and the stock size was 14's so my speedometer was off by a little... so instead of driving 60-ish, I was driving 80-90ish...with a uhaul trailer behind me... with only one exterior mirror... that had a broken bracket so it shook in the wind and wasn't really useful. plus, I had put a flaming skull and bones decal on the back window (and since it was made for trucks/suv's that had vertical windows, putting it on the angled glass of my car severely restricted my rear view). I learned to drive without mirrors. still rarely use them to this day... lol
back to the trip down to charleston, heading thru NC around Asheville, I'm going too fast for the roads (speedometer off) and coming around a hard corner thru the mountains I start smelling something burning... it wasnt oil, it wasnt trans fluid, or gas, or brake fluid... I asked myself out loud.... what is that? then.....
TINK TINK TINK TINK TINK...... BOOOM!
the front left wheel had popped the lug nuts and decided it didnt want to be part of the car any more. being in the right lane with a semi truck on my left didnt help matters any. I watched the wheel bounce in the road, ricochet off the median barrier then bounce off the semi. I skidded to a stop on the shoulder. the semi truck just about locked up his brakes and stopped about 1/4 mile down the road. I get out and realize I'm 9" from the white line on the side of the road on a blind corner. changing this wheel out should be fun... then I remember.... I dont have a spare!!!!
I look down the road at the semi, and I see the driver getting out and putting on some gloves.... all I can think is my wheel busted his windshield or something and he's going to beat the living crap out of me. I watch him walk towards me and about half way to me, he darts off into the woods. I kinda scratch my head and a pickup truck pulls over to help out. I jack the car up and asked the driver of the pickup if she would run me to the next town to get a new wheel/tire, at which time I see the trucker emerge from the woods with my wheel. he comes up to me and I start apologizing for any damage that it might have caused. I told him I was active duty military and was moving down to charleston and would give him all of my contact information as well as that of my supervisor/commander/etc. he shook his head and said dont worry about it. he told me that after the wheel bounced off the barrier it left a skid mark on his hood. I told him I would pay for it to be fixed/repainted/etc. he said "dont worry, this will give me one hell of a story to tell at truck stops and no amount of money could buy that"
so, I pull a lug nut from each of the remaining wheels and put the wheel back on and limp to the next town. bought a full set of lugs (and a four-way) and replaced all the lugs on the car. and continued on to base.
a few years go by and I acquire my 94Z28 and bring down my 70 C10 pickup. (I would have brought down my 80 K20, but I rolled it while on leave back home). then I started heavily modifying the 94Z more and more. Christine sat in the dorm parking lot. I sold off the 70 C10 and still didnt do much with Christine. then I talked to my wife about possibly getting rid of her, since I had the 94 (that... at the time was in great shape and was a newer car with more accouterments) and was spending most of my time and money with it, and that I didnt have a garage to work on the 78 and had the car for years and never made any big progress with her.
so I talked to a few people and a friend of mine who was initially interested in the C10 asked about Christine. I brought him on base and spent about 4 hours going over every single nut and bolt on the car, every little touch I had done, every little quirk she had (and there were a few). After everything was said and done we shook hands on an agreed price and I told him I had a couple requirements for her.
1. Keep me updated with her progress
2. If you ever decide to sell her.... call me first, because I will buy her back
so a few years go by. the 94 gets worse and worse for wear, blown head gasket, blown transmission. so I buy the pickup truck I currently have and the 94 sat on base waiting for me to do something with it. Then the friend calls me and says he doesnt have time to really mess with her any more. I asked him how much he wanted for her, he told me she had a new engine, new wheels, new carpet and some other goodies but he just needs her gone and he'll take what he gave me for her. So I go pick up a trailer and I sign a check over and he signs the title and she is now back with me. she's currently at my friends motorsport shop waiting on some extra goodies (and insurance, registration, etc). she'll be back on the road soon. I'm hoping to get her road worthy enough to make the trek to C5F. but I have just over a month to go.... and my wife doesnt want me spending a whole lot of money on her right now. so we'll see.
She's not the baddest car on the block, she's not the fastest, but she's mine once again. She is my first car and I could go on for hours about the fun times I've had with her. but maybe another day.
she's going to need a little work. new fenders, door hinges. she needs to be washed BAAAAAAD. (she was green when I left her... and was painted flat black... but south carolina sunshine and sea water dont help cars down here and she's been sitting for a while now)
bunch of pollen all over the hood (it was taken off to facilitate engine swap).
the old big block inline six is getting picked up this weekend. Its going to be rebuilt for a go-kart project.
some big ol' tires on the back and the old light up skull shifter on the rat fink 3 speed.