Special Rare Air Induction?

[Vetteman61]

Hello,

I found the CRG website and was blown away by the wealth of information.  It's amazing.

I have a '67 Camaro I, in a way, inherited.  When I got it there was a hole in the passenger side firewall that lead directly into the cavity below the cowl vent.  I was told that it had been put there to mimic a type of rare induction.  My car didn't come with it of course.  I was told that originally, if a car came with it, there would be an enclosure around the air filter and a tube that would lead over to the hole in the firewall.  Essentially, it would give the car cowl induction through the vents in the cowl.

I've never seen or heard of this and I assumed if it were real I would have found it somewhere on the CRG website.  I doubt it's true, but I'd like to make sure.  Can anyone verify this to have been true?  I suppose it could have been offered on 67-69 for all I know?

 Thanks,
 Brandon

[x77-69z28]

you are referring to the cowl plenum air cleaner for the 67-8 z-28. i dont have any pics handy but if you google cowl plenum air cleaner you should find pics. try jerry's website www.z28camaro.com. click on our camaros and look at jerry's unrestored white z-28. it has cowl plenum.

[Vetteman61]

Yeah!  That's it!  That perfectly matches the hole that was in my firewall (now patched with new metal), and perfectly fits what was described to me.  Thanks a lot for this info.  I never had a clue how to search for this and although the source that told me this was one of the most knowledgeable guys on Camaros around, I heard it over 10 years ago and I've never heard of it since, nor have I ever seen one (until just now).  I was beginning to think maybe I had imagined it.

Thanks,
Brandon

[tmodel66]

You might also read this link.

http://taperfresto.com/cowl_plenum_a_c.html

[1968RSZ28]

Brandon, it's true!  It's called a cowl plenum air cleaner and looks like the attached photos...

Paul

[Vetteman61]

Wow, that thing is EXPENSIVE.  So much for ever getting one of those.

Thanks for the pictures.  They look pretty awesome.  Since my car had that hole, I can only assume that at one time, someone had put one on it.  I sure wish they'd LEFT it on it.  hehe.

Brandon

[KurtS]

What's the cowl tag say?

[Vetteman61]

I've looked before but I can't remember specifically.  I remember that it was a factory RS/SS 4 speed that was turquoise with a deluxe interior, so I don't think it could have possibly come with it. I can check the tag tomorrow if anyone thinks it could somehow be possible.  It's in pretty rough shape now, but it's fun to tool around in and not have to worry about parking in the wal mart parking lot.

Brandon

[KurtS]

Send me the VIN and a pic of the tag and let's confirm what it was originally.

[rally]

Brandon you should get one of Jerrys 67-68 Camaro Z-28 fact books. This is the bible on these Camaros for that year. I bought all these from Jerry, 69Z8- SS-BB Camaros, 67-68 Z28. Jerry is the man. He is the guy who knows these cars. Also this forum has plenty of very good experts too.

[sd1968z28]

that second pic is my car.

[tom]

Post photos of the hole too.

[Vetteman61]

Hey guys, thanks for all the responses.  I took some pictures of the cowl tag.  As I mentioned, the hole was patched with metal about 12 years ago, but I took a picture of where it was anyway. 







I typically close the headlights, but i was dark and cold when I last came in.  I have my trusty coat hanger and a perfectly sized stick for the left and right side to keep them open and closed.  Classy, I know.

A little side info:  That license plate is from my dad's now closed dealership.  He'd been a GM dealer for 33 years.  GM came in, closed him up and then decided not to pay us a fairly large sum of money they owe us.  We wrote letters and their game is essentially to wait us out in court until we go broke, so we're pretty much out of luck.  On top of that, the local government (the county) decided to put a "judicial center" on top of where our building was right off of the square.  Despite having 2 other already purchased properties, the members of the board ALSO closed us down.  Our building had been there since the 20s, and had been a horse stable before that from before the civil war era. (There was still a basement where moonshine had been made during prohibition).  Since we rented the building, we got nothing in return and GM wouldn't allow us to rebuild in the city (even if they hadn't already been closing us down).  The city council didn't care and closed us down, and now complain there aren't enough tax dollars for the city.  It was a small town.  Every single board member was not re-elected this term.  Hehehe.  Sorry for the rant, I'm still legitimately bitter about the whole deal.  I still love old GM products though!

[plumL78]

is 12E too early for one of the first 4P z28s . Jon mellow  or jerry would know  I'd be looking a little closer at the car

[FinnRS]

Jerry's book tells me that the first 17 Z/28s were indeed built the last week of December 1966. Looks like the car came with a 4-speed from the factory as well..

What drivetrain does the car currently have? Does it have front disc brakes?

[1968RSZ28]

is 12E too early for one of the first 4P z28s .

Usage of the 4P code with the L30/M20 is believed to have started in the late December 1966 / January 1967 timeframe. The very first 1967 Z28's and L78's were also coded 4P; the 4L and 4K codes were then used on the remainder of 1967 Z28 and L78 production.

Paul

[1968RSZ28]

that second pic is my car.

Where's the air pump?   

Paul

[Jon Mello]

There are of course some very early '67 Zs in the registry. Comparing data from this car's trim tag with those of the very early Z's, I am confident that this was not an original Z-28 even though Zs were using the 4P code at that time. It has to do with the correlation of numbers to one another, much like what has been observed on '69 COPOs and such. I don't want to get into specifics beyond that as I think it then starts getting into info that could be useful to counterfeiters.

-Jon

[1968RSZ28]

Hey guys, thanks for all the responses.  I took some pictures of the cowl tag. 

The cowl tag option codes on your car are...

1W =  (A02)  Tinted windshield
2L  =  (M20 or M21)  4-speed floor shift
2G  =  (D55)  Front console
2R  =  (U80)  Rear speaker
3L  =  (Z22)  Rally Sport package
4P  =  (L48 or L30/M20)   SS350 or L30/M20 - Non-SS396/Z28 paint with radius rod
5Y  =  (A39)  Deluxe seat belts

What's the VIN?  Does the car have a radius rod?

Paul

[tmodel66]

I'm no expert by far but since you said it was a RS/ SS in your first post I'm gonna guess it was just added on  for "the look" (which is cool).

[67L78]

Good lookin ride Vetteman61. Keep feeding info about your car. Lot of sharp guys on the site and they'll help you figure out things about your car.

Good luck,
Richard

[jacmac]

Hey guys, thanks for all the responses.  I took some pictures of the cowl tag.  As I mentioned, the hole was patched with metal about 12 years ago, but I took a picture of where it was anyway. 







I typically close the headlights, but i was dark and cold when I last came in.  I have my trusty coat hanger and a perfectly sized stick for the left and right side to keep them open and closed.  Classy, I know.

A little side info:  That license plate is from my dad's now closed dealership.  He'd been a GM dealer for 33 years.  GM came in, closed him up and then decided not to pay us a fairly large sum of money they owe us.  We wrote letters and their game is essentially to wait us out in court until we go broke, so we're pretty much out of luck.  On top of that, the local government (the county) decided to put a "judicial center" on top of where our building was right off of the square.  Despite having 2 other already purchased properties, the members of the board ALSO closed us down.  Our building had been there since the 20s, and had been a horse stable before that from before the civil war era. (There was still a basement where moonshine had been made during prohibition).  Since we rented the building, we got nothing in return and GM wouldn't allow us to rebuild in the city (even if they hadn't already been closing us down).  The city council didn't care and closed us down, and now complain there aren't enough tax dollars for the city.  It was a small town.  Every single board member was not re-elected this term.  Hehehe.  Sorry for the rant, I'm still legitimately bitter about the whole deal.  I still love old GM products though!

Politicians L or R are pretty much sucking the life out of this country! Nice car BTW

[68Zproject]

Got to "spread the wealth".  I guess that means putting people out of business, shameful.

[Vetteman61]

Wow, well that was a pretty exciting ride for a while!  Turns out, according to Mr. Mellow, that the car almost definitely isn't an original Z car.  That would have been really cool, though! 

I think maybe, and this is just speculation, the car may have been drag raced at one time.  The interior has been completely replaced with a standard interior.  It appears it may have been gutted at one time, then thrown back together with the cheapest available.  Also, when someone removed the console they took the tach out and put the gas gauge in the bezel on the right, so now I have a small tach mounted on the steering column.  It has had a spoiler added to it.  I added the front spoiler myself and the SS emblem in the grill was missing when I got it.  It also has a '68 bumper in the front.

The car currently has a 350 in it.  I was told the engine was from a '69 model camaro, but that wasn't told to me by any credible source.  It has 4 wheel drum brakes.  It has interior courtesy lights on the inside of the C pillars (or the remnants.. just empty bezels now).  No power steering, no power brakes, no air conditioning, no power windows.

I have always thought the frame was bent.  Before the dealership closed down my father had the body shop he always did business with take the car and attempt to straighten the frame/body.  They said it was straight.  We began looking and it seems like the driver side spring in the rear has collapsed or become weak and to compensate the previous owners put washers on the spring mount to raise that side of the car.  It's a pretty sad looking setup.

There is a little bit of the original turquoise color left on the inside of the door.  I could get a picture of it if anyone was interested for any reason.

On the plus side, I had it aligned today and it turned out well.

Concerning the dealership:  Yes, there was so much corruption on that city council board.  There was actually a scandal involving the person responsible for beginning building judicial buildings around kentucky and a construction company that  built them all having family members that were using their ties to do bad things. 

[Vetteman61]

I also meant to add it seems to have had some kind of open-diff rear end installed.  I don't know why I've always felt this, but I've always assumed it was some kind of rinky dink rear end just thrown in to get the car sold at some point.

It was bought by the parents of a friend of mine.  They kept it a while intending to restore it, but already having a 67 RS in good shape, decided to trade it in to the dealership (my father's).  That's how I wound up with it.

[KurtS]

Post the axle code and we'll see if it's original or not. 12 bolt?

[Vetteman61]

I'm confident the axle is not original.  I believe the entire driveline has been replaced in the car.  It seems to have been gutted at one time and someone seems to have kind of "thrown" it back together to make a car.