These are some pics of the 69's evolution over about 10 years
As it looked the day I bought it........ And a couple months later on the day it finally came home from the paint shop.
This one is blown up to 20 X 30 and is hanging on my garage wall Some of the professional pinstriping I had done
I got tired of all red just before I went to Atlanta, this is the result Two years later it was back to all red, then had white Z/28 stripes added
New wheels, subframe connectors, rollbar, & the powerplant below In it's final form a couple years before I sold it
| 1969 327 block + .030 (331 cid) | TRW forged pistons ( 10.8 : 1 compression) |
| Holley 750 cfm Vac. Secondary carb | Chevrolet "Pink" rods ( Magnafluxed, shot-peened & stress relieved |
| Edelbrock Bowtie Victor Jr. Intake (port matched to heads) | Stock crankshaft - turned 10/10 Magnafluxed, polished & nitrided |
| Chevrolet angle plug "Bowtie" heads (port/polish, multi-angle valve job) | Rotating assembly balanced & blueprinted |
| Crane roller rockers, springs, retainers, locks, guideplates & pushrods | Melling Hi-vol / Hi-press. oil pump |
| Crane camshaft - 244/254 degrees duration @ .050 .520/.540 lift | Moroso 8 quart 9 1/2 " deep sump oil pan |
| Cloyes True Roller timing set | Mallory Unilite mech. advance distributor w/ Mallory Pro-Master coil |
| Moroso Blue Max plug wires | MSD - 6A electronic ignition |
| Hooker Competition series headers |
The driveline consisted of a TH 350 transmission using a B&M Megashifter to change gears and a B&M 10" Super Holeshot converter hooked to a 12 bolt posi rear end with 4.10 gears. The car had Competition Engineering sub-frame connectors, a four point roll bar and bolt on ladder bars (big mistake, bone jarring ride and no weight transfer on launch). The ladder bars quickly came off and were replaced by a set of Competition Engineering S/S traction bars. These worked great with the 4.10 gears and the car hooked up quick and hard. I was running Centerline 3 1/2" X 15 Auto Drag wheels up front and 8 1/2" X 15 wheels in the back with an offset that kept everything tucked under the car. Front tires were Moroso front runners and rears were Pro-Trac S/S compound in L6015 size.
Don's 1969 Camaro History
Everyone remembers their first car. This was mine. I bought it when I was 15 in (November, I think) 1982. Actually my dad put down most of the purchase price and I paid him back over the following months with money I earned working at Publix Supermarkets (store #167) in Miramar, Fl. After we brought it home and cleaned it up, it went to my next door neighbor's body shop where it spent the next several months being "reborn". The rust wasn't too bad (wasn't too good either) but, it ended up with it's fair share of fiberglass body filler. I learned a lot about body work during those months and by the time I turned 16 I could wet sand with the best of them. My days at that time consisted of getting home from school (had to run from the bus stop) grab my ten speed & pedal like mad (3 - 4 miles) to get to work. I was supposed to be there at 3 PM (worked 3 - 6 weekdays and 6AM - 6PM on Saturdays. Publix was closed on Sundays way back then) but, rarely made it before 3:15. After work I would head over to my neighbors bodyshop and help with the car (since I wasn't paying for the work with cash I paid with my own labor) plus cleaning up, putting things away, washing cars, etc. Most of the time my dad was there too. He would come straight from work and help too. Finally it was done. It was painted Monza Red, a 1969 Corvette color in DuPont acrylic enamel. The day I drove it home I had the biggest sh*t eatin grin on my face you have ever seen. I was on cloud nine. I spent the next month cleaning and detailing everything. I had it lookin really nice. The engine compartment was spotless having been degreased and detailed. I took off everything I could & painted it. Replaced belts, hoses, wires, etc. You name it, I cleaned, painted or replaced it. Of course it helps alot to have a father who is an auto parts store manager. I got everything at jobber prices. Then, disaster struck! About two months after I brought home from the shop I got into my first accident. I had left a family party early (of course I had to drive my own car!) to go home. Unfortunately I decided to take the scenic route home and it was raining. A couple miles from home a car pulled out in front of me and I hit the brakes. Like the typical 16 year old having only been driving for a few months, I just locked em up and held on. Some other dipsh*t's car had stalled and he just left it parked in the middle of the intersection that the other car just came thru and turned in front of me. I slid (front tires were kind of bald) right into the back of the stalled car. Bummer. Didn't do any damage to the stalled car (74 Monte Carlo if I recall. A real piece of crap) and only busted the grill, grill stiffner and header panel on mine. Back to my neighbor's shop. We fixed it and feathered on some more color, this time a lacquer, over the repaired areas. When done, it was tough to tell I had ever screwed the pooch. I did alright after that. Had a lot of fun with it. I swapped the two barrel carb for a quadrajet (courtesy of dad) and added dual exhaust with glass packs. Otherwise a basically stock 327. After a while I got tired of the all red paint and had a professional pin striper do his thing. Gave me $150 worth of black imagination. Looked good too. Got a lot of nice comments. Somewhere in here about 1984 I put it in the car show at one of the first Super Chevy Sunday (when it still was only on Sunday) events. Dad & I drove it up to Moroso Motorsports Park in West Palm for the show & spent the day. Another year goes by and I got tired of it again so (here's where its handy to have a neighbor who is a paint & body man) back to the shop to add the yellow and blue stripes on the sides and back. After high school I drove it to Atlanta where I went to college for 2 years. Wrecked the front again in Atlanta, Crap! Oh well, it gave me an excuse to completely repaint it again. Went back to all red and this time painted the wide Z-28 stripes in white on the hood and trunk. Found some 15 x 7 rally wheels in a junk yard, cleaned & painted them and put them on. Man, that looked nice. Drove it like that for a while then went crazy. Yanked the motor and rebuilt it with the stuff you see above. It stayed like that until I sold it in 1994. Boy did I love that car. You never forget your first.
My Crew Chief, aka Dad, the man behind the machine.
My best friend Mark Larghi & I at the track one night after a
few runs.
Couldn't have done it without him. Still can't!
Super Chevy Sunday
pictures
March 1984
9/6/00
********UPDATE********
Got an e-mail the other day from my former next door neighbor. She finally
saw this site and wanted to know why I hadn't put up the pictures of her
with my car. Well, let it never be said that I don't respond to a little
hint. Here ya go sweetie: 
These pictures were taken shortly after my birthday in December of 1983
as I recall.
Updated on : 9/6/00