69 Z/28 Day II Project (Air Force Brat)
 

I've been longing to do a 69 build with a Day II theme so here is the next project dubbed "Air Force Brat". The car is an original X77 sold new at Auran Chevrolet in Minot North Dakota. It's been apart for over 30 years and I purchased it from who I suspect is the 4th owner? He's had it for the past 25 years and it's now on the way up to western Canada where I'll restore the car with my eldest son. I'll dig back through the ownership when time permits and I'm hoping to learn more about the early ownership from it's North Dakota days.

Plans for this build include my son and I creating a righteous yellow on yellow Day II car with all the right parts and pieces to make it into a great little street machine and a throwback to the '70s. Once it's torn down, it's headed straight to the body shop to receive a new trunk pan and have a set of NOS GM quarters installed along with some bodywork. With the body repaired and the shell primed with the jambs painted, it'll come back to us for the underside to be cleaned up and refinished before we start doing the final assembly and paint prep. It will then be sprayed in 76 76 Daytona Yellow lacquer with factory correct stripes before the fun really begins.

Looking to build a righteous small block car with an M22 and some decent gearing inside its original 12 bolt. I have a small stash of Lakewood and NMW parts here and will now be on the hunt for some other period-correct parts to dress this one up nicely. The idea for the name for the car comes from it being sold right outside of Minot AFB. It leaves me to wonder if a pilot or base worker may have bought this car new? I'm sure it was well known with its yellow Houndstooth interior, options group and the Z/28 badges. The original engine and trans were both scattered back in 1974, so it will now make for a great day II car, and once complete it should be a total Brat!

https://i.ibb.co/PFk2Cmc/Air-Force-Brat.jpg
My son did a little artwork and designed a front plate that we'll put on the car when it's done.

https://i.ibb.co/1d8r8gX/Daytona-X77-1.jpg
The car has a GM cowl hood and all evidence supports it being an original ZL2 optioned car.

https://i.ibb.co/zPL0J3s/Daytona-X77-2.jpg
Original X77 car in Daytona Yellow with Yellow roof and matching yellow interior.

https://i.ibb.co/dK6wNzK/Daytona-X77-3.jpg
The rockers on both sides are in excellent condition as are the interior floors.

https://i.ibb.co/xM1NzBY/Daytona-X77-4.jpg
The drivers' door was replaced from an accident occurring long ago. Original 4 speed tunnel is clean but not sure what Day II gas pedal is in there?

https://i.ibb.co/wdH7FSw/Daytona-X77-5.jpg
I may struggle with the yellow interior. I don't mind the original yellow, but not a fan of the bright repro colors. Might take a run at restoring the originals.

https://i.ibb.co/25w8JqC/Daytona-X77-6.jpg
The original DY overspray can still be seen on the underside. I'll know more when it's here but I may try and save the underside.

https://i.ibb.co/s6RzntB/Daytona-X77-7.jpg
One of 188 Camaro's to receive this V75 option for Liquid Tire Chain. On the hunt for an original system now...

https://i.ibb.co/cgt41t3/Daytona-X77-8.jpg
The original 12 bolt BU diff dated Feb 24th. This will be rebuilt with some better gearing for the street and already has a Day II cover! :cool2:

https://i.ibb.co/fktdRgn/Daytona-X77-9.jpg
Rear bulkhead with the original X 7 crayon marking visible to the eye. Should reveal better after some cleaning.

https://i.ibb.co/rwLg0Gh/Daytona-X77-10.jpg
Original trim tag still intact. I'm not sure about the filler inside the rivets and will need to see if that's the factory resin?

https://i.ibb.co/ZMgcRFp/Daytona-X77-11.jpg
Rear tail panel is in excellent shape. The car does not have much rust showing anywhere.

https://i.ibb.co/M7yzgBh/Daytona-X77-12.jpg
Auran Chevrolet was the original dealer. It was taken over by Jim Ryan in 1973. His daughter now runs it as Ryan Buick GMC

https://i.ibb.co/3h2SWsh/Daytona-X77-14.jpg
Found this dealer tag on eBay and will add this to the rear panel after it's painted.

https://i.ibb.co/GnTmyLy/qt2.jpg
Original GM quarters that were bought for the car back in the late '90s by the seller. They were purchased with the car.

https://i.ibb.co/d6s4Bsb/qt1.jpg
Both have their original paper tags on the inside and will be used when the body's restored.

Stay tuned as more plans for the car unfold over the weeks and months ahead. As always, I invite your feedback and suggestions for the Day II appointments.

Can’t wait to follow along Graeme!

It will be fun to watch the build. I vote for the yellow hounds-tooth interior, that looks great.

Very nice project ! Will be fun to follow for sure!

Do you plan on building a 302 for it or will it be something larger?

Gotta be a 302 with the yellow guts!

I cant wait to watch and follow along also. You do some real quality work and attention to detail. Bad thing is now I have competition again on those Day 2 parts in the for sale section !!!! ROB

Still have this solid roller motor and plan to make use of it in the Camaro. It's a balanced and blueprinted 360ci build with a forged crank, Manley 4340 rods, Manley 2618 Pistons, Modified 200cc Aluminum Heads, and a Lunati Mechanical Roller @ 254/262 duration. It's built to run 7500 rpm and the heads are set up with Crower stainless rockers. I could also keep it a bit stock looking with an original 472 intake, stock covers, and an original cowl breather with a good mechanical carb tucked underneath it. I need to get a nice M22 or an M23 to run in behind it.

LOL...lately I watch the stuff selling on FB and shake my head at some of the prices. Good thing is I've been hanging onto some good vintage stuff here that I do plan to use.

I like the idea of a stoutly built motor, but dressed up to look mostly stock. Perhaps even paint the AL heads orange in addition to the finned VC's and 472 intake.

I've had a M23Z in my car for a few years and just recently swapped it for a N24 with a slightly different set of gears. The M23 took a beating, and the Z gear set allowed me to easily pull away from a stop with 3.50 gears and 31 inch tires. The M23W might be worth looking into, or the M22W. These transmissions don't shift as easy as the original Muncie transmissions when driving around town. You don't just carelessly flick it into gear. You have to use just a little effort when shifting, but I never had any problems shifting at 7200 with my right foot on the floor.

Let ‘er rip, Graeme. This’ll be a BLAST!!!!!!!
:3gears::3gears::3gears:

Yes... Heads are already painted orange and I do have all stock pulleys, a stock water pump, dull original covers, the original cowl breather and most of the correct peripherals to help dial it in as stock looking. I had this motor in my 68 a couple of years ago and ran it just long enough to break it in after it was built. It runs well and pulls really hard through the 7K+ range. I'm sure it would be better matched in the 69 using the other original parts I have sitting here for it.

https://i.ibb.co/cYd5BqQ/IMG-5043.jpg

Does that roller cam require a bronze distributor gear? Mine kept eating gears, so I replaced the cam with a flat tappet solid and went back to a steel gear. I even tried the grove in the distributor hole that is supposed to spray oil on the gear, but it didn't work.

Nice. Will be following!

Yes...bronze gear on a billet core. Was think of switching it for another Crower mechanical but have not seen any wear on the gear in the first 375 miles of use and just had it out again to inspect it. So far so good.

Sweet!! I as well will be following this build.

Subscribed! COOL!

Another Day 2 build to follow! I'm subscribed

Subscribed!!!

Now let’s talk tire size, rear gear ratio, trans ratios!!!

Ryan W31

Wide Ratio 2:56 1st gear, 4:56 Rear and not sure on tire height but they will be 50's on the back. I currently have some NOS H50/15 Mickeys but they are a lower 26" profile so they they may be changed up to Pro-Trac N50's for the extra 2" of height. Fronts will be getting some skinnies. Looking for some air shocks for the back now. I should have kept those Hurst Shocks I had (lol)

I ran a M22W in my 67 Nova behind the 422" SBC. 3.70 gear on a 26" tall tire. It was an attention getter to say the least:). You think the 4.56 may be a bit too much?

BTW, I've got that beer ready for when you come through (if they ever open the effen border)

Had 4:56 gears in the Nova and it wasn't all that bad (except on the highway) lol. It only had 26" rear tires and would have been better with some 28" rubber. It depends what tires I run on the Camaro, but could always opt for 4:10's and that would ease up on the rpm a bit. I'm not as concerned about the highway RPM as I don't plan on running it on the highway other than in and out of town for cruise nights which is a 20-minute run for me right into south Calgary. And, I'm lucky if I do cruise night once or twice a year. This one will be more of a street/strip car that can also go out for track days but will be a while until it's ready for that.

Unfortunately the Beers too....will have to wait until MCACN or another road trip Tim. :beers:

The CAN/USA border is still closed and may not fully reopen for a while, so I pulled the trigger and got TFX to pick the car up in PA. They are actually loading it up early this morning. It should be here in a week or two and I will take a full inventory and get started on the work just as soon as I unpack it. It comes with much of its original parts and pieces (very complete car) and is pretty well stuffed to the brim for the trip north.

Can't wait to dive into it and get started...:biggthumpup:

https://i.ibb.co/cwgCFnZ/Packed-1.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/SVvC8Qs/IMG-0682.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/K73Tk48/IMG-0685.jpg

The seller was kind enough to rent a trailer and haul it over to meet the transport truck this morning. It's now loaded on the transporter and is on its way to the great white north...Eh!

Soon...it will begin the next chapter. :flag:

https://i.ibb.co/68kyPh4/Daytona-X77-15.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/Ns2XPtD/Daytona-X77-16.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/LxQrjxs/Daytona-X77-17.jpg

With a 2.56 first gear, a 4.56 rear gear and 28" tall tires you'll have a starting line ratio of 11.67! 4.11s would give 10.52 which is probably a little more manageable. I'm nowhere near an expert on this but I think the 10.50 range is where you want to be with a light weight Camaro with a 3.50" stroke.

Agreed Chuck. I looked at the calculators after posting that combo the other day to help decide if I was going to order a close-ratio (.220 first) or a wide ratio (.256) trans. I have now decided on the wide ratio and will likely go with 4:10 gears.

I have a 496 going in my 67 with a standard close ratio M22 with a 2.20 first and 28" tires. I'm in a similar boat to you, not really concerned with driving it on the highway for sustained periods... Not sure which gears to go with. It is a street/strip car with 90% street use. I think 4.11s are ideal but will blow the tires away on the street in probably every gear. May go with something around 3.55 even though the first gear will go forever... What are your thoughts?

Big block torque will do that to you...but that's also half the fun. I'm sure this small block will be better on the tall end while making its power in the upper rpm range where I like my shift points. After the smoke's gone, there is nothing better than pulling away from a car while banging gears at 7K plus.

Got the car up into Alberta this week and the first thing I did was unpack everything to take a bit of an inventory. There are a lot of great parts here that will need to be restored, and a few missing parts that I will need to be hunting down. I've already started to knock the car back to the shell and prep it for a trip to the body shop, That will happen in a just a few short weeks so there's isn't much time to waste. The sheet metal work will lead the way while I'm busy restoring the sub-frame, suspension and the differential.

Below are the pics I took after everything was unpacked on Monday. In the last image, the previous owner surprised me with a little gift that he packed into the car. Three very nice T3 headlamps he pulled from a low mile Camaro that was wrecked many years ago (thank you Fred). It was also nice to find the carburetor came with the Stamp Rite fuel line bracket which is a very hard part to find. Now to get busy with the car and get a jig built for it. It won't be long before the sheet metal work is underway, so stay tuned.

:beers:

https://i.ibb.co/dJYpBXt/IMG-1101.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/5TJJzVJ/IMG-1085.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/Qf1MgpG/IMG-1100.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/wCdpvF0/IMG-1123.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/qdV119q/IMG-1102.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/xssSHc5/IMG-1098.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/d71V7p4/IMG-1097.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/93CNSY3/IMG-1087.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/7pfGxty/IMG-1086.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/QpS4bBN/IMG-1088.jpg

Killer project! Gonna be a screamer! As far as gear ratios.....quicker, cleaner and easier to change transmissions than diff gears. If you have a spare Muncie or two (with the same input & tailshaft), they can be swapped/tailored to your combo in an hour or so. Make sure you degree in your bellhousing for those high rpm flatshifts.......but you already knew that.

Wow, that Stamp RITE tells you how complete that car is. Impressive.

Can't believe I'm late to this party! Looking forward to another fantastic build.

IIRC the Stamp-Rite bracket only appeared in later production, but good to get a hard-to-find part with the car!

I always thought the carb bracket was a late issue part too Tim, but I've recently seen claims of them also being found on early cars. Funny thing is that this one was paired with a very early carb that is dated August 68. Go figure?

Hmm. Earliest car I’ve heard of with that support bracket was around the early July ‘69 build timeframe. But no matter, it’s a scarce part that you could run with, put on the shelf, or sell to help fund the build. Either way, a very cool day 2 project.

My 06A RSZ28 has the support bracket, actual production June 21/69, owned the car for 46 yrs.

I have a late June car with the support bracket also.

Parts are starting to come together for this build. First off, Bergy was kind enough to hook me up with enough parts to rebuild the V75 liquid tire chain option including a case of traction compound. On the transmission front, Jeff Collins is building me an M23Z with a 2.99/1.87/1.35/1.00 gear ratio. For the shifter, Eric Davidson is rebuilding a stock 3138 shifter for me and I'll keep the inside somewhat stock looking with the factory console.

I will however add a couple of gauges to the cowl panel and one to the column as I have purchased SUN Fuel and Vacuum gauges with 2-5/8" chrome cups and further scored an NOS NC-5 Cup and SST 10K tack for the steering column. Finally I also managed to scoop an NOS Hurst line loc kit so things are progressing well on the parts front. Next up is to secure a nice set of original Torque Thrusts or perhaps a set of Fentons to round out the look I am going for.

Anyone have a nice pair of Fentons or M/T stashed away? (Oh Grady!) :3gears:

https://i.ibb.co/fG8NpTh/IMG-0853.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/kD4cw1Y/IMG-0854.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/2FDQZn7/Sun-Fuel.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/wrd9zJT/Sun-Vac.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/chLvGB4/Sun-801.jpg


https://i.ibb.co/c2ycTHx/Hurst-Line.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/fFWG9KR/Hurst-Roll.jpg

Very cool parts stash

Chuck, that 2.20 first gear with 3.55 gears and 28" tires will have a final ratio of around 7.80 which is going to pull the engine down when you let go the clutch. Granted your 496 is going to have more torque but there are much better transmission gear ratio combinations for street cars that will also see some highway use. (See the AGE gearing options here)

To keep it fun off the lights with 28" tall tires, I chose to run a 2.99 first gear. With the stock 3:73 rear, this should have a final ratio of 11.15 and will feel like having 5:13 gears off the light. Granted it will be a short shift when driving normally, but at WOT this should keep a good set of sticky tires running on the ragged edge until 2nd gear is pulled at 50 mph. I'd then pull 2nd gear at 4500 rpm and 3rd/4th would keep me in the 5200/5300 range on a full pass.

Best part is I get all the excitement of a great rpm launch that won't pull the motor down and will still have the final gear ratio of 3.73 for the highway runs in 4th. I may even choose to step down to a 3.55 rear gear when I rebuild the diff. That would have me in the 10.6 final range which is even more ideal. With big block torque, you could even go 3.31 and still have a better transmission ratio to easily launch the car without pulling the motor down off the line. Plus it's way more fun launching like it has 4:88's.

Might want to look into the gearing options here and check the multiplier on trans gearing x final ratio. :naughty: