Hello everyone,
I've decided to start a restoration thread documenting the my 1967 Camaro RS/SS 350, affectionately known as "Boomer," to its original glory.
This car has a particularly special history for me. I originally purchased it from its first owner in 1982, drove and enjoyed it for years, and eventually sold it i 1992. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to purchase it back in 2009. (That's a while other story!)
It's been sitting patiently since 2012, and after all these years, it's finally getting the restoration it deserves.
A little about the car:
1967 Camaro RS/SS L48/M20
Van Nuys,01C
Was original Royal Plum exterior (M-M)
Black vinyl top
Deluxe interior with console
Muncie M20 four-speed
California AIR emissions equipment
3.31 open rear axle
The car was repainted Guards Red in 1987, but it will be returning to its original Royal Plum.
I'm fortunate to still have the original block,heads, Muncie transmission and rear axle.
The restoration is officially underway.
We've completely disassembled the car, and the body is now at a local restoration shop, where it's been stripped to bare metal. As often happens with these projects, we've uncovered more rust and previous repairs than anticipated.
The immediate challenges include replacing the trunk floor, repairing the left quarter panel and tail panel, addressing rust around the windshield and backlight and locating a correct early-production 1967 deck lid.
Meanwhile, the original 350 block and cylinder heads are at the machine shop, where preparations for the engine rebuild have begun.
My goal is to restore this car to a very high level of factory correctness, using original and date-appropriate components wherever practical.
I know there are some extremely knowledgeable first-generation Camaro enthusiasts here, and I'm looking forward to learning from your experience. I'll undoubtedly have plenty of questions along the way, particularly concerning early 1967 production details, original finishes, component identification, and sourcing the best replacement sheet metal.
I intend to document the restoration with photographs and regular updates, including the discoveries, challenges, and decisions along the way.
After owning this Camaro twice over the past 44 years, I'm excited to finally give Boomer the restoration I've always wanted for it.
Thanks in advance for following along and sharing your knowledge.
Dave
Great story and fortunate circumstances! Good luck with the project and post your progress for us to enjoy along with you.
Go Boomer Go!
Post progress photos We love detailed build threads.
Congrats
Sounds like a great project. I have a perfect 67 deck lid but unfortunately I'm in MI.
Thank you all for your replies. As per suggestion I will include a couple photos. I'm a bit new to this and I'm struggling to figure out how. I will try to attach a photo of the car from about 4 weeks ago which shows it after most of the teardown but prior to stripping
It worked! And here is it being loaded up after being mostly stripped.
And now I see its needs:
It's got rust on the roof that was under the vinyl top both in the front just above the windshield and under the backlight. I need new package tray sheet metal because it looks like a prior owner cut it out with a sawzall! It needs a left quarter panel not from rust but from a prior Collision that was not done properly... and it's really bad. It needs a trunk pan due to rust and it needs a tail pan or whatever the part is called that surrounds the tail lights.
I would prefer to get good used parts or NOS. May hunche is I can probably get the deck lid and maybe the quarter panel but the rest might have to be reproduction. And it's my understanding that AMD might be my best source for the things that I can't replace with OEM or NOS?