1967 console with automatic shifter

[adjudimo]

Can anyone tell me if a 67 Camaro console shifter has a dial indicator that is viewable when you shift through the gears? I have looked in the AIM under D55 ( A4 ) & M35 ( A8 - A9 ) and can't seem to see one listed.  I just rewired the entire car and finally got the console lights working and then realized that there was no dial indicator. I have also looked for one at some of the vendors and haven't seen it listed. If it is an item that I have missing and anyone has a lead to where one can be obtained, I would greatly appreciate it. The Camaro is a SS/RS with 396. Thanks, JR

[bertfam]

JR, you must have missed it!

UPC D55, Sheet A5, Item number 7 - Dial (RPO M40) P/N 3919154

HERE'S the lens from Rick's.

Ed

[adjudimo]

Yea, I seen and have that part. I probably didn't explain what I really was trying to ask. On some cars there is a red/orange (whatever color) marker/pointer/thingamajig indicator simular to what is used on the radio's that came with these cars for knowing what frequency you were dialed to. It travels along with the shift pattern as you go from park to L1 and stops wherever you end up until you change gear location again. I don't know if this is a better description or not. heck, I don't even know if it was something that was on the 1st. Gen. Camaro. Thanks, JR

[bertfam]

Oh, now I see said the blind man.

No, there's no "pointer" per se in the system. The "pointer" is the shifter arm itself. There are detents cut into the shifter plate and when the arm is moved to one location, it should be adjacent to a letter (or number) in the window. I.E., When the arm is next to D, it's in Drive.

The only cars with "pointers' are column shift cars.

Ed

[adjudimo]

Thanks Ed. I sort of suspected that there wasn't a pointer, but simply couldn't remember from when my dad bought a new 67 SS/RS new back in the day. It was a nice car butternut yellow, black vinyl roof, 396/375, deluxe int., gauges, AC and other items I no longer remember. Anyway, I'm glad to find out that I don't need any parts. Finally got the car back down off the blocks today and went for a spin. Second time this season. Once before it went on blocks and now today. Can't wait to get some AC installed. Terribly hot and very humid right now. Thanks again, JR

[tmodel66]

I didn't think you could get A/C on 67 big block.

[bertfam]

I didn't think you could get A/C on 67 big block.

Correct. You couldn't get an automatic on an L78 in 67 either. JR, are you sure this is a 396/375?

Ed

[68Zproject]

I didn't think you could get A/C on 67 big block.

Couldn't get AC on any solid lifter engine.

[adjudimo]

You guys are right. It didn't have AC, now that I think more about it. I don't really remember the whole story on the 396/375, but I do remember that the decal on the air cleaner said 396/375 Turbo-Jet. The car did have a Turbo-400 automatic. I also remember people making statements about the 375hp. Dad was a very close friend with the dealer back then. Their both deceased now. Our family would boat, camp, visit, etc together and I don't know if it was a special deal the dealer made through GM or what. I remember that Don would often send new cars to our house that he had special ordered to see if dad was interested in it. Dad use to change cars almost as often as some people changed their socks. They would sometimes drop cars off at the house even if dad wasn't home and leave a note for him to keep it a couple weeks to see if he was interested. The dealership sold Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Chevy/GMC trucks.  I realize that the 396/375 wasn't available with the automatic trans, but now that this conversation has started; I am wondering if this is just one of those cars that was somehow slipped through because a high volumn dealer special ordered it. I really have no idea! Just another unansweered question to add to the pile, I guess! Any thoughts? JR

[JohnZ]

I am wondering if this is just one of those cars that was somehow slipped through because a high volumn dealer special ordered it. I really have no idea! Just another unansweered question to add to the pile, I guess! Any thoughts? JR

The parts required to build that combination didn't exist, weren't released, and the combination wasn't available in 1967.

[william]

The L78/automatic combo was not available in 1968 either.

However a Chevy dealer with the right connections was able to speed up the process a bit. Fred Gibb, best known for the ZL-1 Camaro, used the COPO process to have 50 1968 L78 Chevy IIs built with the new high-performance TH400. All indications are Chevy was going to offer the combo as an RPO for 1969. 20 of the 50 ZL-1 Camaros Gibb ordered were also automatic.

The 50 Chevy IIs are well-known in the hobby as the first HP solid-lifter automatics Chevrolet built.

[adjudimo]

I believe you guys are right. Maybe someone just put a 375hp decal on the car. I do remember seeing the decal, but if it wasn't an available option at the time, then it didn't exist. It is sometimes hard to remember with total accuracy something that you observed 44 years ago, especially if you were just a young lad. I very well remember my first car though. A 1967 Chevelle SS 396/375 4-speed with M22 RockCrusher and  373 gears. Welded ladder bars on to help control wheel hop. It too was butternut yellow with black vinyl roof. Traded it for a new motorcycle, since I had just bought my first new truck. Now, I wish that I had kept the Chevelle. Oh well, LIFE!

J.R.