Jose…what, if anything, are you going to do to the exterior? -Paint, primer?

You've got a super cool big letter hurst shifter, another drool provoker!

I'll just leave it for now. At most I may have a local detailer clean up what's there.

I wish I took better before pics but this is the seat that came with the car. I dropped off the seats to a local detailer who cleaned the decades of dirt and poop. I also cleaned the rear 211 seatbelts with basic dish soap and water before install.

Also thanks to Jon for pointing out I need to find the correct shift boot retainer for console car. If anyone has an original please let me know.

I’m confused Jose, are you wanting the boot or the retainer plate?

In my last post I was referring to the retainer plate but I bought a repop last night. Jon reached out privately and informed me I installed the plate for non console cars.

Jose, no the retainer ring you have in there currently is for an automatic shifter in the console. I just wanted to see you find the correct piece.

Are you planning on installing the console ? If not, the pic of the silver retainer would be correct. If you are, I wouldn't worry about the lower retainer, as it will never be seen. This an NOS upper boot and top plate with the console. This boot looks like the one you had in there and replaced, It may be the correct boot for the console mount ?? I am using my old auto retainer at the floor too,so no pic of a correct one.


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...s/DSC07266.JPG

"IF" 67 & 68 Console Factory boot are the same <Someone check AIM's?>

Console wired and installed with new bulbs. Clock was refurbished by clock works.

Picked up and installed correct retainer, wired console, I used a big washer and epoxy to fix the rear mounting bracket on the console. Used a longer screw from hardware store.

Enjoy and thanks all for your help.

Looking great Jose. Keep up the good work.

Jason

Lookin' real good Jose!!

I think I'll have the interior all done today!

One side done!

The interior is DONE!!! All lights work including sun gauges, and the clock ticks!

Looks great - what a cool car.

Mitch, what you have is the service replacement boot, not the assembly line correct one. The original boot shown below (or "seal" as described in the assembly manual) was discontinued very early so it is rarely seen and hard to find but in the past couple of years it has started to be reproduced. The service replacement boot, as you can see, looks nothing like the real original.

More pics from today. I notice the car runs rich I can smell the fuel during a drive. I adjusted the floats but may need to do more changes to the carb. I read somewhere that running a smaller carb (780cfm) with big cubes (462) can cause rich condition due to the high velocity coming through the venturi? Is there truth to this? Anyway even after I pull it in the garage I have to air it out a few minutes.

If you like reels I post on Instagram as @josebetancourt831

Just noticed the 4 hole steering wheel, a very nice touch that is sooo tough to find. Love the details on your sweetheart.

Thanks I wanted to include items that were on the car in the 70s (see pic below from 3rd owner). This includes the steering wheel, gauge on the column, and the air freshener. However I believe I figured out that the red character hanging from the mirror is a Russ Berrie "We need each other" love monster from 1975 which I'm still searching for! Also note I included the Thrush decal on the quarter window. Goal is to take then and now photos.

Search Russ Berrie Love Monster to get better results.They came with different signage.
Take the sign out of his hand as they were all the same.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/33526445176...8AAOSwNrRlyRyi

----Love those old Hurst curved shifters. So much better looking than the straight ones!....Bill S

Thanks for the info Jon, realized I forgot to install the cover above the boot.

Thanks I bought it!

I drove the car to have breakfast with some friends this morning about 45 minutes away. The temp held perfectly throughout the drive. I noticed that I still have a vibration issue on the freeway, not nearly as bad as it was. So I'm going to have the front wheel and tire assemblies checked and finally get the rotors turned. It happens in 4th gear around 3200rpm. When I'm in 1st hear at the same rpm the problem isn't there, and when I put it in neutral from 4th the vibration issue is still present. It definitely feels like its coming from the front. Anyway, it's still a blast to drive!

The holes lined right up for the front but I'll need to order up hood pins. The locking pins I have would require more cutting of the hood which I want to avoid since it's a real A&A.

Jose, I love, love the car! Only thing I would do is put less wide tires on it.other than that it’s patina perfect.

I have a few wheel and tire options. For now I'm going for the look the car had in the 1970s.

Not much progress on car but I did manage to install the shifter boot cover. Sorry for the dust.

As I've discovered before, Max Edward McCandlish is the salesman who ordered my car when working at Bobb Chevrolet and whose name is signed on the original sales documents to my car. I'm still in contact with his son Matt McCandlish who has been a tremendous help with uncovering new information about the dealership. Back in December 2022 Matt shared a few photos with me that I posted here but today I was able to get permission to share a photo of Mr. and Mrs. McCandlish and their new 69 Camaro. I wanted to share the photo because I think it is a cool part of the story as he ordered a Black 67, Black 68, and Black 69, all Super Sport in addition to the many cars he ordered and owned. Although, he was able to buy both the 68 and 69 in time before a customer snatched them up.

Here is the short recap of the story:

After taking delivery of the custom ordered L78 Camaro, Mr. McCandlish took the brand new car to National Trail Raceway in Columbus Ohio for a test drive down the strip. This is where Bruce would spot the black Camaro going down the drag strip with the window sticker still in the window.
Bruce the same or very next day walked into the dealership to buy the car but Mr. McCandlish simply didn't want to sell the car. Mr. Woodward, I believe the owner of the dealership, posed an ultimatum where Mr. McCandlish either had to sell a Corvette or the Camaro would sell to Bruce. Bruce was able to buy the car and Mr. McCandlish was not happy about it.

Mr. McCandlish still looks pissed for selling his L78!! :hmmm:

i guess in 67 he didnt have enough money to but the 67 l78? dealer was being a businessman getting a real customer to pay top dollar

Bruce confirmed he walked into the dealership the same day he seen the car coming down the track. I'm guessing it was Friday 4/28/67
Bruce says the Camaro was the first car he bought brand new. The 66 Chevelle SS 396 4 speed he traded in for the Camaro he bought used as a fixer upper.

Dates:
NCRS report states official production date of 4/27/67
The sales paperwork at the top with Bruce's name on it is dated 4/28/67
There is a date on the bottom of the sales paperwork of 5/5/67
And I believe the date stamped on the vin plate is 5/5/67 with the "9" being and upside down 6 or the "9" being and independent code of some kind.

Great story and pics Jose....thanks for sharing!!

Seems like the salesman could have still had time to order another black '67 SS if he really wanted to if this one was delivered in late April.

Great car , find and read ...

I don't know how it all happens in two days, but it's a great story.

It's possible!

Matt (son of salesman) says his father would order cars "All the time. Drove them off the lot on Fridays & sold them on Mondays"

The deal in it's entirety didn't happen in two days.

I just got off the phone with Bruce. He is following and wanted to confirm that the boss gave Mr. McCandlish a few days to sell one of 2 other cars he had ordered to have a chance to keep the Camaro. One he remembered being a Corvette. Bruce had to wait a few days and he then got the call to come pick up the Camaro as the salesman didn't sell one of the other cars in time.



On a side note, how accurate are gm production dates on NCRS reports?

Feels good to find something from the cars past like this!
I sent the photos to Misty the ex wife of the 3rd owner Alan Mason and she loved it. Alan thankfully took photos when he owned the the car in the late 70s including the interior pic shown. He was a high school student then. Alan was able to help me solve the puzzle of the ownership history before he passed.

The two big missing items to the car are the POP and trans. Bruce says he thinks the POP went to the car when it sold. I reached out to Shane Goss, brother of 2nd owner John Goss. Shane says his brother confirmed he didn't keep any paperwork to the car and when the car sold it likely went with the car. Since Alan passed, I reached out to Richard Buckley (4th owner) through his wife Dorothy who said he didn't remember the booklets coming with the car. (See previous posts for pics of Dorothy with car as a HS student).
This leads me to believe that Alan must have had the POP last if Bruce indeed sold the car with the POP in glove box. So I reached out to Misty who said she's going to ask a family member who kept some of Alan's things to see if somehow the POP is there.

In regards to the transmission the last I know is that Richard Buckley sold the Camaro with a bad steering box and without an engine. Younger brother Charley Buckley remembered the trans was tied up in the car.

Mr Jenkins who got the car as it was pulled from the barn from his friend John Baxter in the 2000s said the Camaro had a non numbers matching junk transmission and the fiberglass hood was coming apart.

My guess is trans was likely swapped out between Tom Rooker (5th owner) and Judy Stevens-Rooker (6th owner).

Is that a Cal Custom shifter handle?

I'm not sure. Do you have a photo of the T handle to compare? It would be cool to find that. I believe the shifter in the photo is a supershifter because the shifter hole in the tunnel was notched about 1" on the left side and bent downward for clearance. And the console shifter plate was also notched.

I don't have a picture, but I've seen a lot of them on Facebook.

Here is one on ebay. It's not exactly what I thought the one in the picture looked like. Maybe the one in the picture is just a Hurst T handle.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/22597470620...RoCPoYQAvD_BwE

I'm beginning to think its also a standard Hurst T handle, I reached out to the brother of the 2nd owner to ask 2nd owner if he could provide insight.