Day 2 67 Camaro restoration
 

Early last year while trolling the craigslist ads I stumbled across a very solid single family owned 67 Camaro. The car is a Granada Gold 327/2 barrel powerglide, factory console, standard gold interior coupe. It is a 54k mile original car, unregistered since 1978. The car was sold new in late 66 (Car was built second week of September and is body number 932) at Stewart Chevrolet in Colma (San Francisco), CA. After a couple phone calls I bought the car sight unseen. I live in Southern California and the car was still in the San Francisco Bay area so going to see the car was nearly impossible between work and several other prospective buyers showing interest in the car.

When I received the car in February 2019 I was delighted to find most original components were intact. Some original pieces were missing including: Harrison radiator, master cylinder, some heater hoses, water pump, and thermostat housing. The original AIR pump is intact and even the original alternator.

I wanted a solid car that hasn't been messed with so I could easily do what I want with the car. I always wanted a big block Camaro. Over the years I have become more and more interested in Day 2 type cars and thought a base model 67 would be perfect for me to do what I envision a Day 2 car would have been.

Since the car is a base small block car it'll retain it's 327 emblems. I'm not building a "sleeper" or a Clone. No SS badges either. I want the car to look like a guy bought the car from the old lady down the street and turned it into a serious street machine. Sure it's got a big block now, but who had time (or extra money) back in the day to change the emblems:hmmm:

Anyway... the car looks good in the pictures. I received A LOT of heat on the Camaro.org site for altering and restoring this car. In the pictures the paint looks good. It has mostly original paint but unfortunately the car was stored under a tarp for decades. Moisture would gather under the tarp and over the years created a lot of surface rust on the decklid, roof, hood, tops of fenders and 1/4s.

Back in March I decided to start the restoration. I have spent the last year collecting parts and decided now was a good time. Now I understand this isn't a real day 2 car, it is a day 2 tribute. Thanks to Jose, jbtech, for talking me into starting a build thread on this site! His 67 and mine are both early production cars :headbang:

**Update 10/21/2021** When I purchased this car from the estate of the deceased owner I was told he was the original owner of this car. This was not true as Paul (fsc66) discovered. I was told the car was sold new at Stewart Chevrolet and the car had very old Stewart Chevrolet license plate frames. I decided to run an NCRS report and discovered this car was sold new at Ellis Brooks Chevrolet in San Francisco. Paul discovered my car for sale at Stewart Chevrolet in 1969 in a few San Francisco Chronicle ads. The car was listed for $1895 in November 1969. Paul discovered this with my plate number whilst searching newspapers.com I am not sure how many previous owners there were to 1969 but probably only one. I would assume the original owner purchased it new at Ellis Brooks and traded it at Stewart.

Huge thanks to Mr4speed (Russel) for these seemingly NOS Appliance headers. He replied to a wanted ad on this site. I was looking specifically for these headers. My father in law had a Rally Green 69 Z RS in 1973/1974. He purchased a set of Appliance Headers for that car from Reath Automotive in Long Beach. Ever since hearing the story about his headers, I wanted Appliance for a car of my own and Russel made it happen.

Will be fun to watch this thread too!

Yay!
Anthony

I'm glad you FINALLY decided to post your build thread here! Pumped to follow another build thread buddy! A lot of great people here going to help you reach your goal.
-Jose

:beers:

My dad is responsible for getting me addicted to classic cars. He and I restored the 68 in my avatar picture about 17 years ago. On the eve of starting my 67 project he gave me his old Snap-On box from around 79/80. As you can probably tell by the stickers and emblems on the box he is a Porsche guy. He worked at an independent Porsche repair shop for many years in his younger days. He has a nice shop now with all built in boxes so he asked if I wanted the old Snap-On, otherwise he'd sell it. OF COURSE I wanted it, this thing is a family heirloom. I took it apart to oil all the tracks and cleaned the carpets in the drawers.:headbang:

Anyway this is the last pic of the car I took before taking it apart in my garage. As you can probably tell I'm not up to date with the progress made on the car in this build thread.... we'll get there soon enough

day 2 build
 

Sounds like it will be fun Chuck. I'm putting my Ca 69 back to Day 2 status. Too many missing original parts and not matching so why not have a fun Day 2 Driver. Tom

Nice! I have the plates for this car too. I'm not missing too many original parts but a 327/2 barrel with glide is less than thrilling.

At home my buddy and I disassembled much of the car. Removed bumpers, grill, lights, lower valance, fender extensions, headlight buckets, interior, side glass, weatherstrip etc. Carefully photographed the way things were before taking them apart. All hardware in labeled bags. After removing the original carpet I thought it was especially unique to see the factory sound deadener in such good shape. Will definitely be putting it back in. Car is off to the shop on March 30th 2019. Let the real fun begin

We left off with the car on the way to the shop. I work at Toyota dealer in the L.A. area and the car will be painted there. People often laugh when I tell them my cars get painted at a Toyota dealer... If you have connection in the paint business you may as well capitalize.

As you can see we removed almost everything in the engine compartment. The body work will be performed on the frame. After the car is painted we will remove the front end sheet metal and restore the frame. The undercarraige doesn't need to be repainted. There is a lot of original overspray on the underside which I intend to preserve. The floors just need a good cleaning.

I'm pretty sure these fenders have never been removed. Look how great the original Granada Gold looks on the body behind the passenger fender.

Unfortunately, the car was stored under a tarp for several years. This caused light rust to form under the paint on the horizontal surfaces of the car. This will force us to bring the car to bare metal, rather than just the original primer. You can see what I'm talking about in the picture of the roof. This car is mostly original paint, has had some spotting here and there... my guess is around 70%-75% original paint.

The passenger door had a pretty gnarly dent stuffed with bondo. If you look at the picture of the car on the flat bed you can see it. Someone, probably in the 70s" stuffed it with bondo and tried to spot in part of the door. Of course the paint is 2 tone. You can see the original black etching primer, the red primer, the original gold paint, then the gray primer, then the newer gold paint.

Unfortunately I'm not the person responsible for the metal finishing in the pictures. I'm lucky enough to have a coworker who knows how.

NO matter how solid and rust free your Camaro is, there is always the Achilles heel, or the rear window area. This car probably had a rust hole for some time as I noticed water stains on the package tray. What did the original owner do to solve the problem? Add some silicone, some more silicone, and some more silicone. That will surely stop the water! The rear window was never removed from the car. They just siliconed everywhere between the sail panels and the glass. Needless to say water still came in near the roof and dripped down which made matters worse because the water couldn't evaporate. After some welding and a few patch panels it's back to being rust free:headbang:

Nice! Can they be my friend too?

For the heart of the beast I visited Jim VanGordon of VanGordon Racing Engines in Upland, CA. We discussed various ideas but ultimately decided on a pump gas 496. Started with a solid 512 block and good pair of 781 oval ports. Jim assured me the 781s would be the way to go after his partner and legendary Blown Fuel Altered pilot, Mikio Yoshioka, did his magic to them. He drove the Stone T altered back in the 60s. NEAT STUFF!

Eagle rotating assembly and Mahle pistons make up the rotating assembly. The squeeze came out to 9.8:1. Valve timing is controlled with a Comp roller with .615" lift on intake and exhaust 240*@.050 intake and 250* @.050 exhaust on 112LSA. The old school Torker was a nice eBay find and was ported and port matched to the 781 heads. MSD dizzy and coil for the ignition and an 850 DP Holley tops it off.

Engine was ran on a stand but not dynoed. We will strap it to the chassis dyno at a later date.:3gears:

Very nice! I loved my Torker 2-0 on my Nova back in the day...1971 402 9.8:1, Crane Fireball cam, 3310-2 Holley :)


Attachment 168091

Absolutely, my Nova shown above was painted at Hardin Oldsmobile/Honda when I worked there. The gold Nova shown below....was painted at Santa Ana Nissan!


Both paint jobs came out awesome-and were super cheap(and involved buying a few cases of beer!) . The body and paint guys loved both cars...as they were something different and cool!


Going to enjoy following along on this build. I believe I've seen and taken pics of your blue Camaro at the Sunday show on Seventeeth in Santa Ana?


I would go with Dave Lindsley (I sure do miss him)... :beers:



Attachment 168092

I've had one of those torkers sitting on a shelf for about 35 years. I need to let it go. I've got too many intakes sitting around that I'm never going to use.

My body guy enjoys the car too, like you said it’s different! I met Dave there a few years back, wish I could’ve spent more time with him. He was a real gem and will never be forgotten. His black L78 Nova is truly amazing. I understand his wife still has it. Loved his stories about his brand new 70 L78 Nova. I really wish he was here to see this one come together. I know he’s watching from a better place. Thanks!

I’ve hear mixed things about them. I don’t have any experience with them. I know it’ll be a choking point for this big inch motor but it screams the ‘70s and looks so cool. My builder told me they were the hot setup back then and were pretty normal to see at street races and cruises. If it worked then I’m sure it’ll still work good today.

Cool Engine!

From what I remember, they were good from about 1800rpm to about 5500 rpm. I surprised a few people othe street back then...LOL

You are correct...Dave is in a better place. His wife still has the black L78, It's amazing.


I will be following along...:headbang:

Thanks Bruce! Hopefully you can see it in person when we're done!

This stroker probably will peak out around 6k anyway so that's perfect. I put my faith in the engine builder, he has a ton of experience and some pretty accolades to say the least!

That would be great :)

Being a Day 2 build I knew I needed to do something with the hood. The standard flat hood on my car is in great condition but I wanted something a little more "in your face" rather than something a little more "sleeper". I ended up with an OER Stinger hood. Overall we were very surprised with the quality of this hood! It fits very nice, especially after a little massaging. Looks killer with the hood pins. I was torn between this and something a little more "70s" like an "L88" hood but the stinger has always caught my eye!

Fits like a glove!

I'm a huge fan of the L88 hood, but that Stinger hood looks great and probably fits the lines of a first gen better than almost any other hood except maybe a factory cowl induction. Loving the build.

Thanks! I have a steel cowl hood on my lemans blue 68 and I love it... Just seems like EVERYONE has one. This will be a little more unique. I definitely don't see many "Day 2" type Camaros at local shows, mostly pro touring type builds.

Hood looks great! it appears to have the scoop duct already cut out ? do you have a Link for the Stinger hood Manufacturer ? ive been looking for a good quality Stinger hood for my 67 thanks

Maybe I missed it, what color will it be?

http://https://www.heartbeatcitycama...y-Stinger-427/

Thanks! I bought it from heartbeat. I believe it’s made by, at least sold by, OER. The scoop was already cut! Nice heavy lay up on the fiberglass.

I’m not changing the color. Keeping it Granada Gold! Going to paint the stinger black and thinking of painting the tail panel black too like a factory big block car.

Cool! I remember reading the flat black was to reduce glare and the rear panel was actually a glossier black. Car is going to look mean standing still!

You are gonna be happy with that combo, it makes for a great street engine.
I did a very similar build, except 12.5:1, NOS ZL-1 9180 cam and with the Angelucci ported 781's it RPM's like a 2-stroke weedwacker and makes power from idle to redline.

We are making progress! Trying to keep up with Dave's Crusty Cuda:tongue:
We sanded the original paint off using a DA with 80 grit. We then sanded the entire body with 220. I also removed all the seam sealer on the firewall and replaced it with brand new seam sealer and replicated the factory installation method (stiff brush) haha! My PPG rep told me about a metal cleaner and neutralizer call SX579. This stuff is killer!!! Spray your bare metal and it'll make it look like an anodizing job gone wrong! He said this would be the saving grace for the pesky rust under my paint due to the original owners tarp preventing moisture from escaping.... He also supplied us with the two part epoxy primer and hardener. Primer pics soon! This is where I'm at in the build, it's now up to date for all you to follow. Thanks for the support!

Coming along nicely! Thanks for the update and keep the pix a comin’! :biggthumpup:

Lookin’ good!

67 camaro
 

Nice straight car!

Yesterday the painter prirmered it with the aforementioned PPG Epoxy Primer. Looks great! As expected we can see a few more dings and imperfections so it's back in the body shop. The body man will block the panels and fill in the low spots. The car will be back in the paint department soon enough getting more primer for blocking. This baby is going to be STRAIGHT!!! Makes it easier when the car is in pretty good shape to begin with...