Hi guys, I just joined so please excuse me if this is covered elsewhere. Searches didn't turn up anything so here's my situation:

I was doing some repairs on my father's 1968 Convertible, Non-RS, just the vanilla version with a straight 6. While doing some work under the hood I found a large (and heavy) metal cylinder that was located on the front left (from the driver's perspective) of the car, behind the headlight, and only partially bolted down. My research has confirmed this is a vacuum reservoir tank.

I am confused as to why this is in the car. My father bought this car in 1968 and it has never had the fancy headlights that flip around like in the RS model. Just the standard round headlights with options for on, off and highbeam. There is no evidence to suggest there was ever anything connected to the vacuum reservoir tank. Being that it was partially bolted down (did I mention it was heavy?) and didn't seem to serve any purpose, I removed it. I did so out of concern for how it could cause unnecessary stress on the remaining points at which it is mounted.

My question: Did the 68 Camaro Convertibles with the non RS package come with this installed? If so, why? Lastly, is there no consequence to removing this part, which did not serve any purpose in a car that is a daily driver?

Thanks for having me here, I look forward to learning as much as possible from all of you.

 

No, it's not a vacuum tank. That is what's called a "cocktail shaker", filled with springs, weights and transmission fluid. GM put one at all 4 corners of the convertibles to absorb body vibrations due to it's somewhat flexible body. You can leave them off if the car doesn't shake and drive you nuts, they're not a structural part. But don't throw them out, they're worth some good money to someone who wants to keep their car original.

 

I had never heard of that. You learn something new every day