2000 Z28/SS

My grandfather was the superintendent of GM's engine manufacturing plant from 1946-1973. My father bought his 1969 SS 350/350 3 speed in 1969. As a graduation present, my grandfather brought my dad to the assembly plant to pick out the car he'd drive home. $3,250.00 later, he drove home.

The countles stories of that car growing up planted the seed for my F-body preference. In '93 my dad bought a 1969 250 straight six with a 2 sp powerglide tranny. My father closed the doors to his business for 3 months to modify and restore that car for me; poured his love into it.

We found a 427 and tranny from a modified firebird that some kid tried to fit between two trees, re built it and welded in motor mounts to acommodate that beast. Body work and paint seemed to take the longest, only because the car was drivable and I couldn't see why I couldn't drive it in primer.

the final surprise came in the form of four boxes delivered to the house just before my 16th birthday. Ultra light 15x10 inch and 15x8 inch polished Weld Racing wheels!

My father died only 5 years later in 1998, those memories will live on in me until I take my last breath. I now have two sons and find myself unintentionally planting that same seed in my 9 yr olds head about my '67. He seems just as enthused as I did. He must have 20 or so Hotwheels cars and larger models. Damn cars arent gettin cheaper, in 5 more years those babies are going to be in the mid $20k range for a decent daily driver. Maybe he will be happy with my 2000 Z28 by then??

Post your first Camaro experienceand keep this thread going.

Ellsworth

Dad had a 79' trans am in highschool that he said was super fast, and i dont doubt it. he later restored a 79' trans am that i helped with at the age of 9.. he sold it a few years later and bought a 2000 trans am.

when i was 13 he found me a 98' firebird with a blown 3.8 for $500 off a grandma. we put in a new 3.8.. well i was 16 with a v6 firebird with 140k, and that shortly blew about 4 months later (I drove it as if i was driving his ls1) so we decided to give me some power and swapped an LS1, he paid for that, but while we had the motor out i paid for a new cam, lifters, etc. my dads friend gave me some kook longtubes also (was like a big friend/family project getting my firebird running again. so now Im 16 with a cam+bolt on LS1..

my dad didnt like that I could beat his 2000 Trans am, so he slapped in a big cam, new heads, and a D1SC procharger.

I than added some drag radials and BMR LCA's and torque arm. and we havent raced yet he will beat me, but when I get back from basic training this summer hes in for a rude awakening when I add a few ponies to my car.

once and F-body family.. always an F-body family!

oh and my mom had a 69' camaro she sold when i was young, so to keep her dream car going she bought an white 2010 camaro SS.

our neighbors all hate us

2000 Z28/SS

What a great story and a memory that you'll share with your kids. Thanks for posting, I hope others do too.

You have a beautiful car, tastefully done!

2000 Z28/SS

I cant believe that out of all of these die-hard camaro fans, no one else has an interesting story about their first camaro.

RoidedSS

12 years ago ( I was 8 ), my dad decided to spontaneously buy his 1968 camaro from New Jersey......on Eastern weekend... So forget about any family functions him and I went to buy his 68 vert which was originally an incline 6, after 7 motor swaps it now has a 434 small block along with all the goodies. but as an 8 year old i woke up in a holiday inn ( or something like that ) on eastern morning and then spent the rest of easter driving back to chicago, from New Jersey with my dad's car. then at 15 we found my f body on ebay for 5500 dollars ( needed some work ). I showed a lot of interest and my dad left at 3 am with my mom to go pick the car up from Indianapolis and bring it home before i woke up to surprise me. I heard the car back in and I went running down stairs. my dad gets out of the car and then says go get a job you owe me. 3 years later it was finally paid off, but this was an amazing surprise for a 15 year old.

I'll never get rid of this car, or my dad's 68' and 69'. Too much fun

85CamaroZ28

iTrader: (7)

My dad bought a 69 Z28 in Vancouver BC right off the showroom floor with a dual carburetor setup. Not to be outdone, esp by his son, my grandad bought a 75 Z28 obviously a few years later. Well, my dad sold his 69 when I was born because he knew I would want it. Instead, I bought an 85 Z28 because it was cheap and I thought it was fast. A couple months ago, I bought my 99 Z28 and my dad says his old 69 could beat it. There's no way to tell but I think I could give him a run for his money. Like stated earlier, were an GM/F-Body family and I think my little brother will get a new SS to complete every generation.

2000 Z28/SS

What a gift! I can only imagine the excitement that morning. Go get a job is something that my dad would have said to me too! He used to have an account at the gas station and I'd go and fill my 67 up over at the 76 station (uniroyal) Man it would **** him off so much because I'd go 3 times a week and feed that thirsty pig. Being 20 when he died, i realized that i couldn't afford that much fuel, I decided to buy a 4 bolt block and and a complete TPI set up and a 700r4 tranny.

I guess that if I didn't always drive it like I stole it I would have realized the fuel efficiency.

Thanks for the post, I enjoyed it.

2000 Z28/SS

[QUOTE=85CamaroZ28;14409288] I bought my 99 Z28 and my dad says his old 69 could beat it. There's no way to tell but I think I could give him a run for his money. QUOTE]

Yeah, man it's hard to tell. My dad admitted that mine was unbelievabe. T his credit, he built it----I never had the chance to tell him, but I always thought of it as OURS.

Thanks for your post!

Sweet_SS

I remember my dad telling me of stories his dragster days at the ole Bonneville Raceway, now called Rocky Mountain Raceways in Utah. He was 13years old when he overhauled his very first motor. He also had a 57 ford pick up with 3 on the tree, 76 Mustang, 87 Corvette, and an 85 Z28...Charcoal gray. My first car was a 77 Camaro that my dad bought for me when I turned 16 back in 95. My favorite thing was working on cars with him, and like you, he had collected hot wheels for me too. He later died in 96. I will never forget him and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him and wish he was here to watch me turbo my 02 SS. I just wanted to share my story too.

85CamaroZ28

iTrader: (7)

My dad put a lot of money into that car. I think Stock vs Stock I would have taken him but he had the car for 10 years. He had it bored out, 4.10 gears and all kinds of suspension stuff. My uncle was a big mechanic and worked on a lot of racing boats in the BC area so I have no doubt he did a number on my dad's car. Again, no way to tell but it would have been fun to whoop the pants off of him.

whore-hey

Im sure your son will be thrilled about it. I got into american muscle by the seed planted in my head from my dads best friend and I am addicted. I cant even imagine how passionate i would have been if my father planted that seed.

2000 Z28/SS

Man such a familiar story, I know and understand the desire to have him looking over your shoulder, offering the advise that we didn't want to hear back then and would give anything for now!

Best of luck to you in your turbo project!

Sweet_SS

I wish I could go back to those days...days of hearing advice when I didn't want to hear it, but ended up doing it anyways.

Thanks and welcome to the board.

nailbanger91

hello folks, new to this site but heres a camaro story. it picks up 3/18/72 my dad traded in a 1962 international B-160 on a 1968 rs camaro 327 4-speed 12-bolt. At Don Panceria chevy in wakefield Rhode Island with a cash sale price of $1695.00 less trade value of $495. and $100.cash with balance due of $1100.00 which went to g.m.a.c for $64.68 per month wow. i was eleven and was never more than two steps behind my dad at any givin time. i still remember the ride home, dam that was cool !! with many years and just as many close calls with the camaro i still have it along with the bill of sale the day we got it. i have been doing a ground up resto on it for the last year or so. Which ultimitly brings me here to research my motor choices. unfortunately before i got my turn at owning it, my brother sold off the born with motor. i think that a ls will be a better fit anyway with the changes i have made. global west front and back with g-mod, wilwood super lites on all four corners and a new rs 600 trans same 12 bolt out back with 4.11's. thats the short version. Back to the motor buy a crate or find a good used one and build it. would like to go ls-6-2 or 3 maybe a lsx 376? any thoughts i would like to here

2000 Z28/SS

Wow, now that's not very common, but a lot of history in that car. I wish i still had mine, not for the financial benefits of owning it, just for the nostalgia and the history it had.

As for the motor choice, mine originally had the straight 6 (250) with a power glide tranny. We immediately beefed up the front end and jammed a 427 under the hood, it fit with a low pro air cleaner. Loved the ability to put a monster cam in it and count each cylinder fire off but the fuel economy was nothing to write home about. That poor economy was the reason behind my switching over to fuel injection and a 4 speed tranny. I built a Tuned Port LT1 similar to what the vetts had in the mid 90's along with a 700 r-4 tranny built for 600 hp (I was going to install a procharger). With a little fabrication, the the tranny bolted right in and was aligned perfectly. I bought an independent rear out of a LT-1 vette and the drive shaft as well. I cut and balanced the drive shaft along with the output shafts on the rear to accomodate the camaro's narrower ***. For exhaust, I opted for that classic side pipe set-up. I bought Hooker Headers with 2" primaries and 4" collectors that dumped just behind the front tires and connected the 4" side pipes (with slip in baffles). After mounting the ECM in the glove box, and putting all of the final touches on it, I fired it up. What a sound!!!!

I was lacking the massive lope I had become accustomed to but was happy with 400+ hp, 4 gears and about 20 mpg. The set-up was clean and became quite the conversation piece around town. If I were to do it all ove again I'd probably go with a crate motor LS6 and a 6 speed. DEFFINATELY put another independent rear in there as well.

My recommendation on the rear would be to find a vette that has been wrecked and totaled out (fornt end obviously) and ****** the rear out of it along with the tranny, driveshaft, and ladder bar. Mid to late 90's.

Good Luck!!

96TransAmboosted

iTrader: (8)

I was 11 years old and worked at my dads resturant as a dishwasher. One day he came to me and asked me if i had a favorite car. I started laughing and said dad you know i want a corvette just like you... Then he started laughing. After he wipped the tears from his face from laughing so hard at me he said besides the best american sports car EVER! what kinda car would you want? I said a old camaro with chrome bumpers. Well a few weeks had past since then and i knew my dad was up to something,so every time i saw a camaro for sale i would mention it. Little to my knolage my dad had a few cars already in mind. He took me to look at this 1969 Camaro that was a project car that did not run at all,but had a new engine in it. The car was a primer shell with tail lights only and 1 headlight that was hanging on for dear life. We offered the guy 1000 for it and he turned us down,just to call us back 2 days later saying if we did not buy it the county was going to take it away, so 1000 less from my savings i had my first camaro. Me and my dad worked on this car everyday rain or shine untill the day i sold it. We had more father son time than i could have ever amagined and it made me who i am today. I now a ASE certified tech, i have owned over 20 camaros and vette's and i love to read and hear storys just like mine as i can relate to the late nights,bloody knuckles and tons of fun i had learning and growing with my father.

COPO9560

I am the proud owner of 2 Camaros - a 69 Coupe with a 427 and 4 speed and a bone stock 99 Z28 with a 6 speed. I have owned the 69 since the mid 1970's and it is on its 3rd engine.

To set the record straight, the original 295 hp 350 in my 69 would get its *** kicked by my 99. Really no comparison. Headers, cam, carb and intake would still leave these cars in the 13's. Really limited by heads of the day.

The last and current engine in my 69 is a 840 headed 427. It is quicker than my stock 99 but is lucky to get 10 mpg with a tail wind. The best thing about this car now is it is growing in value - hard to say that about any late model muscle cars.

My problem is I have 2 boys and neither has any interest in F-Body cars - one even wants to buy a Mustang! Have a chance with my daughter but she wants a truck. Where have I gone wrong?????