Topics

1

Originality / Big block heater hose question!

« on: April 05, 2018, 01:34:20 PM »

Hi,
I´m going to install the heater box hoses on my ZL-1 build but I´m not sure which one goes where?

The ASM shows this, which looks nice but is it correct?



I did some search on the net and found this thread that John Z commentated the same question with the opposite place for the hoses:

The hose from the outlet fitting (manifold) always goes to the bottom heater core fitting, and the hose from the inlet fitting (water pump) always goes to the top core fitting; that way the core is always full of coolant and there's no "gurgling" sounds from air bubbles audible from inside the car.

 The upper hose from the core back to the water pump is slightly larger in diameter so it always has lower pressure (carrying the same volume of coolant) to maintain steady coolant flow at low rpm so constant temperature control adjustments by the customer aren't required.

What du you original guys say about this topic? 

2

Originality / Aluminum intake BB bolts?

« on: July 13, 2017, 04:40:24 PM »

Hi,
I bought a master screw kit for my ZL-1 project but I don't really understand where all the stud bolts should go when mounting the aluminum intake?
They look like this: https://www.camarocentral.com/1969_1970_Intake_Stud_Big_Block_p/enc-338.htm

As I t says there one should be for the alternator bracket and one maybe for the fuel block, but the rest? It's four of them in the kit.

3

Site Comments/Discussion / Photobucket.com problems...BIG time!

« on: June 30, 2017, 11:54:43 AM »

Hi,
After more then 11 years as a happy user I, and a huge amount of internet users, today discovered that photobucket.com decided to take action against 3rd party hosting usage as they call it. 

This makes all my threads in different forums, including this one.,..... round the world, worthless cause all the pics are gone... 

Photobucket.com demands a fee of $399 a year to let the pics be used in forums, homepages and similar.
How can we act to make photobucket reasonable again, suggests?
Otherwise this act is going to kill a lot of good and reliable forums connected to our hobby... 

4

Originality / Factory paint process on a X77 with 57 paint code?

« on: November 08, 2016, 11:34:28 AM »

Hi,
I'm trying to help a friend with the restoration of his X77D80 car with 57/57 paint and I now I'm trying to figure out the paint process here....I've read the article here at CRG, http://www.camaros.org/assemblyprocess.shtml, but I must have this established before we send the car for the repaint:

Is this the correct step for a X77 paint job?

1. The 57-code main paint is sprayed as described from the factory.
2. The firewall is then blacked-out.
3. The unmasked cowl area under the cowl vent panel and the masked panel itself is painted white (Dover white 50?). In this process the firewall will get overspray from the white?
4. The hood and body is masked for stripes and sprayed white.
6. The trunk is then painted with spatter paint etc
5. The spoiler and the deck lid is masked for the stripes separately, painted and then mounted together? How far under the spoiler is the trunk lid then painted?

What's the RAL/NCS code for the black firewall paint?

Here are some extracts from the article:
Color System: The bodies were sequenced to "batch-paint" by color as much as the build schedule allowed, to minimize the waste of thinner required to clear paint guns between colors. The interior was masked off, the body exterior was tacked-off, and it then entered the main color booth, where it got three coats of acrylic lacquer, sprayed automatically with vertical and horizontal reciprocating spray guns, with a 3-minute "flash" between coats, followed by a 10-minute bake at 200F to "skin" the surface prior to sanding. In the next stage, any surface defects were power- and hand-wet-sanded with mineral spirits, then wiped off prior to entering the final "reflow" oven. This bake lasted 30 minutes at 275F, where the lacquer surface softened and "re-flowed" to a uniform gloss.

The last process for a non-stripe car was the blackout booth, where the firewall was blacked-out, the trunk was sprayed with spatter paint, and sound-deadening undercoat material was sprayed in the rear wheelhouses. The rear "cocktail shakers" on convertibles were suspended in the trunk for spatter painting, but weren't bolted in place until later in the Trim Shop, after the taillights and marker lights were installed.

If the car required Z28, Z10, or Z11 stripes or a black rear end panel or rockers, they were masked and manually sprayed in the in-line repair booth/oven system after the reflow oven, including the cowl vent panel; spoilers were painted body color separate from the body, and were final-installed to the deck lid just prior to the repair booth. The rear window filler panel, deck lid and spoiler were masked and sprayed stripe color in the repair booth, and baked in the repair oven before the body went back downstairs to the Trim Shop. The paint guns in the repair booth were fed from manifolds that were part of the main color circulating system so that the repair booth used exactly the same paint the main color booths were using.


 

5

Restoration / Correct interior painting for 723, Midnight green?

« on: November 08, 2016, 09:58:12 AM »

Hi,
I´m helping a friend with the restoration of his X77D80 06A built car and I have some quests regarding the interior and what was painted or just black!

I found these when I searched this web site:

Everything inside a car with a 723 Midnight Green interior would be dark green except for the instrument cluster and the seat belts (unless it was ordered with deluxe seat belts). It would not have left the plant with a black dash pad and headrests.

The instrument cluster would be painted dark green on the sides of it.

1. Should the steering column be Midnight Green as well?
2. What is the RAL or NCS-code for that Midnight Green interior color?
3. Where can I find an example of the only the outside instrument cluster paint?

6

Restoration / Where to get non style trim tail lights for 69 Camaro

« on: October 29, 2016, 03:39:19 PM »

Hi there,
As i mention above, does anybody know where to get new correct tail lights for a non style trim 1969?
I've serched the net and just found used ones on eBay from time to time.....

7

Decoding/Numbers / Odd color combo on X77?

« on: October 11, 2016, 06:40:46 AM »

Hi guys,
I just ran into a rather odd, or ugly, cowl tag combo and I´m wondering if its common or not? 
The car is a 06A built X77D80 with 723 interior and 52/52 paint according to cowl tag....I'm told that the car is painted like greenish today, haven't seen it IRL yet, probably to match that green interior...

8

Decoding/Numbers / Special paint in Sweden, again!

« on: November 20, 2015, 11:42:08 AM »

How do you folks decode this tag:



What does the Q606 mean? Stripe color, body color or what....?
Is that body from the third week of December 1969 or 1970?

It's an RS-car but I don't know anymore since if not my car and I just have this pic of the tag...
The owner is really interested in gettin more facts regarding this.

9

General Discussion / Responsible for the design of the 69 Camaro?

« on: October 19, 2015, 11:49:49 AM »

Hi there,
I've a couple of dumb questions I've been thinkin about for a while now and I tried to search for info here and on the web but I didn't find any answers:

1. Who's the designer responsible for the fabulous design of the 69 Camaro?

2. Is the design features like the aggressive front and the side louvers made to make the car look like shark or what? I mean they did make the Corvette Stingray......

10

General Discussion / The reason why I drive a 69 Camaro today!

« on: October 07, 2015, 11:37:10 AM »

I just thought I should share my story why I am a proud owner of a 69 Camaro!
It all started here in Sweden when I was just 4, or 5, years old and my aunt were together with this cool dude that were a famous, in Sweden at lest, lead singer in a pop group during the late 60, 70 and 80:ies. This is how the band " Max Fenders" looked like during that period:


The really cool with this guy, the big one in the middle above, is that he was an American car addict! He bought the first Camaro when it came 1967 and then had a new one every year until 1972:ish. Before that he had a couple of Chevelles.

This is his 69 Camaro during a vacation trip to Norway 1971 just before he sold the car:
Notice the 4 exhaust pipes, talk about king of the roads! 


The spoilers were added by himself and he also made a smooth mounting of the rear spoiler to the trunk lid and repainted when the car arrived to Sweden.


This a picture taken in my hometown and its my aunt sitting in the Camaro in 1969/70:


The 69 Camaro was a real SS/RS 350, Hugger orange with black top and had power steering, power windows, and double powered rear antennas!
The double antennas were used fore the original radio and a BLACK & WHITE TV!! Yes, it´s correct, it had a small TV in it!!  Have you guys ever heard or even seen that before?? The TV was installed by a local TV-shop and placed in the space between the center console and dashboard.

The Camaro also had a kind of machine that produced a rolled and lit cigarette!

I remember this because me, my mam and my aunt drove the car in the summer of 1969 or 1970 to my grandparents ranch 63 miles from our hometown and I still remember the TV, the power windows and the antennas that want up when the roaring V8 started!
I also remember how people just stopped doing whatever they were doing ad just stared at us and the monster we were driving in!
I think a Hugger orange 1969 Camaro in Sweden in this time really did draw some attention do it! 

The car were also during 1970 equipped with a 454 race engine and that didn't make the car less unusual!

This Camaro still exist but has another owner and the TV is long gone and its repainted in a non Chevy color I guess...




So all this together made such an impression on me as a 4 or 5 year old kid, that I said that one day I should be the proud owner of my own 69 Camaro! It took me like 35 years when I turned 40 and gave myself a real birthday present ......and now we celebrate 10 years together! 






See you out there, guys! 

11

Mild Modifications / The Hugger goes ZL-1....

« on: August 19, 2015, 09:51:09 AM »

Hi guys,
During the 10 years that I now have had my Camaro it has gone thru a lot of different shapes, not much has changed every time but something.
I've also tried to walk on the thin line between what was original to the car and adding some mild customizations...I want the car to behave well and still look as it could have done in the 60_ or 70:ies! 
Here is a kind of resume and examples of what I´ve done with the car so far.

This is how it locked in the ad at eBay 10 years ago, taken from its origin in Waterloo, Illinois:




It was a descent restoration but much were loose due to a fast selling procedure. The wheels had wrong backspace and were made for a Corvette, therefore it was equipped with hi-jackers! First thing was to get rid of the ugly jackers, swap the wheels to 18" American Eagle and a lot of small corrections...


After that I mounted a Hotchkis sport leaf kit and adjusted the exhaust:


...the engine bay before and after minor adjustments:




I got tired of the bling-bling and the wheels set up went to original look:


Changed the grill color for correct argent silver:


Done some touch up for the interior as well....before:


...and after:


Then it was time for the larger bumper guards. I think this has been on the car as an option from the beginning...it seemed that way in the front at least. I also widened the rear rims so they now are 14x7" and the front is 14x6. Were lucky to find some NOS rear tires with the dimension H70-14!


The latest, so far, set of wheels are these almost period correct American Racing S200, though these are 17" and with custom built backspace for The Hugger. Its great to have another set of wheels to alternate with for the steel wheels, which I always will keep!

The next level in my life with a 69 Camaro - the engine swap!
I've always loved the real deal COPO 9560 and it has certainly had an affect on me how I've putted the car together so far...I certainly don't have the money to buy a genuine 9560 so the second best for me is to build my own ZL-1 engine and put in The Hugger!

This project doesn't have a specific deadline so I'm going to update this thread whenever something new has happened and when I've the time, and money, necessary to continue the swap.

The background data on the car is rather interesting because The Hugger is a original X44 car and also the VIN is close to the VIN that the 69 original COPO 9560 had......so who knows? 
It already has a 12 bolt Chevy rear with 4.10 gear, front disc brakes and the steel wheels with dog dish caps.
We will also try to keep the TH350, the cooler, front springs etc to keep the cost down but still get a functional car!?

Just to clarify, were not going to build a perfect COPO clone here but as close as we can with the given conditions! Fell free to comment and help us during these project, I know you guys have tons of information of how this should be made as good as possible and I'm all ears! 

....this will be continued. Welcome!

12

Decoding/Numbers / Special paint decoding on 69 conv.?

« on: April 29, 2015, 07:58:40 AM »

Hi,
Just came across this 69 convertible yesterday and I´m leaning on that this one is a special paint order, am I correct? B means black top and - means special paint, if I understand the CRG Special Paint Table? The cowl tag:



And if it is a special paint order does that mean that you can put almost whatever color you want on it and i's original to the car, if you don't have any evidence how it was actually built from factory?
It also have the kph-scale on the speedometer, very rare even here in Sweden!

13

General Discussion / Time to buy a real deal ZL-1!

« on: April 13, 2015, 08:46:16 AM »

...if I just had that money........



http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2015/04/09/one-of-50-cars-ordered-by-fred-gibb-numbers-matching-1969-camaro-zl1-to-cross-the-block/

14

Foreign Camaros / Is this the first 69 Camaro sold direct to Sweden?

« on: August 07, 2013, 08:35:23 AM »

Me and my Camarofriend Nikke went with our 69:s to a local car show hear in the northern part of Sweden.
Here we are cruisin


Walkin around all the cars at the show our eyes suddenly fell on a rather original lookin 69 SS/RS Camaro. We stepped forward and started to look at the car and the owner showed up as well.
When we saw the Swedish 3-point seat belts, the fold-down rear seat and the rear window defroster we got really curious! 
As we spoke to the owner he told us that this car was sold new in Sweden 1969! When we saw the rather odd lookin trim tag, export tag, you can se that this is a 1968 10C car! It´s not the original color either, should be Garnet Red. It has a 12 bolt rear end and limited slip and right now a power-glide tranny!? According to Swedish car register it had a manual gear from the beginning? We don´t have any numbers on drivetrain or engine at this moment. Pictures taken with my iPhone, the only camaera availible!
It´s also equipped with a trailer hitch, probably produced and mounted here in Sweden but it has been there since the beginning!









Maybee Kurt can put this in the VIN-library?

15

Restoration / Template for 69 Deluxe door emblem?

« on: February 06, 2013, 09:57:18 PM »

Hi,
I'm gonna put the Camaro emblem on my new Deluxe door panel and there are no holes predrilled!
Does anybody have a template or measurements to work with here...?

Thanx in advance!