Camaro Restoration, Need Advice from Experience

[Wigg]

As far as getting out of it what you put in....
I got mine in 2004 for $15,500, in pretty good shape. I have put in about $4, to $6k. It is worth around $30k today.. not bad. It is a true SS though, which makes a difference. The value will just keep going up on these things, especially when the 2010 comes out, as the new mustangs did for the old ones. And, like you said, you really won't want to get rid of it anyway. Well worth it... bringing it to the car shows, and events are fun as hell, no matter what shape it's in.

[ssutton219]

Originally Posted by Infin1ty

I've noticed some comments about how I will not get out of it what I put into it when it is sold, and I completely understand that, but once done I have absolutely no plans on selling this car.

I will keep everyone updated on the progress of getting this thing rolling.

Please don't take my statements out of context...its a labor of LOVE..there are issues where you don't have choice in the matter. Its a financial obligation and it can be taxing. Its a great feeling when the fruits of your labor show for something (I got to watch one of the car my grandfather and I restore take 2nd in its class in a Concourse Show.)

Enjoy it and have fun!


Good luck!


Shawn

[TideRoll]

It doesn't have a chassis, it is a unibody. If you are going to put some real power up front you'll want to get some sub-frame connectors.

How much you spend will depend on what you mean by the word "restore." To some folks, this means not a piece on the car that didn't come on one, and every piece removed, cleaned/restored/replaced. Some folks will forgive you an updated radio and wheels.

If you are looking to make a custom or a daily driver, and it looks like you may be leaning that direction, it can free you up in terms of modernization and cost. You don't have to go back with New Old Stock on every piece and you can take advantage of the many mechanical improvements since the late 1960s. It doesn't necessarily have a 350 in it, in 1969 they came with straight-sixes to 307s all the way up to big blocks, but if it does have a small block, look at the heads and the intake system. You'd like to see a four barrel carb, and couple of humps on the castings on the front of the heads, which mean smaller chambers and larger valves (i.e. higher compression and better fuel and exhaust flow, meaning horsepower). If you are lucky, the original air cleaner cover will have a sticker on it telling which engine package it had, but you can write down the VIN and find out a lot about it on the Internet. This assumes an original engine, of course. Disk brakes are indeed nice, but if they didn't come on the car, that means more work and expense. Power drum brakes will be your next wishing spot in the absence of stock disk units. If you rebuild with a more aggressive cam, you will need to take that and the resulting vacuum issues into account in terms of power accessories.

It is by no means exactly cheap to build even a small block these days, but it is still cheaper than a big block. It will cost you more to turn a big block as high as a small block if you want it to last, but you don't really have to turn one up too high when you have a tanks' worth of torque. Easier to get small block parts, though, and generally cheaper. Manual vs. automatic, hmmm. Tough call: I ran automatics and didn't mind them at all, but I did have a total of seven transmissions in my '68 while I owned it. High horsepower is tough on any transmission, but if I had it to do over again, I'd have probably went manual, only because it is cheaper to replace a clutch than an automatic transmission. If you are not going to go nuts on the power, an automatic can do you just fine.

Another place to check for rust on the first generation and a half of Camaros is beneath the rear windows not far from the sides of the window. The rear quarter panels in particular seem to have problems in these cars. Check the wheel wells as was suggested earlier, but also along the top of the rear quarters, behind the wheel, etc. You can find a lot of these cars with floorboards, areas around the rear window, and trunk pans rotted. If it had a vinyl roof, chances are there is rot underneath the vinyl, especially along the rear window. The flip-side is that because so many of these cars have rust problems in the rear quarters, you can get good quality replacement quarters (even quarters plus a section half-way up the side roof) relatively inexpensively.

Enjoy the car if you get it. These are fairly light cars and they respond well to even small increases in power, and they can even be made to handle fairly well with a little work. I really enjoyed my '68 RS and wish I had never parted with it.

[Diesel Kinevel]

regardless on what you pay for it dont try and start it with the original fluid in it no matter how good it looks. Drain everything and put new in it before trying to crank her up. And one more thing : if your going to do a frame off or take off body panels in general take picks of all the bolt areas with the shims in place before disassembly. it helps when everything is going back together (a friend and I learned the hard way)
either way enjoy and take lots of pics!!