I took everyone’s advice and I bought a near mint (as near unrestored can get) 1968 Camaro. I am loving it! This thing is a blast to drive. I am almost afraid to drive it out of fear of messing it up.... Well, almost.

 

Wow! Real nice looking car. Do you know anything of the engine's history? Either the 350 came out of a different car, or you have an SS that's been put in stealth mode.

 

Wow very nice! Congrats on your buy. Have fun driving that sucker.

 

Thanks! It is definitely a blast! It might not be the fastest thing out there being that it is 100% stock, but its still fun.

As far as the engine goes that is a bit of a mystery. Originally it was believed this may be a GM test car of some sort but there is no way to confirm any of that. I did hear that GM sold off a bunch of their test cars in 1973 as used cars, after putting in new engines and transmissions. This car has no record I can find that is earlier than 1973. The engine is a 350/290HP from 1973 that has only about 10K miles on it. Either way, everything is in great shape and would be very receptive to mods if I decide to go that route. More power is always nice!

 

Wow, very nice car. congrats on taking the leap :P

 

A 290HP 350 is a pretty powerful car? You should be able to just about light those tires on fire if you tried. Does it have a 12 bolt posi rear?

 

The rear is just a 10 bolt. Unfortunately in stock form (breathing through a very restrictive air cleaner) an original 290HP (gross rating) isnt all that fast by todays standards. I think stock the 0-60 is around 8 seconds with a 1/4 mile time close to 16 seconds. It does have enough torque to roast the tires but its only on par with an 80's Camaro. On the positive side I can easily squeeze some serious power out of the engine if I want to.

 

I don't think its a 290 hp 350,,, Even with a 12 bolt posi rear I can break the tires loose at 30 MPH. My car feels nothing like a 80's anything. The lack of a 12 bolt rear completely blows your idea of a test car. GM only bolted the 350 to 12 bolts, the engineers did not feel the 10 bolt was strong enough even the high output 327 got a 12 bolt, they pretty much gave the rear away for free on that one cause they didn't think 10 bolt would hold. So what would be the point of testing a tranny in a car that could not get traction?

My 0-60 is about 6 seconds and I run just under 15 in the quarter. I got booted the one time I took it cause they said rag top under 15 mush have a cage.

 

Im not saying my Camaro will do it in 8.3, probably closer to 6.0 to 6.5 if I were to guess. With regards to the TH350 trany, that wasnt even available in 68. You could only get the M35 two speed or the M45 three speed. As for the rear, you could get the 10 bolt with the L48 295HP 350 (same for all 327 V-8's in 68).

I have never checked the 0-60 or 1/4 mile on mine. I just found those numbers online. For example one article has a 375 HP 396 doing it in 6.0 ( http://musclecars.howstuffworks.com/...aro-ss-396.htm ). Another for the same setup showed 6.8.

... Ooh yea, and my friends bone stock 1986 Corvette has pulled 0-60 in 5.6. Not too bad for 80's tec. ;^)

 

The 350 was a SS option only. There is no suck thing a SS with a 10 bolt. GM did not build 350 10 bolt in 68. The L30 327 (275hp) was also backed by a 12 bolts. Where are you getting this info from? Have you decoded the numbers on the motor and trans?

I have never heard anyone comment after driving a real SS (AKA 290hp 350) comment that its not a fast car. They are not as fast as the modern cars but I have known guys with both the 1st and 4th gens and they all say the first gen feels faster even tho its not. I assume its from the lack road manners.