will69camaro's 1969 Chevrolet Camaro

My First Car

About this Current Vehicle:

When I was growing up my family has always had older cars. My oldest brothers first car was a 1967 Mustang coupe that eventually got a 351W and a C4 auto. Other cars included a 1963 Ford Fairlane 500, a 1957 Chevy 210, 1946 Chevy pickup and a 1963 Ford Thunderbird that was destined to be my first car.

I however realizing that this car would be painfully slow and wanting to compete with my brothers 67 Mustang, decided the car for me was the 1969 Chevy Camaro. I loved the classic styling and the iconic history of this vehicle. The 69 Camaro in my opinion is the nicest looking Camaro ever made.

The search for the car was underway. We found many many cars that were out of our price range (painfully they were only around 6-8k as this was around 1995). Finally on my 13th birthday, my parents inform me and my guests that they were having to leave the party (no explanation at the time). After a short while they returned and the party continued. While unwrapping presents, the last was a very small box that my parents had kept away to "save it for last." When I unwrapped the box, there was an ad from the "thrifty nickel" for a "1969 Chevy Camaro, 307, 3spd, runs/drives, $2500." With much excitement my parents told me they had already left a deposit on the car but wanted to take me to see it to ensure that it was the car for me.

My birthday being on a Wednesday meant that this ad had just come out and if it weren't for it being my birthday I know I would have already seen it and checked into it. My parents were the 2nd people to show up at the guys house and while they were there the first called back saying he'd take the car but the guy said he would call him back if the people there didn't want it. The first guy had offered $2000 bucks and offended the guy who already felt his price was more than fair for a faily solid car. He ended up offering it to my parents for $2200 and the car was on a trailer (drove itself on) and on it's way to my place. The guys son looked heart broken while his wife looked ecstatic.

The car was ALL stock with the very underpowered 307ci stock engine, 3spd on the floor manual transmission, single exhaust, no spoilers, flat hood and primer paint. At this time I didn't know that the original color of the car would be one that is somewhat desirable (hugger orange paint code#72). The previous owner had already put all new bushings (stock style) in the front end and the interior which was white vinyl was replaced with black and the original console remained in very reasonable condition. The car had keystone mag wheels (14in) and poly-glass tires that looked like they could have been the standard issue tires put on at the factory. The car was sold by the second owner having never been transferred by title so I became the 2nd owner of this almost 30 year old (at the time) car. The last time the car had been inspected was in 1986 and had a little shy of 80k miles on it.

The first thing to go on the car was a rear spoiler. The car just looked naked without it. A set of bfg radial T/A tires were mounted to the 15in rallye wheels and the trim rings/caps were mounted. The single exhaust was replaced by dual flow masters with heddman headers. The 3spd factory transmission was tired and worn out so it was replaced with another amazing thrifty nickel find of a super T-10 transmission with a lakewood blowproof bellhousing and stock type clutch for $400. The car was then sent to the paint shop. The only issues with the body were some minor rust in the lower rear quarters, however the car came with the patch panels.

Unfortunately a mixture of my youthful misunderstanding of the meaning behind hugger orange paint and the limited funds to have a decent paint job done the car was sent to MAACO ( sad I agree). Also in my youth I wanted a yellow and black stripped car rather than the original color. MAACO did a decent job at painting the car and it was definitely cheap. Full plans however included getting the car a quality paint job when I could afford to (soon I hope). Also I wanted FULL stripes as opposed to the original Z28 stripes (again another mistake).

I drove the car in this condition all through high school with the first year being with a 307 and the later years with a built 355 that I put together with money I made from mowing yards. The 355 had a GM steel crank, a 4bolt main, "pink" rods, TRW forged pistons, a comp extreme energy 294 cam, dart iron eagle heads, 1.7 rockers, weiand intake and a Holley 600 carb (to be later replaced with a 750 DP).

The car was a blast to drive in this form and saw much action on the streets around town during high school. Unfortunately however, my first years of college left me on my way to Fort Collins, CO (CSU) so the Camaro got to stay home. A 1990 Bronco was purchased to be my "snow" vehicle. The Camaro sat for almost 2 full years before getting any more attention. However, with my newfound love for new technology, the new Camaro projects began.

On one of my trips home I noticed a 1994 Camaro Z28 sitting in a field with a smashed front end. I tried to catch the people at their home to no avail. I eventually left a piece of notebook paper with a short message: "Interested in the Camaro please call me." This note went unanswered for almost 2 months before I got a call. The owner talked to me a little about the car and the details of it and started discussing price. His initial offer was $2500 for the whole car, which was way more than I was willing to deal with. After some negotiations he got down to $1500 and I said $1300 which he accepted after some cautious consideration. Another trip back from CSU and the 1994 Camaro was on a trailer and headed to my house. The car was a victim of a heavy front end collision but all the drivetrain parts were unscathed.

The swap began. I began to strip the old car and collect all the pieces I needed to swap the LT1/T56 setup into my old Camaro. After some careful deals and a lot of research, all the parts were acquired and everything was understood about the swap. I came back from CSU for winter break and the swap took place in a 30 day time period in the middle of winter in an unheated garage by primarily myself and my girlfriend. The interior was ripped out and full car was insulated and interior reinstalled. The front end was removed and the LT1/T56 was put into place and the ATS T56 installation kit cross member and hydraulic clutch plate was installed for the pedal assembly.

Some issues arose with wiring modifications needed and some other small issues with the cooling system/belt arrangement but all were overcome in the 30 days I was home and the car fired for the first time less than 30 minutes before I was back on my way to Colorado (in the Bronco).

After my second year at Colorado State, I transferred instate to save some money on school. This also allowed me to drive the 69 Camaro again as a daily driver. I took the car with me to Texas A&M in the Fall of 2004. I drove the car daily with no major issues besides some fuel pump problems initially and some wiring gremlins that presented themselves in the form of electrical fire in the engine bay. After a year of the car serving duty as a daily driver, my engineering internships allowed me the opportunity to replace this car as my daily driver with my 1999 Camaro SS.

The 1969 Camaro has been in hibernation since late 2005 (started and run only occasionally). I have plans when finances allow to send the car to a body shop to get the mistakes of my youth fixed and have the car returned to it's original hue as well as have some upgrades installed (mini-tubs). I will also be replacing the LT1/T56 setup with some LS variety motor with updated suspension pieces as cash flow increases post graduation in May 2008.

I wish I had taken pictures of the car when it was initially purchased to give an idea of a starting point but unfortunately I did not. I will try and update this as the car progresses.