I'm relatively new to Camaro's and classic cars in general. I'd have thank my dad (or maybe blame him) for getting me to do this. He's of the age where he used to own a 1969 Camaro when it pretty much came out. Of course, not knowing they'd be a classic, he sold his.

Anyway, a few years ago, he ran across a beat up 1967 Camaro RS automatic with a 350 engine. He ended up buying it. It took him about 2 years, but he completely restored it. I wish he would have taken pictures through the process, but this is the end product. I wish I could have rolled the car into the driveway when I took the photos, but it was raining at the time.









A lot of the parts are no longer original. The engine, I believe, isn't original, but the car still looks bad *** and hence my desire to get my own Camaro project going.

A few weeks ago, I purchased this 1967 Camaro RS four speed manual with the original 396 engine in it. The pictures show aftermarket parts, but I have the originals in a box. It needs a ton of work before it looks like my dads car, but it will get there. The car runs and the 396 engine sounds nice, but it still needs a ton of work. From the initial inspection, this is what I've found wrong :

There are three major issues with the engine at this time :

1. I can’t close the hood with the air filter mounted on the carburetor. The carburetor is aftermarket and the previous owner has the original setup. I will have to replace this. I hope he hasn’t been running it to long without an air filter.
2. The valve seats in the head will need to be fixed or replaced. This is probably due to the fact that the previous owner used unleaded fuel in an engine that needs regular fuel.
3. One of the push rods are bent. The car is currently running only on seven cylinders.
4. Rework the electrical system. The wires are a cluster **** right now.

Body work:

1. Replace passenger door.
2. Replace, or fix, the passenger front fender.
3. Replace the front grill.
4. Get the hide away lights working. The doors no longer open/close.

Interior:

1. Get a ball for the shifter.
2. Reattach the parking brake. Its just dangling under the dash right now.
3. Minor touch up.

Basic functionality:

1. Tighten up the steering column. There is a ton of play right now.
2. Tighten up or replace the front suspension. I can literally push the front of the car up and down by about 6 inches easily.
3. The brakes need to be looked at. I really have to press the brake pedals hard in order to get the car to stop.
4. New front and rear tires.

I’m sure there are more, but that was all I could see during my inspection over the weekend. From what I've heard, the deeper I dig, the more problems I will probably find. Here are photo's of the car when I brought it home:






I do have a question for anyone who's run into this, though. One of the headers appears to be resting on the steering column. At first, we thought the engine mount was busted, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Is this normal?

 

Wow! What a great starting point. Looks to be the start of a good project. Keep the pictures coming.

 

Wow what a story. Thanks for all the pics. Looks like you got a great project on your hands.

 

Welcome, keep the pics of your progress comin.

 

gorn says hi. lol. welcome to the forum.

 

for some reason gorn cant post here. another message from him;

I just wanted the tell the guy his orginal motor 396 RS aint orginal . 396=SS Biggest motor in a non- SS car was the 327. Unless its a COPO.

 

You're probably right. My 67 RS probably does not have the original engine anymore.

 

Ok, so I spent time today pulling the heads off of the engine. Anyway, in the process, I was talking with the previous owner and my dad and they both swear up and down that the engine is original after mentioning what you said. They say the car is an RS/SS. Might that make a difference?

 

Sure But an RS SS would not have RS badges on it. The RS package is just a Cosmedic package the SS is a Performance package. If its the orginal motor,, To put this in perspective how important the SS package is. A mint SS 396 number matching Is worth 55K A Mint RS with a 396 installed in it is worth 30K a Mint RS/SS 396 Number matching can push 70K. As you can see the RS does not add as much value as the SS
The great part is you do not have to guess There is a metal tag on the car just left of the brake master cylinder. Each letter on that tag means something. Try to take a picture of the tag and we can decode it for you. You might have to scuff the top so the letter will show up in the pic.

 

Thanks Gorn, that was my next question. I'll snag a picture of the metal tag the next time I'm down there. I wish I could park the car at my place, but I have absolutely no room right now. My parents were kind enough to let me use their garage in the meantime. The only issue with that is that they are 60 miles away.