1969 Camaro Convertible Project Build
#1
12-30-2016, 09:30 PM
1969 Camaro Convertible Project Build
Hi Guys,
First time poster, long time stalker...I thought you might enjoy my 1969 Camaro Convertible build that I am posting photos of on Instagram. I'll post photos here as well, but thought that Instagram would be easy when I'm on the go.
A little backstory behind my little Camaro.
It was purchased by my Mom in 1970 from the original owner (who happened to be her boss at the time). It was born in Van Nuys and was a Glacier Blue Convertible with a White interior and White top. A very pretty color combo!
When my parents met shortly thereafter and eventually married, my Dad decided that he wanted to drive the Camaro and bought my Mom a more practical car. For the next 20 or so years, my Dad drove the Camaro as a daily driver...putting on over 250,000 miles.
We lived in Los Angeles, so the Camaro rarely ever saw rain and definitely never experienced snow! My Dad owned a chain of Auto Body shops and inevitably, the Camaro would come home from time-to-time a different color..sometimes, multiple colors at once!
While the car was maintained, 250,000 miles on a daily driver took it's toll. Eventually the engine was replaced with another one, the interior was ripped to shreds and the car finally gave up sometime around 1991 or 1992. Only to be banished to our garage when the harmonic balancer fell off while being driven home. When I graduated High School, the Camaro was given to me as a graduation gift. Like any teenager, I began disassembling the Camaro in hopes of restoring it back to it's former glory. But, as many stories about Camaro's go here on this forum, life got in the way and the Camaro went by the wayside...put in storage only to be taken out years later when my cousin Mark and I decided to move the car down to his home shop in Orange County and begin the first steps in restoring it.
After about a year of disassembling and reassembling the vitals to getting the Camaro rolling again (powder-coated subframe, upgraded suspension with 4-wheel disk brakes, tubular upper and lower A-arms, new engine with ported & polished heads), it was time for body work and paint.
Unfortunately, my Dad at that point had retired from the Auto Body business after selling his shops, so I was on my own to source a new shop that could handle the task ahead. I settled on a shop in LA that assured me they were capable and ready to help. However, it became evident after a year of having the car and doing literally no more than sanding and primering the body, they were not able to complete the task at hand. So, it was on to the next shop.
My friend Big Al owned a little shop in Sherman Oaks. They did a complete and gorgeous respray on my Porsche a few months prior, so I was quite excited about the Camaro. Again, the car was put on the back burner - Big Al got a little further though...he sprayed the interior of the car, took off the convertible top frame (which he subsequently lost along with most of the body panels) and prepped some of the panels for paint. After about 6 months, Big Al left the shop and moved to another shop...the Camaro went along with.
At the next shop, Big Al was only at the helm for a short period of time before I decided (after doing some research) to send the Camaro to a noted Camaro specialist in the Inland Empire. This shop, I was convinced, was going to get me where I needed to go! I mean, at this point, it had been about 3 or 4 years since my cousin and I started on this journey.
This shop was the real deal...but my little car again was put on the back burner in favor for bigger jobs from people with far deeper pockets than mine. The shop moved after having my car there for a year or so and my Camaro moved along with them. At the new shop, after another year or so, they started doing some body work! Yay! Progress...they smoothed the firewall, hung new front end sheetmetal, doors and a decklid. A short time later however, the recession of 2008/2009 hit and the shop had to downsize. They could only take a few cars with them to the new shop and my Camaro had to leave. So, they packed it up and put it in a storage unit in San Bernardino.
Years passed until one day, I remembered researching a custom build shop in Simi Valley. I looked them up on the internet and laughed myself to sleep after realizing they only build supercars...Cars that cost more than I could ever imagine spending...cars that won shows...and not just neighborhood shows...but legitimate shows known the world over. But I figured...what the heck. My little Camaro had been through a lot...taken me to school in my formative years, provided me with endless nights of restoration dreams, been an object of desire and lust amongst myself and friends...it deserved a shot..right?
Well, I called up that shop and left a message...low and behold, the shop owner called me back a day later and I found myself driving out to Simi Valley to visit him and the shop. Talk about a kid in a candy store! The shop was amazing...the builds...made me speechless. This was the real deal. However, I knew I'd never be able to afford the type of builds these guys did! I'm a regular guy with a regular budget and a car in parts! After sharing this with the owner, he said: Hey...not all of our cars cost 6 figures to build...we'll build it to the best of our ability within your budget....wait, really? Uh...when I can I bring her in???
Well...a couple of months later, we pulled her out of storage and brought her to the shop...That's where this story ends...but the photos on Instagram begin!
I know this sounds like a shameless plug for Instagram...and I'm sorry about that...but it's the easiest way I know how to share the pics of the Camaro in an easy-to-use platform. Hopefully you'll follow me...I'll be sure to pop in and be active on the forum as well.
My handle is @1969CamaroConvertible
First time poster, long time stalker...I thought you might enjoy my 1969 Camaro Convertible build that I am posting photos of on Instagram. I'll post photos here as well, but thought that Instagram would be easy when I'm on the go.
A little backstory behind my little Camaro.
It was purchased by my Mom in 1970 from the original owner (who happened to be her boss at the time). It was born in Van Nuys and was a Glacier Blue Convertible with a White interior and White top. A very pretty color combo!
When my parents met shortly thereafter and eventually married, my Dad decided that he wanted to drive the Camaro and bought my Mom a more practical car. For the next 20 or so years, my Dad drove the Camaro as a daily driver...putting on over 250,000 miles.
We lived in Los Angeles, so the Camaro rarely ever saw rain and definitely never experienced snow! My Dad owned a chain of Auto Body shops and inevitably, the Camaro would come home from time-to-time a different color..sometimes, multiple colors at once!
While the car was maintained, 250,000 miles on a daily driver took it's toll. Eventually the engine was replaced with another one, the interior was ripped to shreds and the car finally gave up sometime around 1991 or 1992. Only to be banished to our garage when the harmonic balancer fell off while being driven home. When I graduated High School, the Camaro was given to me as a graduation gift. Like any teenager, I began disassembling the Camaro in hopes of restoring it back to it's former glory. But, as many stories about Camaro's go here on this forum, life got in the way and the Camaro went by the wayside...put in storage only to be taken out years later when my cousin Mark and I decided to move the car down to his home shop in Orange County and begin the first steps in restoring it.
After about a year of disassembling and reassembling the vitals to getting the Camaro rolling again (powder-coated subframe, upgraded suspension with 4-wheel disk brakes, tubular upper and lower A-arms, new engine with ported & polished heads), it was time for body work and paint.
Unfortunately, my Dad at that point had retired from the Auto Body business after selling his shops, so I was on my own to source a new shop that could handle the task ahead. I settled on a shop in LA that assured me they were capable and ready to help. However, it became evident after a year of having the car and doing literally no more than sanding and primering the body, they were not able to complete the task at hand. So, it was on to the next shop.
My friend Big Al owned a little shop in Sherman Oaks. They did a complete and gorgeous respray on my Porsche a few months prior, so I was quite excited about the Camaro. Again, the car was put on the back burner - Big Al got a little further though...he sprayed the interior of the car, took off the convertible top frame (which he subsequently lost along with most of the body panels) and prepped some of the panels for paint. After about 6 months, Big Al left the shop and moved to another shop...the Camaro went along with.
At the next shop, Big Al was only at the helm for a short period of time before I decided (after doing some research) to send the Camaro to a noted Camaro specialist in the Inland Empire. This shop, I was convinced, was going to get me where I needed to go! I mean, at this point, it had been about 3 or 4 years since my cousin and I started on this journey.
This shop was the real deal...but my little car again was put on the back burner in favor for bigger jobs from people with far deeper pockets than mine. The shop moved after having my car there for a year or so and my Camaro moved along with them. At the new shop, after another year or so, they started doing some body work! Yay! Progress...they smoothed the firewall, hung new front end sheetmetal, doors and a decklid. A short time later however, the recession of 2008/2009 hit and the shop had to downsize. They could only take a few cars with them to the new shop and my Camaro had to leave. So, they packed it up and put it in a storage unit in San Bernardino.
Years passed until one day, I remembered researching a custom build shop in Simi Valley. I looked them up on the internet and laughed myself to sleep after realizing they only build supercars...Cars that cost more than I could ever imagine spending...cars that won shows...and not just neighborhood shows...but legitimate shows known the world over. But I figured...what the heck. My little Camaro had been through a lot...taken me to school in my formative years, provided me with endless nights of restoration dreams, been an object of desire and lust amongst myself and friends...it deserved a shot..right?
Well, I called up that shop and left a message...low and behold, the shop owner called me back a day later and I found myself driving out to Simi Valley to visit him and the shop. Talk about a kid in a candy store! The shop was amazing...the builds...made me speechless. This was the real deal. However, I knew I'd never be able to afford the type of builds these guys did! I'm a regular guy with a regular budget and a car in parts! After sharing this with the owner, he said: Hey...not all of our cars cost 6 figures to build...we'll build it to the best of our ability within your budget....wait, really? Uh...when I can I bring her in???
Well...a couple of months later, we pulled her out of storage and brought her to the shop...That's where this story ends...but the photos on Instagram begin!
I know this sounds like a shameless plug for Instagram...and I'm sorry about that...but it's the easiest way I know how to share the pics of the Camaro in an easy-to-use platform. Hopefully you'll follow me...I'll be sure to pop in and be active on the forum as well.
My handle is @1969CamaroConvertible
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post