Big Gear Head's '69 RS SS396 Camaro
 

I've been a member for several years, but never did a thread on my car. I thought I'd post some pictures before I go to SCR20 so that you would know how it came to be what it is now.
The first picture is what it looked like when I got it in Feb '84 when I was 18. I traded a pretty nice '67 SS396 Chevelle for the Camaro. The Chevelle had a Powerglide and the Camaro was a 4 speed. I don't like automatic transmissions, so I traded because of the transmission. The car had Z28 badges on it and a 350 from a truck. It took me a while to figure out that it was actually a SS396 car.
This was an original X22 RS SS396 4 speed car. It was huger orange with black top and black hockey stick stripes. The interior was black deluxe with the full gauge package. It was probably a 325HP 396, but the engine was long gone. The transmission was the M20. The rear end was a 3.73 12 bolt with the Eaton Posi.
The second picture is the beginning of the build that took 18 years before I got to drive the car again. I was probably 19 years old at this time, was working as a mechanic at Lester Ford, and was still living with my parents.
The next picture is the frame that I built at the age of 19. I had quit my job and was going to vocational school to be a welder. Most of the frame was built at school. This was the very first of many rear ends that I narrowed.
The car sat for many years due to a serious lack of money. After getting married, getting a real job as a DOD aircraft certified TIG welder at GE Aircraft Engines and buying a house and building a garage I was able to start on the car again. The reason that I decided to go Pro Street was because the car was full of rust and some after market parts were not yet available to fix it. This last picture shows the entire back end of the car removed.

This was the first rear end under the car. The housing is from a '64 Galaxy, the nodular case, Daytona pinion housing and Detroit Locker are from a '69 Mach 1, the axles are from a '65 Galaxy, the 4.11 gears are from a F150 and the disc brakes are from a Lincoln Mark 5. I had to use what I could find due to lack of money. Some of you might notice that I had the ladder bars upside down. I was still learning.
This is the first time the engine was assembled. The block is one of the first Bowtie blocks, the crank is from a L78, the rods are LS6 and the pistons are TRW.
The heads are 3rd design GM aluminum D ports. The cam was a Comp Cams solid roller, rockers are Comp Cams and the stud girdle is an old Jomar. The engine has been apart many times since then. This was the first of 4 cams that have been in the engine.

Things starting to come together. This is how I cut the new NOS GM quarters to fit the larger tires. In the late '80s these were still available and cost around $230 each.
I actually started off with a Predator carb, but quickly figured out that it wasn't going to work.
Roll bars and floor coming together. This was the first time that the car had rolled out of the garage on 4 wheels in many years.

Even though the fenders, door skins and other parts were all NOS GM parts, they didn't fit perfect. It took a lot of work to get the seams right. The fenders didn't fit well at all and it took many hours to work out the problems. My brother helped me get everything fitting correctly.
I had originally wanted to use this pro stock style hood and a fiberglass trunk lid, but thankfully I changed my mind.
This is one of the body shops that the car was in before it finally got painted. I waited over 3 years for the first guy to do the car and I ended up getting the car out of his shop and taking it to this one. 18 months later it was painted. It was painted in '93. Tony Oglesby did a great job on the car and it still has this paint on it.

Working on the interior. Dewayne Clark sewed everything together after I got things to fit. I used the dash from a '70 Nova.

Interior finished. The Nova dash required several modifications. The steering column had to be raised, the dash frame had to be modified some and the Nova dash pad needed some modifications to smooth it out and make it fit. I used the Nova dash because I wasn't going to be able to put gauges in the Camaro dash and make them look the way I wanted them to look.

Early picture of the 427 with the Milodon valve covers, high mounted alternator, plug wires laying on the valve covers and the old MSD ignition. This was the 3rd of 4 MSD boxes that have been in the car. At this time it still had the original big block radiator in it.

Some pictures of when I first started driving the car again. The Pro Stock Centerlines were some of the first that were made. They have 1986 dates on them. The rear wheels are 15X14 and the fronts are 16X7. This might be the only set of 16 inch Pro Stocks that were made. The Unlimited Fiberglass Products hood took a lot of work to make it look good.

First picture is of a display of cars in the Madisonville KY shopping mall. Second picture is at the Carl Casper show in Louisville KY. It had been a dream of mine to have a car in the Carl Casper show since I was about 9 years old. Third picture is at one of the car shows that our car club had at Greenville KY. This picture was in the local news paper. I was president of the club at this time.

I decided to redo all of the rear suspension several years ago. I got rid of the leaf springs and installed a set of Varishock coil overs. The shocks in the picture are some old Chassis Engineering shocks that turned out to be no good. I made a new set of ladder bars and built a F150 9 inch housing. I made all new brackets and added a brace to the housing. I've got a set of wheelie bars for it, but I haven't put them on.

I just thought that this first picture was kind of cool. This is when I was redoing the rear suspension. The next picture was when it was waiting on it's 4th set of rear tires. I started with Mickey Thompson 31/18.50 Sportsmans, then went with Hoosier Quick Times, then Pro Trac 445s and now it has Hooser 31/18.50 street radials.

In the last few months I've built a new M23 Auto Gear transmission with the 2.99 first gear http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/auto...ld-468129.html and got a new McLeod dual disc clutch. I also built 2 new chunks for the rear end. The one on the left is the street set up with a small bearing nodular case, Daytona pinion housing, 1350 yoke, Detroit Locker and 3.70 gears. The one on the right is a the race set up with a big bearing nodular case, Daytona pinion housing, 1350 yoke, spool and 4.86 gears. I also had a new 4130 drive shaft built by Strange Engineering with 1350 u joints and a 4130 yoke.

This pretty much brings it up to date. I'm going through the whole car getting it ready for SCR20. All of the upgrades are just for this event. I've raised the compression ratio by at least 2 full points, lightened the rotating assembly, added strength to everything that I thought was weak and added as much power as I could while trying to keep it a street car. I didn't add any cubic inches to it because I like the 427 number. That is what the Corvette and COPO cars had and I like that. I've changed the crankshaft, rods, pistons, cam, lifters, valves, valve springs, locks, carburetor, ported the heads and several other things. The last picture shows the engine as it sits today, waiting to go to the dyno on Friday. I'm hoping for 600 HP, but I really want it to just stay together. I don't have time to go through it again before SCR20. The electric water pump is just for dyno use and will not be on the car.

Have admired this car for a few years now. Freddy is a great help to (and very patient with) a lot of guys over on the the Team Camaro site. A real pro with a heart for the hobby.

I think this car is a great argument for using the Nova dash pad in a 69 Camaro. I think it looks great, and very clean. Almost did that to my 69 Z back in the late 70's.

If I had a non numbers car, I would definitley be looking at using that dash set up.

Cool car and great workmanship.

Holy Moly!!!! Goal for the 1/4 at SCR?

Yeah, trying to make a good showing at the strip. The car ran pretty good before, but do you ever really have enough horse power? I sold the '67 Chevelle that I was planning to fix and invested everything into this rebuild. I've been working toward this since SCR19. You guys got me hooked last year. I just hope I don't embarrass myself with my driving.

The dash looks great!Good job on the car Fred and thanks for sharing!!

Great pics, thanks for posting them up.

69 Camaro..
 

Very nice build...looks like great workmanship all the way around. That car will be a handful on the strip...good luck!

-wilma

I put a clutch tamer in it and I'm hoping that it makes it a little easier to handle. We'll see on July 28th! http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/clut...ro-468249.html

Freakin awesome! I've always liked the pro street look on these cars when done right...and this one is very nicely put together! I really like the whole dash setup and I am SO happy you didn't put those tall silly looking pro street buckets in it and kept it with a stock appearing Strato bucket and deluxe inserts. That is a very well done concept that doesn't strive too far from what the General had right in the first place.

Can't wait to see how you do at SCR and trust you and the car will be a hit with everyone who can appreciate GM Muscle. Now you have me wanting to head down from the upper NW. Love what you have finished.

Cheers on a great car Fred! :beers:

Awesome car. Great job!

Jason

I've followed your posts on other sites for years and always figured that you were a dedicated craftsman. I figured right. Mighty fine car that you have created. Something to be very proud of.

Freddie, thanks for sharing this! I have read a lot of your posts on other boards before, I agree, your a wealth of knowledge and that you readily help people out and share. Your a credit to any board your on. a BIG Thank You from the community!!
Rich

Im Diggin the Nova Dash ! Nicely done !

It didn't make the big number that I was expecting, but it didn't do bad for a street car. Scott Perkins in Bowling Green did a great job on the carburetor. He had it ready to go on the engine when I got there and only made one air bleed change the whole time. No jet changes or anything. He had it set up right out of the box. Dale Meers and his guys at Dale Meers Racing Engines in Buffalo were very nice to work with. Shane Smith helped me with parts selection and other advice. I brought it home with no damage, so that's a big plus. Got to get it in the car now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqJc...m-upload_owner
It made 563 peak HP at 6500 and 532 ft lbs at 5000.

Wow...what a cool Camaro! Thanks for sharing the build pics with us..:beers:

Thank you all for the kind words. I'm glad you all like my old Camaro. I almost sold it a little over year ago. When it came time for the guy to put the money in my hand I couldn't do it and I backed out. I would have been sick if I had let it go.

Looking back I wish I had left the stock frame under it and not gone the Pro Street route, but it sure does get a lot of attention driving down the road. I could have done the same thing to a plane Jane 307 car instead of a RS/SS396, but it's too late now.

I got to get busy now and get the engine back in it and get ready for the Car Craft Summer Nationals at Bowling Green in 2 weeks. Then the next week is SCR20!

Freddie, lots of cool stuff in the build. The dash looks surprisingly good in there and while I knew they were close in dimensions, I never saw anyone attempt the swap. I gotta say I like it! PLEASE do yourself a favor and go to at least one, possibly two or three test-n-tunes before heading out to race a stick. Trust me my friend, it gets busy in there when those lights are coming down on the tree. I'd suggest two things that can be added quite easily to your ignition: a Rev-Limiter and a Two-Step. The Rev-Limiter will save your bottom end (and your wallet) and the Two-Step will keep the launch RPM consistent on each pass. Both of these are inexpensive and will take some stress out of your day at the races. Don't beat yourself up if you goof up the first few times, like I said that cockpit gets busy in there. I run sticks in both of my cars and wouldn't race with an automatic.

Respect!!! :3gears:

I've got a rev limiter on it, but no 2 step. I know it's going to be hard to drive, but we're just going to be there having fun anyway, right? I was trying to get the car finished by the end of March, but that didn't happen by a long shot. I wanted to get several test sessions in, but just didn't make it. I'm just going to be happy if I can get to the Car Craft event and SCR20. I'll depend on you guys to help me get the car to work right.

I've only had the car on a track 2 times, and I broke it both times. We had a local track called Windy Hollow Raceway. It's been closed for several years now, but there is a rumor going around that it might open again. It's a 1/8 mile track and wasn't very well maintained. The first time I tried running it I broke an axle. The second time I had 2 exhaust valves stick open and the pistons bent them. I hope things go better this time.

Beautiful car, good luck with it at your planned events this summer.

Getting ready for SCR21!

I had to come back and read this thread again. Awesome car and a great read while being cooped up here for the past 3-1/2 weeks.

Thank you. I need to update this. There have been several changes in the last few years.

Waiting...

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/UnawareScr...restricted.gif

OK, so here is what I've been doing for the last few months. New Strange Engineering double adjustable shocks all around, new Aerospace Components brakes all around, new AutoGear N24 transmission. I've always wanted a tunnel ram, so I found this old Offenhauser at a swap meet, did a little welding to fix some damaged holes and had it blasted. I looked for over a year for a pair of Holley 1850-1 carburetors with the same build date. These were both made on Jan 11, 1968. SP Carburetors in Bowling Green restored them, added down leg boosters and calibrated them to work with my combination. I swapped the modern valve covers for a set of Ansen covers that were on a jet boat for many years and were kind of rough. I had them blasted and got a set of Ansen spacers so that they would clear the stud girdles. The front suspension has new Del-a-lum bushings, extended upper ball joints and a few parts that I made.

Love it. New Trans is gonna be a fun touch and digging the tunnel ram with velocity stacks. I have a set of those BBC Ansen spacers I should perhaps list in the classifieds one of these days as I'm not using them.

On the suspension end of things, I also had double adjusted coil overs on my 55 post and they worked really well. I can't wait to see the car with the driveline back in it. Keep up the great work. I'll be watching to see it finished up.

Graeme

From SCR22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMIOM7-hCqU