Hello there.
 

I have been a member here for a bit, and visited the site for much longer. I didn't see a forum or thread where new members introduced themselves so I figured the lounge was as good a place as any to start. My name is Frank,..my friends and family call me Frankie so please do if you'd like. I own a former Bob Johnson Racing Enterprises drag car out of Scuncio Chevrolet in RI, a 68 Z28. I have owned it for 42 years and I'm only the second registered owner.

Yes, joined 7 years ago, but life gets in the way, and by the time I decided to start posting here, I thought I forgot my password, but in actuality I forgot my screen name,...so trying to gain access to my account was a chore, that's for sure,...because the site kept telling me my email was already in use here, when I tried to make a new account. Some of you probably know me by the screen name I use on most other sites similar to this, it's FRANKTHECRANK.

Welcome Frank! :cool2: You probably already figured it out, but this is an incredible group of knowledgeable, courteous, and enthusiastic members that help each other out and support one another along the way. We’re all adults and treat each other the way you’d expect to be treated among friends: friendly yet the occasional “poke” when needed!:laugh:

Post off pics! We like pics!:3gears:

Cheers
Dave

Welcome Frank and please feel free to tell us more about your 68Z!

Welcome! Would love to hear more about your Z.

I apologize ahead of time for the long winded post, but this tells the complete history of the car.

I own a 68 Z28, which was one of Bob Johnson's drag cars, who was the high performance manager of Scuncio Chevrolet of Rhode Island.
I had Bob, when in better health, come to see it, (and I took him for a ride in it), and he certified it as one of his drag cars, and that it was indeed a real Z28. Aside from being an 11,000 original mile car, it did have all the "Z28 only" hints...like the 6000 rpm tick toc tach which only came in solid lifter cars, and the tire sticker in the glove box calling for E70 15s. It still has all the original body panels, (except a cowl hood, and front and rear spoilers that I installed), and still has the original vinyl top and deluxe interior.

It was raced from 1972 through 1981, then I bought it. This was the only car Bob Johnson didn't buy new from Scuncio, (out of about 12 drag car he raced or sponsored), it was taken in trade in 1972 at the dealer, and because he loved the car's looks and low miles, Bob bought it from Scuncio. Bob sold it in 77 to another local racer who still ran the Bob Johnson Racing Enterprises lettering on the doors, until I bought it in 1981.

The original 302 was pulled out while Bob owned it and it actually went into the ramp truck that used to carry the car to the drags, when the 6 cylinder in it blew up . That truck was given back to Bob as well, and he sold it to someone in CT. The 12 bolt rear was removed and a Dana 60 was installed and is still in it today. Since I have had it, (42 years) it has taken on quite a few looks including leaving the 4 point roll bar in it and the wheelie bars on it for a while, having a fiberglass snorkel hood on it, then an SS hood, then a cowl induction hood. Cragar SS wheels, side pipes, to Super Lites and Hooker header and Flowmasters now....etc. The car is still basically set up for the drags with solid body mounts, solid motor and trans mounts, frame connectors, ladder bar rear suspension, narrowed rear leaf with a Vega 11 gallon fuel tank, Dana Rear, etc,....

The only part of the history of this car that was missing was who the original owner was. All Bob remembered was that he was in the service, stationed in CT, and came over the RI border to trade the Z in at Scuncio's for a 72 Chevelle.

Once I got a shipping data report through the General Motors Heritage Center, and the National Corvette Restorers Society, I found out my Z28 was originally sold out of Varnell Chevrolet Company in Tennessee. I then ran an ad in the local Craigslist in that area asking if anyone knew the original owner of a Z28 bought from that dealer, who was in the service at that time, stationed in CT.

Sure enough, a gentleman who knew the dealership, and knew a guy who prepped cars there contacted me, and they knew the car,..."and" knew who bought it. I eventually got in contact with the man, and we had some great emails and phone calls. He was definitely a motor head back in the day. He helped me fill in the blanks about some questions that were puzzling about the car. It didn't have any stripes on it when it was raced, and when I bought it, and it also had no paint code on the cowl tag, it just had an "=" sign instead which I found out meant "special paint". I thought perhaps that meant the car was ordered "stripe delete" which would have been quite rare, because the Lemans blue paint was not special for a late 68 Camaro that this is. Turns out, the original owner had the car painted in 1970 when he installed a 69 cowl hood on it and didn't have them put any stripes back on. The "special paint" option the tag referred to was the "black" stripes the car had. I put the white stripes it currently has on it because I liked how they look, and read that they were the most common color stripe used on a Lemans blue Z28 by far. Although Bob didn't have any paper work for the car when I spoke and met him, (because he said he never kept any of that stuff for his drag cars) he did verify that he took the car in trade, bought the car and sponsored it and..it definitely was a Z28. I have also talked to the two guys who campaigned and raced the car and they also verified it's authenticity, and they are the ones who put the 302 into the ramp truck. Now with the original owners story, "and" pictures of the car he sent me when he first bought it, the history of the car in now complete.

There's more fun facts, but I don't want to make this post so long, you guys might not want to continue reading,..lol. I know it was long winded already...lol.

Keep going with story & pictures....Joe

It was a real sleeper. Flat hood, correct for the 68 anyway. It was a late build so it did have the Z28 emblems on the fenders, not the 302 emblems, and no front or rear spoilers. The rally wheels looks as though they were painted black like the stripes, instead of silver.

Here are the photos I had searched for for 35 years before I tracked them down, so to say. This is what the car looked like brand new in 68. The original owner told me when he bought it, it wasn't ready and dealer prepped in time, before he had to go back to CT, so his wife drove that high revving, four speed machine all the way from Tennessee to his base in CT. for him.

This one shows what looks to be black painted rally wheels, maybe from the factory, maybe dealer painted, or I guess the owner could have done them,...to match the hood stripes perhaps.

Well, it looks like I need to figure out how to post pictures here......hmmm.

I think I got it, but I got this message.

Thank you for posting! Your post will not be visible until a moderator has approved it for posting.

Welcome and nice car. The gear head instinct here would be ask if you have ever tried to track down the engine and rear axle. Of course, that subject may be coming up in the next chapter...:grin:

Oh I have tried. Not during the first decade or more of owning it, because I bought the car when I was only 19, and who cared then about originality, right?

The car hauler search never really got off the ground, I did find a correct engine block for the car, right engine casting number, correct date casting number, and correct MO engine stamp with the right date that coincides with the casting date and the date on my data plate on the car. But I'm always looking.

I found out well after I took ownership of the car that a friend of mine has the 12 bolt that came out of my car before the Dana was installed. He got it from the second guy who raced it that Bob Johnston sold it to. But that 12 bolt was not original to the car. The original one might have been blown up in it's earlier days of racing.

I have casually looked for the Muncie and the rear end but, never found anything with the right partial VIN.

Frank, Welcome!

Glad to see you here also (at CRG)

JIM

When I first bought it, it was still in race form, covered with sponsorship decals and lettering, and had no engine, transmission or gears in the Dana.

The first drive train I put in it consist of a 1970 300hp 350 in it, with a Turbo 400 auto, and put 4:10 gears in the Dana. The car still had the 4 point roll bar in it, no back seat, and the original deluxe door panels had been replaced by standard ones with the arm rests removed so you could close the door with the roll bar in the way.

Welcome to the site Frank.Great story,keep it coming!

Thanks. I have photos that go with every post, when it was new, when it was raced, when I bought it, and all the renditions it went through in the last 42 years until now. But, I'm not being allowed to post them yet, I guess. I'll have to add them in later posts.

‘

Welcome Frank
Great stuff so far, looking forward to more also pics.
:beers:
~ Pete

.

This is the car brand new. Notice the absence of front or rear spoiler, and the black rally wheels.

You can see the factory black Z28 stripes in this picture.

There was no antenna or antenna hole in the fenders or rear quarters, and when I bought it, it had a radio/heater controls/ashtray block off plate on the dash for weight reduction so I'm not sure if it was a radio delete car from the factory.

You can see the left front fender of the Z in this pic. That was the owner, who like I said was a motor head back in the day,..hemi powered Austin is bad ass.

This is a picture of the car after the 69 cowl hood was installed and he had it painted because of the hod, and he said the lower sides were getting chipped from all the sand on the roads. Not sure he was talking about in Tennessee where he was from, Connecticut where he was stationed, or the rides too and from the two states. This is why, until I got to speak to him, and got original pictures of it, I thought it might have been a stripe delete car. That's his young wife with the car, the little lady who drove it all the way to CT. for him when he couldn't wait and had to get back to base. Notice some type of traction bars under the rear end.

Those are the only pictures he had. I asked if he had any paperwork, build sheet, window sticker, POP, anything buried in a closet in a shoe box somewhere, but he said no. He never thought to keep stuff like that, but said he'd let me know if he found any.

I think the rally wheels were blue, not black. There are several examples of original rally wheel Camaros from this era that got body color wheels via special order. Cool car regardless and thanks for the pics and info. The black stripes were standard on LeMans blue cars with black vinyl tops. Without the vinyl top the stripes would have been white.

These are the earliest pics I have of when it was raced. You can see the only decals are the Bob Johnson Racing Enterprises stuff, Scuncio Chevrolet, and the engine builder. Check out the Grumpy lump style hood scoop that was either grafted onto the cowl induction hood, or maybe it was a fiberglass hood.

Another shot.

Yes, this is the car hauler the Z's 302 went in when the 6 cylinder blew up. Anyone reading this in CT know of an old Chevy ramp truck with a "V8" in it, do ya?

Here's the car a CT. Dragway...still with the same hood, but the sponsorship decals are multiplying. Wheels up at the tree. Looks like Cragars on the rear, Centerlines up front, and some "slapper" traction bars on the 12 bolt.

A couple more from that time period.

I have so many more photos but most are on a huge Photobucket account. I have had success posting these pics directly from my computer, but no luck linking any from Photobucket. This might take a while, but I might have to download each picture I want to post from Photobucket to my computer, then post them here. If anyone knows the secret so I don't have to do that, let me know.

Glad you got the account figured out.

Maybe the admin (Steve?) could revise your username for you, another version of Frank The Crank lol.

Those wheels look pretty dark to be the body color of LeMans blue, much darker than the body in those pictures. (see below)

As far as the stripe color, the chart in this link below from Camaro.net, half way down the page shows the 68 car colors and stripe colors. LeMans Blue calls for white stripes. The only foot note below that chart concerning black stripe color says...

"1968: Matador Red have Black stripe with Black vinyl/convertible top."

Also,a little ways below that it says...

SPECIAL PAINT DESIGNATION

"In 1968-69, either deletion of a stripe or use of a non-standard stripe color was also considered to be special paint."


I'm not sure why else the cowl tag would have the special paint "-" mark instead of the "U".
I'm not sure what else would be considered special paint on that car.

http://www.camaros.org/numbers.shtml#ExteriorColors

Thanks John,...yes, the other Frank the Crank seems to have never posted here. But, I'm good with FTC.

A few more from the early days with minimal decals.

More with the Grumpy lump and more decals. Low 11s,..not bad for 1972 E/Modified Production class.

In the pits..

Ever wonder what's under that scoop? This picture and many others,...if the car was painted white, you'd think Jenkins might have owned it...lol

I think those are Cragar Supertricks on the front instead of Centerlines. Looks like an old Jomar - Moroso stud girdle. So what is in the car now?

66 396, 60 over, 10.5 to 1, heads milled 30 thousandths, Edelbrock performer intake, Edelbrock carb, mild cam, Hooker Comp headers, Accel ignition, Flow Master 2.5 inch, 2 chamber exhaust.

Did you put a 4 speed back in it?