For several years now, many YouTubers who spend their time showing how to work on cars have taken on what have been called “revivals”. Dylan McCool is one such individual...for years now, he's brought home all sorts of older vehicles with the goal of bringing them back from the clutches of the scrapyard and putting them back onto the road where someone can enjoy them for years to come. While he’s known for being Mopar-heavy, that doesn’t mean he won’t spin a wrench on another brand. His 1977 Ford Mustang II Cobra and his 1968 Charger-bodied 1990s era Lincoln Town Car attest to his Blue Oval leanings. But seeing a GM product isn't common, yet it is easy to understand why this 1979 Chevrolet Camaro recently entered his world.

The story of the Camaro is heartbreaking. Larry, the previous owner, parked the Camaro sometime around 2013 due to a brake issue. He is also facing down a Stage IV cancer diagnosis, and recently came to the decision that he would rather see his beloved car put back on the road for someone else to enjoy like he had instead of leaving it sitting where it was. The one caveat to the sale was that once the car was running and driving, Dylan would bring the car back so that Larry could go for one last ride in his car. With that promise made, Dylan towed the Camaro back to his shop and got to work.

An initial once-over of the Camaro showed a lot of promise. A little bit of fuel down the vent tubes of the carburetor and the 305ci small-block blew the rat’s nests out of the exhaust and came right back to life. After some basic checks and an oil change, a first drive revealed some items that needed to be addressed: the fuel tank and whatever was in it was beyond hope, the exhaust system was shot front-to-back, and the brakes needed to be assessed because while the front brakes worked nicely, the back brakes didn’t work at all. Great for doing a burnout, but not so good for driving. Finally, there’s the usual second-gen F-body door pin bushing and door handle issues, a destroyed driver’s side seat back, and a pressing need for a serious bath.

After addressing the dead rear wheel cylinders, master cylinder, and stuck proportioning valve, the brakes were complete. The 165-pound doors were pulled, the hinges rebuilt with new bushings, and the door handles made operable once more. Instead of messing around with the stock fuel tank and the well-aged contents, the decision was made to start fresh with new parts. Not only is there no question about the fuel now, but the fuel gauge returned to working order. Now running on its own supply, a good scrubbing cleaned the car right up and a new seat back was sourced and dyed black before being installed.

With the Camaro now drivable, it was time to make a few upgrades to enhance all of the work that Dylan had already done. An MSD HEI cap, rotor, and coil, paired off with a fresh set of MSD Super Conductor 8.5mm spark plug wires gave the 305 a nice shot in the arm and a more potent spark. But the biggest upgrade made to the Camaro was the exhaust. The stock system was beyond hope, so it was replaced with a pair of Hooker VR304 mufflers and Flowmasters’s pre-bent tailpipes for GM F-body and X-body cars. Held together with Hooker 2.5-inch band clamps and finished off with Hooker 3-inch chrome-finished exhaust tips, the Camaro now had a proper bark coming out of the back end…a nice mix of mellow when just cruising and rowdy when deep in the throttle.

With the F-body now truly roadworthy once more, Dylan set about on making good on his promise with Larry, and on a nice, sunny day the former owner was able to go for a ride once more in the car that he had cherished for years. According to Dylan, “It’s been an honor to help Mr. Larry get his Camaro back on the road where it belongs, and to assure him that it will be in good hands for as long as possible.” Dylan’s plans for the Camaro now that it’s back on the road? Some new tires, maybe some new wheels, and maybe some more polishing up. That’s about it. It’s a T-top equipped 1979 Camaro…what else could you need?