Messages

31

Maintenance / Re: Sbc oil pan gasket

« on: May 26, 2014, 03:31:14 AM »

  Have you considered a 1-piece gasket? The molded 1-piece gasket beats the old design in a landslide. They don't leak and are just stupidly easy to install. Just a thought and good luck!

32

General Discussion / Re: New guy to forum with Old first Gen

« on: May 23, 2014, 09:37:22 AM »

  Ha avnut         When I switched to the Hush Thrush I thought I was safe. I actually had a city cop pull me and shine a flashlight up under the car. The Hush Thrush were new and I hadn't thought to paint them black. The bastard saw the bird decal and busted me. It was that bizarre. Every story one might read of cops persecuting hot rodders in the '70s is probably rooted in truth. They checked bumper height, tires outside of the fenderwells.....everything. I even once got stopped for having blue dots in my taillights. It was a different time and a wild one.

33

General Discussion / Re: New guy to forum with Old first Gen

« on: May 22, 2014, 10:26:14 AM »

  Lord.................Thrush mufflers! That takes me back to 1975 and a green kid. I bought round Thrush header mufflers and was so dumb I thought they couldn't sell them if they were illegal. After enough tickets I got the message and bought some Hush Thrush header muffflers. Quieter but still too loud for the most crazed of constabulary hotrod cops. More tickets. I found that it wasn't the noise per se........cops just hate hotrods. Back then they were targeted and profiled and persecuted. It was a great revenue racket for the government.

34

Originality / Re: T3 Replacements?

« on: May 21, 2014, 09:01:20 AM »

  mike         good to meet an oldtimer

35

Originality / Re: T3 Replacements?

« on: May 20, 2014, 08:48:51 AM »

  I'd check the charging system. 99 times out of 100 headlights go dim because the alternator is weak or the regulator is about to puke. Assuminig everything else is functioning properly i.e. wiring and connections, the charging system is the culprit. Turn signal oscillation slows down...interior lights flicker. The junction block on the radiator support connection may have a deteriorating contact--rare--but it happens.
  The oldest test in the book is taking the positive cable off of the battery while the engine is running. Before integrated circuit altenators ( 1973-up ) this could be safely done and it would reliably pin the alternator or regulator as the likely problem. Hold a screwdriver to the case plug on the back of the alternator. If it is magnetically pulled to the alternator, the alternator is charging. That points to the regulator. Those old regulators used springs and coils to control the voltage and the points oxodize like ignition breaker points and they deteriorate.
  Sorry to wax nostalgic, but us old guys pulled our youthful hair out back then when the electrical system acted up and we learned what to look for. Not saying this is definitely your problem, but when all else fails, go back to the very basics.
  Good luck and I hope this helps.

36

Maintenance / Re: No fire to the plugs

« on: May 20, 2014, 08:05:59 AM »

Width of a matchbook was for a Ford............blasphemy! Chuckle........

37

General Discussion / Re: Stripe delete

« on: May 20, 2014, 07:56:46 AM »

  There actually were two stripe deletes in 1968. According to the AIM, the D88 and D96 stripes were canceled before implemtentaion. The D88 was a little too psychedlic and the D96 just sucked, in my opinion. Just a bit of trivia to banter about.

38

General Discussion / Re: New guy to forum with Old first Gen

« on: May 20, 2014, 03:03:06 AM »

   I used a Summit 3" kit with Warlock mufflers. The lead pipes with the Summit system will hug the floor pretty well and the pipes are mandrel-bent and heavy-gauge. The Warlocks have a plug in each muffler held with 3 bolts, like a collector. At the drag strip you just remove the plugs and you have straight-through exhaust without taking the lead pipes loose. They sound about like a regular turbo muffler capped up. The Summit 3" tailpipes will NOT fit. I had my local muffler guy put on 2-1/2" Flowmaster mandrel-bent tailpipes. They fit great and dump behind the rear wheel  and look stock. The muffler guy told me that with the 3" pipes and mufflers, necking down to 2-1/2" tailpipes would make hardly any diffeence in flow on the street. That's how I did it. Good luck!

39

General Discussion / Re: New guy to forum with Old first Gen

« on: May 19, 2014, 05:55:19 AM »

You won't be a sleeper with a chambered exhaust system. Those things are LOUD.

40

General Discussion / Re: I'd like to introduce myself and my Camaro.

« on: May 18, 2014, 07:44:41 AM »

  Kid.........that is one sweet ride for anyone. It's guys like you who will keep the 1st-Gens alive long after us geezers are gone. I'm 56 and got my first '68 Camaro in 1975 for graduating high school. LIke a dumbo I totalled it 6 years later. I've had my present '68 for 31 years--I got it in May of 1983. When the 1st-Gen bug bites, it bites hard. Good luck to you on your '68 and welcome!

41

General Discussion / Re: New guy to forum with Old first Gen

« on: May 18, 2014, 07:36:23 AM »

Hideawaze? I have a bud who has a '68 Rally Sport and he has gone to swap meets and collected used and NOS parts as you have. Over the years he's obtained about every factory option ever offered, and it's all genuine GM parts--the guy is sitting on a gold mine! The car is in storage just waiting to be disassembled and brought back to life. Best of luck to you on your car.

42

General Discussion / Re: New guy to forum with Old first Gen

« on: May 18, 2014, 07:27:57 AM »

  The 5500 redline tach was for all 396s but the 375hp, and the 327/275 and the 350. Only the 396/375s and the Z/28s got a 6000 redline tach. The 5000 rpm tach was for base 327s. Hope this helps.

43

General Discussion / Re: New guy to forum with Old first Gen

« on: May 15, 2014, 07:35:10 AM »

Welcome, av. We all love our 1st-Gens and will help you in any way we can. No question is a dumb one. We all had to start somewhere! 

44

Mild Modifications / Re: Engine swap--are all 327s the same?

« on: May 15, 2014, 07:02:18 AM »

   Rand.....you can put a Welch plug in the back of the early block and run a PCV system with no problem. There are kits to convert the canister filter to a spin-on filter as well. The early 327s were virtually indestructible on the bottom end because of the stronger crank. If you want the later block, any 350 will work. The only difference in a 350 and a 327 is the crank and the pistons, but you must use a large-journal crank with a 350 block. All had 5.7" rods.
   As far as engine mounts, they were all the same physically except for the Z/28 and 350 as far as I know. The higher-power engines used an interlock in the rubber instead of just solid rubber. As for me, I use the urethane mounts. They are stronger than the rubber mounts and they won't rot. They don't look original, but as for me they are far superior. The frame mounts are all the same as far as how everything bolts up.
  One other thing--the early 327s used a different, smaller harmonic balancer and the timing tabs on the timing cover were different because of the diameter and welded to the cover. Later engines used a bolt-on tab. With a hotrod buildup this becomes a moot point with speed parts,  but it's one of the anomalies.
  Again....good luck and I hope this helps!

45

General Discussion / Re: Fitting auto trans oil cooler to 68 Camaro

« on: May 13, 2014, 03:48:01 AM »

  Just put it in front of the radiator. And use a big one. The kit will come with zip-tabs to mount it to the radiator with, so that's no problem. A quality cooler will have flared ends so you don't have to use hoses and clamps--just flare fittings. You didn't say if you have a cooler already in the radiator. If you do it's not hard to bend steel lines around to the cooler in front. If you're running new lines from the transmission they can be bought pre-bent or you can buy straight tubing at any auto parts store and make them yourself. On my '68 I ran them up the inside of the frame rail and turned them up in front of the radiator support, then to the cooler. It all depends on how neat of a job you want to do. There is certainly nothing wrong with hoses and clamps, I didnt mean to infer that. We all do things differently. Good luck and I hope this helps.