Yells for a fire extinguisher pretty much sum up what this Chevy’s about.
We all dream of finding some car hidden away in a barn, garage, or maybe even in a basement. Being the first one to use the thing in a while sure sounds exciting, but Tyler Hoover of YouTube channel Hoovie’s Garage shows us the dark underbelly of a neglected car. He recently acquired a 1993 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28 which had sat unused for about 10 years and the results aren’t pretty.
Oh sure, this car looks amazing. The seller didn’t invest in any imported buckets of barn find dust. Instead, the guy had the foresight to throw a quality car cover over it, preserving the paint, trim, and even the tires. This Chevy looks amazing, so most people wouldn’t guess it’s sat neglected for a decade.
The story of this car helps explain why it looks so good. It originally was a high school graduation present (rough life, I know) and that guy kept it and drove it for some time. In fact, the car has 80,000 miles on the odometer, which is surprising considering the cosmetic condition. Then the owner got busy, garaged it, then sold it to Tyler Hoover. Anyone who got a nice red muscle car for their graduation would want to baby the thing, even if it had an automatic like this Camaro does.
At first glance the LT1 looks pretty clean, but closer inspection reveals rust stains on the serpentine belt. The engine turns over but won’t fire up until some starting fluid is sprayed in, leading them to conclude the fuel pump and tank are bad. Once the car’s on the lift a few leaks are obvious, but that’s not unexpected. What is a surprise are the frame stiffeners which have been welded in, increasing torsional rigidity for better handling, a very nice addition to a fourth-gen Camaro indeed. A few other mods are waiting, like slotted and drilled rotors.
Getting the fuel pump out and installing a new one is ridiculously hard, then things get interesting. After the fire the figure the problem might be the fuel injectors, which isn’t a bad guess. This is what you get for grabbing that barn find car, so take note. Anyway, eventually it gets fixed, then the window breaks and Hoover is going to be fixing things on this Camaro for some time.
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Steven Symes
Steven Symes
