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View Full Version : 67 Camaro with LT1 build thread



jebcamaro
12-08-2008, 05:39 AM
Well, here she is. I`ll post up details about the car later and add more pics as I go along. Hopefully it won`t take me as long to finish this car as it has taken me to get it to this stage now.


This is a 67 RS/SS 350 camaro. I drove this car for a year before I tore it down for a refresh. It looked good from 10 feet away, but had lots of problems. The trunk floor was rotten, the floor pans were rotten, dash was rotten, outer rear wheel houses and quarters were rotten and the panel between the rear window and trunk lid was rotten as well. I have replaced all those pieces. The outer wheelhouses and quarters are NOS pieces. I gave the front cap and doors to a local to restore for me and got royally screwed. I got all those parts back except my front inner fenders and my SS hood, which were original GM pieces and in very good shape and completely restored front seats. Sucks big time, but oh well. Advice there, don`t ever trust anyone! Cool factory options that were still on the car when I bought it:

12 bolt rearend with factory Eaton posi unit and GM 3.73 gears. I put new Moser axles, solid pinion spacer, Moser yoke, Jegs aluminum diff cover and all new Timken bearings and seals.

Fold down back seat, needs to be restored still. Factory console with gauges and in dash tach. I`m going with aftermarket gauges and building a custom console that resembles the factory setup.

It also came with deluxe interior. I`m going to go with aftermarket front buckets but have them recovered keeping the original factory look.


I originally did not want to put a fuel injected motor in the car due to complexity of the install. I wanted to keep the car simple, but when you work on a car this long, it seems to take on a world of it`s own. I had an 01 ws6 that I recently sold and took a partial trade getting a 97 camaro. It had a completly built LT1 in it that had never been fired and a 4L60E trans that was needing to be rebuilt. The trans is being rebuilt right now with a lot of goodies in it. The motor has a completely forged bottom end in it, but it`s a 355. I didn`t understand why they spent all that money and didn`t go 383, but oh well. Anyway, it has some build issues. The rotating assembly was never balanced, so that has to be done. It`s a 2 bolt block with the original main bolts on it. The cam was WAY too big to run on street and get any vaccuum out of the motor for brakes or FUEL INJECTION. I dropped off the cam yesterday to have it reground so it will be streetable. It has 561 heads on it that have a very nice port job done to them, but the original valves. The CC`ers weren`t smoothed and polished either. I`m going to have the CC`ers smoothed and I have some titanium valve retainers laying around that I`m going to throw on the heads. I`m on the fence about putting new valves in. Need to keep the cost down everywhere I can. Would it really be worth increasing the size of the valves? I`m also on the fence about having the block machined to install splayed main caps or to just put ARP studs on there and call it a day. I`m also going to get a Moroso oil pan for it. It has 30# Accel injectors and a 52mm BBK TB on it as well. And came with CompCam 1.6 full roller rockers, but factory rocker studs. I bought a new MSD distributor and and a CSR electric waterpump as well. Trying to find some ARP SS bolts for the timing cover, water pump, distributor, throttle body and a few other parts. I`m going to buy an accessory drive kit from Street and Performance. I bought some polished smooth short valve covers, but am not sure they are going to work with the roller rockers. I really hate tall valve covers.

The suspension on the car is all new Hotchkis lowering springs with poly bushings. I`m thinking of replacing the bushings with some Delrin bushings and getting tubular front control arms for the front.

I have been doing body work on the car and it`s just a hair past the point of what you see in the pics now. The dark gray primer on the car is epoxy. I will be spraying the light gray, sanding primer over the epoxy within a few days and start doing the mock up, fitting everything. I am using a reproduction stock tank and installing a surge tank somewhere. It will be a custom fuel system with all -an fittings and black nylon hose as well as using SS hard fuel line. The brakes are 4 wheel discs. I have restored GM 15x7 ralley wheels with all new BFG rubber on the car now, but will be replacing those for some 17 or 18" billet ralley wheels. I want to keep the car looking original but with a retro twist to it. Oh yeah, I ordered a new item that is really sick. It`s a paddle shifter!

KissMyWhtSS
12-08-2008, 01:20 PM
Can't wait to see the progress

1FASTSS
12-08-2008, 02:55 PM
I saw a '69 at this years Good Guys show with an LTx swap and it looked awesome with all the chrome trim they had on it.

Good luck & post pics as you go.

Cyanydem28
12-08-2008, 07:30 PM
Damn tahts gunna be sweet when its finished, ive always wanted a old school camaro

Camaro_94
12-09-2008, 09:34 AM
Nice!!!

Cant wait to see some more pics!!

Tyler Wheat
12-09-2008, 02:01 PM
Awesome swap! I've got a friend in Stillwater that did an LT1/T56 swap on his 67. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

jebcamaro
12-09-2008, 04:35 PM
Thanks everyone. I drove this car for a year before I tore it down to restore it. It has taken me a very long time to get it to the stage you see now. Working full time, money and life always gets in the way of progress on it. I posted some details on the car in the original post

bricez28
02-08-2009, 01:01 PM
i might be blind...but i dont see pics

Tony Shepherd
02-11-2009, 09:55 AM
Take a look at Popular Hotrodding. On the shelves now. My buddy Sean Gustin's 67 Camaro is featured in it. Has a LT1 and 6-speed. Beautiful car! I dyno tuned it last week.:cool:

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll280/GustinSS/010-3.jpg

windsofthor
02-11-2009, 12:39 PM
Ahhh, I'm blinded!


That looks awesome!

LT1
03-19-2009, 07:37 AM
Nice engine bay :D:drool:

jebcamaro
07-19-2009, 09:30 PM
I`ve been slacking on my car. I haven`t really gotten much done in a while. I have messed around with the engine harness a little, dropped the motor in the car for running the harness into the interior. I`ve done a little work on the front cap trying to get the gaps better, but that`s about it. I`m about to pull the motor back out soon and send it back to the machine shop for a little more work done on it. My trans has finally been finished and am picking it up tomorrow evening. I need to install it so I can modify the stock TH400 crossmember to fit the 4l60e trans. That`s about all I have done. Will be getting some more progress on it soon as it`s close to being painted. I don`t know what happened to the pics I had posted of it, but will get some new one`s up.

Bones
10-24-2009, 12:54 PM
Did you have any problems with fitting in a drive shaft? I'm getting ready to drop an LT1 in my 70 Nova SS. I'm curious if I could use my current ds from the nova, or if an 93-97 f-body ds is better, or would that even fit. I'll figure it out eventually when I'm underneath the car. Just wondering what you had to go through. Very nice btw!

Dieselfool
04-26-2018, 11:15 AM
sounds awesome, what's it looking like?

68LT1
04-29-2018, 03:11 PM
You're gonna love it. I love the LT1 in my 68