Introducing........RAT’S NEST

[Mr70]

Inked on dates on the back of,or on the front of old photos were the date the photo was developed at the store/lab.

[R68GTO]

Here's the photo I was referring to. As you can see, the car is just out of the paint shop. There are leaves on the trees which tells me it's sometime between April and October timeframe. The 5/70 is in the lower left of the back of the photo.

[R68GTO]

It's been a few months since I last posted info on Rat's Nest. Since my last post I've met a lot of great people in the hobby (thanks included below) including a few other Ohio COPO owners - first class people!
Much to my wife's dismay, I've been gathering parts for the car with a goal of bringing it back to how it looked in the early 1970's as an SS/D drag car. I did sell my GTO convertible that I owned for 12 years which made her more agreeable toward my part collecting As I stated in post 37, I'm not going to try to make this car something it's not so I'm being transparent with y'all so down the road sometime when the car changes hands, it's all documented as to how it got there.

Key pcs. I've sourced thus far:
1969 dated M22 with original GM gears from Dennis V. (DLV4540). Hurst SuperShifter was a facebook find and is the same model as the 2nd owner's racing partner told me he ran in the car back in the day.

Correct dated 4346 carb. Thanks to Eric Jackson of Vintage Musclecar Parts who played a big part in making it run right!

Correct dated BE rear. Many thanks to Frank Arone for being willing to part with this very nice piece! Frank was kind enough to have multi-leaf perches professionally welded on as part of the deal.

Correct dated curve neck from (wrench). It has all original core, tanks, & header plates. Just missing the tag.

bbbentley, aside from being a great "technical consultant" he has provided me many smaller, but correct and important items including survivor valve covers, 621 bellhousing, vintage Hurst roll control, fender braces, booster check valve, ww squirters and other great items.

I also picked up a Lakewood scatter shield & vintage slots to go with my SS/D goal - car still has the original drive shaft loop and traction bars from 1970/71.
So that's the main stuff for my winter project - get it back to a 4 speed with a 4.10 12 bolt!

I'm open to opinions on this as I'm not quite sure what to do yet. As you know from my prior posts, the car is 15K+ original miles - the engine compartment (firewall & inner fenders) need to be repainted due to the gloss black applied in the late 1970's. My question is around the core support, crossmember, suspension, brake components, etc., and underside of the car. Should I restore or just clean/de-rust and leave it as-is to maintain the original finishes to preserve that low mileage look?

[mockingbird812]

Looking real good. I like the direction you are taking it. Keep going!

BTW, not sure if you can receive my pms. I need an update on feedback from Bob A. at MCACN on yr COPO. Doug and I need to finish up planning. You can pm. Or email [email protected] if you like.

Thanks!

[JBALL]

Jim,

Great progress! Let's make sure your car gets a spot at the Pumpkin Run next year. Sorry I missed you and Mike.

[bbbentley]

Someone close to you, Jim, and a well respected authority on restoration that I would recommend is Mike DeAngelo (m22mike). He did Grady’s COPO. I wish I could get him interested in finishing my car? But anything he recommends is how I think you should proceed. Just ask if he is willing to give technical advice.

[DW31S]

Awesome story and awesome car. I have a somewhat similar car and story and I, too, will be making a transformation back to the "Summer of '69".....even the paint schemes are/were alike. Please allow us to follow your build via pictures and posts. Can't wait to see this one through....

[markinnaples]

Love the direction of your build. I'm not remotely an expert, but to give you an opinion on your question above, if it were me, I would "just clean/de-rust and leave it as-is to maintain the original finishes to preserve that low mileage look" as you stated.

Best of luck.

[cook_dw]

Paint and letter it back like it was in the photo above (05/70). It has racing history and I will walk past 100 restored to factory spec Camaros to look at a vintage racer.

[R68GTO]

Took the car for a spin yesterday to run some fuel out of the tank. Began the teardown today.I have three main missions:
1) swap out the turbo 400 for an M22 which is what the car was built with according to the 2nd owner's racing partner. Also swap in the BE rear I got from Frank.
2) eliminate the gloss black the 6th owner sprayed all over the firewall, core support & inner fenders back in 1978 when he painted the car its current black/gold
3) clean up the underside including suspension, brakes, subframe, floorpans, etc.

I am going to attempt to preserve the original finishes rather than restoring since it's a low mile car. We'll see what it looks like when I start cleaning. So far it's all coming apart like a low mile car that's never been stored outside. I'm finding a few mismatched fasteners so I'm keeping a list and will likely be asking y'all a bunch of questions on head markings, finishes, etc.
I am fairly certain I found faded remnants of the "427" grease pencil writing on the driver side front fender extension - tried to get a pic but it didn't show well. I'll see what I can get once I get the fender off.
I added a shot of the front spoiler sticker - this spoiler was put on in 1970 by the 2nd owner! Car is a no spoiler car. In between disassembly activities, I have been working on "fin straightening duty" on my curve neck radiator - good beer drinking activity Did you know there are about 18,960 fins in a curve neck? It will take a lot of beer to get this one done!