'69 coupe with a 6-cylinder and a torque Drive air-cooled trans

[BULLITT65]

sent you a PM

[68SixBangerRS]

Here are some interior photos that I meant to post a couple of weeks ago for Ed (Bertfam).  These were on the classic car dealer's website where I found it.

[bertfam]

Man, that sure is a lotta red!!

Thanks for posting.

Ed

[BULLITT65]

Love that red interior. Wish one of my cars had it, preferably my white car. White with red interior is one of my favorite combos. I would be tempted to swap mine over if I ever ran across a donor car that was complete.

[KurtS]

http://www.camaros.org/swheel.shtml#sw69
Note that on some early Camaro SS models with red, green, or blue interiors, the pebble-grained facing on the horn shroud was black instead of color matched, as shown on page 7 of the 1969 Camaro Dealers Sales Album (left). This appears to have been done for the first part of 1969 production. Also note that in these instances, the horn buttons have been observed in both black and color matched.

[68SixBangerRS]

Kurt, I have read almost all of your research on here, but I completely missed the steering wheel article.  I'm really glad to find out that my car has the original steering wheel...I thought it was some kind of a reproduction, but I couldn't find another one like it in any parts catalogs and decided it must be an incorrect reproduction.  I personally think the black center looks better than a red center because it helps provide some contrast (yes Ed...that's a lot of red!).  The wheel has a smooth outer rim, not pebble-grained.  Some of the red pieces are originals like the kick panels, the rear view mirror bracket, the gauge surround, and some of the windlacing.  I think the seatbelts are originals, but most of them are dated A-24-68 which I think is too early for a late August car (but the radiator is dated for May, so maybe they are correct). 

I know you probably have an opinion which red door panels are the most correct, and I'd appreciate getting it from you.  Is it better to use the best reproductions or to have an original set restored by Al Knoch (or Just Dashes?).  Thanks 

[68SixBangerRS]

I am in the process of replacing every single repop piece of junk item I can find on Cherry and making her as factory correct as I possibly can. I wasn't sure until I pulled the front grill emblem out that it was a repop, but it was, I got on Ebay and found an extremely nice original for fairly cheap money and bought it. The difference in weight is probably the biggest difference between the two, which is due to a potmetal plate that the outer part of the emblem is riveted to. The original is also a brighter blue than the repop. An odd thing about the repop is that it has threads on the mounting studs, which the original never had. The first photo is the original which has very minor cracking. In the bottom photo the original is on the bottom...note the GM part number.

[68SixBangerRS]

I figured while I was swapping the grill emblem, I might as well swap the rear one as well. The repop was closer to correct than the front. Note the difference in blue between the two...the original GM part is on the bottom.

[68SixBangerRS]

The biggest change I have made to the car is changing all of the glass (except the windshield) from repop PPG Herculite glass to factory Soft-Ray glass the I have had for at least 15 years (I found the glass through an ad at the back of an Auto Trader and bought it for $150). All of the glass is dated TZ and AZ (Aug and Sept '67), and the front windows had "Astro Ventilation" inside the glass (yes, I know it's not correct for a '69, but it's so cool that I don't care). Top photo shows the repop glass logo.

[JerryGingras]

This is interesting.  My first car was a '69 230 with a Torque Drive.  It was purchased new by my aunt and I bought it from her when I turned 16 in 1986.  It was liquid cooled with the lines to the trans - I'm not 100% sure it was never replaced by my aunt but I didn't think it had.  I still have the "AN" coded 6-cylinder engine (maybe 112,000 miles when I pulled it?) and the VIN# was 545064 which was fairly early in the model year. I have the protect-O-plate still and the original bill of sale for the car.  I put a 350 in it in 1988 and unfortunately totaled it a couple of months later.  Being a broke college kid I just put a $600 stock 350 and kept the Torque Drive with I guess the 3.08 10 bolt.  It definitely had the same shift markings on the indicator saying "Torque Drive" and "HI" and "1st" I remember that.  Everybody made fun of the fact I had to put it in first at a stop light then bump it into HI.

[KurtS]

Jerry,
Can you send me a picture of the POP and the bill of sale? Don't run across these TD cars, or their paperwork.
Thanks!
KurtS2@gmail.com.

[ZLP955]

I've been slow to catch the updates to this, but what a great and interesting car - thanks for sharing!
One question - looks like one headrest is straight bar and one is bent, or is that just the photo angle? Are they dated?

[SMKZ28]

Found this first ad for the Torque-Drive transmission in the April 17, 1968 edition of the Island Dispatch newspaper of Grand Island, New York.

The second one came from the May 8, 1968 edition of The Medina Daily Journal of Medina, New York.

[KurtS]

Thanks! I had added that first pic to the site recently, on the trans page. Actually, they are slightly different. Yours looks to be have larger font in the text section.

[BULLITT65]

for you torque drive fans:https://www.ebay.com/itm/385435974569?hash=item59bdc63ba9:g:UH4AAOSwiV5j9rs0