New guy new project 69 Camaro

[DEL]

Howdy,

I'm hoping to pick up my new project this weekend. A solid 69 Camaro sport coupe. This will be a thrill for sure. I've owned 11 other first generation Camaro's over the years and started to think I'd never be able to afford another one. I'll post up some more pictures once the deal is done and she's in my garage. I've browsed some of the other posts here, thanks to those that take the time to catalog their work and post pictures. Its inspiring!

[Mike S]

Hi Dave,

  Welcome to CRG. Here you will learn more, on an accelerated level, about 1st Gen's than from reading any books due in part to the wide experienced audience, documents within the CRG library and posted images.

Regards,
Mike

[x66 714]

Like Mike says. Is that a vinyl top or a 2 tone car?....Joe

[DEL]

"this weekend" turned into today! She's safe and sound in my shop. We fired her up and it runs amazingly smooth. I emptied all the parts out of the trunk and was happy to find the trunk floor totally solid, no cancer at all. The only bad spots are behind the front tires at the very bottom of the fenders (I've seen this before on others I've owned). It needs a full restoration but the initial plan is just to clean her up and drive her once in a while. I guess I had mis counted before, this is actually 1st-Gen Camaro #11 for me, just for fun I'll rattle off the others I've owned:
68 Sport Coupe, 327 PG light green on black with deluxe hounds-tooth interior (First one, bought when I was a in the 10th grade, 1981)
68 RS 327 4 speed 12 bolt posi dark blue on blue
68 SS 396 4 speed light blue on black
68 SS-RS 396 TH400 dark blue on black with a working Concert Sound system
68 Sport Coupe L20/M30 327 4 speed 12-bolt posi <-- "Greasy Orange Small Block, With Nothing Special" article: http://www.camaros.org/l30m20-stories.shtml 
67 SS RS 350 4 speed Red on red
69 Sport Coupe 327 Power Glide green on green
67 Sport Coupe 327 Power Glide white on black
68 RS 327 Power Glide Gold on Gold
67 Sport Coupe 406 TH350 Blue on blue (Last one, bought around 2000)

Here are some more pictures of the 69:

[DEL]

Thats me on the left and a friend of mine I've known for 36 years. He's owned the car for the last 14 years or so, I've hounded him about it every time I've seen him since. I guess it worked :-)

[DEL]

Here's the cowl tag, I haven't decoded it yet.

[ko-lek-tor]

A Big Welcome DEL! Are you out on the coast? Where rust free stuff is found? Hard to tell from pics, but looks like a solid good find. Good luck.

[VINCE Z28]

Oregon City is a suburb of Portland, Oregon.

[camaroboy68ss]

I recognize your buddy, my grandfather has know him as long as I can remember I didn't know he had a Camaro.

[69z28302]

Is that 53 on the paint? Glacier Blue? Nice color.

Mike

[68Zproject]

I live in Beaverton if you need anything let me know.

[DEL]

I live in Beaverton if you need anything let me know.

Thanks for the offer. So far its just a lot of cleanup.

[DEL]

Jacked it up and pressure washed the engine and under side. Cleaned the trunk. Removed the Carter AFB 625 carb to find it pretty gunky inside. I'll rebuild that and also may end up needing a fuel pump.

I started cleaning the sealant out of the rear window channel. Just a couple very small holes so far. The car seems really solid. Lots of surface rust but very little cancer.

Trying to decode the block and heads.
The heads:
"3973487....71-72...350..........1.94/1.5 or 2.02/1.6 valves, was also used on '71 350/330hp LT1, 75cc chamber"

I'm having trouble seeing the casting number on the bloick but the last two digits on the stamp are 'HK' which says:
RPO    FY    CID    appl
HK    1965   327    s h/p, a/c, m/t
HK    1968   327    Powerglide
HK    1969   350    Powerglide

[ZLP955]

Triple blue, Glacier blue with blue vinyl top and dark blue deluxe interior - very nice!

[VINCE Z28]

DEL, my book shows HK as ;1965 Corvette 327 cid 365 H.P. 4sp. Holley 4-BBL. or 1969 passenger car 350cid 300 H.P. powerglide High Perf. 

[JohnZ]

DEL, my book shows HK as ;1965 Corvette 327 cid 365 H.P. 4sp. Holley 4-BBL. or 1969 passenger car 350cid 300 H.P. powerglide High Perf.

Is the first character "F" or "V"?

[DEL]

DEL, my book shows HK as ;1965 Corvette 327 cid 365 H.P. 4sp. Holley 4-BBL. or 1969 passenger car 350cid 300 H.P. powerglide High Perf.

Is the first character "F" or "V"?

The first character is a 'V'
The whole number is V0524HK

At some point I'll get to see the casting number on the back of the block but right now there's too much stuff in the way.

[cook_dw]

Nice project.  Not too many Glacier cars around.  Here is a friend of mines 69 Glacier Z.

 

[VINCE Z28]

DW I know it's not correct, but I like the deck lid stripe under the spoiler.

[cook_dw]

Car was originally no spoiler flat hood.  Its an early NOR build car.  I wanna say Oct 68.  Spoiler & hood added in the 70's.  Its had one repaint.  It used to have lace over the stripes which he had done not long after he bought the car in 70 or 71 from the dealer.  If anyone remembers the "Movie/TV Camaros" thread; this is the car that was in the movie "At Close Range" with Sean Penn & Christopher Walken.

[DEL]

Thanks for the pictures. It will be a couple years but I expect it to get paint, interior and some more HP.

[DEL]

Finally got a chance to take my first drive, upon returning home my wife took a quick video :-)

http://youtu.be/PuLFeBZzTdU?list=UUv583F7NHjNbpSQJkO5x9FA

[mickeystoys69RSSS]

That is the coolest burnout into the garage I have ever seen before.

[1968RSZ28]

That is the coolest burnout into the garage I have ever seen before.

Yeah, Dave must be a drag racer! 

Paul

[69 Zee]

Car was originally no spoiler flat hood.  Its an early NOR build car.  I wanna say Oct 68.  Spoiler & hood added in the 70's.  Its had one repaint.  It used to have lace over the stripes which he had done not long after he bought the car in 70 or 71 from the dealer.  If anyone remembers the "Movie/TV Camaros" thread; this is the car that was in the movie "At Close Range" with Sean Penn & Christopher Walken.

Welcome Dave, Looks like it's a great start, in very good condition.  Enjoy and have fun with it.

Darrell,  That Z in the movie also had a rear antenna I believe.  Did your buddy move it to the front?  BTW...great flick, great (young) cast.. a must see movie if you've never seen !

[cook_dw]

It was a CB antenna in the movie.  Antenna has always been on the fender to the best of my knowledge.

[tom]

Look close, both antenna can bee seen in the photo above

[X66]

Great find. My favorite year. It would be awesome to see all your Camaros in one picture. With today's technology I think that would be possible.

[dannystarr]

A little closer.. D

[DEL]

Not too much progress on the old Camaro. The interior is totally removed. I did get the engine running good and ended up putting a Holley carb on it. I've taken it for a few short drives just for fun. Its now at the point where it will probably stay for a bit until the "budget" is ready for the paint and interior.

I went ahead and found some old pictures of some of the Camaro's owned over the years. I'll post them below.

[DEL]

I bought this one in the spring of 1982 when I was a Junior in high school for $2,350! It was an original 68 SS 396, it had the Muncie M20 4-speed and a 3:31 12-Bolt posi. The car had 72,000 original miles when I bought it.

I had the original engine rebuilt, ported heads, big Crower solid cam, roller rockers, etc. It ran VERY well. Unfortinately 1 month after getting it back on the road with the new engine, clutch, trans, GT Qualifier tires, etc I was hit by an International pickup and the car was totalled.

[DEL]

I owned this one in 1984. I traded a 1972 El Camino and some cash for it. I believe the seller was asking around $5,000. It was an SS-RS 396 with a TH400 and a 12 Bolt posi. This car had front disk brakes (which I could never keep from leaking) and the very rare Concert Sound Stereo system. The stereo worked great and had the volume, balance and fader on the console. It was a neat deal, as you tuned the stereo there was a blue Chevrolet emblem on the console that would get brighter as the station signal improved...at least that's how I remember it...long time ago! The car ran and drove great but it had been hit on the right side. I ended up selling it the same year to a person from Canada as I recall.

[DEL]

This was a 67 SS350 that I bought around 1991 or so. It had a 4 speed and a 12-bolt with the factory traction bar. It had black interior. I paid $5,100 for this one if memory serves. I drove it for a while, cleaned it up and put new carpets in it and sold it a few months later. Its one of many that I wish I would have kept. It was pretty much all original. I believe it still had the California smog pump.

[DEL]

This was by far my favorite Camaro. It was the L-20/M-30 car that I commented on in the article years ago. I bought it in 1985 for $3200 (a lot of money for a non-SS Camaro at the time) but it was in great shape. All original, even the paint. The car ran fantastic with the 327 Saginaw 4-speed, and 3:55 12-bolt rear. I did a few things to it including headers and exhaust and drove it every day. In 1986 a driver pulled out between parked cars and wiped the front end off of it. I ended up pulling the engine out and took it to the machine shop. A year later it had a solid lift cam, ported heads, roller rockers...etc. I put all new GM sheet metal on it to fix the front end. The built small block ran very good, eventually going low 13's in the 1/4 mile with a 4-speed and radials. In 1989 it was painted by a friend for $600, a great paint job for the money. In 1993 I added nitrous oxide and switched from a 4-speed to an automatic, the car ran consistent mid 12's off the bottle and a best-ever pass of 11.04 on the bottle. The fun was short lived when I burnt a head gasket and a piston while running the nitrous. Out came the small block and in went a full roller, aluminum headed 461 BBC. Ultimately the car ran back in the 11.0's on pump gas, driving it to and from the track, pretty respectable for the late 1990's. I made a horrible mistake and sold the car to a friend who had been riding me to buy it. I've owned a lot of cars (more than 80) and by far I regret selling this one the most. The guy who bought it from me ran it into the 9's on nitrous and then sold it to a guy in Redding, CA. No telling where it is now.

[DEL]

This was a 68 RS that I traded a Firebird Formula 400 for in early 1982. This car had some quirks for sure. It was a 327 with a Saginaw 4-speed and a 12-bolt posi. It had dark blue fur on the door panels and dash...disco style. It didn't run that great so I tried to help it by putting on a set of 194 heads, a 4-BBL and a set of headers. The new heads had tighter chambers and after I got it running it had a lot more power but alas...it smoked! This car was tall geared, I never checked the ratio but I would guess it was 3.08. I burnt the tires further in this car than any other before or since. I ended up selling it later that year for $1800 as I recall, its what helped to pay for the light blue SS396 above.

[ko-lek-tor]

Thanks Dave. We live for old pics and the "good ole days". You must have had a good job while in school. When I was a Junior in H.S., I was not able to get anything even close to that. It sure was a nice looking ride. I had to laugh at the description of "fur on the door panels and dash...disco style." It sure brings back memories of some crazy stuff we all saw and did, back in the day.

[BULLITT65]

Nice collection of cars over the years.

(Cook could have fixed that 68 big block car...... almost looks like the same broadside hit one of his Camaros took. He posted pics on another thread)