Yeah, I know this is a 1st-Gen site but I'm almost desperate! Does anyone have any experience with TPI? In addition to my '68 I also have an '87 IROC, which is almost a Camaro  . A couple of times lately the car has stalled on startup with the a/c on, and the Service Engine light comes on. Trying to restart the engine results in it runs for a few seconds then dies again. I can let it sit for awhile and the ECM will reset itself and the car will run fine. I've had it on a Tech 1 at the dealership and no codes come up.  It only has 64,000 miles on it and is a cherry car and optioned to death, so it's worth fixing. I know I'm sitting on a ticking Time Bomb before whatever it is that's causing this stall leaves me stranded somewhere. I'm thinking maybe the Idle Air Control valve, but I know next to nothing about TPI. The car has developed a very slight off-idle hesitation if that helps, idles high (1500 rpm) on startup, and it only does it on an extremely hot day starting the car with the engine cold and then I turn the air on (go figure! ). Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

The '67-'69s used the same subframe and clutch linkages whether SB or BB from my experience, and all had the same geometry. Back in the day I helped a friend swap a 396 into a '69 where a (gaaaccckkkkkkk) 307 had been, and everything went back flawlesssly using the SB parts with the 396. I've never seen a 1-piece clutch rod with no adjustment on a Camaro--assuming this is the rod between the cross-shaft and the clutch release lever in the bellhousing. Can someone clarify what constitutes a 2-piece clutch rod? I'm confused. By its design the base clutch rod is 2-piece because it has a female body attached to the cross-shaft with a male threaded rod that contacts the release lever. I've never heard of a mechanical 3-piece clutch linkage, which is the 2-piece you you guys suggest. Maybe its semantics. Maybe I'm just dense, but they all had a pushrod from the clutch pedal to the cross-shaft, then an adjustable rod from the cross-shaft to the release fork in the bellhousing. Call it oversimplification, but I still think Arno has mismatched clutch components. There is simply no other reason he has such limited adjustment. Good luck, Arno, and when you resolve this, please post it. I am damn curious.

These bastard car frames cannot be sold without licensed approval from the government to the manufacturer. Just as the old Allis-Chalmers "diamond" logo could not be legally reproduced until the license expired, so goes the 1-st Generation Camaro. My state (North Carolina) sets the parameters on registration, and a repro '69 Camaro would be subject to the "new title" law, just like a homebuilt fiberglass '32 highboy from a kit. One who would pirate a firewall tag from an original GM car to circumvent the registration process is clearly in violation of the law. The very name of the show "Chop-Cut-Rebuild" is a clue....duh. I defend their right of Free Speech and don't see what's that bad about reproducing a '69 Camaro, but that they would recommend sleazy ways of sidestepping registration laws is certainly unethical and just lowbrow no class.

Uh-oh...sounds like you may have some mismatched parts. There were basically 2 different pressure plate designs--a "flat" diaphragm and a "raised" diaphragm. The flat diaphragm used a longer throwout bearing than the raised one. You may have a raised diaphragm throwout bearing on a flat pressure plate. That would do it. The raised plate throwout bearing was very short--less than 3" long, while the flat plate bearing had a shoulder on it that increased the length. There were other variations, but this was the most common mismatch. The raised plate fingers will look like a "cone", while the other plate fingers would appear almost flat. I pulled this boner in my younger days and the lesson has never left me! That's all I can think of, unless somehow you got the wrong throwout fork. Good luck, and keep that '68 rolling!

Generally speaking the 461s--if you have them--were the original 375hp "Fuelie" heads, replaced by 462s in 1966.  Not correct for a '67 Camaro, but the guy with the Rat knows something. Does he have a 'Vette?  chuckle. These days, just the sight of a set of "double-hump" heads makes the adrenaline rush because they have become so rare. If there is an "X" in the casting # you have a rare set indeed, with bigger ports.     

West....sounds like you may be sitting on an original '62 hi-po 327. The block aside, 461 heads were the original "fuelie" 375hp heads--a Corvette purist's wet dream--also used on the 350hp/327 among others. They were replaced by 462s in 1966, so as John said, definitely not Camaro stuff. Does the guy with the Rat have a Vette or a Nova or a '62 Impala? Velly intelesting......chuckle

I can tell you that Hedman Husler Hedders hug the floorpan well--they tuck up even with the bottom of the subframe. Hookers do, too, but both are expensive. My '68 sits low all around with a forward rake, and I've scraped my headers on more speed bumps than I care to recall lol. It's just the curse (or great power advantage) of headers. You live with it and take speed bumps crossways (chuckle.) My car has never bottomed out at speed, though. You may have some weak springs. Good luck!

A '62 Chevelle? You've piqued my curiosity, John!

What kind of markings are on the ends of the heads, West? The standard 327 heads had a rectangular mark cast next to the head deck--this would generally be a standard low-performance engine, 2bbl or 4bbl. Some had a rectangle with a vertical "spike" in the center, but these were  low-performance heads, too. The 275hp and 300hps had the "double hump" heads with one corner of a hump sometimes cut off--these were the 1.94 valve "300" heads. The good "350hp" heads always had full rounded humps, and combustion chambers factory machined for 2.02 valves. These heads were used on the Z/28s. Mind you, this is not just for Camaros, since we're not sure of your engine and so much could have been swapped around--I'm speaking in generalities here.  Can you pull a valve cover and get a head casting #? That would help a lot IF everything is original (chuckle.) Is the intake manifold 2bbl, small 4bbl, flanged for a Holley or a Quadrajunk? Is it iron or aluminum? If the thing has double-hump heads that may be why the guy is willing to trade a 454 for it--those heads have become very hard to find. I have a set of #291 heads from a '68 Z/28 as well as an original '68 Z/28 DZ carburetor. REPRO DZ carburetors are selling for $500 and I've been offered enough for the #291 heads that I could buy a new set of aluminum AFRs. You could be sitting on a gold mine. Good luck!

I have the repro bound one for a '68 from Rick's (the top one you show.) It's well-done and easy to read, and lists all the part #s, places to put sealer, torque specs..all of it. It's comprehensive and
very detailed. Expensive, sure, but well worth the money.  I can't speak for the loose-leaf versions but anyone doing a 1st-time frame-off needs the bound one. My 2 cents.

Hey Lake--where are you in NC? I'm near Burlington.

All 327s were 2-bolt mains, West, and the '67s and back had steel cranks. In '68 they went to the larger main bearings, the block lost the canister oil filter in favor of a spin-on type, and the cranks were cast. In general, the older 327/210hp version was a 2-barrel, the 250hp was a 4-barrel with a 4GC Rochester, and the 275/300hp had the 1.94/1.50 heads, more compression and a Holley carburetor. That's just the base 327s. One sure-fire way to identify a '67 and back engine is that they had a breather tube in the back of the block beside the distributor instead of a PCV valve, and they had the steel canister oil filter. Hope this helps.

Unfortunately, Wally, GM NOS sheetmetal parts are GONE lol. I work at a Chevy dealership, and the only sheetmetal I know of that is still available for Camaros are the cowl panel and and '69 Cowl Induction hood, and I suspect these parts are no longer GM stampings, but farmed out because they still sell well. The vendors like Rick's and NPD and Year One have sucked up all the NOS parts, and even those supplies have dwindled down to next to nothing in some cases. I have personally gone through original GM parts books and checked available parts through GM when restoring my '68, and it's dismal what is left. GM has an official website for restoration parts, but they're aftermarket  for the most part--not real GM NOS stuff. I can tell you if you run across NOS GM sheetmetal at Carlisle it'll be EPDM black and  will have a white with black letters GM part# sticker on it. Good luck!

The 6-bangers had a cable linkage instead of a rod--but I don't know of anyone reproducing them. Is the XC8 the old "Smokey Ram?"  I did a Smokey Ram years ago, and I lenghtened and re-bent the rod and used a ball pivot on the carburetor instead of the stock pin-link attachment. My question it this; why a crossram? They suck on low-end and have a very narrow powerband. But on the other hand, they look extremely trick! To each his own. Hope this helps.

Are you sure the frame mounts are correct? The '67-'68 frame mounts moved the BB forward from the firewall and tilted the engine slightly to the right for steering box clearance. The GM PNs are #3912597 for the driver's side and #3912598 for the passenger side. They've been long discontinued, but if perchance you scored old factory mounts this may help you identify what you have. There are 2 different early block mounts, too--one has a thicker rubber insulator that would raise the height of the engine, but I can't remember the applications.
    In the '70s I did this swap in a '69 for a friend--307 to 396--and everything from the small-block worked, including the exact same mounts--frame and engine. I warmed the 396 over with a .550"/306 Crower cam, headers and a Holley, and that thing would smoke the tires out of sight!
   Hope this helps.