Clem,

Hopefully you can see the color in the attached pic. I recently developed a batch of old film that had this '65 Impala in it, a dead ringer for the car my parents owned (that's why I took it !). I always admired Evening Orchid, wish we could have kept the '65 -

Regards,
Steve

Here's an observation - notice the AIM shows the number of staples required for the assembly (6) - I count 5 on my original Z shield (shown); I have one for the X66 SS that is missing the material, and has only one staple through the bracket. I would guess that an assembler probably shortcut it, and the seal eventually came off (leaving the bracket behind).

I sure wish my originals looked as good as George's previous example - I wouldn't mind replacing my "survivor" to make it look better than what it does -

Regards,
Steve

Welcome to the group corvette bronze is great looking color! Big block or small block car 4speed  or automatic car. I love 68's the best.

And I thought it was Lemans '69's you were stuck on - shows what I know.

Traitor -

I stored two sets of Goodyear originals, one set for 20 plus years, stacked flat (first tire on wood), separated by a single layer of plastic to keep the carbon black from penetrating the white letters. Light coat of protectant on the tires, otherwise they sat in one spot for all that time in a frame garage, not climate controlled, and were dry-rot and check free when I sold them a couple of years back. If you store them for a long length of time upright, they'll probably flat spot (my B.F. Goodrich T/A's were terrible after 19 years in the same spot, no dry rot amazingly, but were quite square). The Goodboots were not mounted; the T/A's were on my LS5 Chevelle, sold in 2011.
BTW - the T/A's did not rot, either, but I sure wouldn't have run them on the street - felt like a Shriner's clown car when I pulled it out of storage.

[can]

I believe I'd save as much of the original panels as I could, cut the rust out and replace it. It's only going to get worse - rust never sleeps - this car is a keeper in my estimation, so bite the bullet and get 'er done. I had the opportunity to work on a true survivor car several years back - there were some imperfections in the 100% original paint (quarter panel at the rear window scratches, front stripe, door stripe, front header panel) - a 7000 mile '68 SS 350/295, Corvette Bronze - the then-owner decided to touch it up, and it actually worked - you really could not see the areas that were repainted, the overall effect was outstanding. True, it should have been left alone, but the owner wanted perfection. Point is you can fix the issues without detracting from the car, and help preserve it for the years of enjoyment to come.

The rest of the story - fix was not cheap, $1100 in 1995. Painter was well renowned local guy, painted many of a local collector's Yenkos and others, one of the best I have seen. With color matching today as high tech as it is, color blending shouldn't be a concern if you use the right guy.

Just my 2 cents -

Regards,
Steve

Not surprisingly, no mention of "Bullitt" yet, but it is full of everything, including the yellow '67 coupe at the car wash scene (Duvall and McQueen in the taxi). Car had to be about a year old, or less. I found a pic, but can't resize it -

Love Bullitt! Here's a little closer view of that butternut Camaro...

I see a couple of things I couldn't see in my small pic - wheel well trim, rear bumper guards. Full wheel covers, but I can't make out the type. Also noticed that's Duvall, with McQueen approaching off his shoulder to the right. Great flick - I still look at the chase occasionally to see all of the cars on the street.

Thanks for expanding it -

Regards,
Steve 

Earliest possible week. 12A's don't have it, I've seen more than several "X" marked 12B's over the years.

1969 Cowl Tag - X Codes
The Xnn codes were a mid-1969 model addition to the Fisher Body cowl tags of Norwood-built Camaros, starting with the 12B (second week of December) build week. (CRG has found 12B cars both with and without these codes. Our data for all cars in prior weeks is absent this code, and our data for all cars in weeks following contain this code.) These codes were an aid for Fisher body assembly workers to identify body trim and paint changes required for different Camaro models. The codes are divided into two groups: those with the Z21 style trim option and those without the Z21 style trim option.

Not surprisingly, no mention of "Bullitt" yet, but it is full of everything, including the yellow '67 coupe at the car wash scene (Duvall and McQueen in the taxi). Car had to be about a year old, or less. I found a pic, but can't resize it -

Shame McQueen wasn't driving an L78 SS - he probably would've caught the Charger before they got out of town - or the first hill -

I need one badly - might consider trading my L78 "built BBC" for this as the lister suggested -

Not -

[could]

If you're speaking of the rear package shelf, it is a card board type material; depending on your level of desired restoration, either replace it with NOS (they show up regularly on eBay - where I sold mine a couple of years' back), or purchase a quality repop, of which there are several manufacturers to choose from. Those things usually get pretty warped, stained and come apart - I don't know of anyone who could restore one. Be sure to get the one with the front padding attached, as originals were.

Great looking Z, by the way - gotta love those hidden gems and the resurrection from Garage Purgatory. Keep us all informed on your progress -

Regards,
Steve

Depending on what part of the country you're in, try:

Automotive Restorations, Steve Babinsky, autorestnj@aol.com, 908-236-6400 (NJ)

A&C Casting Rebuilders, Rick Geertsma, www.accastingrebuilders.com, 866-935-3227 (CA)

Casting Salvage Technologies, www.therestorationshoponline.com, 800-833-8814 (VA)

I had my damaged Z passenger side exhaust repaired years ago using the pre-heat/post weld stress relief fusion method espoused by several of these guys, with perfect results - other than a "fresh" appearance, the repair was perfect (and still is, over 20 years later). Worked for me -

Regards,
Steve

Here are some pictures. Kind of a mess with the flashes placed just right, and the SO light depth of the stampings. I don't know about this one. Pretty scary.......Danny

Sanding scratches to cover feed lines from surfacing ? Too little of the deck surface in the shot to tell. Bulkhead reads "X5" or "X7" - can't tell. Deck stamp looks decent, but the whole thing gets worse all the time. Trans stamp looks decent. I'd bet the X55 stamp was original, then changed to an X77 at some point - you think ?

Like any other car - if all the documentation you have is a cowl tag, you'd best look real close - at everything.

Regards,
Steve

Tag from the 2008 post and the X77 tag. Subtle differences in font, but the obvious Mongolian is the change from X77 to X55 or vice versa somewhere along the line. What state did it end up in ? The car belongs in a Transformers movie.

Regards,
Steve

That is not the same tag from the old thread to the new one. The numbers stamped are but the tag isn't.

Mike

I agree it's not the same tag - that's the point. If this is the same owner as the car in the 2008 thread (that's why I asked if it was), it's obvious he had a new X77 tag made using the X55 tag info - maybe because he had a 386 block to go with the car originally, which would work with a 12B X77. Shame on him for a flagrant foul here - 

Biggest brass cujones I have read about lately - man oh man, that's brazen. People apparently don't think about e-files and memories.
Same guy, or different owner ?

Regards,
Steve