Day 2 67 Camaro restoration

[Chuck_Burg]

My dad is responsible for getting me addicted to classic cars. He and I restored the 68 in my avatar picture about 17 years ago. On the eve of starting my 67 project he gave me his old Snap-On box from around 79/80. As you can probably tell by the stickers and emblems on the box he is a Porsche guy. He worked at an independent Porsche repair shop for many years in his younger days. He has a nice shop now with all built in boxes so he asked if I wanted the old Snap-On, otherwise he'd sell it. OF COURSE I wanted it, this thing is a family heirloom. I took it apart to oil all the tracks and cleaned the carpets in the drawers.

Anyway this is the last pic of the car I took before taking it apart in my garage. As you can probably tell I'm not up to date with the progress made on the car in this build thread.... we'll get there soon enough

[nova67]

Sounds like it will be fun Chuck. I'm putting my Ca 69 back to Day 2 status. Too many missing original parts and not matching so why not have a fun Day 2 Driver. Tom

[Chuck_Burg]

Originally Posted by nova67

Sounds like it will be fun Chuck. I'm putting my Ca 69 back to Day 2 status. Too many missing original parts and not matching so why not have a fun Day 2 Driver. Tom

Nice! I have the plates for this car too. I'm not missing too many original parts but a 327/2 barrel with glide is less than thrilling.

[Chuck_Burg]

At home my buddy and I disassembled much of the car. Removed bumpers, grill, lights, lower valance, fender extensions, headlight buckets, interior, side glass, weatherstrip etc. Carefully photographed the way things were before taking them apart. All hardware in labeled bags. After removing the original carpet I thought it was especially unique to see the factory sound deadener in such good shape. Will definitely be putting it back in. Car is off to the shop on March 30th 2019. Let the real fun begin

[Chuck_Burg]

We left off with the car on the way to the shop. I work at Toyota dealer in the L.A. area and the car will be painted there. People often laugh when I tell them my cars get painted at a Toyota dealer... If you have connection in the paint business you may as well capitalize.

As you can see we removed almost everything in the engine compartment. The body work will be performed on the frame. After the car is painted we will remove the front end sheet metal and restore the frame. The undercarraige doesn't need to be repainted. There is a lot of original overspray on the underside which I intend to preserve. The floors just need a good cleaning.

I'm pretty sure these fenders have never been removed. Look how great the original Granada Gold looks on the body behind the passenger fender.

Unfortunately, the car was stored under a tarp for several years. This caused light rust to form under the paint on the horizontal surfaces of the car. This will force us to bring the car to bare metal, rather than just the original primer. You can see what I'm talking about in the picture of the roof. This car is mostly original paint, has had some spotting here and there... my guess is around 70%-75% original paint.

[Chuck_Burg]

The passenger door had a pretty gnarly dent stuffed with bondo. If you look at the picture of the car on the flat bed you can see it. Someone, probably in the 70s" stuffed it with bondo and tried to spot in part of the door. Of course the paint is 2 tone. You can see the original black etching primer, the red primer, the original gold paint, then the gray primer, then the newer gold paint.

Unfortunately I'm not the person responsible for the metal finishing in the pictures. I'm lucky enough to have a coworker who knows how.

[Chuck_Burg]

NO matter how solid and rust free your Camaro is, there is always the Achilles heel, or the rear window area. This car probably had a rust hole for some time as I noticed water stains on the package tray. What did the original owner do to solve the problem? Add some silicone, some more silicone, and some more silicone. That will surely stop the water! The rear window was never removed from the car. They just siliconed everywhere between the sail panels and the glass. Needless to say water still came in near the roof and dripped down which made matters worse because the water couldn't evaporate. After some welding and a few patch panels it's back to being rust free

[jbtech]

Originally Posted by Chuck_Burg

Unfortunately I'm not the person responsible for the metal finishing in the pictures. I'm lucky enough to have a coworker who knows how.

Nice! Can they be my friend too?

[Xplantdad]

Originally Posted by Chuck_Burg

We left off with the car on the way to the shop. I work at Toyota dealer in the L.A. area and the car will be painted there. People often laugh when I tell them my cars get painted at a Toyota dealer... If you have connection in the paint business you may as well capitalize.

Absolutely, my Nova shown above was painted at Hardin Oldsmobile/Honda when I worked there. The gold Nova shown below....was painted at Santa Ana Nissan!


Both paint jobs came out awesome-and were super cheap(and involved buying a few cases of beer!) . The body and paint guys loved both cars...as they were something different and cool!


Going to enjoy following along on this build. I believe I've seen and taken pics of your blue Camaro at the Sunday show on Seventeeth in Santa Ana?


I would go with Dave Lindsley (I sure do miss him)...

[Chuck_Burg]

Originally Posted by Xplantdad

Absolutely, my Nova shown above was painted at Hardin Oldsmobile/Honda when I worked there. The gold Nova shown below....was painted at Santa Ana Nissan!


Both paint jobs came out awesome-and were super cheap(and involved buying a few cases of beer!) . The body and paint guys loved both cars...as they were something different and cool!


Going to enjoy following along on this build. I believe I've seen and taken pics of your blue Camaro at the Sunday show on Seventeeth in Santa Ana?


I would go with Dave Lindsley (I sure do miss him)...



Attachment 168092

My body guy enjoys the car too, like you said it’s different! I met Dave there a few years back, wish I could’ve spent more time with him. He was a real gem and will never be forgotten. His black L78 Nova is truly amazing. I understand his wife still has it. Loved his stories about his brand new 70 L78 Nova. I really wish he was here to see this one come together. I know he’s watching from a better place. Thanks!