I am starting a 69 Camero restoration and need to get some guidance from the experienced Camero guys.
I have owned the Camero since 1971. It is a plain Jane completely original 307 car. It has 150,000 miles on it and has never been torn down. It has been garaged kept 1979 and has not been driven for the last 15 years. I want to use the car as a weekend driver and want to keep it as original as possible while improving its value. I am not interested in turning it into a high performance car or RS clone. First inspection shows some rust on the quarter panels but the floor pans, trunk, roof etc. are clean. The interior is excellent.

I am having the engine and transmission rebuilt by a shop to get the car back on the road. Numerous questions come up that I need some help in resolving.
The car came with drum brakes all around. Should I change to power assist front discs or is it better to keep the original configuration?
Should I have the heads reworked to be able to run unleaded gas or add lead to each tank of gas.
I am planning to change the points to a HEI but will keep the original distributor.
I am certain many more questions will come up as the restoration progresses.
Thanks for the help

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Cool car. I have a 307 bored and stroked to crazy hell in my 60' and regardless of what others say, they are a rock solid engine.

As for your questions.

1. If it where me, I would change to front disc for safety reasons first. Your not hurting the cars value doing it because you could change back later. It will brake better, safer, and shorter.

2. Have the heads built for unleaded fuel.

3. You can find a look a like aftermarket distributor that will work much better then points, good decision to do such. Try to find one that looks similar to yours so you can keep the original look if that is what your shooting for.

Good luck!

 

First thing, learn to spell Camaro correctly, it will make the Google and Dogpile searches easier. Second, I agree on the disc brakes, makes for a much better braking package and will actually be period correct as the front disc option was available on all Camaros. I had both a '67 and a '69 Camaro, the '69 body was my favorite of the first gen.
Clyde

 

I would swap to power disk, and keep the old drums in a box. unless you want to win a prize from year one, I wouldn't worry much on staying 100% bone stock. At this stage in life, I would do what ever makes you happy with the car.

 

I have discovered a ton of great threads on this board that will help walk you thru your restoration. It seems like anything you can get up against, somone on this board is already facing it or has faced it. Just plan on it costing 2-3 times as much as you expect, and twice as long.

Good luck with your project

J.

 

Nice C-A-M-A-R-O. Nice hair job too. So you owned it since 71' huh? hmmm

 

Thanks for the input. Thanks for the spelling lesson also. I can't believe that I did that. The guy in the photo is not me since I was taking the photo, it is one of the guys that works in the shop.

 

Keep us posted on your resto, and don't worry about the spelling, we're here cuz we like cars, not english.

 

nice. come up with a plan then a budget, but you can throught the budget out the window because 90 percent of the time you will go over it!