Author Topic: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?  (Read 10857 times)

Racerdan

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Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« on: February 03, 2010, 07:18:48 AM »
Struggling with a 69 that has:

Van Nuys trim tag
12 bolt original rear end with 373 gears, drum brakes- with cooling vent holes in side of drum
two line fuel line- one small, one large
Big block air radiator
hole for speedo on drivers side of steering wheel shaft hole.
brake proportioning valve under drivers side frame
engine missing
Heater box missing
Trim tag does not id it as a X-22, etc.  It is blank at this spot
Black door sills
Original rear panel replaced

Questions:
1.  Did they any make SS Camaros in California in 69?
2.  Is this a L34 or L35 car, since it has two fuel lines, one small, one large?

Appreciate any help!  Thanks!

Racerdan

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2010, 07:53:12 AM »
For clarification, the speedo hole is above the accelerator pedal, for a muncie trans.  Not sure how to edit my above post.  The radiator is # 3018624, made for COPO and 396 manual cars.  End codes on tank match OO, and has the curved neck, typical of BB air cars and COPO cars.

VIN is not on list of COPO cars, and car was made Feb 4, 1969.

HELP, PLEASE!

77thor

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2010, 12:23:08 PM »
From my limited knowledge, I can tell you that SS Camaros were made in LOS (they did not use X codes).
As far as the the 2 fuel lines, I believe that it means that it had a Q-Jet carb.

That about all that I can help you with.

The real experts will chime in.
1969 Camaro SS, 350(NOM), M21, 12 Bolt Posi, 01B LOS Build
1977 Camaro, 350(LM1), M20, 10 Bolt Posi, Purchased New, (SOLD)

william

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2010, 01:50:25 PM »
Of course Camaro SS were built in CA.

Whatever you have it has been messed with like many 1st gens. If it is a CA car it may have a body broadcast sheet on top of the fuel tank. For now post VIN and body tag info. If the engine mount brackets are still present are there part numbers on them?
Learning more and more about less and less...

LB68SS350

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2010, 02:51:23 PM »
Is it disc or drum? All '69 SS would have front power disc brakes from the factory.   Larry

Racerdan

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #5 on: February 04, 2010, 02:29:48 AM »
The car has front disc brakes, rear drum. 

Trim Tag:
ST69= 1969 Model Year
12437= Camaro, V-8 Engine, Coupe.
VN235379= Body made at Van Nuys, CA plant, sequence # 235379 (sequence number of body is not supposed to be the same as the VIN sequence number.)
TR- 711= Trim number, black standard bucket seat interior
72 72= paint code top/bottom- Hugger Orange
01D= Date code 4th week of January (matches vin and date codes on other orginal parts like rear end.
V144= Build date of body- V= 22nd day of month, car #144 for that day.


The quadrajet was only put on the L34 and L35 396 cars, I think.  The VIN ends with 520387, made about the 4th day of February, I think.

Is there any way to tell if the car came with a 325 versus a 350 hp 396?

Thanks again!

69LM1

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #6 on: February 04, 2010, 04:13:21 AM »
The quadrajet was only put on the L34 and L35 396 cars, I think.  The VIN ends with 520387, made about the 4th day of February, I think.

Is there any way to tell if the car came with a 325 versus a 350 hp 396?

Thanks again!

And the L48 and LM1 cars as well...... :)

Rich
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click

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #7 on: February 04, 2010, 04:38:09 AM »
But the LM1 was not built that late in January. LM1's were done by the end of Dec. :) sadly
Click is Jim , central Minn.  Moderator at Team Camaro www.camaros.net

69LM1

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #8 on: February 04, 2010, 11:28:10 PM »
Ah, missed the date in the second post.....

Rich
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Racerdan

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2018, 02:16:19 AM »
UPDATE:  I have identified the car is a Z28 Camaro, not an SS.  The 3rd owner swears it was not a Z28, but the documentation previous to him proves it was.  Some of the things that threw me off besides him was the Big block radiator, which I found out was made in June, 1970;  the clips for two fuel lines- which was on big blocks and the Z28.  Erroneously ruling out the Z28, the only other model would have been an SS. 

So, the original owners family has provided me with a wealth of information saying it was a Z28, that the original owner ordered.  A newspaper article dated in June of 1971 in Eagle Grove, Iowa tells the original owners name, and that it was a Z28 as well.

The second owner was a car dealer in Iowa, who I am guessing did not know that the 69 Z28 Camaros made in California did not have X codes on the trim tag, and therefor was sure it was not a Z28.  BUT- the rear end numbers and leaf springs are so very close to the manufacturing date  it would be all but impossible to find one to match the manufacturing date of this specific Camaro.

I talked with the second owner's mechanic and body man who converted this Z28 into an SCCA race car, and he explained the damage to the car was sheet metal, and the complete driveline survived the crash and was used to race with.  This included the rear end, which had less than 23,000 miles on it.  The rear end was rebuilt in the late 1970's and 4.11 gears installed in it along with new clutches.  The Camaro only raced a couple events after that and those non original parts are still in it.


BULLITT65

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #10 on: April 14, 2018, 06:55:44 AM »
If the complete drive line survived the crash it could still be out there somewhere...
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buenymayor

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #11 on: April 14, 2018, 11:39:49 AM »
You sure about it being a Z/28? A Z/28 would NOT have had dual fuel lines.

KurtS

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #12 on: April 14, 2018, 09:31:06 PM »
  the clips for two fuel lines- which was on big blocks and the Z28. 

The second owner was a car dealer in Iowa, who I am guessing did not know that the 69 Z28 Camaros made in California did not have X codes on the trim tag, and therefor was sure it was not a Z28.
Two fuel lines is an SS in that build timeframe.
Noone know to even look at the trim tags back then......
Kurt S
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Racerdan

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #13 on: April 15, 2018, 12:13:14 AM »
I found the clip that holds two lines in the Camaro assembly manual.   Page 125, UPC8  B3.

The part is numbered 4.  It is Gm part number 3886522, called a clip.

It shows in the drawing only one fuel line, but the clip clearly has two humps for two lines.  CAll me stupid, but it sure LOOKS like a two line clip, but I guess it only held one!

Remember, I am a novice!  I am here asking and learning!

Racerdan

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #14 on: April 15, 2018, 12:24:22 AM »
You sure about it being a Z/28? A Z/28 would NOT have had dual fuel lines.
Today, I dug out my Camaro assembly manual and found the clip.  it was used on single lines, too.  Page 125, part labeled "4", their part # 3886522.  But I was again confused for a few minutes when I read your post!  Thank you for pointing that out to me!

Racerdan

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #15 on: April 15, 2018, 12:28:27 AM »
If the complete drive line survived the crash it could still be out there somewhere...

It was used in some serious SCCA Road Racing, for many years.  While the driveline survived the crash according to Geroge, the engine and trans did not survive the racing!  The engine lasted for the 1972 season, GM gave the dealer a new 302 to race with, so not sure where the block went after that.  The trans had to of been replaced, I got it with a rock crusher, if I remember right it was out of a 1969 Malibu or Chevelle, and I sold it a couple years ago.

bcmiller

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #16 on: April 15, 2018, 12:44:22 AM »
Problem is that there is not enough original stuff left on the car to prove what it is. That’s the bottom line.

I know you WANT it to be a Z28, but sorry.

You are better off just documenting every piece of information from its racing history.
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Racerdan

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #17 on: April 15, 2018, 03:15:14 PM »
Here was the tag info off the radiator that originally made me think it was an SS.  But the manufacturing date does not line up with the build date of the Camaro. 

Tag= I0   UY
         00
         70     R
“10”= big block, 4 core end tank, with curved neck
“UY”= Broadcast code= COPO (big block 4 core 23 inch wide core, .16 spacing on fins) part # 3018624* Used in 1969 on manual transmission 396 air cars and 427 COPO cars only- 4 core, 23 inches wide, with .16 fin spacing.
“00”= big block manual end tank, four core only used on big block manual trans cars.
Between these two letters is the letter “F” which means it was made the month of  June.
“70”  and “R” are unknown characters and meaning is unknown.

Obvious to me know, I can see this radiator came out of another car, for its racing ventures in the 70's....

Racer Dan

Racerdan

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #18 on: April 15, 2018, 03:25:33 PM »
We recently found an old newspaper article with photos of the Camaro both when it was wrecked and on the track.  The article, from Eagle Grove Iowa newspaper sports writer, said it was a 1969 Z28, previously owned by Ken Thompson from California, turned into an SCCA Road Racer after it was wrecked near here in 1971, and raced by Bob Wood in 1972.  It also gave some of his racing results and races for that year.

69Z28-RS

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Re: Were 69 SS also made in CA plant?
« Reply #19 on: April 15, 2018, 04:14:08 PM »
Dan,

I and I'm sure others would love to see that article (and photo)..  Can you post the article here? or scan it and post it (if it's hardcopy)..?
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