A lot of Help Needed on my Car's History Please

[bbbentley]

I have enjoyed the privilege of being a site member for some time and have had lots of help and made some great friendships. I have owned this 396 Camaro for 37 years. I did not have the funds when I found this car in the fall of 79 for $400 less engine, so my close friend bought it for me and I paid him back. By the spring of 80 I had this car back on the road. At 18, I was just glad to have a hot rod and never considered POPs or documentation or owner history.
Fast forward 30 + years and my curiosity about how and why the car got painted as it did and finding out if it was a "special" car or just a run of the mill SS (if there is such a thing lol). I traced the owner history back 3 owners and that only covers a short year and a half before I got the car. All those past owners are local in the Cincinnati East side area. What I can tell you is the car started life as a low horse 396 car. It has its original M20 and its original 3.31 BS rear. With the V.top gone you can see it started out as 72 H.Orange. It has a 4 core curve neck radiator. It suffered a collision on the L. front that has the L. fender and hood replaced (possibly other parts) Driver door still original and RH fender.
I have run into a brick wall after that and time is not on my side. Here are my specific questions:
1)Does anybody, here, recognize this car from back in the day?
2)Does anyone on here know who could have painted the car the way I got it (the paint was showing a lot of age when I got it)? Some guys locally said only a handful of guys could paint a car like that back then. Does anyone recognize who's work it is?
3)Does anyone know if low horse cars ever got high horse conversions? Is there history of that happening? Previous
owners claimed it had a high HP engine, but old memories sometime lie I realize
I know it is a lot to ask, but I know there are so many better detectives that if I just rely on my own skills, it may never go anywhere. So, looking for the 1st 8-9 years of the car's life.
Thanks sYc

[bbbentley]

The hood is the only piece left that was not stripped. You can see it had metallic gold flake in the black as well as the flames. There was an old school trick of "cob-webbing" done to the grille surround and the tail panel between the lights. It had a black vinyl top & no spoiler car. By the cracks in the paint, you can tell it was many several coats of lacquer.

[1967Z28]

You might try Bill Gould at AutoAncestry.com

[bbbentley]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 1967Z28</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You might try Bill Gould at AutoAncestry.com </div></div>
Thank you Jon. I was not aware of this service. Looks like a good direction to start.

[1967Z28]

You're welcome and good luck, Bentley.

[PeteLeathersac]

Cool car, especially paint and proudly hang that hood on the wall!
Instead of backtracking, what of any luck from the other direction and NCRS delivering Dealer report on forward...have you tried ads in the dealer city's papers and/or local classified websites w/ pics etc?
Best of luck and looking forward to whatever history you uncover!
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete

[notstock71]

Here's another option that worked for me. Craigslist. I was looking for a Nova that was a somewhat local car when it was published back in the 70s. I took a chance and put a wanted ad on Craigslist in the cars/trucks for sale by owner. I had multiple calls by that evening from people who knew the builder and gave me contact info for him. I ended up finding the car in another state but have never been able to come to a reasonable price to get it.

Hopefully someone would remember your car and give you a few leads. It's wishful thinking but sometimes that is all we have.

[69hurstSC]

I've connected over 25 individuals with their lost car or the history of their car....for free. https://www.facebook.com/lostmusclecars/

[bbbentley]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: PeteLeathersac</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Cool car, especially paint and proudly hang that hood on the wall!
Instead of backtracking, what of any luck from the other direction and NCRS delivering Dealer report on forward...have you tried ads in the dealer city's papers and/or local classified websites w/ pics etc?
Best of luck and looking forward to whatever history you uncover!
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete


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Pete &amp; others. Appreciative of any and all help and ideas. On the NCRS, I was one of the first ones that applied for a NCRS document hoping to do just as you suggest. I was also one of the first to get a refund and an email that said the information for my Dec. 68 X22 was not available and missing from the known database [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/no.gif[/img] I do not know the town the car was sold in, therefore can not target a certain town. I had always thought the car local, but perhaps it is not and that is why I cannot find information prior to 77 [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/dunno.gif[/img] I did try the CL ad and I did hit pay dirt when the owner (3rd back) called me. He told me who he sold it to and in turn, he sold it to the guy I got it from all in a 2 year period.

[bbbentley]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 69hurstSC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I've connected over 25 individuals with their lost car or the history of their car....for free. https://www.facebook.com/lostmusclecars/

</div></div>

Can someone else be a proxy for a fella (me) that don't FB? [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/youguysrock.gif[/img]