Camaro Faqs

Camaro enthusiasts are constantly trying to find new and better ways of restoring their old Camaro and giving it a look that truly shines. Many believe that using old body panels will do the trick – but soon discover that they usually make the problem worse and make the job longer.

Mark Miller has been restoring cars for over 35 years and has learned many things. “No matter how careful you are, the age of the material you started with is a persistent issue,” Mr. Miller said. Which is why using old body panels will do nothing to change this. The challenges of producing a sharp-looking ’57 Chevy Bel Air or ’68 Ford Mustang are considerable even when the restoration project starts with a solid car. But it is far more challenging when working with what Mr. Miller calls a 10-foot car — one that is presentable when seen from a distance, but proves to be rotted when you look at it closer.

Yet as the cost of potential donor cars continues to rise, and the availability of rust-free bodies shrinks, the temptation to use the 10-footers only increases. “Fixing one of these disasters is invariably frustrating and expensive,” he said. “The ideal approach is starting with a brand-new body of virgin metal.” This alternative — building a car around a complete aftermarket body shell — is what many classic-car rebuilders are coming to regard as a new school of auto restoration.

“The final cost may or may not be lower, but the results are always vastly superior to old-school methods,” Mr. Miller said. Jim Taylor, a metal fabricator at the Roadster Shop in Elgin, Ill., agrees. “The cliché ‘rust never sleeps’ is so true,” he said. “Removing corroded panels to weld in new ones is like assembling a puzzle. And when you’re done, holding rust at bay is almost impossible.”

The desire for cars of a simpler era has not only driven up the prices of restored classics in recent years, it has spurred the growth of an industry dedicated to producing replica parts — even some once considered too complex and costly to make.
Now, obsolete components — like frame rails for a ’32 Ford — are back in stock, and resourceful Detroit-area tool-and-die shops are stamping out fresh body panels for old cars. For the most part, the new pieces are identical to, and interchangeable with, the originals.

Some of those companies have since realized that by adding just a few more panels, they would be able to stitch the pieces together and offer restoration shops a complete body ready for finishing and painting. In some instances, liberties have been taken to improve quality, function or customer appeal. Other manufacturers employ subtle alterations to the alloy or thickness of the metal, and use modern welding processes to increase strength — all the better for hot-rodders who intend to install powerful V-8s under the hood.