My 69 Camaro SS project
12-15-2009, 11:54 PM
#1
Honda-Tech Member
Thread Starter
My 69 Camaro SS project
EDIT: So apparently ALL of my pics that I posted here that were hosted on FB are now broken. I guess that's what I get for using FB to host them. 
You can use this to see them. If I have time I will fix the links in this thread at some point. Thanks for looking! You have to click on the left to see all of the albums.
http://s97.beta.photobucket.com/user...32494251858848
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______________________
This is my thread dedicated to the restoration of my '69 Camaro SS.
My dad purchased the car just 6 months before I was born. He was the 2nd owner. It's a '69 Camaro SS 396. He drag raced the car with the 396 for awhile and then switched to a 427 he built up. The car ran mid 10's in the 1/4 mile up until it was put into storage. The retired SS was inside an enclosed trailer for approximately 13 yrs. Over the years I continued to pester my father until he finally decided to hand it down to me. He and I began to work on it as a father & son project. We've gotten other help, but it's a great bonding project for us.
We began to the disasseble the Camaro. We decided not to do the bodywork and paint ourselves. The SS has been at 3 different bodyshops now. FINALLY...progress has been made with the 3rd bodyshop (a guy working out of his own shop on the side...3rd time's a charm right?).
Once we get the SS back we have a lot of work to do. We're hoping to get it back by March 2010 so we can do the reassebmly and custom work needed to get it road-worthy again. Our goal is by summer of 2010. Even if it's not completely finished I'd like to be able to drive it around. The final work will be the interior.
The vision I have for this car is somewhere in between Pro-Touring and a bone stock SS. I didn't want to go extreme, but I know it will never be completely original (former race car) which is okay with me. It'll be show quality, but I didn't want a trailer queen show car. It won't be a drag car, but I'll take it down the 1/4 mile for fun a few times....maybe even try an AutoX with it.
We still have the original engine and that's what will be put in this car. It should put out around 400 hp. It will look like a stock SS with bigger wheels/tires, custom paint and interior and a loud growling tone of a big cam Big Block Chevy with a nice exhaust note.
I will continue to edit this thread and add to it. Feel free to post comments and/or suggestions good or bad. I'm getting very excited at the thought of driving it this next summer!
When my Dad first got her (1974). Gold with black hockey stripes and green interior...WTF
Dad drag racing in the old days
It was green for awhile while Dad raced it
Tow vehicle LOL
Burnout
Then it was painted white
After convincing Dad to pull her from a 13 yr slumber
Yes...that spoiler is aftermarket. LOL
The teardown begins...circa early 2000's.
More teardown
Very little rust-through. A couple small spots. It's hard to find one in this good of shape.
Bodyshop #1...placed on the rotisserie
Back from the blaster
Test fitting. Those are not the wheels I'm going with.
Late August 2009 pics
Big meats
New GM fenders. You can't buy these from GM anymore. Dad got them years and years ago, but never used them.
OEM doors. They were in pretty good shape, but required some work.
Repaired rear seat panel. It was cut for the rollcage many many years ago.
Smoothing out the firewall
New dash panel. The passenger side corner was the ONLY place this car had rusted out...and that was from a window leak that allowed water to sit there and begin corrosion.
Big meat holders :lol:
trunk
10-2-09
Most of the car is now in epoxy primer
10-7-09
New leaf springs
Detroit locker for the Ford 9"
02 WRX seats that might go in the car temporarily
10-13-09
Test fitting the front clip
Hey...where's the motor?
11-6-09
More test fitting, filling seams and sanding
The hood didn't fit as good as we liked so a new one is on its way.
Test panel. I'm sure some of you Subaru fans are pretty familar with this color.
12-15-09
Now begins the tedious process of block sanding. The final primer is on, but unfortunately there were some spots exposed that will need more work. :angry: The roof...yeah. Back in 2006 the SS was sent to get sandblasted. Sadly the sandblaster hit the roof area more than he should've. All will be fine and good, but it's just going to require more work. The rockers were the same way. Some primer and block sanding exposed areas not normally seen by the eye. The trunk has some small dents from hands/palms shutting or leaning on it over the years.
You just can't let these things go. A quality paintjob only looks as good as the final bodywork allows it.
You can use this to see them. If I have time I will fix the links in this thread at some point. Thanks for looking! You have to click on the left to see all of the albums.
http://s97.beta.photobucket.com/user...32494251858848
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______________________
This is my thread dedicated to the restoration of my '69 Camaro SS.
My dad purchased the car just 6 months before I was born. He was the 2nd owner. It's a '69 Camaro SS 396. He drag raced the car with the 396 for awhile and then switched to a 427 he built up. The car ran mid 10's in the 1/4 mile up until it was put into storage. The retired SS was inside an enclosed trailer for approximately 13 yrs. Over the years I continued to pester my father until he finally decided to hand it down to me. He and I began to work on it as a father & son project. We've gotten other help, but it's a great bonding project for us.
We began to the disasseble the Camaro. We decided not to do the bodywork and paint ourselves. The SS has been at 3 different bodyshops now. FINALLY...progress has been made with the 3rd bodyshop (a guy working out of his own shop on the side...3rd time's a charm right?).
Once we get the SS back we have a lot of work to do. We're hoping to get it back by March 2010 so we can do the reassebmly and custom work needed to get it road-worthy again. Our goal is by summer of 2010. Even if it's not completely finished I'd like to be able to drive it around. The final work will be the interior.
The vision I have for this car is somewhere in between Pro-Touring and a bone stock SS. I didn't want to go extreme, but I know it will never be completely original (former race car) which is okay with me. It'll be show quality, but I didn't want a trailer queen show car. It won't be a drag car, but I'll take it down the 1/4 mile for fun a few times....maybe even try an AutoX with it.
We still have the original engine and that's what will be put in this car. It should put out around 400 hp. It will look like a stock SS with bigger wheels/tires, custom paint and interior and a loud growling tone of a big cam Big Block Chevy with a nice exhaust note.
I will continue to edit this thread and add to it. Feel free to post comments and/or suggestions good or bad. I'm getting very excited at the thought of driving it this next summer!
When my Dad first got her (1974). Gold with black hockey stripes and green interior...WTF
Dad drag racing in the old days
It was green for awhile while Dad raced it
Tow vehicle LOL
Burnout
Then it was painted white
After convincing Dad to pull her from a 13 yr slumber
Yes...that spoiler is aftermarket. LOL
The teardown begins...circa early 2000's.
More teardown
Very little rust-through. A couple small spots. It's hard to find one in this good of shape.
Bodyshop #1...placed on the rotisserie
Back from the blaster
Test fitting. Those are not the wheels I'm going with.
Late August 2009 pics
Big meats
New GM fenders. You can't buy these from GM anymore. Dad got them years and years ago, but never used them.
OEM doors. They were in pretty good shape, but required some work.
Repaired rear seat panel. It was cut for the rollcage many many years ago.
Smoothing out the firewall
New dash panel. The passenger side corner was the ONLY place this car had rusted out...and that was from a window leak that allowed water to sit there and begin corrosion.
Big meat holders :lol:
trunk
10-2-09
Most of the car is now in epoxy primer
10-7-09
New leaf springs
Detroit locker for the Ford 9"
02 WRX seats that might go in the car temporarily
10-13-09
Test fitting the front clip
Hey...where's the motor?
11-6-09
More test fitting, filling seams and sanding
The hood didn't fit as good as we liked so a new one is on its way.
Test panel. I'm sure some of you Subaru fans are pretty familar with this color.
12-15-09
Now begins the tedious process of block sanding. The final primer is on, but unfortunately there were some spots exposed that will need more work. :angry: The roof...yeah. Back in 2006 the SS was sent to get sandblasted. Sadly the sandblaster hit the roof area more than he should've. All will be fine and good, but it's just going to require more work. The rockers were the same way. Some primer and block sanding exposed areas not normally seen by the eye. The trunk has some small dents from hands/palms shutting or leaning on it over the years.
You just can't let these things go. A quality paintjob only looks as good as the final bodywork allows it.
Last edited by Yellow Dragon; 11-08-2012 at 05:51 AM.
12-16-2009, 12:19 AM
#3
Honda-Tech Member
Thread Starter
Re: My 69 Camaro SS project
The original 396 with a mild build. It should be good for around 400 hp. At this point we're planning on using the original Muncie 4 spd (rebuilt recently). If I have the money later I'd like to consider a modern 5 or 6 spd. It'll have a Ford 9" rear end with a Detroit locker.
I'm still not sure if I will be able to buy a better brake kit or not. Again...it's something that I can change later.
I'm still not sure if I will be able to buy a better brake kit or not. Again...it's something that I can change later.
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12-16-2009, 01:23 AM
#9
Honda-Tech Member
Thread Starter
Re: My 69 Camaro SS project
I'm hoping to get it back by early March...painted and ready to be put back together. Yeah we decided on WRB. From a distance it looks kind of like the OEM color Lemans Blue, but up close I really like the metallic and pearl in the color. I had WRB 03 WRX sedan in the past.
We also got the idea from another 69 Camaro my father found searching the intraweb netz.
We're definitely not copying that car...just going with the same color. It was all out Pro-Touring with about $100k more than we're putting into our Camaro. Guy had an LS6 swap, T56, blah blah. It had gray Z28 stripes. We're going with satin black SS hockey stripes. 
EDIT...this one
Countdown until someone thinks ^^^ is my car...10...9...8...
EDIT 2
More pics and details here.
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/fea...aro/index.html
We also got the idea from another 69 Camaro my father found searching the intraweb netz.
We're definitely not copying that car...just going with the same color. It was all out Pro-Touring with about $100k more than we're putting into our Camaro. Guy had an LS6 swap, T56, blah blah. It had gray Z28 stripes. We're going with satin black SS hockey stripes. EDIT...this one
Countdown until someone thinks ^^^ is my car...10...9...8...
EDIT 2
More pics and details here.
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/fea...aro/index.html
Last edited by Yellow Dragon; 12-16-2009 at 01:29 AM.
12-16-2009, 04:39 AM
#15
grammer nawzi
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Richmond, VA, usa
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Re: My 69 Camaro SS project
Absolutely amazing. I have a buddy of mine that has a 69 RS SS, his dad purchased new, and it sits in an airport hanger and has less than 40,000 original miles. Your build will definitely be something to follow.
question: what car is this?
question: what car is this?
12-16-2009, 05:23 AM
#18
Unceasing Measure
Re: My 69 Camaro SS project
No independent suspension conversion 
That would be the first thing I did, personally I know how these things handle, lol.
Seriously though - I can't wait to do something like this with my dad and my son. It seems like a freaking blast, if a mildly frustrating one, haha.
That would be the first thing I did, personally I know how these things handle, lol.Seriously though - I can't wait to do something like this with my dad and my son. It seems like a freaking blast, if a mildly frustrating one, haha.
12-16-2009, 06:19 AM
#21
grammer nawzi
Join Date: Apr 2005
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12-16-2009, 06:46 AM
#22
Honda-Tech Member
Re: My 69 Camaro SS project
Looks great so far, its pretty cool that you have all the history with that car! I built a 71 nova with my dad. I still have it and am in the process of installing a turbo on the SBC. Good luck with your build! And never sell it!
