Restoration Guide

[Ed K]

Greetings,

I have a low milage (74,000) 69 Z28 that my father purchased in 1978.  It has basically sat in a garage or field since purchase.  I finally have the time to begin work on it.  I have owned 4 or 5 69 Camaros and am a competent home mechanic.  I will likely do a "ground up" restoration as the car is very rough right now.  My question is: Is there a good restoration guide/book on the market ?


Thanks.

[HOT3O2]

Hi Ed,

Welcome to CRG. It's always great to have another Camaro fan on board. As far as restoration books out there I know I have a few but the best information you can get is on this site. All you have to do is ask a question and you'll have some of the best Camaro people in the world answering it. I've gained so much knowledge about the early Camaros from CRG. If you have a chance, post some pic.s of your car. We all enjoy checking them out. Good luck with your project.

                                                                                        Rick 

[firstgenaddict]

It depends what you are looking for...
If you need a book to tell you the numbers and the correct finishes then Jerry M's book on 69's is invaluable.

If you are looking for a book which tells you how to perform specific restoration operations such as subframe removal, paint work or any of the other sub-assemblies then there are books available or ***most topics are covered in depth with photos on here, camaros.net, or yenko.net that being said... if you don't see what you need just ask, I have hundreds upon hundreds of survivor photos, as well as restored camaro photos posted online for reference too.

[Ed K]

Thank you both very much. 
I have looked through the archives and I think 90% of what I need is right here.  I was primarily needing to know "where to start" and in what order to proceed.  Seems like work front to back and document as you go is the order of the day.  After reading through the posts, I wish my father had not disassembled it and let it sit.  I believe it would have been a potential survivor candidate.  As I recall, back in the 80's he determined that it was a late 69 model assembled in Van Nuys.  The first owner evidently put most of the milage on in quarter mile increments

I will take some pictures, it's pretty ugly right now...
Again I appreciate the rapid replies, more questions to follow I am sure.


Regards,

Ed K

[firstgenaddict]

If it has only been disassembled and not left to sit outside / has not been stripped of original finishes then by all means post some photos and maybe there are MANY details all would love to see. If original finishes are there you can find inspection codes, inked dates, and stickers etc.

I will tell you to buy a Fisher Body manual for your year, the AIM(chevrolet assembly man) and a Chassis Service manual, should be able to pick up all three for $60 or so. TRUST ME, THEY WILL BE INVALUABLE!!! 

[Ed K]

Well, it was left it was left outside, but in Southern California and North Texas so all is not lost.
I will take and post pictures as I go if it doesnt irritate people...
But...it has a cowl induction hood and in the "plenum" area there is some chalked ?  dates/codes ?
I assume that this is important to myself and potentially some of you...and perhaps linked to the DZ #/VIN
It's dark now but the most obvious mark is a large 10/23 which I would assume is a date ?
I will try and take a picture when it is light enough but I've read enough of the posts to learn that chalk marks may be of importance.
I will slow down the disassembly process if you could let me know what is important to look for as a I go.
Regards

Ed K

[Ed K]

...and no one has pulled the gas tank so as i understand things...if it was built in Van Nuys, that may be where I find the "build sheet" ?

[IZRSSS]

Ed,

From what I've read so far you are geared up for a full blown, high end restoration. To begin with, if you do not already have one, a good degital camera is worth its weight in gold. My suggestion is you begin by photographing and logging all of the items already disassembled from the car. The most important of which are detailed pics of any and all ID #'s, stampings, etc.  Then I would move to the items still attached to the car. Begin here by photographing them in place and then once disassembled or removed continue with detailed ID pics here as well. As for tags, labels, chalk marks, paint marks, etc. absolutely... take pics of where these are located, and agian take close up pics of all important information that will aid in researching each of these. Once you have this information logged into your PC, you can always reference it as the need arises. Most importantly, you will have this information at you finger tips to use here to gain important information.

Good luck

[lakeholme]

Ditto to all that has been said, and I hope this goes without saying, but:
Label.... label... label...
Keep notes... notes... notes... with your pictures.
Organize everything, especially bolts, screws, clips, etc. so you will know what they go with.
And don't throw away anything no matter how small or insignificant it might seem now.

[bdl16703]

For the smaller parts and fasteners use freezer ziplock bags, they have a whited out area to wright on. Good luck.