Greetings CRG Members.
This is my 1st post to this board, although I believe several of you may know a little about my story already, and I've been lurking about reading your posts for quite some time. For those who do not know me and my story - here's a little bit about my baby. Way back in 1984 when I was a senior in high school, I bought my 1st car, a 1967 Camaro. That's all I knew about the car at the time. I was 18, and wanted a Camaro. Thank God I stumbled onto the one I did when I wrote the check. I didn't know very much about these cars at the time, other than they looked very cool, and had the ability to go very fast - in proper form of course. Apparently , the guy who sold me the car didn't know much about Camaro's either. I remember him telling me "I'm going to buy a Porsche" at the time. I do recall one thing that my father told me when I broght the car home, "Son, trust me, never sell your 1st car." Obviously, I'm glad I listened to his advice...
After buying the car, I could never quite figure out what, exactly, I had. The car had an "SS" gas cap on it, a 327, power disc brakes, 4 speed, and a 12 bold rear end with a traction bar. It also had a "Z/28" fender emblem from a 68 car mounted to the air cleaner. (Weird...) That much I knew - but at the time (and for several more years unfortunately) that was all I really knew. Everything I saw told me this was at one time a big block SS car. I saw the square traction bar, and noted a reference in a camaro book (erroneous) that stated only big block cars had the square traction bar. So (and this is a hard part to read...) I began "upgrading" the car to its original big block status. (Or so I thought) Out went the 3 core radiator, out went the 4 piston brakes, out went the small block (327 thank God it was not the original engine) and in went a host of other "better" stuff. (4 core radiator, 396, single piston brakes, etc...)
One day 12 YEARS later I got the bright idea of writing down the codes on the cowl tag and took the piece of paper down to Classic Camaro in Huntington Beach, CA to see if someone who knew what they were doing could help me figure out what all of those codes meant. Well, after looking at the piece of paper, the guy behind the counter told me to sit down. I thought he was going to tell me that the car was stolen or something like that. Instead, he informed me that I had a 1967 Z/28 Camaro, and there were less than 200 of them thought to be in existence at the time. Holy cow. I could not believe it. About 12 people in the showroom started yelling and slapping my back. I was in shock. To some degree I still am. I got in conact with Jerry MacNeish who gave me a bit more information about my car, including the very interesting fact that it is the only 1967 Z/28 that's currently known to have a factory "Special Order" paint job. The paint code is O-O, and the original color was "Tangier Orange", a GM truck paint code 516 or 546. So, not only did I have a rare 67 Z/28 on my hands, but apparently a one of a kind Z/28 to boot. Pretty neat.
Since 1996, I have been "undoing" the damage I did, and the damage that other previous owners had obviously done to this car. The hunt for orignal parts began thanks to the help and guidance of Jerry MacNeish and Jon Mello. I will be forever grateful to these guys for their countless hours of help in finding the parts I needed. Thank you both once again. I've been on one long, expensive scavenger hunt that has finally put me in a position to begin the restoration of this car. In November of 2007, I shipped my car back to Ken Lucas (CRG Member SS375HP) of Lucas Restorations to begin the restoration. So far I've put the pieces together for a cowl plenum air cleaner, most of the engine and related components, DF wheels/trim rings and a few other hard to find parts. From what I understand, the things I have "left" to find to complete the restoration are not the "ultra rare" parts. I've been real fortunate thus far in finding the "hard" stuff. You can see some pictures of the car in its current state here:
http://lucas-restorations.com/pauls67z.aspx That's a brief introduction to me and my car. So when you see posts from me looking for some help now and then, you'll know why. I am still on the hunt for a few items. Brakes, radiator, 2-piece rotors come to mind immediatley. I am sure Ken will be letting me know of other items that I'll need as he gets to work!
I look forward to getting to know more of you as time goes by.
Paul
