Newbie. With a 1967 True RS/SS 396 convertible. I hope

[68 Ragtop]

Currently the previous owner offered me a full refund now he is not answering his calls. He gave me his lawyers number. I offered him a great deal no reply. He left a hand written rant in all the receipts I found. It is hard to read his writing it looks like he was drunk. This was pre paint and interior. It appears he tried to sell it on ebay back in 2011 or prior and perhaps before the New trim tag was put on.

It is very possible he has been following this thread and was expecting a call. Plenty of scammers read up here to hone their craft and never register or post. It certainly seems like full on fraud because he knew the body number on the trim tag was out there and he changed it in an attempt to avoid detection.

[Eriktampabay]

quite possible. He gave me the number to his Legal council. I called her and she gave me her email address as FoxyNiko@yahoo.com LOL You can not make this shit up.

[maroman]

Eric, I hope this gets resolved to your satisfaction. It sure seems to me the seller misrepresented the car and knew it.

[Eriktampabay]

Thank you. I appreciate everyone here. I thought I did my homework by checking the numbers and they matched but I did not have the expertise you guys have and you have helped very well. I am happy I came here before I started fully restoring this vehicle. If I do not get any recourse. RESTOMOD here I come.

[althomas55]

  Some states have pretty tough laws and penalties for misrepresenting vehicles , I ran into this years ago when the wife purchased a 55 chev from a fellow in the state of Indiana. Long story short but the car was bought on ebay ( which didn't want to do anything ) looked good in pics  was stated to be in excellent condition and no rust through issues ,car was a rot bucket with nice paint ! You could reach up through the rear wheel house and stick your hand into the backseat. We contacted an attorney from Indiana and the fellow was happy to refund about $7000.00 of the 20k purchase price rather than risk losing in court and facing a very stiff penalty in the state of Indiana for misrepresentation. I believe if it went to court he could have been forced to refund the full amount,pay a hefty fine and possibly jail ! I did't seek a full refund but merely wanted to pay a fair price for what we got rather than having my eye sockets gouged out of my head by some ebay scammer ! Had to pay an attorney a couple bucks to send this guy a legal jargon type letter but I was ( wife was ) into it for 20k already so what was another hundred or so !

[Dynaflash]

Hello, I m the new owner of this car. I knew the issues before taking possession of it and the fact that it is not real is no issue to me. I have a few things to add here .
1. The car was put together as a 396 quite some time back. You can tel, it from the rust and the fact that nothing under the car is new
2. The car has multi leaf rear springs. That tells me that the rear is not from the original 67. As far as I know all 67 had single leaf springs. Please correct me if I am wrong
3. Front seat belts have been replaced but the rears do have a 1966 date code on them
4. The Maroon color is the original color of the car. While it was blue at one point in its life.
5. Full floor and trunk pans have been replaced
6 both rear quarters have been replaced

I will continue to check things out on th car and document exactly what is really there.

I will be converting it to power disc front brakes as it really sucks in the stopping department.
With a real good detail and clean up, this will be a nice driver . Thanks Dynaflash

[67conv6cyl]

Congratulations on your purchase!
Did you buy the car from the guy that started this post?

[z28z11]

Thanks Bert. Can you show me where it is documented that the 396 was not available until Jan. Everywhere I read it says November. Mike antonicks white book also states November.

Here's an excerpt from '67 facts, contained in this site (L35 in January, L78 in March, approximately):

Q: What were some of the changes occurring mid-year?

A: 1967 mid-year changes included:

Addition of a factory traction bar (radius rod) to most models with 12-bolt rear axle (circa December 1966).
View CRG Research Report on 1967 radius rods.
Addition of the L35 and L78 396 engines (circa January and March 1967, respectively).
Replacement of SS-350 grille emblems with SS emblems.
Addition of the Z28 (circa December 1966).
SS nose stripe turned into RPO available to all models (except Z28).
Frame tie-down holes added to front subframe.

Another clue to the tag is the obvious age of the tag itself - I've never seen a restored tag look THAT crisp. Other clues noted above that most of us prefer not to show to the reproduction tag guys -

Regards,
Steve

[z28z11]

Thanks Bert. Can you show me where it is documented that the 396 was not available until Jan. Everywhere I read it says November. Mike antonicks white book also states November.

Here's an excerpt from '67 facts, contained in this site (L35 in January, L78 in March, approximately):

Q: What were some of the changes occurring mid-year?

A: 1967 mid-year changes included:

Addition of a factory traction bar (radius rod) to most models with 12-bolt rear axle (circa December 1966).
View CRG Research Report on 1967 radius rods.
Addition of the L35 and L78 396 engines (circa January and March 1967, respectively).
Replacement of SS-350 grille emblems with SS emblems.
Addition of the Z28 (circa December 1966).
SS nose stripe turned into RPO available to all models (except Z28).
Frame tie-down holes added to front subframe.

Another clue to the tag is the obvious age of the tag itself - I've never seen a restored tag look THAT crisp. Other clues noted above that most of us prefer not to show to the reproduction tag guys -

Regards,
Steve

I should have backed up and looked at the dates on the posts before I chimed in - nothing like overstating the obvious. Thanks for the reminder, Bentley -

Regards,
Steve

[Dynaflash]

Congratulations on your purchase!
Did you buy the car from the guy that started this post?

Yes it did come from the guy that started this. I think he just could not stand the car because he was cheated. He was more than honest though. Never tried to put it off as a real 396;car.  Since I have received the car , I have Che led a few things and here is some more info. 

I am sure that the conversion to 396 was done a long time ago. It has nothing new underneath. Car is not restored but more of a repaired / fixed up driver

It has multi leaf rear springs and no radius rod. Kinda makes me think the rear is from 68 or 69 car but I have yet to find the numbers on it. It is covered with surface rust but I will clean it off and figure out the details.

It has the front drum , non power brakes. I don’t care if it was a numbers matching car, these have to go. Power disc conversion underway.

[Mike S]

  In the end, it is still a classic 1967 Camaro convertible.
So, enjoy!

Mike

[Dynaflash]

Thanks Bert. Can you show me where it is documented that the 396 was not available until Jan. Everywhere I read it says November. Mike antonicks white book also states November.

Here's an excerpt from '67 facts, contained in this site (L35 in January, L78 in March, approximately):

Q: What were some of the changes occurring mid-year?

A: 1967 mid-year changes included:

Addition of a factory traction bar (radius rod) to most models with 12-bolt rear axle (circa December 1966).
View CRG Research Report on 1967 radius rods.
Addition of the L35 and L78 396 engines (circa January and March 1967, respectively).
Replacement of SS-350 grille emblems with SS emblems.
Addition of the Z28 (circa December 1966).
SS nose stripe turned into RPO available to all models (except Z28).
Frame tie-down holes added to front subframe.

Another clue to the tag is the obvious age of the tag itself - I've never seen a restored tag look THAT crisp. Other clues noted above that most of us prefer not to show to the reproduction tag guys -

Regards,
Steve

I should have backed up and looked at the dates on the posts before I chimed in - nothing like overstating the obvious. Thanks for the reminder, Bentley -

Regards,
Steve




I am not trying to say this is a real 396 car at all. In fact I have a picture of what was told to me is the original data plate and I am looking into getting it reproduced so that the stigma of the fake plate can fade.  I think the car world feel better about it and I know I will.

I am trying to figure the car out and believe that the conversion was done a long time ago. I have not yet checked casting numbers or stamped numbers but it does have a 12 bolt, Muncie trans and Big block. I will document everything as I get to it. First thing is clean up and fix the many many details and small things that need attention. Then the power disc brake conversion and then enjoy the ride.

[Dynaflash]

  In the end, it is still a classic 1967 Camaro convertible.
So, enjoy!

Mike

My thoughts exactly. When my wife and I were dating (1975-76) I had a Bolero Red 67 RS/SS 4 speed car. It had a non matching 427 in it that I built while working at Reed Cams. ( race car shop ) it was not a convertible though. So this car will be used as a fun car and go on a few dates some 42 years later. 😁

[Dynaflash]

A little update on the car.
The power disc conversion is complete. It will stop now. Much better.

The rear end is a 68 3:07 single traction multi leaf spring 12 bolt

The tires looked like new. My guess is they had 2000 miles at the most but they were 17 years old and came apart shortly I got the car. Check your tire date codes guys. But anyway that tells me the car has not been driven much in the last 17 years. That is changing. I have new tires and have put 300 miles on the car.

Fixed many small things like the chrome windshield header etc.

The car has 2 passenger seats in it. ( both back release levers are on the right side of the seat) does not really hurt anything but strange still the same.

I now have everything working. Headlights open and close. All brake lights etc. Except the radio does not work. Not sure if I will ever fix that though.

The car is missing the right rear cocktail shaker but I think I have a line on one.

I replaced the shifter bushings and now the shifter is nice and tight.

The car shows 89k miles and there is a good possibility that it is accurate. The car has never been restored ( just repaired and fixed up) but it has also seen many years of little or no use. Could be 189k but I really doubt it.

It is now getting to be a good and reliable driver. ( I think )

[Dynaflash]

Couple more updates. I found out that the tachometer for a 327 car is different than a 396 car and this car has a 327 tach in it. I am still fighting the vibrations and working through the possible issues one by one.
Driveshaft balanced and new u joints added
New tires and wheels balanced.
Adding new poly sub frame bushings soon
Will also try changing all the wheels to a known good set to see if there is something that is wrong with the wheels?
Need to rebuild the carburetor as it has a little stumble in it when taking off. Nothing big but I like to cover all the bases

Will keep anyone that is interested up to date as I make changes. I want to add the correct data plate to the car but they are 250.00 . Maybe someday