I'm sorry Monika, I don't want to mislead you, but I use to work for a Camaro tran am exclusive dealer and the problem you have was one that was common on Camaro's from back east. The problem lies in the inside of the metal sandwich, you can wire wheel all that surface stuff off but it will be back in a year or so because the rot has not been addressed. It sometimes causes the top part of the hood to bubble up real bad over time. You can find a quality replacement hood from eBay for like $40-$75 bicks for a standard hood, or the SS style hoods for $400 and up.

 

Oh great, an East Coast problem. Is it becasue the water from rain and whatever sprays up there and gets trapped?

 

That along with the moisture and salt from the roads etc.

 

I also have seen the same thing on my old hood. Mine was a different issue though. Radiator hose had a problem from the other owner. I just ditched the hood, found one that had been on a car for 75 miles on ebay. $100 bucks, matched the old paint perfect. As for your t tops, that is def. a failure. It looks as though it might be heat/sun related. Those t tops can get extremly hot and I suspect that is what happened.


Back to the hood, sorry, bugging me. You can always wire brush it up and then put some POR-15 on it. This isn't a fix, just extend the time awhile pefore you will see more and more damage. Good luck.

 

Hi guys! I went to the "new paint guy" Monday after work and he said that he can save the hood! He looked at it and said that he didn't think the rust went all the way thru. I guess only time will tell. I just can't afford the new hood and painting it too. He is going to paint the whole underside of the hood too. That way the over spray of orange paint wont be there any more. I asked him about the CAMARO lettering on the back. He actually said that he could tape the letters and spray them. He said that he could probably do that better than a guy that would hand letter them. You know I gave him a "are you saying you're that good?" look. He went and got the tape and showed me on the C how good he was. I was impressed. I am dropping the car off on Monday and will give you the update as soon as I get her back. Again thanks for all your help and support!!! Monika

 

Yay! I hope everything works out good for you. Be sure to keep us posted.

 

Awsome Monika, just keep us posted on how things turn out.

 

Howdy all! Well the good news is that the new paint guy, who's name is Kevin, is very good! The CAMARO was painted and looks great. He fixed the rust spot under the hood and painted the whole underside. Also fixed the lines of the orange stripes on the spoiler. I will post pics on Monday. I am going to Zaino and clay bar her this weekend! The bad news is that the cr*ppy paint guy didn't prep the sides of the hood when he sprayed the clear coat. So if you look at the edges of the hood when it is open you can see it peeling!!! It doesn't show when the hood is down but it eventually wont it come over the top? Kevin said that it might or might not. I feel like calling up Mike the cr*ppy paint guy and freaking out on him! I was so bummed by this information that I couldn't even enjoy the fact that the other things looked great. I am going to report the first place to the BBB and feel good about it. On the other hand, Kevin was such a nice guy he bumped the price for what he did down about $70, cause it was that much over the estamate he gave me last week (I think he felt sorry for me) and also replaced my high beam light that was cracked for no charge. Those lamps aren't cheap! I guess they saw it when they were washing the car. To top it off, when I got there to pick up the car, I went to pay with a credit card, he said that he only takes cash or check. Of course I didn't have either on me! He let me take the car with out paying! Can you believe that!? My husband ran the check up there this morning. Wow, what a difference. Very cool guy. As I said I will post pics on Monday of the good stuff and see if I can get a close enough shot of the clear coat peeling. Who knew this was going to be such a friggen mess! Oh yeah, almost forgot to tell you about the CAMARO issue. Kevin said that the first guy didn't even prep the surface of the lettering. He had no problem getting the paint out of there, he used his finger nail, it just peeled right out! OMG, can you belive this hack job!!??

 

Awsome Monika, I am glad all turned out well. As long as the top of the roof was sanded properly, the clear will stick just fine. That is total hack work on the tail panel and it sounds like you have found a great body guy. Don't feel bad about parts of your car peeling though, at least you don't have body panels being peeled off like my car LOL!!!

 

We'll be looking forward to the new pictures Monika.

 

Hi guys,
I know it has been awhile, but I haven't forgotten you! Here are some pics of my baby from the GM/Camaro Nationals a couple of weekend ago. It was lots of fun. Got to see the concept in person and got to meet the fbodfather Scott. If you ever get the chance to go please do. See thread in the 5th gen section. Anyway, I didn't take pics of under the hood but here is the CAMARO on the back and the stripes on the spoiler. All better! I am better now too! Thanks again and again for your support. Oh yeah, when I get a few seconds I will post some pics of the event in the "event section".

 

That looks killer Monika, they did a bang up job!

 

Looking good Monika!

I really wanted to go to the GM Nat's but I got shafted into working on that weekend. Oh well, maybe next time around.

 

I started this thread 11 years ago! Holy cr*p! I have been away soooo long. I just logged in for the first time in a very long time. Posted a thread about a heater hose assembly. I am resurrecting this thread to see if my "old friends" are still here Hope you are all doing well. My car still lives at 20! Things are falling apart slowly with the body and interior but the engine? Ugh. I have probably put more $ into it than the car is worth at this point. I also replace the transmission two years ago. I still love her though.

 

Wow, you still have your car that is awesome. I'm still here. Not as active, but still here. How is the paint holding up?

 

I do! She is garage kept the last 9 years. My only car now. Take train to work. 163k miles on her. Lol the paint is great! Had the whole front end repainted at a totally different shop. Someone bumped my car in the airport parking lot when I was picking someone up. The nose & hood were not dented but all the paint cracked like an egg. Too many coats of paint I guess. Since I have collision on my car (don't laugh) & I pay extra for the paint job, it was paid for. Phew.
Thanks for asking all the other paint is good.
I do see that most people are not active.
I plan on posting more questions soon about certain repairs. Did you see my post about the heater hose assembly? She's at the mechanic now. She's hanging on...

 

Wow, that is terrible and good all at the same time. Glad you got her fixed. My LE has only seen about 800 miles in the last decade. My wife drives her Camaro more than I drive mine lol.

I was at one time a die hard Camaro guy, and thought I always would be. I bought a 2000 SS as a daily driver some time back and that thing nickled and dimed me to the point that was ready to sell all of them. Never been happier to see a car go!

I still love the Camaro's especially the first gen, but I can hardly call myself a Camaro guy.

I have forgotten how to search for links, so if you post a link in this thread I can get to your heater hose problem and see what can be done to get you back on the road.

Cheers.

 

Well that's sad but I can completely understand!

I copied & pasted... Thanks
Hi all,
Have a coolant leak and I was told I need a whole heater hose assembly. I don't work on my car and have to trust that the place I take it is telling me the truth. Also, I read that replacing the heater core at the same time may be a good idea... I live in Philly. My awesome friend/mechanic is in North Jersey. He is on a road trip and I can't reach him at the moment.
I looked online and read through some forums and it seems like this isn't true. He said it has to come from the dealer as well? I had no idea they made parts for my 20-year-old car still... He is charging me about $250 for the part and $125 to put it in.
Advice would be appreciated. I have until the end of today to tell him yes or no.
Thank you!

 

Wait for your mechanic to come back. I just ran a search in eBay and the average cost for the hose assembly is about $150. Not sure where the mechanic is getting his parts from, but I would wait for your regular guy to get back or take it to another shop. The dealer might even be cheaper to perform the work. Good luck.