JohnZ's '69 Z/28

[JohnZ]

I bought this car for the same reason many of you bought yours - I had one just like it in 1969 (except that one was Hugger Orange), and I just had to have it again.

After looking at five or six '69 Z's over a two-year period (most of which were either fakes or poorly-done restorations), I found this original Fathom Green one at the Chevrolet corporate display "on the triangle" at the 2000 Woodward Cruise. It was selected in advance by Chevrolet, who paid the (Canadian) owner's expenses to bring it to the U.S. and display it for three days.

It became obvious after an hour or so what I had stumbled across, and the (second) owner and I made a deal and I bought the car; he returned to Brampton (Toronto area) after the Cruise and delivered the car to my Michigan home the following weekend.

After all my years of Corvette body-off restorations and from-scratch builds of street rods, Cobras, and a tube-frame Corvette Grand Sport replica, the most difficult part of owning this car has been the discipline required to leave it alone and enjoy it as it was built originally.

I will be adding more information and photos as this thread progresses.

Body = all-original metal, no panel replacements or rust (dealer undercoated when new).

Paint = 80% original

Trim/Interior = all-original Deluxe Interior

This is a VERY highly-optioned Z/28, especially for a Canadian car - it has every option you could get on a Z/28 except the tilt wheel. 

[FortLangleyBC]

Beautiful Z - love the Fathom green & the originality!

[JohnZ]

It's an 02D car, built February 27, 1969, on my birthday, and shipped from Norwood on February 28th to Howard Elliott Motors in Brampton, Ontario per the car's Canadian Documentation. As an X33 car, it included the Z21 quarter panel louvers and the "Camaro" name on the fenders, both of which were removed by the original owner when the car was new, the attaching holes were brazed shut, and the emblem areas were spot-repaired.

The car was garaged all its life, and actually spent fifteen years (from 1978 to 1993) in the original owner's walk-out lower level rec room, parked next to the pool table; he sold it to the second owner in 1994. I bought it from the second owner with 32,000 miles on it in 2000, and it currently shows 35,069.

The exterior is untouched (including all the original glass and moldings), the original Deluxe Interior is untouched (including the original GM color-matched rubber floor mats); the tires, battery, and exhaust system have been replaced. Everything works, including the rear window defogger.

The underhood area has only been cleaned up cosmetically - it retains the green "T" and some other inspection markings on the driver's side, and the original Canadian Oil Change Recommendation sticker on the RH side inner fender.

The original block (and one cylinder head) went out in a blaze of glory in 1970, and was replaced with a 5/50 warranty "CE" 3970010 block and one 1970-dated 186 cylinder head; all the other bolt-on components and accessories are original.

(Edit: Fixed typo on floor mats).

[bcmiller]

Thank you for posting John!  That is an awesome car, and l am looking forward to more pics!

[ZLP955]

John as a Canadian-delivered car, does it by any chance have a block heater?

[cook_dw]

Thank you for posting John!  That is an awesome car, and l am looking forward to more pics!

Ditto!!

[6667ss138]

Fantastic car. Looking forward to more pictures. Thanks John!

[BillOhio]

Great car John. I have a set of floor mats but they look too big. It looks like your driver side lays on the tunnel?

[JohnZ]

John as a Canadian-delivered car, does it by any chance have a block heater?

Nope - it doesn't show up on the Canada documentation.

[JohnZ]

Great car John. I have a set of floor mats but they look too big. It looks like your driver side lays on the tunnel?

Yes, it does - the mats were designed to fit 3 or 4 different car lines, and there are raised lines on the back where they were to be trimmed to fit each application; hardly anyone ever trimmed them. They weren't pretty, but they did a great job protecting the carpets.

[BillOhio]

I noticed the lines on the back and think mine were trimmed. I have a rear set also. We're they an option or what came in the car?

[JohnZ]

I noticed the lines on the back and think mine were trimmed. I have a rear set also. We're they an option or what came in the car?

They were part of the optional Appearance Guard Group, or could be ordered separately as RPO B37, Front & Rear Floor Mats.

[JohnZ]

Photos below show the plastic luggage protector cap on the left rear shock stud, the two different diameter trunk lid torsion rods for the D80 (.225" and .275" diameter), the spatter paint on the trunk lid lock, and the centerline location of the trunk lid weatherstrip joint.

[JohnZ]

These pics show the cowl tag, the green "T" below it, the acorn nuts on the rearward rear spoiler attachments and the stud-and-sealer nuts on the forward rear spoiler attachments. This car was built about two weeks before the "short" rear spoiler disappeared.

[Gars68Tux]

I gather that's some type of tape used to plug the emblem holes under the spoiler ? Surprisingly, it looks like it's held up well over the years, considering.

Thanks for the pics, John. Very nice original you have there.