Murphy48CJ

Hello,

About 6 months ago there was a 68 Camaro advertised in the local paper. I looked at it then, but wasnt ready for a project. Then for the first time since then I drove past that house and saw that it is still sitting there and I am starting to get interested in it. I just wanted to get some opinions as to whether it might be worth it or if I should stay far far away.

The car was the project of the son of the owner of the house, a few years ago. Apparently its been sitting since then.
This is what I was told at the time.

The 350 motor was rebuilt, it has a 3 speed manual tranny, new clutch, and posi traction rear end.

The rear quarter panels were replaced with new metal. Whole car is in primer. The only rust I saw was around the front and back window frames.

Now for the bad- its been sitting under a tarp, but all the glass was removed, so the interior was pretty nasty.

The wheels appear to be donut spair tires, just something for the car to sit on.

A friend of mine has a 69 Camaro and may be getting new SS rims for his, so this morning he told me I could use his current 15 " rims so all I would need to buy would be tires.

The asking price for it when it was in the paper was $2500. It hasnt been in the paper in a few months, so I dont even know if its still for sale. But if I get serious about it, I will drive out there and ask about it. Cash in hand is very persuasive.
I figure if the running gear is in the condition he said it was, it would be a good deal
I would appreciate any thoughts you had on it.

Thanks,
Denny

jy211

find out if it's a matching numbers car. I for one have been looking for a 67-69 camaro to make a street racer out of.....and I have not been able to find one close in that price range.

Jeff H

If the body itself is mostly rust free then that's a decent price. It sounds like one of those cars where you would replace a part and then the stuff around the new part looks old and ugly so you have to replace all that stuff too. Next thing you know, the UPS man is at your house every day with boxes of new parts. If you don't mind taking the time and doing a lot of stuff yourself, then set a budget like $10,000 total and try to restore it for that.

jg95z28

How bad is the rust around the window frames? Is it just surface rust, or has body rot set in?

If its surface rust that it may be fairly easy to repair. Just about everything for the interior is available in reproduction.

Is the 3-speed manual on the column or is it on the floor?

Jeff is correct though, before you know it, you could be in way deep. I'd go over your plan before you jump in, especially calculating how much you want to spend.

Is it going to be a low buck cruiser; a high buck hot rod; a weekend bracket car?

Do you want to make it into a clone of an SS, Z/28, Yenko?

All these decisions will be critical in figure how much this little project will cost you. It sounds like this guy's son didn't have a plan before hand and now he's dumping the project. However, while you don't want to buy anyone else's problems, this could still be the makings of a good project car.

Another thing you want to check is the codes on the 350 to verify what it came out of. Unless its a real "SS" the engine is probably not original and could be something less desireable to build a project around. (Like a '76 truck block... for example.)

After that all that, If you still want the car, I'd offer $1500 cash and see what he says. If he was asking $2500 and it didn't sell, you should be able to get him down to at least $2000.

Murphy48CJ

Thanks for the replies,

Its a 3spd manual on the floor.
The rust around the window frames was body rot, but he had some metal replacments that would need to be fitted in.

Right now I dont intend to make it into a clone. I have been trying to come up with a plan, in case I do decide to get it. I just want a low [as possible] budget cruiser. I figure, get it running and functioning, start the body work, have it painted, then have fresh glass installed, after that work on the interior. I have looked at my friends 69 interior, and being that the dash is still in place on the 68, replacing the rest of the interior doesnt look to hard. I also know of a good interior man who could help me if i ran into problems.

One thing I am worried about is, if the windows are out of it, is all the linkages for the windows in the doors out too. How hard is it to figure all that out?

I intended to offer 2k initiatlly, but I think 1500 is a good idea for a starting offer. No point in starting to high.

Denny

jg95z28

Not that hard. Get yourself a factory assembly manual though. It'll help you figure out what's actually missing.