Messages

16

General Discussion / Re: where can I get a coil bracket 4 a cowl hooded Z

« on: February 20, 2010, 01:17:55 PM »

That is the correct one. Just be careful with Ebay because lots of people put brackets on and claim they are for Cowl hood when they are not. The Cowl brackets have one slotted mounting hole. None of the others do. It's otherwise hard to see the "angle" difference with a photo and you can get the wrong one. There's really not much difference in the angle as it's the tangent that makes the difference in just clearing the air cleaner housing.

17

Decoding/Numbers / Re: 69 - Z10 horns

« on: February 04, 2010, 12:53:17 PM »

The horns for a 69 Camaro look nothing like that at all. Those are the old style horns with an entirely different bell and the housings are also very different. For the most part, 1969 horns were pretty much all the same across the GM line. The difference was in the brackets. Of course there are different notes so that when you had dual horns you had one low note and one high note so that they harmonized. There are also more than two notes: E F G H etc.....   It can get tricky finding the right ones for 69 Camaros if  you are not sure about what you are looking for.

Side note:  All service replacement horns were the same for all the cars. They came boxed with a bracket that was installed separately so that they could mount to any application. The horn was black and the bracket was just plain plated. The bracket was afixed by a big nut that secured it to the horn. You could not order the exact horns for your car through the Parts department even when your car was new. GM did this to simplify the replacement of horns and as far as they were concerned they did the job as a replacement. That's why you sometimes see these horns in Delco boxes as NOS for sale without a bracket on them. That's also why it is so difficult to come up with a part number. I believe the number John Z gave is the one that will be cast on to the horns you need as they fit only 69 Camaros and all 69 Camaros used the same horn(s).

18

General Discussion / Re: # 8770 / 5691676 P/S Box. Is this for a Z/28 and what's it worth?

« on: January 27, 2010, 01:48:43 PM »

Here's a sure fire way to find out what it's worth:

List it on Ebay with a starting bid of $19.00. What ever the auction ends at is the real market value. No more and no less. Don't put a reserve on it as most serious bidders will ignore it then.

19

General Discussion / Re: If you bought a car based on certification.........

« on: January 22, 2010, 07:18:55 PM »

This whole "rebody" issue reminds me of George Washington's ax: The handle was changed twice and the head three times, other than that it's the original ax George Washington used.

Personally, I can't see why anyone would want a car with that much work done to it. Wow, at that point what do you have.

As far as Jerry M goes I don't know him personally but I do know he has done an awful lot for every 1969 Camaro owner who wants to learn about their car. He wrote a book with a wealth of useful information in it, he evidently spends all his time dedicated to these cars and he gives out a lot FREE information on this forum. I've personally benefitted from it in the restoration of my 69 Pace Car. Yeah, he probably makes money at it but why begrudge him that? He invested in it and he should reap any rewards from it. I'm envious I didn't think of it first and apparently so are others.

I'm in business and everyone wants to throw stones at you when you are. I say have at it if it's so easy. People make mistakes everyday. I do and I try to learn from them.

Just my opinions.

20

General Discussion / Re: The end of the big block

« on: December 23, 2009, 01:41:06 PM »

As an outsider looking in and having many friends in the US. It is a darned shame to see the collapse as it were of such a great nation.
We can only hope that the powers to be and those who are directly responsible for the problems are smart enough to ask why it happened and how it can be prevented from happening again. In my opinion if those simple questions are not addressed and people are not prepared to answer the hard questions, then we would seriously wonder if the US will ever recover. It may be more than Big Blocks that go, hasn't Pontiac got the chop as well? 

Read this book:  "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire."  It's all right there.

Big blocks are really cool but they belong in old Chevys not modern vehicles. They should have been gone years ago. This is one of many reasons why GM is where it's at. I worked for this company for many years and many, not all, of the management still believe the old statement made during the government hearings of the 1950s:  "what's good for General Motors is good for this country" That mentality was pervasive for years.

Chevrolet made millions of big block engines. There will be plenty to go around for us old car nuts for many years to come. We just don't need them in modern vehicles. Look at it this way; they will become even more collectible now that you can't get them.

21

General Discussion / Re: engine mounts

« on: December 01, 2009, 02:04:35 AM »

I would get on Ebay and find a good used set. That way you will know they are correct (because GM made them) unlike most of the repro junk. Also make sure you have small block mounts for a small block and big block mounts for a big block. They are different. It wouldn't surprise me if they sent the wrong ones. The repro companies are not Camaro enthusiasts just people filling orders in a warehouse somewhere without any interest or concern for what they are doing. I see nice used ones on Ebay all the time for reasonable money.

22

General Discussion / Re: doe's anyone have any other pic's or info on the fiberglass 67 camaro mock up

« on: December 01, 2009, 01:34:34 AM »

Those photos were taken at GM Photographic at the Tech Center in Warren. The photographic center was capable of reproducing almost any scene you could imagine. Many of the brochure photos were taken there as well as most of the advertising and promotional pieces. As far as I know most everything was destroyed on purpose to prevent liability issues. In the 30s 40s and even the 50s many of the prototypes wound up in private hands and local scrap yards. I even used to see Ford products there as well that the GM engineers were studying and they were also destroyed. GM had their own little scrap yard right at the tech center. I would bet anything that 67 Camaro pre production vehicle was certainly destroyed.

23

Decoding/Numbers / Re: 1968 RS SS

« on: November 29, 2009, 04:17:00 AM »

Yeah, it's simple. The ONE is next to the ZERO on the imprinter. Wha-da-ya-know, a GM employee made a mistake. There were many and this is a perfect example of what I live by with these old cars: The only thing that was consistent was inconsistency.

24

General Discussion / Re: 69 Camaro - 3 speed manual w/overdrive (original ???)

« on: November 29, 2009, 12:47:15 AM »

Overdrive was available on the Passenger (Impala, Bel Air etc) models up until 1968 which is the last year as a factory option. I think it's demise was really due to the advancment in the Hydramatic division of GM. Automatic transmission sales skyrocketed during the mid 60s and, let's face it, were far superior than the old clunky 3 speeds. Funny how now we are back to that old system of overdrives and manual transmissions for the increased fuel mileage.

25

Maintenance / Re: Blower Fan to Heater Core...

« on: November 28, 2009, 11:47:42 PM »

the high blower speed works through a relay. The relay just connects full battery power to the fan motor. The other lower speeds are controlled be the resistor pack that is situated on top of the heater core box on the inside of the car. When you put the switch to the high posistion you are simply grounding the high blower relay. When that is done the relay contacts connect battery power to the orange fan wire.

There is typically an inline fuse that supplies the current to the high blower relay. Check that and then make sure you have power on that red wire going to the high blower relay. The high blower relay is located on the evaporator case. If you have power to the relay then you have to make sure the fan switch is grounding the relay when you select high.

If you had your hands in this area then I would suspect you pulled a wire or loosened a connection at the high blower relay. The other lower speeds will work without the high blower relay so this is probably the problem.

26

General Discussion / Re: Convertible Top Fluid Type

« on: October 27, 2009, 05:29:55 PM »

Any hydraulic fluid will work fine. Power steering fluid is probably the best bet. You could also go to NAPA and get hydraulic fluid used in snow plow pumps. It's all good. ATF is very high detergent and that is not needed in a power top hydraulic system.

27

General Discussion / Re: Vintage assembly plant videos

« on: August 26, 2009, 07:22:59 PM »

Air bags were actually available on Oldsmobile Toronado in the 1970s. They just were not received well by the public. Sort of like seat belts in the 1950s.

28

Maintenance / Re: 69 dash pad

« on: June 11, 2009, 11:54:33 AM »

Here is what I did with very good success.  I peeled up the vinyl where it wraps around the fiberglass backing to expose the fiberglass. I then cut off about 1/2" of the fiberglass so that the vinyl will fit over and around the fiberglass easily. The problem is that the vinyl shrinks after all these years. So if you make the fiberglass backing a bit shorter to accomdate the shrunk vinyl you can get it to lay over easier and stay there using the method mentioned above: Clamp the vinyl with good cement and use a piece of pine with many clamps to spread the load. I waited a couple of days before touching it. I'm very happy with the results and I agree with the "patina" of the car too. Mine is not perfect buy only a knowledgeable Camaro person, (which by the way there is no shortage of at the car shows) would find any shortcomings.

29

Maintenance / Re: 69 RS Headlights not working

« on: June 10, 2009, 05:27:24 PM »

A common mistake people make with these is reversing the vacuum lines on the headlamp switch. There is actually an orientation to the vacuum lines at the head lamp switch. If you don't have them connnected properly the vacuum can not bleed off when the headlamp switch is turned on and thus the vacuum relay valve will stay in the up position.

The system is very simple if you take the time to understand how it works.

You should have vacuum at the relay valve top connection when the headlamp switch is off. When you pull the lights on the vacuum should not be present at the relay valve and this will let the piston drop down and apply vacuum to the "open" hoses.

Of course make sure you have good manifold vacuum on the yellow hose which is connected to the storage cannister and also the relay valve.

Engine running, head lamps off:  Vacuum at the relay valve top hose, Vacuum on the yellow hose to the cannister and relay valve. Vacuum applied to the "close" hose going to the vacuum motors

Engine running, head lamp on:  No vacuum at the relay valve top hose, Vacuum on the yellow hose to the cannister and relay valve, Vacuum applied to the "open" hose going to the vacuum motors.

Of course it does not matter which way you connect the green and red hoses to the vacuum motors as long as they do what they want when you work the lights. If not just reverse them.

Hope this helps. I've fixed many of these and it's usually something simple like this.

One more thing, best thing to do if you have not already is get the new vacuum motors from CHQ. They work great.

30

General Discussion / Re: 1969 to 2010

« on: May 12, 2009, 01:50:23 AM »

I agree about the white stripe. In fact that stripe was put on by the owner not Chevrolet. I don't care for it much either. The good news about that car is the interest in generated in that parking lot. People were pulling in like mad asking as much about the 2010 as my 69 which is not normally the case. I think this car will help bring back some interest in the autombobile industry along with the Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang.