Strange Coincidence

[69 SS 350 X-55]

Brother had to go to hospital yesterday,shoulder surgery.thought he recognized a nurse. He did and she came and talked to us.I bought my 69 SS x55 from her in March 79. I always thought 78 but I was wrong. She wants it back and got on my a$$ for ruining her car by putting ZL2 hood and complete RS front end on it. She was right about ruining the car ,going to cost big$$ to go back original X55. Which brings up question for members. I have original cowl hood that I bought NOS in 81 ,painted and on car. I also have theNOS throttle arm,seal,valve flap ,frame,wiring harness ,frame seal,and retainers for the flapper valve ,none of which have ever been installed on the car ! Should I spend the big$$ to try to complete a factory Cowl setup. I would need the extension,air cleaner base,switch,relay,filter lid,insulation,etc, etc. OR should I take all this to Charlotte with all of the original bills where I bought these parts at and turn them into cash and look for an original SS hood ,fenders,etc ? I know the RS stuff has to go to get back to X55 . I bought most of the RS stuff NOS also and still have the original bills on the parts ,they have been on the car since 81?. So what do you guys think I should do? Thanks in advance for all the knowledge I have gotten from here. I am living proof that a little stupidity will go a long way when I "restored" my Camaro in the early 80s

[BULLITT65]

Simple answer is: (if you are keeping the car) do what makes you happy. If you would like to continue along and get the ZL2 set up operational, than do so. On the other hand if the nurse lit a fire in you to change it back, that's also your choice.
Value wise it depends on the buyers you are trying to market the car to (if you were going to sell it).

Bottom line it's your car do what makes you happy!

My only question: what happened to all the parts you removed??  

[x66 714]

If you want to bring it back to a non RS car, you don't have to change the fenders which would save you some money. You can push back the tabs in the fenders to clear the grill. I did the same thing to my X66 car years ago....Joe

[KevinW]

I agree with joe, just push the tabs back, get a SS hood and regular grill, have them painted to match and install.  Not the Big $$ you expect. But if the fenders are drilled for the "rallysport" emblem, then changing that to the Camaro SS emblems will be more $$ to fill the holes and blend paint the lower part of the fenders.  Since it is an X55, it will be clear to future buyers that it was not a rally sport.  my $.02

[69 SS 350 X-55]

The longer the story the stupider it gets. I got rid of the SS front clip,car was Lemans Blue with Blk Vinyl top. I always wanted a White RS/Z28  so I also have a full set of Z/28 emblems. I went to high school with a friend who by now has had 5 different Chevy dealerships since the late 70s,and is now one of the biggest GM dealers around ,that's how I got all of these parts. My Camaro  124379N640310 came with A/C,Z87 custom interior,console gauges ,clock. I didn't screw up to much interior wise if you dont count adding a remote mirror,cutting front A/C kick panels for speakers,and bought a 3position tilt wheel unit from a dealer out of Hemmings Motor for a 69 Camaro. Car needs trunk panels and rear 1/4s. Quit driving it in 86 cause trunk was rotted out,gas tank hanging down. Put it in garage,Pop backed into it and crunched r front fender and broke corner of RS grill,opened passenger door to look and folded back the front of the passenger door edge. Fast forward to today, I want to do a full correct resto for my 1969 SS 350 X 55. I know it's not a survivor or will never be original again . It does have matching #s engine ,rear end,auto tranny was changed before I got the car. Nurse said dad must have done that but she was to young to remember.I also have all of the NOS door,window,glass weather strips,chrome lovers,wheel well moldings,body moldings that have never been put on the car.This will be my last project ever and I will need lots of help and advice from this site and you guys.as I said before a little stupidity will go along way. Thanks in advance for all the help.now if I can figure out how to post pics with I pad

[ko-lek-tor]

Easy Solution! Buy my SS! It is a Lemans Blue, Blk Houndstooth U17 auto car with born with engine,HB L48 and rear, tranny changed. Also have an xtra NOS RS grille.

[VINCE Z28]

That's what I like about you James, Always thinking of others first

[sixt9x33rs]

Sounds like you want to restore the X-55. We all know how many non RS cars are RS cars today. What you don't see very often are correct X-66 cars, X-77 cars and X-55 cars. It seems that along they way someone has put wheel well trim on the cars, drip rail molding and on the X-77 cars someone always likes to put the quarter trim on the cars. So IMO I like to see things done right. If you own an X-55 car make it look like an X-55 car not a combination of different cars. But like Bullitt said, do what you want.