NorCam (Graeme Browne's) Lemans Blue 1969 Z/28

[Rumbleguts396]

Graeme I am truly enjoying watching you dismantle and clean , yet not restore this special Camaro. Thanks for taking us along for the ride. Rob

[NorCam]

Thanks for that Rob.

It really is fun cleaning up a car in this condition and trying to dial it back just a couple of steps. The more I get into this one, the more I like what's hiding in there. Around every corner, there's another little reveal and that is very satisfying. Glad you're enjoying the ride.

Happy New Year to you. G.

[duskblue]

My 69 l78 has 804 on the inside of one of the rally wheels and also on the transmission cross member, I think its a job number. the car has the green T P B stamp on the firewall and I think the green might be night shift ?

[NorCam]

Yes...it is my understanding that the orange PTB stamps were from the day shift and the green was from the night shift. I'll look at the transmission cross member when I get to cleaning it up and will see if I can find any original crayon markings under the paint. The wheels all appear to be unrestored on the backs and I will clean those at some point to see if there are any more numbers to be found. There's a very good chance there will be other markings revealed as this process goes on.

Heading out to the shop to spend the afternoon working on the car. No better way to spend a new year's day.

[NorCam]

In talking with Jeff a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned that the previous owner sprayed the undercarriage black in order to cover up excess LB overspray that had hit the undercarriage when the 3rd owner had it repainted. In dialing back this black paint, I am finding Lemans Blue overspray on the outer frame rails, rear leaf springs and the lower surface of the fuel tank. I'm having to make multiple passes with chemicals to get to through all the paint so progress is pretty slow.

The original tank was painted black and I'm using some low VOC paint stripper to take off the layers of paint including the lemans blue overspray that's hiding beneath the black. Here's a couple of pics of the fuel tank being stripped and the rear leaf springs which are cleaning up nicely. If the tank comes clean and presents itself well, I will clean and seal the inside before having a paintless dent guy attempt to pull the large dent on the underside. If that doesn't yield the results I'm looking for, it will be getting a new fuel tank. As for the big dent in the original tank, I'm assuming someone had a jack slip at one point and it dented the rear of the tank rather nicely. I also pulled the 3/8" fuel line from the car today and I'm working that back to a natural finish as well. Easier said than done though. (lol)

Heading back to the shop now.

[X66 714]

If it's the original tank, I'm pretty sure it shouldn't have any paint on it...Joe

[NorCam]

Cutting through another section with Lemans Blue overspray. It's obvious the guy who sprayed this car last, didn't bother with drop sheets to protect from overspray (grrrrr). The second image shows the middle of the tank after the paint is removed. That big dent is located right below the filler spout and sits up against the rear valance. It makes for a real eyesore and if it doesn't pull out clean, I'll be storing this one away in favor of a new tank.

[napa68]

Love it GW!

[mockingbird812]

Nice work Graeme. To me the dent tells a story as does the rest of the patina on your beautiful mount!

[olredalert]

----Agree with Sam here, Graeme. Too minor a dent to replace. You are striving for a cleaned up very original ride. JMHO but treat it that way. Don't even try to take the dent out. It happened, stuff happens!......Bill S