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Saw this at a local car show.  Not sure if it's in the database.  I wasn't able to get a VIN.

It was a very pretty car in the Mountain Green paint.  But, the vinyl top was now a hardtop.  The original engine was gone (or, at least, completely rodded out with a big intake, holly carb, headers, etc.).  The nose stripe was a disaster (but most are) and the pinstriping was gone.  There was a rear spoiler that was painted gloss black, for some reason.  The interior looked original -- console 4-speed with factory looking gauges.  I'm not an expert on shift knobs, so I couldn't tell if that was original or not.  Fold down rear seat was on display.

https://www.vanguardmotorsales.com/inventory/4688/1967-chevrolet-camaro-restomod

The body and paint on this is just amazing.  The suspension and drivetrain is also very impressive.

It's a shame that they didn't learn a little more about first gen Camaros prior to the build, though.  Things like the too-wide nose stripe, odd horn button, and fender emblems tells me that they just didn't take the time to learn the actual car.

Looks like it was originally 6-cylinder, RS with console in Capri Cream with gold standard interior.

I wouldn't have posted, other than the price tag of $140K.  That's a big number.

[out]

Not sure if this falls into the "happened all the time" or "you have a big problem" bucket ... or somewhere in between.

But, in looking more closely at my engine block stamp, the engine was originally stamped as an MU (350/295, Automatic without smog).  Then, the "U" was dotted out with some sort of dimpled grid pattern ... like it was struck with a framer's hammer with waffled pattern.  Then, the "V" was stamped over the top.  MV being the 350/295, Automatic, with K19 Smog.  This car was a CA car -- I have the POP (sold in Hollywood/Los Angeles), the manifolds and block are all equipped with smog, the car came with the smog pump/equipment, etc.

The VIN matches and the date code aligns with the 11A build date of the car.

My thought was that they started to build this engine and then someone quickly realized, "Oh crap, this engine has the stupid smog stuff.  That needs an MV stamp, not an MU stamp.
Johnson!  What the hell are you thinking?!" 

Any thoughts on this apparent restamp?

1967 350

I dented my factory oil pan 25 years ago over a speedbump and it has a tiny pinhole leak in it.  Just a steady little drip that is enough to make a mess, but not enough to ever really lose any significant oil.

With my engine out, it's a great time to finally fix this.  My assumption is that this isn't fixable, so a replacement is required.  My goal is to stay as factory correct as possible.

Should I just grab an OER oil pan, get a GM 465221 oil pan and paint it orange, or is there some other route I should go?

Thanks.

1967 350 engine, #s matching, all original, and I'm going for the original/factory look.

I just pulled my engine, so now is a good time to refurbish and restore my engine components.  One of the items is the stock exhaust manifolds.  I'll replace the studs (which were incredibly easy to remove -- so surprising), but I was wondering about the manifolds themselves.  Right now, they look like a typical exhaust manifold from virtually any car older than about 3 years.  A bit dirty with the reddish surface rust on them.

Should I

• Do nothing.  Just get new studs, gaskets, and then reinstall as-is
• Have them sand-blasted, but do nothing else
• Have them sand-blasted and then painted/coated to look perpetually silver/natural metal
• Something else?

Taking out my engine and found something curious to me. It's a 1967 350 motor. 11A build date for the car. Engine is numbers matching and I'm 99.99999% positive that it's never been out of the car. I've owned it since 1989 and it had only 32,000 orig miles at that time.

Anyway, as we dig into it, we found a braided steel cable fastened with a bolt/nut on the passenger side. It wraps around the exhaust manifold and through the engine mount. I have no idea if this was original and what it is for.

I attached a pic, but it was hard to get anything decently

Any ideas would be helpful ... e.g., was it original, should I put it back when I replace the engine, etc.

The only thing I could think of was one of those safety cables to keep the engine from twisting or bucking ... but wasn't that a big block thing?  I can't imagine putting that kind of restraint on a stock 350 small block engine.

Thanks.

I have done ZERO to diagnose or try to repair, so this could be an extremely silly proposition and question.

But, a while ago, my rearview mirror suddenly lost its friction.  It's all wobbly and just sags down and won't stay in place anymore -- gravity won the battle.  It's the original chrome-backed factory rear view mirror. 

Can I restore the grip?  Is there a set-screw I can turn, a bushing to replace, or is it just a worn out part now?

Thanks.

I have a cracked front windshield.  It's the original glass on the car, so it's sad to see it go.  I'd like to stay as close to factory-correct as possible.  The original markings read:
Shaded
Soft-Ray
SAFETY [shield with LOF diagonally down-right) PLATE
AS1             YA
LAMINATED
M4

I have the A02 tinted windshield option ([1] W on the cowl tag).

So, I have a couple of questions about replacement:

1)  Where should I get new glass?  Best places? Part numbers?  Sources to avoid?

2)  I've never replaced glass before and have no glass-handling tools.  Is this a DIY job or should I be taking it to a shop?

3)  What else should I order?  Seals, gaskets, trim, felt. lubricant, silicone, etc.?

4)  What else am I missing?  What are the the things that fit the "I don't know what I don't know" part of this job?

Thanks.

[BTW, I am familiar with the CRG report on windshield.  So, I don't need the reference or help decoding the YA date code.  Thanks.]

Someone posted this tag and any time I see (1) an L78 and (2) other rare options and (3) signs of tag removal, my spidey senses start tingling.  I'm no expert and, frankly, if I'm faking a tag, I'm always going with RS/SS (which this one is not).  So, I figured I'd post to see if there are any consensus opinions.  (No pics of the car, just the tag).  Tag looks legit to my eye, but the dash after the LOS is curious to me.  My 11A car has no dash and I've seen other 1966 calendar year builds that have no dash ... but I've seen other spring 1967 builds that have the dash (so, perhaps a mid-year change there?).  There is obviously no way to know if it's original to the car based on the info provided here.

L78 396/375, convertible, custom white parchment/black interior, marina blue, white top, power convertible top, console w/ floor mounted 4 speed.

My POP indicates my car should have the B93 door edge guards.  It currently doesn't have any and I'm not even sure what they look like.  I did a search here and couldn't find anything -- saw a few discussions about B93, but no descriptive info about them.  Found one pic of a car with them, but it was taken from the front angle and low res, so I couldn't see much.

Any help would be, well, um, helpful.

Thanks.

I have read the reports on the L30/M20 combo.  But, that's not what I'm interested in.  How would a person identify an otherwise garden-variety L30 327/275 apart from an LF7 327/210?  For example, what if a car had an M35 Powerglide transmission and a 327 engine.  Do you have to pull casting numbers to identify the type of 327 or is there another way to determine this?  Perhaps valve covers, air cleaner, some obvious marking somewhere, etc.?

In case there are year-to-year variances, I'm most interested in the 1967 model year.

Thanks.

All of the various reputable restoration shops I have spoken to are only interested in entire-car restoration -- turn a rusty frame into the car of your dreams sort of project.

I don't need that.  I need a reputable shop that can yank my original 350, rebuild it (and the Rochester QuadraJet), paint it, and put it back in.  I need a mini-restoration that is 80% focused on the engine.  Again, the only shops that come highly recommended just aren't into this kind of restoration and they're 3-4 years out on any sort of project.

I'm in the northeast corner of Iowa and can range from Madison, WI on the east, Minneapolis, MN on the north, and all of Iowa to the south and west (Des Moines ... though I could go as far as Omaha).

I'm out of my depth and don't even know how to find a shop that can do this work and do it right.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

1967 SS 350, all original.  Has factory air, but it hasn't blown cold since around 1990.  It's really hot in the summer and I really want to be able to blow some cold air.

I think it's safe to say that R-12 isn't coming back at this point.  I don't want a second mortgage to find some weird source of R-12 to charge my factory air, either.

I know that there are aftermarket systems, such as Vintage Air.  However, I don't want the look of an aftermarket A/C.  I want to maintain the factory components so that my car still looks like a factory air car ... just one that uses R-134a.  I did a quick search here, and I could only find a few threads of people adding A/C to non-A/C cars.

I'm looking for a solution to convert factory air R-12 to an R-134a system.  Is that possible?  Are there kits for that or is every one a custom job?  Anyone who has done this before and could share pros, cons, and learnings?

Thanks.

My original windshield just took a rock and cracked.  Crap.  Will claim under insurance with a $250 deductible.  I have a couple of questions:

1)  I'm in Northern Colorado.  Where can I go to get good classic car help?  I've only called 2 shops, but both of them acted like I was speaking a foreign language when I suggested Pilkington, original windshield with date code.  If anyone knows of a good shop, please let me know.  Thanks.

2)  My windshield states:  SHADED .. SOFT-RAY .. SAFETY [LOF] PLATE .. YA [LOF] AS1 .. LAMINATE .. M4 (where the LOF is diagonal).  And it has this info facing the interior.

Looks like all of the repro windshields from Ricks and others with the original etching are for AS2, M55 windshields.  Is this as good as it gets for me?  I'll never have a true AS1/M4 replacement to my original?

Thanks.

1967 Camaro, power drum brakes, power steering, powerglide. All stock, so nothing's getting upgraded.

I've had the car since 1989 and can't remember if the brakes have ever been done.  51,000 original miles, so I wouldn't expect that the shoes are bad, but not sure.  I know the wheels haven't been off since the 1990s.

The brakes have been getting steadily softer and I'm hearing squealing when cold.  At this point, I have to brake really hard to stop from highway speeds (55 mph) and I'm not even sure if it's possible to lock up the wheels.  That, to me, suggests shoes are worn.  But, the low mileage makes me think it could be something else.

The brake reservoir on the front of the power assist booster is about 50-75% full.  Tricky part is that this reservoir is angled ... so, as the car sits level, the reservoir tilts back. The rubber/plastic gasket on the lid was convex ... the rubber was poking down into the two reservoir/wells.  Fluid was a very light brown, but is otherwise well over 15 years old.

I figured I'd start by sucking fluid out of the reservoir with a baster and putting new fluid (DOT 3/4).  Figured I'd bleed the brakes.  Never done this on a drum brake.  I assume that this is done via the wheel cylinder?

Anything I'm doing thats egregiously wrong?  Am I missing something obvious?  Should I be looking in other places?

Thanks.

67 350 w/ powerglide.

Last summer, the engine was missing on ~3 cylinders and required new plug wires and a carb rebuild.  Everything worked great for the next 500 miles.  Put the car away for the winter.

Got the car out this past weekend.  Fired right up.  Let idle in the driveway for around 15 minutes.  Then went on a short ride.  Drove perfect for around 5 miles.  Stopped and shopped.  Came back out and took off.  Went another 2 miles and then the engine had a complete melt-down.  Felt like half the engine stopped firing.  It wanted to die.  Fortunately, I was going to a gas station at the time.  Didn't quite make it when the engine died.  Coasted into the station.

When I tried to start it, the starter would turn, but it didn't sound or feel like it was cranking the engine.  It was weird.

So, I had it towed to the shop.  That was Sunday afternoon.  Monday, when the shop opened, there apparently was no issue.  Started and ran fine.  They ran it periodically throughout the day and could detect nothing.  Everything was dialed in good.  The carb was clean and free from gunk.  Fuel and air were flowing fine.

I picked it up and drove it home.  Handled like a dream.  Happy to have a $0.00 issue, but not real confident in the car right now.

So, what happened?  I think I had stabilized fuel in the tank, but let's assume that I didn't.  Could some chunk of crap broken free and clogged a line or cylinder for a while ... and then get shaken and pumped through the system during the course of trying to start it and/or being towed across town?

Should I be freaking out ... waiting for it to die again, or should I feel confident that what I experienced was a one-time-only artifact of the first drive of the year after having sat for 5 months?

Thanks.

I don't want anything that is visible.  I really like the looks of the Edelbrock classic shocks -- nice muted grey.  


However, I'm not wild about the $85+ per shock pricetag.  Any dos and don'ts on getting new shocks for a 67?  Thanks.

Started a new thread that better describes the symptom I'm now dealing with ...

Bad news.  Installed all the new parts and the car ran great.  Took a 5 mile drive and went back to the garage.  After sitting, the car had a hard time starting and emitted quite a bit of smoke on the restart.  So, the mechanic pulled the plugs and found that they were already starting to foul.  The thought is that carb is leaking fuel through the internals and that it needs a complete overhaul, as he's done all he can do to tune the carb.  They want $425 for the carb overhaul, P&L (beyond what I'm already into it for). 

Does this sound correct?  Thoughts?

1967 350. Powerglide.  Stock.

Late last summer, the car started running like crap.  Let it sit over the winter.  Checked the spark plugs.  Looked fine and that was about the exent of my engine diagnostic abilities.  Checked the carb air/fuel mixtures and it didn't seem to do anything to improve or worsent the engine behavior.  Hadn't driven it yet this year, other than to confirm how poorly it still ran.  Can't even drive it, as it felt like only half the engine was running.  Finally took it to the shop this week.  They found bad spark plug wires that were causing 4 cylinders not to fire.  These were original wires, so I guess they wear out after 40 years. 

Waiting for a GM part to arrive from Denver, but in doing some more diagnostics, the mechanic found that even with good wires, a cylinder isn't firing.  I don't know whether there is a spark at the "dead" cylinder.  Part of the original diagnostics was to check the vacuum, so I'm assuming that that's not the culprit (assuming that vacuum could have an effect -- clearly, I'm not an engine guy).

Anyway, with this very incomplete diagnostic, any ideas on what I might expect as the reason why I have a dormant cylinder?

Thanks.

67 SS.  Want to get the old gas out of my tank, but can't figure out how to do it.  There seems to be something in the gas inlet tube about 8" in. Blocks me from inserting any tubes or siphon lines into the tank.  What are my next options?  Thanks.

This is a take off of my earlier post regarding upgrading an AC system to R-134a.

There is another option that I just became aware of, though they've been out there for years:  hydrocarbon blends.  RedTek, Enviro-Safe, Duracool, OZ Technologies, etc. all make a similar product that is a blend of propane, butane, and other hydrocarbons.

Obviously, there is a flammability issue that the manufacturers reduce by including retardents into the blends.  The rub is that leaks could affect the blend -- retardants could leak off leaving only the flammable HCs behind.  Let's table this issue.  Please!

There is a major question of legality in the US.  Can't vent any refrigerants.  Also can't upgrade R-12 to anything but R-134a.  In the US, the upgrade path must be R-12 -> R-134a -> HC blend.  There are all kinds of other legal and ethical issues. We can debate the politics of refrigerants, ozone depletion, and global warning.  But, let's not.  There are 5 million discussions on these topics, the legalities of refrigeration servicing, etc.

What I want to know is compatability.  If I put the HC blend into an empty R-12 factory air conditioning unit from 1967, will I damage my original components?

Thanks.

Went Sunday to the car show in Arvada, CO.  Lots of interesting cars there.  I always scratch my head when I see the 1998 Ford Ranger sitting in the row or the 2006 Ford Mustang.  Just odd.

Pretty good mix of cars -- lots of Mustangs and Mopar cars and a smattering of Camaros.  Quite a few early GM trucks.  Not as many Belairs as I'm used to seeing.  Here are my thoughts:

Pre-Muscle Car Cars:  I don't really get too excited about roadsters, high-boys, and the like.  I can appreciate the work that goes into them, but I don't have any interest in owning them.  Even less with the town-cars of the 30s and 40s.  There were some nice models out there and some really odd ones, too ... such as one that was painted a Dino (the Flintstone's pet) pink.  Still, there was a good variety of these types of cars.  There was a 51 Mercury with a 56 Hemi engine with 8 single-barrel carbs atop it.   Sort of the epitome of the way I feel about these cars.  Very nicely done; incredibly interesting engine; but nothing that I'd actually want to own.

1970s Cars:  Fairly decent representation of Mustangs, Camaros, and Corvettes from the 70s.  Nothing to get real excited about, though -- no perfect specimens or anything that jumped off the page.  Don't recall seeing any 3rd gen Camaros.

1980+ Cars:  Why bother?  There were some new Corvettes there that looked like they came right off the lot.  Great, they have the new LS1 engine.  OK, but why am I looking at it at a car show?  I mean, if I really wanted to see it, I'd go to my Chevy dealership.  There were some new Mustangs in the same category -- why is this car here?  There was a newer Ford F-650 (competition to International's monster consumer-grade trucks), which was a cool novelty to see.  I have been to my Ford dealership and not seen the F-650.

Mopar:  Looked like some nice representatives, but I just have never been able to get into those cars.  Some really interesting engines and they seemed to have done a lot right when it came to performance, but the styling has never appealed to me.  So, I didn't spend much time looking at them.

Mustangs:  Sorry, but I like 'em.  I've always liked Mustangs and I admire Ford for the effort.  They beat GM by 3 years with the idea, they continually beat GM with styling (other than the Mustang II), and showed their innovation by bringing back the retro look Mustang (again, 3+ years before GM could figure it out).  I like my 67 better than any Mustang, but I do tip my cap to Ford.  However, this is where it gets really unfair.  I don't know jack about Mustangs.  I can take one look at a "nice" Camaro and see the 14 things that are wrong, but the similarly incorrect Mustang looks good to my eyes.  Anyway, lots of Mustangs at the show in varying degrees of options and restoration.  Good representation.

Camaros:  I didn't see the Colorado Camaro Club, so maybe you were dispersed throughout the show?  I pay more attention to the 1967s, because I have one and because they are more complete in the trim tags.  I saw a few clones and a few that were question marks -- trim tags were not factory attached to the firewalls.  In fact, even among the 68s and 69s, I don't think I saw a single trim tag that had not been removed at one point.  Really a shame.  I saw some abomonations -- a 67 with rally stripes that were extendes down all the way onto the front spoiler; a 69 with RS badges, SS paint and an SS-454 license plate (and engine badges) -- the RS badges on the car + SS badges on the license plate and engine were confusing, to say the least!  There were some really nice 69s, though.  There was a green 69 Z that had a nos matching 302 (at least that's what the sign said), a 69 RS/SS with a white vinyl top that I liked real well, etc.  Though the 69 is far from my favorite Camaro (I'd take a 69 Mustang over a 69 Camaro), among the Camaros at the show, I like the 69s the best.

67 original 350 w/ Q-Jet 4bbl.  Powerglide tranny.  Low miles.

Idles fine.  No problem, ever.  Good response to throttle, etc.  Purrs.

When I put it in gear, one of two things happens:  It runs like a champ (like it did all day on Saturday) or it runs like crap (like it did on Sunday -- even heard a backfire).  By "crap," I mean that it feels like only half of the engine is working, it surges and lunges, doesn't want to accelerate, feel like it will flood out, etc.

I'm really confused because of the intermittant behavior.  Literally, from one day to the next the engine goes from perfect to horrible.  I tried to play with the carb air screws, but it's tough to know what to do, because it always idles fine.  Put it into gear and it idles like crap, put it into P and it's all good again.

My first instinct is that it's the engine.  But how could it be the engine -- in park, the engine runs great?!  But, if it's the tranny, how can a tranny lead to the symptoms I'm seeing (including a backfire)?  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Since I've owned my 67 Camaro, it's only ever had 2 rear seat belts.  It has Deluxe interior, but not the interior style trim -- so the seat belts themselves are the standard black plastic.  I just noticed that all of the parts houses (Rick's, Classic Ind., etc.) sell seat belt kits that include two front and three rear.  It just got me thinking that maybe I'm supposed to have a third seat belt back there?

Thanks.

Not sure if this is a restoration, maintentance, or mild modification question, so I posted here.

I have the original AC in the car.  I had it charged in 1990 with R-12 and it worked fine.  Sometime between 1992 and 2000, the car lost the charge.  R-12 is around $100 a lb over here, so way too expensive.  However, I'd like to use my factory air.

Instructions online make it seem really easy.  Attach a filling adaptor, drop some new oil in, drop 3-4 12 oz. cans in. Done.

Is it really that easy?  Should I be concerned about anything?  Don't want to ruin any of my factory components.

Thanks.