Messages

286

General Discussion / Re: Age Groups of Our Hobby

« on: December 16, 2020, 01:22:13 AM »

My friend, whose first car was a 1968 Z28, thought of trying to buy another one, now that he is retired, but gave up on the idea as there were few Z28s around in 1970, and even few around today in Southern California.  As for kids wanting to drive a manual shift car, my niece stalled my Acura RSX Type S so many times that we had trouble starting it.  When her brother wanted to learn, I had him take out my Z28 and he couldn't shift the gears, so I told him to just keep it in first gear while we drove around the neighborhood, but we ended up stalled in the middle of the street.   The nephew hoped to drive my 1970 BOSS 302 that has manual steering, a Hurst Super-Shifter, and a 2600 lb. clutch, but he'd never even get the car started in the garage!  Oh well, you can't tell them about how much fun it was driving in a traffic jam on the San Diego freeway, slipping the clutch as you inched up the grade, going south out of the San Fernando Valley.

287

General Discussion / Re: Storage during off season ?

« on: November 26, 2020, 05:07:49 PM »

I once didn't drive a car which has hydraulic lifters for about 6 months and when I started it, the lifters had bled-down and for a few seconds, it was louder than the solid lifters in my 1970 BOSS 302!

288

Originality / Re: 69 Z/28 Van Nuys Broadcast Sheet

« on: October 21, 2020, 09:21:24 PM »

I don't ever remember seeing a printer for broadcast sheets inside the Van Nuys Assembly Plant.  By the time I worked in computer operations, the 3rd generation F-car was in production and scheduling called the documents "manifests," which were printed on a Xerox 9700 laser printer, which could print bar codes.  There was only room in the computer center for one Xerox 9700 and we constantly had problems as I believe each vehicle had 35 or 36 manifest documents.  Whenever there was a change in production, scheduling would remove the manifests at each work station, which was a tedious task.  Sometimes, scheduling would have to request new manifests due to the number of changes, which was risky as there was only about a 4 day lead time from when the manifests were printed and then distributed out to the assembly plant.  We even had paper shortages and were told that we had to use Xerox paper and had to borrow some from another company in Van Nuys! 

289

Originality / Re: 69 Z/28 Van Nuys Broadcast Sheet

« on: October 20, 2020, 06:09:08 PM »

Although I didn't work at the Van Nuys Plant when the first generation F-cars were built, I was there for 1978 production.  When the cars were being painted, any paperwork would have normally been removed.  I have a 1979 Trans Am that was built at Van Nuys and have looked for paperwork, but so far haven't found anything, but I'd imagine that there could be something on the top of the gas tank.

290

General Discussion / Re: Chevy Muscle Docs

« on: September 17, 2020, 08:28:29 PM »

According to the information below, the engine and transmission were stamped at the same time, using a "gang-stamp holder":

http://www.camaros.org/assemblyprocess.shtml

The stamping on this 1969 Z28 engine and transmission don't look like they were made with the same "gang-stamp holder."

291

General Discussion / Re: Chevy Muscle Docs

« on: September 13, 2020, 10:37:33 PM »

Some interesting comments being posted on BAT, especially about the warranty card.  I remember looking at a car where someone had glued the original warranty card plate onto the inside of the driver's door and the owner hadn't noticed it even after 33 years!

292

Decoding/Numbers / Re: Caveat Emptor...block stamp

« on: September 08, 2020, 12:13:14 AM »

I found it funny that the seller says "you're sure to draw crowds at your local car show" as a friend who owns a 1969 Z28 finally got tired of people asking if it was a real Z28 and would display the original invoice (from a St. Louis dealer and hand-written) and warranty card on the dash.  This Z28 also has cross-ram induction, which was bought from GM Parts years ago, but my friend says the car would run better with 4.56 gears instead of the original 4.10s.  Perhaps someone needs to tell the seller of 124379N598377 that the optional ratio for a Z28 was 4.10s and not 4.11s.     

293

General Discussion / Re: 1969 shocks

« on: September 03, 2020, 04:04:14 PM »

The brand and age of the tires on your car can make a big difference in the ride of your vehicle. 

294

Maintenance / Re: L48 Starter

« on: August 27, 2020, 08:46:08 PM »

I have bought products from Classic Industries and haven't had a problem, although I have never bought a starter motor from them.  I did buy a starter that was rebuilt by AC Delco for my 1979 Trans Am in 1995 from O'Reillys Auto Parts and it is still working.  I believe that Summit Racing sells a rebuilt Delco starter motor for your 1967 Camaro:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ado-336-1836/applications/year/1967/make/chevrolet/model/camaro/submodel/ss?prefilter=1

295

General Discussion / Re: My new 68Z

« on: August 09, 2020, 09:31:27 PM »

My friend also owned a 1968 Z28 that was originally purchased from Harry Mann Chevrolet.  When he bought the Z28 in 1970 from a friend, it was British Green with a black interior and had 302 emblems.  He sold the Z28 in 1973 to someone in Los Angeles and unfortunately we don't know what happened to the car.  Harry Mann was well-known dealer for selling high performance Chevrolets in the area. - Mark

296

General Discussion / Re: Van Nuys plant

« on: July 05, 2020, 12:06:51 AM »

bcmiller -  I worked at the Van Nuys Plant from 1978 to 1986, although I still visited the facility as I was a GM employee until 1989.  Just drove my 1979 Trans Am around the neighborhood, which was built while I worked at Van Nuys, although I'm not the original owner as it has the 400 Pontiac engine, which was not available in California.

297

General Discussion / Re: Van Nuys plant

« on: July 04, 2020, 10:34:47 PM »

A small group of hourly and salaried employees from the Van Nuys Assembly Plant were assembled to come up with ideas for a RS Camaro, with Hank Haga, Director of the GM Advanced Concepts Center in nearby Newbury Park, heading the team.  Hank was previously the head of the Chevrolet Design Studio #2, which developed the original Camaro:

 https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/how-chevrolet-created-the-camaro-to-take-on-fords-mustang/

Hank was a great guy and would always drive to the Van Nuys Plant in a new Firebird Trans Am.  The aim of the RS Camaro was to increase sales in California.  I was fortunate to be on the team and wanted the RS Camaro to use the P235/60 tires from the 1986 Z28, but we ended up using P215/65 tires due to the cost.  Hank was a real automotive enthusiast and told me that he used to vintage race his 250 LM Ferrari while working at GM in Europe, but always worried if he blew-up the engine at high speed that the oil would cover the rear tires as the LM was mid-engine and he would crash.  Hank sold the Ferrari when he moved to Encino, CA and bought a very nice home.  Unfortunately, Hank passed away from cancer in 1988.

When the next generation Camaro/Firebird was being planned, marketing estimated that sales would be no more than 140,000 vehicles per year and as GM needed 200,000 vehicles to be produced at Van Nuys in order to make a profit, it was decided to close the plant and move production to Canada. - Mark

298

Maintenance / Re: 69 Z Manual steering

« on: June 07, 2020, 08:26:04 PM »

It is possible that the slop is because the steering box pitman shaft gear is worn and needs to be replaced:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Chevelle-Camaro-Corvair-Steering-Pitman-Shaft-Z28-Quick-Ratio-5671822/383503374564?hash=item594a9518e4:g:E~YAAOSwqOxeei2a

299

Maintenance / Re: 69 Z Manual steering

« on: June 07, 2020, 01:29:36 AM »

I don't believe that your manual steering box was rebuilt correctly if you still have slop.  Although you can make some adjustments to the steering box, this should not be necessary as this should have been done when it was rebuilt.  The ball joints are probably okay as your car has been driven only 44k miles.

300

General Discussion / Re: Friend's 1968 Z28 Camaro

« on: March 27, 2020, 12:14:35 AM »

The California license plate for my friend's 1968 Z28 Camaro was XCR771 and he sold it to a private party in Los Angeles in 1973.  Unfortunately, we have no information on the VIN number of the Z28.