69' restoration

[ecstears@gmail.com]

Hello everyone,

My name is Eric and this is my 1969 Camaro that i will be starting to restore.  It was my dad's car he/we had planned on him and I to restore before cancer took him from me.  I'm sure I will have many questions in the future!

[ecstears@gmail.com]

looking for opinions would I be better off to leave the motor the way it is, or to try and find original parts and rebuild the motor?

[BULLITT65]

Welcome to the site!
Are your plans just to get it running initially? Or are you going to prep it for paint, (looks like it was originally GOLD), and clean the whole car up?

[BULLITT65]

I think what would make it fun for you, would be to get it running and operational first. This way you can enjoy the car while you contemplate what steps you want to take next. Plus you get the car running and operational and you just doubled the value..

[ecstears@gmail.com]

my plan/dream is to completely clean up the whole car..  the leather seats are in fair condition and i removed them from the car to keep the mice and rodents out of them.. the car has been garage kept (non heated) for 20 years. 15 of the years it was on jack stands and trapped. As far as the color I'm not much of a Gold fan, and since obviously it was already repainted once I will more than likely repaint (thinking pearl white).  the motor has had oil in it the whole time, and it has the muncie 4 speed trans. i believe it has the original block in the car. any suggestions on where to get reasonably priced replica tires?

[BULLITT65]

Hey man, bring it into the sunlight and wash it. Then get some plug wires on there, new plugs, and drain the gas tank, and fill with some new fuel and an oil change, and fire it up. All that goes well check your brakes, and take mer out for a spin!

[ko-lek-tor]

looking for opinions would I be better off to leave the motor the way it is, or to try and find original parts and rebuild the motor?

my plan/dream is to completely clean up the whole car..  .  the motor has had oil in it the whole time, and it has the muncie 4 speed trans. i believe it has the original block in the car. any suggestions on where to get reasonably priced replica tires?

Always sorry to here about a loss from cancer. It is truly tragic. I am sure you and your dad had many things planned together.
Two questions: You are asking whether to leave the engine the way it is or go original? It is YOUR car now, make it the way YOU want it. Did your dad put the aftermarket parts on the car? If so, I would consider leaving it the way it is as a "nostalgic tribute" to your dad.
2nd: You say you believe the car has the original block. If that is so or your not sure, why don't you get the numbers off the front pad and let us guys tell you what you got? That is what we do best, here!
A side note. It may be the case that you are not a mechanic or are not confident and do not know how to proceed. How do you rate your mechanical skills 1-10. One being totally inept, not knowing what a wrench is or how to hold one. lol. 10 being a mechanical whiz kid. Oh, and thanks for joining the site. We are a great group and although we can't replace your dad, we will try and partly fill that void your dad left in helping you... with the car anyway. Looks like you are in Michigan, what part? Oh, and vintage tires will be the least of your worries for awhile and I see many refer to the "leather seats"in their Camaro. That is American leather, my son, so just refer to it as VINYL from here on out. I already have my wrenches out and can't wait to be side by side helping you. Take care.

[janobyte]

Welcome, you happened on a great site. Opinions vary quite a bit ,no 2 cars the same here....build the car you want in your garage. That being said posts above are correct...clean it up ,tune it up ,and go from there. I really cannot think of any questions you might have that cannot be answered here---except the stats on a stock 68 Z fuel pump ! LOL

[ecstears@gmail.com]

looking for opinions would I be better off to leave the motor the way it is, or to try and find original parts and rebuild the motor?

my plan/dream is to completely clean up the whole car..  .  the motor has had oil in it the whole time, and it has the muncie 4 speed trans. i believe it has the original block in the car. any suggestions on where to get reasonably priced replica tires?

Always sorry to here about a loss from cancer. It is truly tragic. I am sure you and your dad had many things planned together.
Two questions: You are asking whether to leave the engine the way it is or go original? It is YOUR car now, make it the way YOU want it. Did your dad put the aftermarket parts on the car? If so, I would consider leaving it the way it is as a "nostalgic tribute" to your dad.
2nd: You say you believe the car has the original block. If that is so or your not sure, why don't you get the numbers off the front pad and let us guys tell you what you got? That is what we do best, here!
A side note. It may be the case that you are not a mechanic or are not confident and do not know how to proceed. How do you rate your mechanical skills 1-10. One being totally inept, not knowing what a wrench is or how to hold one. lol. 10 being a mechanical whiz kid. Oh, and thanks for joining the site. We are a great group and although we can't replace your dad, we will try and partly fill that void your dad left in helping you... with the car anyway. Looks like you are in Michigan, what part? Oh, and vintage tires will be the least of your worries for awhile and I see many refer to the "leather seats"in their Camaro. That is American leather, my son, so just refer to it as VINYL from here on out. I already have my wrenches out and can't wait to be side by side helping you. Take care.

Thank you for your reply i really appreciate all of your responses!! I am very mechanically skilled at 23, but am not a mechanic by trade, as I'm sure you can tell by the improper use of terms like the vinyl seats, etc... I grew up on a centennial farm, and my dad had me working on shit since i was in diapers.. ko-lek-tor you hit the nail on the head in saying I am not CONFIDENT, and with me I like to be certain.. You are also completely correct in saying I plan to make it a nostalgic tribute to my father, but I didn't want to detour reply's by acting as if I know it all, or am the type the is not open to opinions or be reasoned with, if that makes sense. He did put the parts on the car himself,originally parked car before he got into REAL trouble for racing.. The numbers I pulled of motor in car is 3744463.. the motor that I have but is not it the car is 8896948

[satman]

Hi Eric,
   It looks like you have your work cut out for you and I think the first thing I would do is try and turn the engine over because if it doesn't there is no point in proceeding any further till you get that sorted out. Assuming it does turn I would test the compression make sure its OK then you can change the fluids and give it a tune up.
By the way I am in the process of restoring my 69  I will post some picks to hopefully give you some encouragement.

Cheers,
         AL   

[BULLITT65]

is either motor original to the car? Is the one that is not in the car rebuilt and ready to go? or what is the difference between the 2?

[ecstears@gmail.com]

That is where my uncertainty comes into plat about the car.  The serial # is 124379N so the car is originally a v8 car, but after I tried tracking both numbers I pulled I can not seem to link any motor to anything.. So maybe I pulled the wrong numbers somehow, or am not tracking them correctly, or maybe neither of the motes are not the "original."  Any thoughts?

[1968RSZ28]

That is where my uncertainty comes into plat about the car.  The serial # is 124379N so the car is originally a v8 car, but after I tried tracking both numbers I pulled I can not seem to link any motor to anything.. So maybe I pulled the wrong numbers somehow, or am not tracking them correctly, or maybe neither of the motes are not the "original."  Any thoughts?

Check the stamped numbers on the engine pad.  The location of the engine pad is shown in this link...  http://www.camaros.org/drivetrain.shtml#PadStamps

Paul

[69Z28-RS]

That is where my uncertainty comes into plat about the car.  The serial # is 124379N so the car is originally a v8 car, but after I tried tracking both numbers I pulled I can not seem to link any motor to anything.. So maybe I pulled the wrong numbers somehow, or am not tracking them correctly, or maybe neither of the motes are not the "original."  Any thoughts?

Clean the small machine block surface pad, at the bottom passenger side head surface.  There should be a one or more stamped alpha-numeric codes.    One of these, the one closest to the center of the engine will have the engine application code stamped.  Obtain and provide us those codes.  (If there is a second coded sequence, it will be to the left and will correspond to the VIN of the original car the engine came from.).
You should also try to read the large cast numeral on the block, just behind the driver side head (that is the engine block casting number - which identifies the block casting, and will narrow it down to a year, or a few years).   Behind the other head, it a shorter sequence which will provide the actual date of casting, and between those two codes, we can obtain the YEAR and date of the engine.   The stamped application code on the front identifies the displacement, horsepower , and perhaps even some additional options for it's origination.

[ecstears@gmail.com]

Ok will do.... Was anyone able to make heads or tails of either numbers I gave previously? 3744463 I got of the motor in the car and was located just behind the carb. On top of the motor... The other motor not in the car I found two numbers 8896948 and 878444... Both motors were pretty dusty and unfortunately I do not have a garage to keep it in so I have it stored at my grandparents so it may take me a few days to get the correct codes, since as you said it should be a alpha numerical code... Thank you guys for your help and reply's I appreciate it!