im 24yo but i always loved the look of first gen camaros. first gen chargers, mustangs - all looked awesome. anyways i snapped while looking on ebay and blindly bought this car, maxing out 3 credit cards (thanks paypal). i basically took this guys word on it that it was an excellent car. it cost over 10k after getting it to NY from MI.

i took it out for its first test run with me at the helm for 15 mins. and at first it ran awesome but then theengine stalled out on the highway after 5 miles,scaring the hell outta me.i guessthere wasenough engine breaking from the t350to keep turning and so it started back up again after5-10 secs of rollinglike nothing ever happened. i frantically found an exit andgot off toget back on west bound. then the engine died in a slow area where there was heavy traffic getting off the highway ramp to get back onto it and no palce to pull over but i manage to coast it to a restuarant parking lot with 1mph to spare! once i got it in park, turned the key and (bullitt muscle carvroom!) likethere was no problems) on the way back it died3 moretimes. it would be running just great then all the sudden it just quits, back firing then runs again as if its losing electrical maybe? when i got back i called the guy who sold it to me, he swore to help me diagnose the problem and said he drove it 50 mins with no problem.

so i took the car out again after 2 hoursto play and try to make sense of the stalling. i got one block and it quits at a stop sign. starts back up and i drove it for 15 mins after that on the streets and highway and it didntgive anymore issues, ran wonderful. a problem like that is intermittent and thus will cost an arm and a leg to get a professional to fix it. although id like to think that the car has an issue when 'warming up' but it was off 2 hours after the first run so it should have been cold again right or does it take longer with 350 small blocks?

this car is my new love of my life, the new interior astonishes me, sharp black with that mafia look. the only other problems i can complain about are: no speakers, might need new radio too (the engine sound makes up for it), no gas pedal!, the drivers side window is not sealing at all, the speedo is bouncing all over the place making it worthless to do a 0 – 60 time, and there is some annoying rust under the doors

- 1968 Chevrolet Camaro. Car was re-done some time ago. Looks to have new quarters. Floors are solid. Frame is solid.
- Motor is a rebuilt 350 Chevy, with less than a couple thousand miles. Crane cam and roller rockers, aluminum intake, Mallory distributor, Holley carb, Pete Jackson timing gears.
- Interior is in good condition, doors have astro ventilation glass. All chrome
- and stainless steel good.
- Original color Grecian Green. - Automatic, Turbo 350.

this post is a long brag becuase ill probably never like anything more than this. honestly, i would choose a first gen camaro over a ferrari, probably even this car if it was perfect and with more HP.

i think the engine is putting out maybe 350hp? its hard to tell without being able to do a 0-60 speed test. it feels a little more powerful than my previous 74 camaro with a 383 stroker that had 300. this first gen feels very different than my 74 and 81 camaros i used to have.the 68 feels very very slow. i hit 90 on the freeway very easy and it felt so slow and when i do burnouts the other camaros would <>< tail but this car keeps going straight. no posi, it doesnt need one unless the roads are wet then rearwheel just sucks 100fold. anyways i always correlate 1st gen with bigblocks and i wish i had atleast a 396, but this engine is so loud and shakes everything i cant complain. the entire car shakes like some cars with502ci motors! oh btw im high as a kite now so im going to stop nattering and post this and maybe someone w

awesome car dude

I hope I have a 1st gen when i'm 24!!!!

Nice car, nice rant. Do a complete tune up; plugs, filters, fluids and timing. Check all the lines going to the carb and make sure all the bolts on the top end of the motor are torqued down. Get a chiltons manual and a good set of tools. Your gonna need them both. Welcome, nice to see another classic.

welcome! have fun! nice!

Sounds to me like you have an ignition over heating problem. What type of ignition does it have? If it was fuel it would kind of lose power before it stalled.
Also check for loose wires in the distributor area.

I read your post again and see that you have a mallory distributor. If it has points the condenser could be shorting out or the coil could be over heating. Swap out these items and see if the problem goes away.

PS. I'm still learning how to use this Forum and am not sure etc....

Welcome to the forum, nice car hope you get your problems fixed. I kinda know the feeling of the car feelin slow. I had a 68 442 that was a fast car but traded for a 74 with a 454, now it could be the big block , but the 74 feels a whole lot faster.

nice ride man, too bad you aren't on long island, we have alot of camaro meets along with the ricers and supras out by robert moses, i'd say bring it by and show it off since we only have 1 classic lol

hi guys and thanks for the replies. i have not driven it again yet but i plan on doing so later today because i just registered it and insured it last night! gico didnt offer classic insurance and only would do liability. but it was only like $246 every 6 months. i think i have to be 25 before the oter insurance agencies that do offer classic full coverage will permit me.

as for the stalling, now i think about it, it seems just like it randomly loses ignition or somthing impossible to figure out. intermittant problems are impossible for an amature like me to figure out. the guy i bought this car from also doesnt know much about it. he told me got it by trading his sled and that he didnt get hardly any specs on it. but he did know alot about the motor since it just got rebuilt, maybe someone here can estimate how much HP it has? its a 350, i dont think its bored .30 over, but i think youre supposed to turn those into strokers when you rebuild it if you want a performance motor. and its a performance motor so i dont know why it wasnt bored .30 over to give it another 40hp? anyways heres the specs:

Crane Cam #110921
Mechanical Special
Grind Number f-244/3454-2s-6
Valve setting - Intake .026 Exhaust .026 Adjust Hot
Intake lift 518
Ex. Lift 536
Max Rpm 68000

Top Line Pro Cast Heads
2.02 Valve

Crane roller rockers 1.6 Ratio

can anyone tell me what the above means? I really dont know much, I can google some numbers but I don't know what it compares to when it comes to performance motorsvs stock

I'd love to come down to roadisland but im afraid the $200 in gas round trip + showing off i cant afford at the moment. i run my own cunsulting company for pc repair and networking and when all job sites are fixed and running i will have no work for long periods of time until something breaks again or upgrades are needed.

right now i cant even afford to get this car fixed if anything is wrong with it. im sure if i bring it to a garage its not going do its stalling thing and ill get charged $80/hr while they are trying to get it to stall. then they will replace some parts without know whats bad. then ill get a $500 bill. under the dash board i was very unhappy about how the wiring is loose and flopping and hanging around. i often think a wire is hitting the frame and shorting out causing the ignition to turn off. but then again when it stalls its very sequential. like it will not start again until exact6 seconds go by. it doesnt jitter when its stalling like it would if there was a wire brushing against some metal. the stalling was random, just not how it stalled. the back firing indicates its getting fuel. i can say one thing, the stalling stopped as soon as it got darker outside and i turned the head lights on. the whole time i was driving it i had an issue with pressing my foot on the bright lights button over and over, and i stopped doing that when i turned the lights on because i became aware of it.. i might wonder theres a short by resting my foor on the button, not sure. the ignition is very unusual. like i can take the key out with the car running (maybe bad igintion switch?)

took it out today legally this time, drove it on streets and highway for 20 mins. didn't stall once. battery was flat though and wouldnt turn the motor. theres got to be an electrical problem

got a buddy who knows cars?

SOME places give free estimates, write down what they say and bring it here!!! lol

autozone said the battery is damage. replaced it with a silver, now the electrical gaineda fewvolts. when it was running with the bad battery it would be like 12 volts, now its 16v

You might need a new alt. as well.

**** this car is such a show car. i take it to a public place and some ppl come up to the windows to stare at it lol. i think the alt is ok but could you be saying its too high volts cos i think 16 is a bit high. it does this crazy thing whenever i turn the signal on the alt needle bounces with the flash. im talking like a 4 volt bounce! i never seen anything like that before

Start the car, unplug the battery, if the car dies the alt is bad.

i thought just by me saying the alternator shows like 16volts when the car is running is an indication that the alt is working. ill wait and see if this new battery that i blew $85 on goes flat. nothing more offensive than some guy who sells a car and puts in a bad battery lol

ORIGINAL: camaro68

i thought just by me saying the alternator shows like 16volts when the car is running is an indication that the alt is working. ........

Good point.

ORIGINAL:camaro68

.....i think the alt is ok but could you be saying its too high volts cos i think 16 is a bit high. it does this crazy thing whenever i turn the signal on the alt needle bounces with the flash. im talking like a 4 volt bounce! i never seen anything like that before .....

So is that. Maybe its good, or maybe its not. Either way you are right in thinking its electric related. Keep us posted.

I got a question. It has plenty of power but how do I make more power the easiest way? it has a 600 holly on it right now, but I was in advanced auto the other day and they're selling edelbrok 750's for like $230. how much more hp my small block gain by putting this on it?

now I don't know what I got for a carb. I wenbt out and got some numbers off of it. the main numbers were 4635337 and 3310-4 and 3164which dont google. there were other numbers that too hard to dicern. the only other numbers that were easy to read were on the bowl and they read 6R 6931. when I googled that it went to a ebay carb that looked exactly like mine. the ebay one is dead and says it needs to be rebuilt yet it bidded up to $250. see the auction here and tell me about it. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/USED-HOLLEY-QUICK-FUEL-CARBURETOR-AND-SPACER_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33550QQitemZ2000 90169669
on mine also has numbers that read 10569 like on the ebay's HOLLY QUICK FUEL CARBURETOR

Get your volt meter out. You should have abnout 14 1/2 voltts across the battery. If you only have 12 1/2 volts your alternator or voltage regulatoris not working properly

I would go with the new carb. I personally like Edelbrock over Holley, just me. Either way, a new one would give you the chance to tune it how you want it (most new ones come tune allready, you can fine tune them) and peice of mind about having a new one instead of one you don't even know about. The motor is a rebuilt 350, the 750 would be just a tad much however, the rockers and if the cam is hi-po you should be fine.

wow i decided to see how fast it will go today and went down the freeway and got to a less traffic area. it hit the gas, went to the120 mph mark in like5 seconds @ 4400rpm. floored it again and the needle went right down and pointed south @ 5400rpm and was still accelerating fast when i let off. engines rated for 6800rpm max so no worry about blowing it.

it doesnt run 100% right though. like 0-40 it sounds fine with a lot of torque. but then 40-80 it sounds a little ruff and has less power when u hit the gas theres less kick. but after 80 the ruffness goes back to sound mean and gains a lot more power. is that a\how the cam is supposed to work or is it the carb?

BTW: i figured out what the stalling is. it started doing it again today. first the GEN light comes on, the car will maintain speed until u give it gas then it backfires. i cant understand the symptons of the cause. but the cause is the ignition switch. as soon as i jiggle the key, the alt meter goes back up and the car runs fine again. it seem the switch kills the alternater, and the battery isnt giving enough spark to keep the engine going right so it slowly dies down

okI bought a new ignitionswitch/toumbler, whatever you call it. i have no clue how to get back there to replace it. any suggestions? garages are going garges me 150 to do it =[

theres plenty of threads on here and you could google it if you have to. Its fairly simple, go behind the dash, unplug the wires coming out of the switch, and stick a small needle or something in the tiny hole at the bottom of the switch. thats the hardest thing to do on it. than just switch out the cylinder from the switch. I dont think i left anything out, its been awhile since I did mine.

im home after a long day working on my car and drivign around.. now im high hell onhydrocodoneand relaxing im going rant some

yes i actually found this thread http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=41359that got it out for me earlier today. the hardest part for me though was getting the new one in, it just didnt want to screw on! but once everything was in its just awesome now, no more stalling randomly. best of all, i dont have to worry bout anyone sticking in just any key to start it lol. now if only the lock on the door would stop accepting screw drivers..

the next thing i have to do is get someone to put on new seals for the trunk. its leaking so bad it aint funny and it aint fair to the car since theres no rot back there yet.. thats going cost a pretty penny i bet =[

then i have another problem with whoever installed my exhaust system. its really hanging down there and i smashed it real hard on the road today when i went over a lull in the road going normal speed. now i think its leaking a little, could be my imagination but i hear a tick noise that stands out on each cycle of the motor. thats sad too cos its probably a really expensive system and it looks fairly new and sounds like flowmaster.. off to cole muffler...=\

it just sucks when i cant do it myself, im flat brokebefore buying this car. and then taking anywhere willcost hundres. i saved $150 todayby doing the ignition myself (which is a 15 minute job for anyone experienced, yet i get quoted two hours to have it fixed!) thank god any moron can do those. i think these old cars are a lot easier to work on than the new ones with all the fancy gizmos..

and finally, i need a new radio. the one thats in there isnt hooked up, i assume its blown. ill test it before hand. if thats working then i need to get a tunner dial cos thats missing which makes it look dumb =\. but i reckon installing a radio might be too complicated for me. i did it once in a toyotta tercel and it was very difficault. does anyone have and advice for that? i think the radio just pulls out the back, i vague remember on a 81 camaro i had a few years ago i couldnt get the radio hooked upso i just left it with no radio. sigh ill just get one on ebay i guess

try and stay away from aftermarket headunits had to cut some of the dash out for mine.

Sounds very familiar. I had the same kinda thing happening on my '65 El Camino. The car would stall for no reason. Sometimes I could punch the gas and it would move again and when I hit the brakes it would stall. THen my whole dash filled with smoke and I had to bail. Fortunately the car didn't burn to the ground.
In the end I found out what the problem was... a loose wire BEHIND the distrutor cap. It was swinging back and forth, grounding out and killing the engine!
Glad you found it before your dash began to smoke you out.

my situation was the switch kept jumping to the off position, not shorting. i had a 81 z28 that had a wire that shorted in the firewall. it burned out everything, all lights, all gages, and toasted the radio and speakers.

Congrads to you on the 68,i was 21 when i bought my 68 rs(im 35 now)back then they were cheaper...i paid $2500 and it was mint,and it was a steal even back then..
As far as the car stalling,its a long shot but mine did the same thing and it was the gas cap not venting and it was new...it also did it when it was hot out and beating on it,so that made me think when you said yours stopped at night,cant hurt to take the cap off and try..
good luck with your car,i had my car sit for 8 years in the garage untill i could redue it right,i had slapped a motor in it and the car was running low 12s with missing bushings and stock front end and drum brakes,so i wanted faster which meant time to redue everthing,it took time,but is now,to me,perfect....good luck for real,its a true muscle car....
also when i was 23 i traded a litter of rottwielers,a v65 magna mtorcycle,and a 4 wheeler for a 69 clone z28..it was red with white stripes and perfect...,and after i had money issues and too many cars i had to sell,i chose the 69,to this day i dont regret keeping the 68 over the 69 at all,i just regret selling it at all,i have a pic of the 2 next to each other and at the time i had a 86 z28 and had a threesome picture..lol

took a snap of a pic i have,the happy threesome i had at 23,not to mention the other cars(ive got issues)...the black z28 with my sister in front was also a trade and was totaled by me...the purple haze/berlinetta was also wrecked...the 89 camar was bought for $600(it was nasty)and i redid it completely(purple flip flop paint job)and sold it for 5k,and that wasnt for sale it was offered at a autozone store...

local://upfiles/5088/A504E65B8DCA4C71B0A9C69D3DCEDE32.jpg

i fixed the stalling problem, it wasnt the gas. thats awesome you got to own a mint 1st gen camaro

In 2005, $2,500.00 from 1991 is worth: $3,584.80 using the Consumer Price Index . So I can't believe you got a mint 1st gen for that price. mine is nice but isnt even clsoe to mint and it goes for 11grand. unfortunately its rusting, theres little bubbles under the paint on the quarters. it needs atleast 10k in work to make it look mint. oh well, it isnt that noticable yet at a distance

dont get scared about the rust or upset,it can be fixed...just remember some people go to junk yards to find these things and redue them...drive it and enjoy it then one day far in the future do the complete restoration..
some people want perfect off the bat and start to tear it apart and then it sits for ever...so enjoy it,you got a great deal...
as far as mine,i did get a deal for mine way back then...i had actually raced him for money that he didnt have,i beat the 68 with my 79 and convinced him to sell it to me,he was from kentucky and was wanting to go home,and thats what he paid for it,before fixing it up a bit...i had rusty floor pans and trunk pan to fix(but they were cut-out)and he had put new quarters on it...
since the recent "makeover"on it i really went crazy everywhere with rust prevention and coating and all looked fine,my roof line is perfect to..so enjoy yours and restore some day...i know how its like to be driving a constant converstion piece,i cant go nowhere without pictures being taken and so on....its like when i parked it9 years ago(when i had my first kid),it barely got any love...lol,now its just crazy..i redid everything in the past year,it sat because of funds and wanting to have enough to do it right...

well i just found out that those tiny bumps on the quarters arnt rust bubbles. i was at a gas station and some guy came up to admire it.. says its some real bad bondo work which hurts the value of the car. but it was good news to me because the bondo wont progress like rust surfaces through the paint. the guy said he knows someone that can fix it and repaint it for 2grand but i dont think you can fix that, wouldnt i need new quarters?

Well... assuming that guy knew what he was talking about, that should be an easy fix. But what if it is rust? Is he going to tell you that later after the paint is stripped and you have no other choice but to have him fix it?
Do yourself a favor. Take a refrigerator magnet and see if it sticks to the quarter panel. If it does, great. Maybe it's rusted metal. If it doesn't then you probably have a layer of Bondo under the paint.

Two things; and either way, you're going to have it repainted I assume. First, if that is rust, just that section can be cut out and new sheet metal can be welded in its place. You don't have to replace the entire panel. BIG PAIN!
Second, Bondo can easily be repaired... but you have to look deeper. Even with Bondo, the metal can be rusted. I've never seen Bondo alone bubble up paint. It's always rust.

The condition of the metal can often be understood by looking inside the trunk, under the carpet, behind the headliner, under the fenders or where ever you have to, to see the back side of the panel in question. There you will see the rust or Bondo oozing out holes if any.

If you've seen my Camaro, you've noticed that under the 5 layers of paint and Bondo I found, was rusted metal... in sections. Some places I will patch it and maybe others, replace the entire panel because of the extensive damage.

the more i think about it the more it makes sense. it is bondo. the bubles area all exactly the same size and displacement from eachother. the guy who sold it to me said it had bondo behind the doors so i just wasnt familliar with what bondo work can look like. i cant afford to have it fixed, its going need a lot of new metal to replace the bondo. the quarterpanals arnt as bad as i thought they were they are pretty solid from what the guy said but no one likes the bondo on this car lol.. i hope i get some real contract work in soon so i have money to fix it up.. but the next thing i wanted to purchase was a supercharger which cost $2500 plus maybe another grand to have somone install it!