Preservation of a 68 Camaro
 

I started this thread on CRG and after more thought I felt it might be beneficial to some here as well that may not have a Camaro or frequent CRG.

I’ve thought long and hard about this and I think, with the rising interest in proper restorations coupled with the surging popularity of survivor cars I felt it would be an opportunity to go through the processes of preserving a vehicle. While I have decided that since RGR is no longer in business and, myself, wanting to help the community, I wanted to start a new thread on how and when to try to attempt preservation on these survivors. I will be using my 68 Z as the platform for the processes I use. I recently brought this car home from a prolonged storage at a friends home and I, then, took a small vacation from my automotive duties. Now that the fog has settled, I have looked the car over and decided to abandon the original plan. Which was restoration that has now turned into a preservation attempt.
I thought seeing how far it had deteriorated to reviving the remaining original car and enjoy the path and hopefully learn some new info along the way. Overall I look forward and encourage additional input from some of the; as I like calling them, Automotive Preservationists. My approach will be from a person that likes to work in the garage and maybe doesn’t have limitless resources but I think an average enthusiast can do and feel good about doing it. Also if you have never attempted any of these processes do so on a test panel or junk part before moving to the desired part or area needing the work. Let me make it clear I am certainly no expert when it comes to preserving as this has always been a hobby. With that said, Let’s get started…

First let’s go over the history of the car to date 11/22/21. Car was originally ordered by Capitol Chevrolet in the fall of 1967 and left Van Nuys plant on 12/22/67. (See Photo 1)







Unfortunately no history has been found but the trail starts to pick up in the spring of 1970 with this article from the Austin Statesman newspaper. I believe that this is potentially the order in which the story goes at this point. Purely speculation to date.



01/20/70

Person w/ 68 Z writes into newspaper about hill climbing/gymkhana racing.
Columnist T.Q. Jones suggests going to Armstrong-Johnson Ford and meet up with the Cobra Colts Mustang Club. (See photo 2)






While this is going on a salesman by the name Bill Pevey sends out a note in the paper that he was currently at Henna Chevrolet the other dealership in Austin aside from Capitol.



01/30/69

Bill Pevey ad for him moving to Henna Chevrolet (See Photo 3)



The cause for this info as he then writes another ad in the for sale section that he was back at Armstrong Johnson Ford in



03/14/70

Bill Pevey (salesman) ad listing he left Henna Chevrolet to work for Armstrong-Johnson Ford dealership (See photo 4)






This becomes important as Mr. Pevey places another ad several months later of a, you guessed it, 68 Z.


07/16/70 - 07/18/70

Ad appears 68 Z for sale to contact Bill Pevey with A/J phone number 454-3711 (See Photo 5)





Also of note is the company Armstrong Johnson is undergoing a name change from the 51% of Bob Armstrong’s ownership being bought by Leif Johnson (which already owned the remainder 49%) in July of 1970.


07/27/70

Article about Leif Johnson buying out Bob Armstrong's 51% share of company to become primary owner of Ford dealership which would include the name change from Armstrong-Johnson Ford to Leif Johnson Ford. (See photo 6)


This is very important as the car still has the Armstrong Johnson of Austin dealer emblem on the tail pan. For the next month or so there are several ads with a 68 red Z28 for sale on the lot. (See photo 7 & 8)

This is where the lead cools off for a couple years. We fast forward to April 1972 when I was able to obtain the last known registration of my Camaro’s vin in the Texas DMV database. A gentleman named Mr. Donald A. Dixon. (See Photo 9)





I have been searching for Mr. Dixon since 2013 as some of you might remember from previous posts. The summer of 2021 became another jumping off point and reignited the search when a friend gave me access to their newspapers.com search and ultimately subscribed myself. As I made my way through all this new found info I began the search again for Mr. Dixon. Mr. Dixon originally was from middle TN and went to Texas for basic training and met a young lady that he dated for a month or two and as it turns out went to his girlfriends house for dinner one night. As he pulled in there it sat in the yard like a shiny penny fresh off the press. He amazingly worked a deal with her father (traded is 69 Roadrunner and $50 for the 68 Z) which was a wheeler dealer of used cars on the side from being a Major. There were several training camps in the area as the Major was living in New Braunfels, Texas. Mr. Dixon said the first thing he did after getting back to the base was go to the local speed shop and bought a new Hurst shifter. Once Dixon finished training and was finally done with his service to our country he moved back in 1974. Upon coming back to middle TN he traded the 68 Z into EB Smith Chevrolet on a 72 Monte Carlo and as he put it the worst mistake he ever made..


No results were found on any transactions or listings for a 68 Z from EB Smith from 1974-1975. The belief is EB wholesaled it to another used car lot where the next owner bought it in 1975. His name was Randy Cassidy. From ‘75 until 2005 he owned the car and in the late 70’s decided to blow the car apart and begin a resto. Luckily for me, the car sat basically untouched until this fall. My father, along with myself, had been after the car for as long as I remember. With the passing of my father in Oct of 2006 the car was passed on to me for ownership. And with that, the preservation will begin.

Looking forward to following this Darrell!

Tim

To start the preservation I decided to work on the pass side roof and see how much the ole Matador Red will come back to life.

Steps used to accomplish this was the following:

1. Wash with your favorite dish soap. Mine is Dawn and dry with a microfiber towel
2. Pick a clay bar of your choice and go over the area you are preparing. Mine for this project is Pinnacle clay bar and Meguiars Quick Detailer as the lubricant.
3. Apply a generous coating of Meguiars #7 polish and hand polish it like you are mad at it and let it sit overnight and out of direct sunlight.
4. 800, 1500 and finally 2k wet grit paper - work backwards to make sure you don't go too far on prepping the painted surface and then go back in the order listed. Every car is different so I can't stress this enough but take your time and practice before you get aggressive with the paper.
5. Meguiars #105 with a wool pad on a DA polisher. Reason I do not use a buffer as you can burn the paint quickly if you are not used to operating one. DA polisher is much more forgiving in this regard.
6. Meguiars #105 with a firm microfiber pad on a DA polisher.
7. Meguiars #105 with a medium (maroon Meguiars) pad on a DA polisher.
8. Meguiars #205 with a soft (black Meguiars) pad on a DA polisher.
9. Finish the area again with #7

Now these are the steps I use and seem to have decent success with this. Realize that every car is different and other products will most likely do the same but for me I have had positive results using Meguiars so that is what I used.


Photo 10 - After washing and clay barring the application of the #7

Photo 11 - Roof after after wet sanding and #105 & #205 (steps 5-9)

Photo 12 - Sail panel after wet sanding and before polishing

Photo 13 - Sail panel after polishing

Photo 14 - Pass quarter before steps listed in previous post

Photo 15 - Pass quarter after

Photo 16 - Pass door before

Photo 17 - Pass door after

Photo 18 - Quarter and door after

I was fortunate enough for a good friend to have a good eye and located me an original dealer emblem from Capitol Chevrolet. Thanks Bentley. As you can see although the emblem is a newer design without the attachment pins for the emblem which would have been later replaced by adhesive the location of the ejector pin locations match up perfectly with the original holes that were placed in the tail pan.

Very cool! I'm looking forward to learning more about your preservation techniques.

Try one of these instead of the clay bar, you'll love it.

While I work my way around the backside of the car I continue to use the same procedures mentioned above. Some things to note. The car, at some point (I can confirm prior to April '72 when Dixon bought the car), had been tapped in the rear and I believe that is when the spoiler was added and the trunk lid reshot and a touchup area on the pass side quarter. I will leave it as found as I do not want to disturb the condition of its history. You can also note the original paint along with stripes which were under the spoiler and once an emblem is in place you can see what's left of the cut out of the stripe for said emblem. I will not this later on as I had to find an original replacement emblem as they did not move the emblem when the spoiler was installed. Underside is still original and the remnants of the jacking instructions along with glue residue from the posi traction decal. I will document those later in the process when I begin the trunk area clean up. Now to the photos.


Photo 19 - Another shot of the roof after final process. It's still show imperfections like stains etc. Unfortunately I do not know of anything that will rid them from the paint surface as it embeds deep into the paint.

Photo 20 - Trunk Lid before.

Photo 21 - A little sanding brought out the original stripe under the repaint on the lip of the lid.

Photo 22 & 23 - Trunk lid after. You can see how the reshot did not hold up well over the years. But again will not refinish. You can also see that the pass side bumper guard does not sit flush on the bumper. This is due to what I believe was also part of the rear end bump it obtained. I will have to replace it with an original replacement due to the lower bracket that is welded to the guard broke its welds. I have several used guards so this will not be an issue. The primer sprayed on the drivers quarter and upper quarter and sail panel will be addressed. I will remove this primer and keep whatever is underneath up to the surface.

Photo 24 - is the tail panel before being stripped down to begin cleaning of this area.

Photo 25 & 26 - That decal is a parking sticker for a local University here in TN. Middle Tennessee University and is dated to expire in Aug 15 1976. This was when the previous owner finished high school and attended MTSU in '75 but never finished as he was hired on full time with the postal service in Nashville, TN.

Photo 27 & 28 - are the tail panel cleaned and prepped. Again using the same procedures listed in previous posts.


Photo 29 - you can see how the panel was popped outward around the guard mounting hole due to previously discussed tap. I will address this once I am ready to reinstall the components of the tail section. Also not that every bumper to body bolt and bracket had dum dum around the opening.

Photo 30 & 31 - While the trunk lock is out I went ahead and did a cleaning and polishing of it. Granted there is some residue in the key hole after polishing but will be removed and clean when reinstalled.

Photo 32 - 33 - Also while out I cleaned the tail light bezels and housings. Bezels were done with Zep Citrus Degreaser (can be purchased anywhere I'd assume but I get it at Home Depot) and a hand polish. Then the housings I did the same Zep cleaning and after wiping them down I used #0000 steel wool and a soap water solution and cleaned the galvanized. I think they turned out ok being originals.


Photo 34 - 37 - Rear side marker lights were soaked in dawn soap and hot water to get them cleaned and then I used the da polisher and #205 to clean up the lenses. Sorry no before photos on these.

Photo 38 - 40 - Last updates for today. This was the original license plate light before cleaning. Cleaning procedure is pretty much the same citrus degreaser but then I soak it in evaporust. Once out of the evapo I coat it down with RPM (Rust Preventative Magic). From my experiences the evapo will remove zinc plating or cad plating. I decided to proceed as I was going to protect it with RPM.

Great thread. I will be following.

Following!

Nice work!

Thanks gentlemen.

Continuing on. As mentioned previously the passenger side bumper guard was damaged and wasn't repairable without welded and damaging the chrome on the shiny side. So I dug around my pile of parts and found a suitable replacement as well as a set of very clean original rubbers and installed them. I am pleased with the finished product.

Steps of cleaning were:

1. Citrus degreaser
2. Evaporust bath (submerge into 5 gal bucket). This took a solid 2 days with the weather in the 30-60F
3. Hard metals polish (green stick) on a buffing wheel on a pedestal mounted grinder.
4. Finish with RPM on the back sides of the guards and hand polish the chrome

Hardware for the guards while using all the original components consist of markings of RBW (bolt supplier). Something to note while I was going through my other guards I had 2 "A" lettered bolts from one of the sets. Food for thought.

Like to mention the upper bracket and bolt were zinc plated and required soaking in evapo on the bracket and a cleaning & polishing of the bolt Lower bolt is phosphate and only soaked in evapo and then coated in a silicone based lubricant. I used PB Blaster Silicone Lubricant.

Photo 41 - 43 - Before photos of the chosen replacement and the original guard from the drivers side.

Photo 44 - 46 - After results

Before I get too far ahead I wanted to go back and clean up the passenger door handle and lock. The handle had a very small amount of micro pitting but I feel like I was able to reduce it some. So a thorough cleaning with, yep you guessed it, citrus degreaser and then hard polish on the buffing wheel. Something I'm not sure many realize or maybe its me and I had forgotten but don't forget to button gasket. Luckily mine was not damaged and still pliable so I reused it.

Photo 47 - Before handle and sorry didn't get a shot of the lock prior.

Photo 48 & 49 - After.

Photo 50 - 51 - Door lock clip in its original finish along markings

Photo 52 - Trio shot including the trunk lock.

If you're not doing this for a business Darrell, you should really think about it! You have an eye for detail that is hard found.

I recently went through your thread (again) for your Dad's car over on CRG.......very enjoyable (again)!

Tim

I appreciate the kind words Tim but work & life balance just isn't suitable for me to continue doing this as a side business. Maybe one day in the future.



As I mentioned yesterday I was going to have to source a trunk lid emblem and a header panel emblem which came in the first part of this week. No pitting and a little worn. Should fit perfect with the layout of the car.



Photo 53 - Header panel emblem

Photo 54 - 57 - Trunk emblem. You can see the original painted stripes have the contour cutout for the emblem which is why I removed most but not all of the body work that had been done prior to me getting my hands on it.

This a great thread! Thanks for taking the time to describe the products, procedures, and photos!

'

Awesome stuff Darrell, keep rockin'!
:beers:
~ Pete

.

Excellent work Big D!! Love you documentarary (:hmmm:) on the products you use too. Good job!!

Cheers
Dave

Thanks guys.

Not much of an update over the weekend due to other projects but I did want to tie up the loose end of the door handle bolts and their markings. Cleaned in Evaporust and then soaked with PB Blaster Silicone Lubricant.


Photos 58 - 60 - Pass side door handle bolts

Next major milestone in this project will be building a small form to soak the rear bumper in Evaporust and see how well it can be revived. Here are some before photos of the bumper brackets, bolts and nuts. Again soaked in evapo and the sprayed with silicone lubricant.

Photos 61 - 64 - Before photos of the brackets etc. Note the overspray on the outer bumper bracket due to the repair on the quarter

Photo 65 - 67 - Removed the overspray and was able to keep the original finish on the brackets. I coated in them RPM after being soaked in evapo. Notice a trend yet? lol

BTW the screws are from the license plate light.

Great project Darrell, and glad to see your finally getting onto the 68 Z. I assume you're removing the rear spoiler and plan to repair the trunk lid and repaint the deck?

Looking forward to following this one.

I’d like to not paint anything at this point as I mentioned in an earlier post. If I do anything it’ll be make some plugs and paint those and put them into the spoiler holes. I’m also looking for original paint fenders but that is becoming a task I’m not sure I can accomplish. But I have time. I may change my mind on painting anything but for now that’s the current path. Long road ahead but I have the time now just waiting on the cash flow to keep pace. Which it never will.. lol

Great thread to followin, inspiring.

Not to derail your thread Darryl, but did you ever finish up the Chevelle you were working on? You had a couple of teaser pics that had me licking my chops!

Tim

Out of the respect of the owner I’ll show just as few finished photos as the owner is pretty private.

WoW!!!!

Thanks Tim. Working around the car to the drivers quarter. Still some of the same. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Photo 68 - Before

Photos 69 - 71 - After

I also had been wondering how the Chevelle turned out, Wow, fantastic!! I'd like to cross paths with it some day!

As time allows I've been doing a similar "No-paint cleaning and preservation" on a Chevelle.

Great work Darryl!!

Bill W

Just read the whole thread so far.Great work Darrell! Following for sure!

Thanks guys.

Got a couple hours yesterday to rough in the drivers door and get the drivers side of the roof sanded and polished and then my Meguiars maroon pad that was on its last leg finally let go so I had to order a few new ones.. Oh well... Again same of the previous, wash rinse, sand, buff repeat.

Photo 72 - Driver side roof before

Photo 73 - Roof after cleaning, sanding and polishing and loaded up with #7 a left to sit overnight

Photo 74 - Drivers door before

Photo 75 - Drivers door after wet sanding and before polishing

After allowing the #7 to soak in overnight I hand buffed it off the rest of the car (doors and roof back minus the drivers door). Also polished the drivers door handle and lock so at least that mini project is now finished.


Photo 76 - Door handles and locks finished

Photo 77 - 78 - Roof & quarter after #7 soaking

Photo 79 - 81 - After hand buffing

Photo 82 - 84 Roof after hand buff

Over the weekend between periods of rain and Christmas shopping I was able to get a couple things done and started. New pads finally showed up Friday afternoon so I was able to wrap up the drivers door.

Photo 74 - again this was before

Photo 75 - was after wet sanding


Now with new photos

Photo 85 - 87 - After da polishing



I then moved my attentions to getting the remainder of the parts that I had inside the trunk and interior so I can move forward in the cleaning to the insides of the car.

Photo 88 - 89 - Trunk area after removing parts and before cleaning


As you will notice in the previous photos the tail light harness was just hanging outside of the trunk. Well... That was due to me not being able to get the thing out of the trunk drop off. It was hung on something.. So with my trusty archeological digging tools (screwdriver, flash light and magnet) I began the excavation of what was causing the resistance. I also found one of the (what I believe to be the original) barrel nuts that fit into the tailpan for the dealer emblem. And yes I have all the tools soaking in evapo so I can have them with the car as who knows how long they have been in there and I think it's fitting for them to continue to travel with the car just not in the drop off of the trunk..

Photo 90 - 91 - Tools found


Now that the harness is out of the way I figured I'd see just how well the trunk would clean up.

Photo 92 - drivers side cleaned vs untouched passenger side

Photo 93 - Both sides after starting the cleaning process.


Keep in mind this is just the beginning of the cleaning of the trunk and you will more than likely see areas that still need attention but rest assured I will be going back and doing a deeper dive into the trunk over the next few nights if time allows with the holidays quickly approaching.

Photo 94 - 103 - Misc trunk photos

The trunk cleaned up nicely - wow.

I'm with Tony.....WOW!

Slid out to the garage today while the in-laws were visiting and knocked out a couple small tasks.


Photo 104 - 113 Defrost duct

Photo 114 - 119 Gas tank before. You can see a previous owner black spray painted the tank along with many other places. As I continue on this project I am going to attempt to remove all of the overspray and get it back to its current condition. I didn’t wanna evapo the top of the tank in fear or ruining tank coating plus I used Cosmoline Rust Veto spray on the rusted areas. I’m not concerned with it spreading any longer. Also not the 2 1/2” tank clamps with 4/67 date with the larger “80”


Photo 120 - 126 Gas tank after. All I used was M.E.K. And a 0000 steel wool as well as citrus degreaser and a brown Scotchbrite pad. Finished it off with Meguiars Hot Wheels metal polish. Then a layer of Rust Veto. Original sending unit reused. Seemed like it should work giving how clean it looked. I’ll test later on once I go back in with the tank.

Darrell, Van Nuys Camaros got their gas tanks painted black on the assembly line. Also, the pinch weld along the lower rear of the quarter panel in many cases got the blackout treatment.

The over the axel exhaust pipe (outboard exposed lower) also?

Looks like that pipe may have been painted on this car. I think the primary focus was the blacking out of the tank. I have seen the lower part of the muffler done and also seen some varying levels of black on the leaf springs, aft of the axle. Some coverage, to minimal or none.

:(

I thought for sure this was done by a previous owner.. Well that sucks.. I assume this carried through into 68 then. Valuable lessons learned here. Hopefully having this discussion on a forum will help someone down the road that has a LOS built car. I learned something and had to pay a valuable lesson in assembly line correct.