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Note: the first letter in the part number for the old delco battery is the battery top color, “Y”=Yellow, example Y-55 and “R”=Red, example R59
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When I went to the 2012 Camaro Nationals in Maryland a few weeks ago, the first thing I noticed is that almost every Z/28 I saw in both the Legends and Bowtie classes had a reproduction R59 or a reproduction R79S battery in it. It looked like there were red top batteries everywhere and no yellow top batteries. I saw at least 5 of these batteries and probably more but didn’t count them.

According to the CRG near the bottom of this page: CRG battery page

No Z/28 is supposed to have a Red Top battery. A Y55 or Y77 is correct depending on the date the car was made. Jerry MacNeish’s 69 Z/28 book on page 18 says the same thing.

My best guess is that most judged cars all have Red Tops is because no company makes a reproduction Yellow Top.

The Y-55 battery I just bought came in on Monday. It’s a little odd that someone would keep a battery around for 35 to 40 years and never use it. It’s in great NOS condition. Never had acid in it.

And…it’s so so pretty…..for a battery….LOL.

Researching inspection marks, I found a comment by a guy with the username firstgenaddict on the CRG.

He wrote: “if you had a time machine and traveled back and bought a brand new 69 Z brought it to the present and put it in a car show…………IT WOULD NOT EVEN PLACE.”

There is some truth to this frustration since people find different undercarriage finishes and inspection marks on their cars and as my friend Jeff said, “I’ve never seen any SPOT regarding correct inspection markings for 1st gen cars.  (SPOT = single point of truth).

To the best of my knowledge there are no published judging manuals or set documents that can be followed for restorations. If I’m full of baloney, hopefully someone will set me straight.

On the Z, there was loads of surface rust and grime and I don’t remember seeing any inspection marks, but I am going to take a much closer look this Friday.

I found an article written by Frank Serafine in the magazine “Camaro Enthusiast May-June 1993” and the title of the article is “UnderCarriage Detailing Component Finishes”.  I think that Frank used to write many articles for Camaro Enthusiast with this title.  According to his bio he ran the judging and put together the certification process for the national conventions probably around the time this article was written.

At least one item,  the color of the underbody being gray is not currently accepted in Camaro Nationals judging in the Concours Legends class.  From what I have seen on my car and the CRG, it is partially true, but not accepted for judging.   There may be more things in this article that are not correct for current judging.

I scanned the article yesterday and cut out sections from the pages that were in color.

pg 33

pg 36

pg 37

I was trying to figure out what was the correct air filter and posted it over at the CRG.

According to every reputable post I’ve read, original filters have “BEST WAY TO PROTECT” on them.

Also, in the “Corvette Restoration Guide, 1968 – 1982” by Richard Prince, he states:

“All 1968 and 1969 Corvettes not equipped with an L88 or ZL1 use an open element air cleaner assembly.

……………etc etc. and then……

Original air filter elements have ‘BEST WAY TO PROTECT YOUR ENGINE – REPLACE WITH TYPE A 212 CW’ silk screened in white around the horizontal lip. Furthermore, original elements, unlike later replacements, have a fine wire screen around the outside. Most replacements use a noticeably heavier wire. Earlier cars probably utilize an element with the wire screen in a diagonal pattern. Later cars probably use an element with the wire screen in a horizontal pattern. With a horizontal pattern, the wire forms rectangles with the longer measurement running vertical when the element is installed.”

so, after knowing the correct text I also needed to know what mesh was correct:

this original late 1969 filter:

or this 1967 version:

A guy named William who is a core member of the CRG and is extremely knowledgeable on Camaros wrote:

“Both Hot Rod [1-69] and PHR [4-69] tested the same very early production ’69 Z/28. The PHR engine photo clearly shows the soldered diamond mesh version as seen in photo #2. ’68 Z/28 tests show the same mesh.

Car Life [8-69] and Road Test [8-69] tested the same yellow/yellow JL-8 Z/28. For the C/L test it had a cross-ram. But it was all OE for Road Test. The photo shows the mesh as in photo #2 but it appears to be oriented 90º from the photo. It is definitely not the diamond mesh. The earliest yellow interior cars were mid-February.

You could probably use either.”

Here is the 8/1969 Road Test Picture that William posted. He said to notice the “reverse polarity” battery. You also have to look very closely, but you can see that the mesh is rotated by 90 degrees compared to a lot of filters sold and it is definitely not the diamond mesh.

I bought the 4/1969 the Popular Hot Rodding and here is a picture of the DZ 302 that was tested with headers. This is the straight-wire the soldered diamond mesh version.

After figuring out what I need, I ended up paying dearly for one….It’s perfect match to the Popular Hot Rodding one, but the filter paper looks brown.  

GaryL on the CRG wrote: “Production-line A212CW filter element paper was “oil-wetted” (that’s what the “W” originally stood for), which is why the paper appears yellowish. Later service replacement A212CW elements were not, and had “white” paper.”

my filter

My filter looks more brown than yellow. I’m not sure it it’s a heavier oil or it’s dirty or it’s just from age. I am guessing it’s from age.

updated 6/10/12:  JohnZ responded to my posting on the CRG regarding this filter and confirmed that  “The original production-line filters had yellowish/brownish paper, as the paper was oil-wetted“.

I had been trying to think of a way to lighten it up by cleaning it somehow, to make it a light yellow, but after JohnZ’s post, I think I’ll just leave it alone.

 

 

After about six months of searching, I now have the correct skinny stripe AC R43 “MADE IN U.S.A” plugs. 🙂

There is some text on the box tab but I’m not sure how to decode the date. It looks like the year is 1969 anyway.

No deductions.

I visited Jack, the former owner of the Z/28, in Florida in April 2012 and he had a few more pics from the mid 1970’s to show me. I took pics of his pictures.

In November 1974, Jack was sent to a aircraft maintainence school at Sheppard AFB Wichita Falls, Texas to learn how to repair C130 engines.

Jacks on the bottom left:

At some time between 1970 to 1976, the vertical trim bars on the tail light came off.

Two (out of eight) former owners I can’t locate. The first only had the car for a few months and I have no info on him.  Finding him may be impossible.   Alfred said he thinks the first owner had the car reposessed.

The next one I can’t locate is Dave Brock. Normally I only put up first names, but since I can’t find him, I’m using his full name. From discussions with Alfred, it sounds like he is 95% sure he sold the car to Dave Brock. Dave Brock is a very common name and I have had no luck in tracking him down.

I met up with Jack again a few months ago, and we talked about Dave Brock.

In November of 1974, Jack was sent to a aircraft maintainence school. I think he learned to repair C130 engines  there. The school was at Sheppard AFB Wichita Falls, Texas. One of his fellow students was a Dave Brock. There is a very good probability this is the same Dave Brock that bought the car from Alfred and sold it to Larry. Larry then brought the car to Hurlburt field.

Dave Brock = Top row, 3rd guy from the left

Jack = Bottom, left corner

I recently got an email from Jack’s brother…..Dan.

It is always awesome to hear from guys that actually drove the car back in the day. The car was part of their lives and history while growing up and every single one of them that I’ve talked to remembers the car and in many cases even loved the car and their time with it.

Dan wrote:

I’m Jacks brother Dan from Jersey.
I just wanted to drop a line to say that I’m glad that someone with the vision & compassion to restore the Z to it’s original state, bought it.   I never thought I would see the day that Jack would let it go, so congrats to you.
Jack & I were just talking about the fact that other than Jack, I was the only one that he ever let drive the Z .
I can still remember that day ( approx. 30 years ago ) like it was yesterday. The feeling of driving that car at 20 yrs. old was incredible, I remember the way people looked at the car going down the road was purely ” I WANT THAT “.  I will follow the progress of restoration on the site you have on the Z, (thank you for having that ) There’s not many things that are worse than letting a part of your life go & never seeing it again, At least we can still see it & the appreciation the new owner has for it.  Good luck with the Z & I hope you enjoy it as much as Jack did.

 All’s I can say is THANKS for the email Dan.  I think that the appreciation I have for the car equals that of the former owners and I am trying my best of make sure the car turns out the best that I can.  My goal is to make the car as it came off the assembly line in 1969.  THANKS for the encouragement!!!

 

 

 

 

When I was going through the parts that Jack gave me, one of the parts was the radiator cap. The rivet on top looked odd and there was a hole in one of the ears. I confirmed that it was an original cap on the Camaro Resource Group. The guys there are truly amazing. Some of them can look at a blurry and small picture of an engine and spot 5 to 10 things right off the bat that make the engine either incorrect or a possible clone.

So….I posted my radiator cap and asked for help, and they confirmed the cap is absolutely correct for a 01B 1969 Camaro. The hole was probably drilled by someone who attached a safety cord.

Then I started looking for a place to have it restored. Some of the guys on the CRG said I should restore it myself, but compared to folks that specialize in specific parts, my work qualifies in the category of either “hack” or “backyard mechanic”. Since that’s not acceptable for this car, I started searching. One name that came up consistently as doing awesome work on yenko.net and camaros.net was Joe Perri.

I sent the radiator cap off to Mr. Perri and was real happy with the results. He even fixed the hole that was in the ear.

Joe Perri
6845 N. Mendota Avenue
Chicago, IL 60646
phone: 312-307-1977
email: corvetteillinois@comcast.net

Jack who is one of the former owner of my Z/28, had the original front windshield destroyed. I believe that his ex-wife might have done it intentionally, but I did not fully understand the explanation he gave me. A lamp or something went through the windshield.

I have been looking for an original front tinted windshield and met George through Camaros.net. I had some questions for him regarding windshield glass. George has been working on restoring his Daytona Yellow Z/28 and I really like the color on it. He emailed me some info and restoration pictures of his car:

“It is a Pilkington. I know they are a bit thinner than the original but if the installer is competent you’re okay. A local glass guy is also a GM car guy who owns a high point 70 Nova so he understands and cares.
I have owned my car since November 2010. It is a born with engine, trans and rear axle car. I have spent considerable time and money to make the car correct component wise as items had been replaced on the car such as alternator etc. with wrong components.
Aside from the battery, radiator, exhaust manifolds and coil the car is numbers and date code correct. The exhaust manifolds are for a 68 Camaro but have the outlets for the smog air. I have the smog pump but do not run it.
My choice was to make this car a driver for the most part. It is a strong 3 car but is a paint job away from a 2. It has never been apart other than now (see jpegs) such as you are doing. I have the ProtectoPlate and order sheet. The car was sold to Kentucky but then spent about 38 years in southern California which accounts for its rust free (almost) status. Had a little rust on the dash (see jpegs).”

“All the jpegs, except the one of the complete car were taken about a week ago.
The work we are doing now at the windshield and just cleaning things up will be finished in about a month. I have the engine on a stand at home ready to go back in. I freshened the engine with new rings, inserts,rpaint etc.”

Good luck with your restoration George!!!

Bob, who is a fellow Camaro enthusiast visited my site and sent me a note about his air cleaner lid.

He wrote that he has a 69 Z/28 made the middle of March and his silk-screen text is also straight. Here is a picture he sent me of the underside of his lid:

Cool. Another one, just like mine!

He also sent me some pictures of his Z/28. He has had it for about 10 years. It is a very beautiful car.

Bob’s Z/28 has a pretty cool history. Here is his brief history of the car that he uses at shows:

     This Z/28 was built at the Van Nuys assembly plant and lingered in the back lot of a Los Angeles dealership as a 1969 leftover. In 1970, a young man who frequented the infamous Mulholland Drive purchased the Z/28 for the specific use as a road racer.Utilizing the Chevrolet Special Equipment Manual, he added a “1st Design Off-Road” cam, modified exhaust and larger over the counter stabilizer bar. These changes made the car “very successful” in it’s intended usage, according to the original owner.

     After a few years, the Z/28 was sold. The new owner along with some friends (and after too many beers) disassembled the car in preparation for a paint job on a Saturday afternoon. The next day awakened with the fact he was in way over his head and ridicule from his wife, he covered the car with a tarp in the corner of his garage. In 2002, twenty-two years later, my wife and I knocked on his door concerning another car in his driveway. After talking cars for awhile, he lead us to the garage, lifted the tarp, and confessed his shame of so many years before. The next day I trailered the Z/28 home and went back for four pickup loads of it’s removed parts. Much to my surprise, his assurance that all the parts were there proved correct.

     The “restoration” consisted of a bare metal strip and high quality repaint in the original rare Olympic Gold color. The removal of the subframe assisted in the refresh of the mechanicals. The few parts needed were replaced with GM NOS only. The interior also remains all original, even the factory installed carpet.

     This Z/28 with its high winding 302 is a thrill to drive. It represents what most enthusiasts experienced in the late 60’s and early 70’s. I retained those modifications made according to the early Chevrolet Special Equipment Manual, so in a lot of ways, it is truly a time capsule.