Grandfather's 68 SS Camaro.

[COPO]

Seems like new brake pads and new brake fluid / bleeding lines would be a quick and easy project that would take less than a day to tackle and would be pretty inexpensive. Getting the safety items rectified first makes a lot of sense.

You can then tackle a tune-up and address engine mechanical items as a next step and perhaps have someone experienced lend a hand to diagnosing the problem. Nothing like a knowledgeable old timer to save you hours of work and $'s with a quick diagnosis.

Really agree with the previous poster to break things down into smaller tasks and tackle one at a time to keep expenses down and make progress and achieve some satisfaction you're moving forward.

[napa68]

Originally Posted by COPO

Seems like new brake pads and new brake fluid / bleeding lines would be a quick and easy project that would take less than a day to tackle and would be pretty inexpensive. Getting the safety items rectified first makes a lot of sense.

You can then tackle a tune-up and address engine mechanical items as a next step and perhaps have someone experienced lend a hand to diagnosing the problem. Nothing like a knowledgeable old timer to save you hours of work and $'s with a quick diagnosis.

Really agree with the previous poster to break things down into smaller tasks and tackle one at a time to keep expenses down and make progress and achieve some satisfaction you're moving forward.

Solid advice

[JRC99]

Originally Posted by COPO

Seems like new brake pads and new brake fluid / bleeding lines would be a quick and easy project that would take less than a day to tackle and would be pretty inexpensive. Getting the safety items rectified first makes a lot of sense.

You can then tackle a tune-up and address engine mechanical items as a next step and perhaps have someone experienced lend a hand to diagnosing the problem. Nothing like a knowledgeable old timer to save you hours of work and $'s with a quick diagnosis.

Really agree with the previous poster to break things down into smaller tasks and tackle one at a time to keep expenses down and make progress and achieve some satisfaction you're moving forward.

For the brakes, it's got 4 wheel drums. I'm dead set on swapping to discs on the front, so that's costly. I don't want to put money into the drums at this point, I understand that if I went through them properly they'd work fine on a cruiser, but I'd just feel better with discs on it. Dad and I came to that conclusion about 10 years ago, and Pappaw did agree, it just never materialized.

My buddy's dad is a mechanical wizard so I might have him come take a look at it. I miss my knowledgeable old timer. (We're coming up on a year, as well.)

It seems like I jump around on this car a lot because I do. I have pretty bad OCD so whatever thought pops in that I want to do, I get excited, run with it, blab about it, and then the reality sets in and it rarely happens lol.

So for right now, it'll sit in the garage, I'll work on a couple smaller projects on other vehicles to get them where they need to be, and come back to it knowing it's safe in the garage.

[Too Many Projects]

Front brakes don't need to be costly. So many of these cars are getting aftermarket discs, that there are sets of complete, original, '69 disc brakes for much less money on craigslist and at swap meets. You certainly don't need $1,500 Wilwoods or other such to get the car to stop better than the drums. I have '69 Camaro D50 disc brakes on the front of my '66 Chevelle that work just fine to haul a heavier car than a Camaro down from speed.

As for the engine, it doesn't cost anything to pull the valve covers and look for a loose rocker arm that would indicate a cam lobe failure. A close inspection of the plug wires to determine if one, or more, has become brittle and cracked from age/heat and could be allowing the spark to jump to ground or to another plug wire and fire a cylinder out of order. Just making certain the wires are in the correct order on the cap and to the related cylinder. A very common mistake is crossing #'s 5 and 7. People do that all the time.
If unsure on any of this, take the people offering help up on that and let them. As others have said, letting the car sit for a period of time, just makes it more difficult to find the time to work on it. This isn't just a fable people throw around, there are THOUSANDS of us who have made that mistake and before you know it, 20-30 years have flown by and it is still sitting with flat tires and surface rust all over it.
I am very familiar with not having the funds to do much at one time, but, for now, your time is cheap/free and doing anything on it will keep the interest and desire level high.