New to CRG from N Texas

[F68]

and i bought my first car when i was a supermarket bagboy new yrs day 1980, a 67 rs/ss coupe.
 i grew up not far from bill Helshers  Green Valley raceway  --Where  Penske /Donahue, Gurney, Titus, Posey and the like battled it out on the lesser known transam  track.
 Any how  im a certified  Camaro Maniac, that had done all kinds of custom parts for the 67-8's.


Howdee

[F68]

Ok ill try again with some pics

[F68]

anyway I was in the USCC back around 1990 , I the guy that designed the removable hardtop for the convertibles,  the brower here wont open up these j pegs i had on an old disc,,,,, its always something

[bcmiller]

Welcome to CRG!

[ko-lek-tor]

I see a lot of talent and passion...my kinda F-body guy. Welcome!

[lakeholme]

Welcome! How about a little more commentary/history on these pictures?

[F68]

Welcome! How about a little more commentary/history on these pictures?

Hi the top pic  is the first big project I ever did on my own nickel,  in my parents garage. I loved Ferrari 288 gtos but the Camaro vertible was something even  a kid could manage to get his hands on in the late 80's if he concentrated enough,  here in N texas--  trickle down economics  somehow didn't  reach me and I had to get a job at Lazer Boats in Ronoake Tx. later some industrial tooling place that subbed for Lockheed. Anyhow while working at laser I got a heavy duty course in the right way to build patterns and molds right from the beginning because they were coming out with several new models. I was over at a friends house--who had a firebird convertible, and a coupe he was cannibalizing, and he said  "hey help me set this roof section on the car and lets see what it looks like"  -ide only been working at the boat shop for a few months--but it instantly hit me --no one made one of these-ever!! it was 5 yrs before I started on it  it ended up being a year and a half of spare time -during which my dad passed away , and I made the first ones in 1990.

 The hood -I had always liked the dana style hood,    excuse me--I gotta go take care of some buis.

[BULLITT65]

Welcome to the site. So what is your current first gen ?

[F68]

Welcome to the site. So what is your current first gen ?

the 68 pictured and also a 67  i got in 94,  as far as the real camaros,  im a 7-8 guy never was crazy about the 9's   

[F68]

So anyway- I was 5 yrs old when my dad took me to see  the tranz am racing at green valley, and it obviously imprinted on me in un-alterable ways  i was from then on a car nut--and a 67 or 8 was the only thing that would do,  I never gave a damn about sports.
 Now that i look back - a kid being able to get his hands on a car like that --wont happen again.
 the current camaro is a cartoon caracture of a REAL Camaro.
  the convertible hardtop dosent fit 69 cars,  even though 80 % of the parts the two cars are the same--there is no reason why the engeneers would make sure that well trim was positioned on the rear of the car the same way--there was no reason to.
     about the "dana F68' hood, i saw the first pic of a dana  while on break at the supermarket i was a bagboy at,  started that project 15 yrs later in 95, and i did not get it done til 2003.
  I never was preoccupied with trying to do a perfect copy- but before finishing the pattern i tryed to fine someone in California that had one to measure when i was out there visiting-no luck.

 

[F68]

Around then there was an article about Dick Gulstrand in some mag,  and of course i had known about the trick of redrilling the upper a arm mounts to dial in more caster that trans am racers did--"the Gulstrand Mod"  anyhow i called him up and asked if he would kindly send me one of his templates which he used to do for camarophiles, and i also asked him about the hood,  he sayed  "Yea--we had some outfit out here making those for us"
  so anyhow I never got to see one with my tape measure,  but bi knew it was a changed arounf 67-8 ss hood with the ornament holes smoothed of.
  I thought of  finding  hotrod mags from 67--and thats exactly what i did--the main FT Worth library branch, and started scouring for the info-and pics
  The details are,  anyone in the LA area could buy one of those hoods--and they were one of----if not THE first aftermarket part made for the just introduced Camaro.
 they were made by Barry fiberglass manufacturing company, Glendale Ca.
 they supplied them to anyone with the cabbage  -not just dana.

[F68]

The red SS350 camaro Hotrod magazine test car,  now in the peterson publishing museum--I think ( it could be in the  Vic Edilbrock  car collection) had a 3 stage test writeup , ine was a holley 3 barrel and headers swap in, I think the  stage three  was  one of the berry "plastiglass" hoods and a 396 engine swap.
  i measured by the pictures whatever i could. the hood bulge raised up 5/8"  and the front aperatures i just did as accurately as i could to the pics----but the slot edges are swept back/ following the line of the hood front edge rather than being straight across like the original.  and i did not want the stock ridge running down the middle or on the front header panel  and axed that on mine.  i did a smooth full inside liner with a hole in the middle just like a cowl hood has.  And so then 23 yrs after the bagboy saw the hotrod pics of the white dana with the bumblebee stripe tearing up the asphault at (which LA dragstrip)??
 I had my Dana F68  hood--  "instantly turns your camaro into a Jet fighter"    (smily face emoticon)

[BULLITT65]

Well you are gonna make a few friends on here right away, there is a contingent that like 68 the best. I like 67 and 69 , it would have to be a RS or a Z for me to bite on a 68. Just saying....
There are guys like Chick and Daryl that are big on the 67 and 8 and will come to your aid if you have any questions.

Hope you enjoy the site and all it offers at a great price....

[F68]

 Yes it seems like a pretty cool-small site.  the crowd it draws inevitably is a mix of new people to camaro's and some who have ate slept and brethed them like me for ever. and it looks like it attracts the oldest-- with the _attitude_  if you know what i mean.
 When i came out with that dana hood in 2003, I still used Hemming's.  there was some  copo yenko type collector in Florida that really thought he was the emminence authority.  he left a message on my answering machine about the part,  and a few minunetes after i walked in the house i got a call--My grandmother had passed away.  That person in my life who treated me like i was the most special human on the planet.  anyhow after i got back from the funeral , there was a curt message from the guy saying " Dont bother replying to me about that hood"  because i wasn't jonney on the spot for him.
  Even though i still an  nuts about those cars--that type of "enthusiest" is really what ruins the hobby,  I never gave a damn about nit picky  -correct  obsessed guys and the- mine is Soooooooooooo pure stuff.
 and of course i have never had any respect for "authority" figures.
  Anyhow  the dana hoods were made by Berry  fiberglass manufacturing,  and sold for 112.00 list  for either a pin on or with the liner for hinge boltup
 one  retail outfit that sold them was IECO  products in LA

http://www.corvairforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=179&t=6194


http://www.vintageracecar.com/pages/thismonth.cgi?magid=65&magiid=249

[cook_dw]

Welcome to the site!

Its been a secret for years.  68's are the best followed by 7's and then 9's..