help identifing a 67 ss 396

[akcamaro]

hi, I'm looking at a possible 67 ss 396 camaro up here in Anchorage Ak. The car has been raced and is not anywhere near original condition. the car has no factory tach, a 10 bolt, non original drivetrain, and the fuel lines have been re-ran, so no help there. The car is norwood built and theres nothing on the trim tag for an engine designation. Is there something I should look for besides trim tag/ tach/ large single fuel line/ black out tail panel that would help me figure out this cars origin? On top of all that the car is registered as a 68, and the trim tag says 68, but all the doors and fenders are 67. Did some of the early 68's have 67 doors and fenders on them? pix can be seen on the Anchorage craigslist under cars for sale. thanx

[drdave69]

Get the info from the tag and post it here or Camaros.net for a decode. It doesn't sound very promising for a 396 car at this point but the VIN will tell which year the car actually was built.

[Xplantdad]

Is this the car that you're talking about?

Alaska Camaro?

[67L78conv]

Sounds like a few questionable issues with this one.

Like Dave said first thing is check the vin number. If it is a 67 V8 it will start with 124377 if it is an I6 it will start 123377 followed by an L or N for the plant and the sequence number. If the numbers have an 8 as the sixth digit it is a 68. Regardless of what it was without a 67 cowl tag, numbers matching drive train or other documentation it will never be able to be proved as a true big block. If it had a 67 cowl tag it would have a 4N for L35 325/396, 4K for L78 375/396 or if it were one of the first L78's it would have a 4P which would again require the original motor or docs to prove it is not an SS 350 or an L30 car. There are no documented big blocks built in 67 without one of those three group 4 designations that I am aware of. One other thing you can look for is the two piece brake line with the proportioning valve located on the drivers side frame rail below the drivers door. These were put on big block cars, cars with AC and certain 67 Z28's.

Hope this helps.

Mike

[akcamaro]

yes Xplantdad thats the one. I'm used to 70 BB cars, and I didnt know there are other codes on the trim tag to look for besides L78 and L35. I will try and get back over there today to get the numbers off the tags.

[Rick H]

No, no early 1968 Camaros came from the factory with 67 fenders and doors. The fenders are interchangable but not the doors. In order to put 67 doors on a 68, you would have to change the hinges and extensively modify the door pilars.

Look for the VIN plate. It's either on the drivers door pilar for a 67 or on the dash for 68.

The car looks like a 67 in the pictures and if it's registered as a 68 I would be cautious.

Rick H.