One of the Z/28’s former owners is Jim. He sent me a link to pictures of one of his former Camaro’s.   He had a 1969 pro mod/street car that ran 9.20’s in the 1/4 mile.

Jim has had some really wild Camaro‘s and I have seen some cool hot rods he has had too.

A former owner, Jim, told me that the original AM radio never worked during the time he had the Z/28.  He said that’s why he put the 8-track player between the seats.  That means the radio didn’t work for at least 37 years. 

At Labrecque’s, Kevin and I took the radio out of the console. 

I brought the radio into work, plugged in the restored/reconed speakers, connected a power supply and nothing happened.  Nothing except the power supply immediately went from +12V to +3V.  It looked like something was shorting out big time.

Almost all radio restoration places start by replacing electrolytic capacitors.  I read somewhere, that 90% of the time the problems come from dried out electrolytics and they can cause shorts. 

The AM radio model is:

91APB1
9 = 1969 model year
1 = GM vehicle division: 1 = Chevrolet division. (2=Pontiac, 3=Oldsmobile)
A  = the vehicle is either a Camaro or a Chevelle
PB = AM pushbutton radio
1 = first design run.

Through Sams Photofacts, I was able to buy a schematic for model 91APB1 which identifies the electrolytics.  After loads of searches, I found a vendor that had original GM electrolytics.  This is nice because it keeps the radio with original type components.  Especially for the huge can type that has 3 different electrolytics in one can.  It was a pain to get the circuit board off but after a while it finally gave up fighting me and I was able to replace the capacitors.

 

 After replacing the caps, I soldered everything back together, hooked up the speaker, put power to it and then……..thundering classical music BLARED from the radio.  I didn’t realize the volume was at full blast.  It almost knocked me off my seat.  Engineers came down from the engineering offices asking me what was going on.  Once the volume was set low, it was so nice to listen to the AM radio with the 43 year old electronics working as they’re supposed to.   

 

 

I have been keeping in touch with Jim, who is one of the former owners. He is heavily into hot rods and Camaros. He has had 5 Camaros. The Z/28 that I have now, and also these that he wrote to me about ” one 67 ‘ pro street , 69 ‘ pro mod/street car (ran 9.20’s 1/4 mile) one red with black stripe real 69 ‘ Z/28 that had been through to many hands so I sold it to buy this one that I’m sending the pic’s of…… I found this car in 03 ‘ it was a true one owner car with 67k original miles on it…. super clean! never hit not one spec of rust! factory air, power windows, fold down rear seat, power steering and brakes, glacier blue “.

He ended up selling it in 2008.  He recently had the opportunity to buy it back and just got it back today!  It is a super clean looking car and I think he is going to be having a blast with it.

The original Jacking Instructions label for the 01B (2nd week of January) 1969 Z/28 looked like this:

The label was coming apart anyway so the crew at Labrecque removed it so that the trunk lid could be prepped.  It ended up being discarded. They took some pictures of it first though.

of the text is in different locations and the “7 1/2 inches” text is not on my original version.  The differences could be due to the dates not being the same and they might be different versions.   The original is dated “?-6-68” and the reproduction is dated “10-1-68”.

I believe part number 3949506 is correct though and the part number is in the 1969 Camaro AIM (Assembly Instruction Manual) under UPC 10, Sheet A2. The label is part #1 shown below:

It is interesting that the AIM shows revision number 4 on 7-1-1968 and revisions 4,5,6,7 and 8 on 9-10-1968. This would fit in with the theory that the original one I had on the car is previous to the version dated “10-1-68”.

For a 1969 Z/28 DZ 302 with a flat hood the correct cover is part number 6421832.

CHROME

I have seen many many postings where people state that chrome lids are supposed to be flash chromed (as opposed to triple chromed). In one of his postings, JohnZ set the record straight and it looks like they are supposed to be “Factory Chromed”.

Paragon Corvette makes an outstanding heavy-gauge reproduction 14″ lid that’s done with “factory chrome” (only nickel and chrome, no copper under the nickel), and they do the silk-screening on it; closest thing you’ll find to the original factory lid.

“Flash chrome” is only the .0005″-thick clear chrome layer; that was used only on polished stainless steel trim like windshield and back window reveal moldings, wheel trim rings, etc. to add brilliance and protect the underlying stainless from oxidation.

“Factory chrome” was a layer of nickel, followed by the final layer of clear chrome; used on bumpers, die-cast emblems, air cleaner lids, etc.

GM never used “show chrome” (copper, then nickel, then chrome).

I am looking into having my original air cleaner cover rechromed.  The problem is the silkscreen on the bottom.

SILKSCREEN TEXT

1) There are a lot of guys who say that the silkscreen on the bottom should be curved text.
2) Paragon Corvette states on their site that curved text is for 1966 – 1969 cars and that square text is for 1970 – 1972. Paragon also calls their chrome for this lid “flash chrome” so I don’t know how reliable of a source they really are.

Counter-argument

1) The silkscreen text that came on my car is straight. I believe my cover is original. Most of the original parts were either on the car or came with the car and the lid is very rusted out. My car is a Norwood, second week of January 1969 Z/28.

Here are two pictures of my lid:

2) There is a guy on Camaros.net with a 8,000 mile Z/28 he found in a field that has the exact same text that mine does. I really don’t believe his car had the lid changed since the miles on his car are so low. His barn find survivor is a Van Nuys First week of May 1969 Z/28.

His lid:

3) A guy that I really trust told me has seen these covers both ways for 1969.

Unless I find some major evidence that it has to be curved, when I have the cover restored, I am going with the straight text.

On Camaros.net, it looks like it’s not uncommon for heat risers to be installed backwards.  The AIM does not show it clearly on UPC N10, Sheet A2.

JohnZ had an excellent posting showing a picture and he posted this comment: “The “extension” was used on all cars at the RH exhaust pipe-to-manifold attachment, in addition to the heat riser valve; it supports the inside diameter of the packing, keeping it from disintegrating (it was also used on the other side). The illustration in the A.I.M. is incorrect – it should show the heat riser valve too. If you look in the “non-illustrated parts” sheet at the beginning of the L34/L35/L78 sections, under UPC 6, where it has the line item for “intake & exhaust manifolds & heat control”, it shows the “assembles same as production” symbol (the “heat control” is the heat riser valve). ”

Picture of his engine showing the heat riser valve:

Picture of a heat riser valve on HBC:

Modification by Ed Bertrand to appear factory but don’t have to worry about it sticking.
He also wrote “Perform the below modifications at your own risk”.

Alfred bought the car from Placke Chevrolet in 1969.

As far as I can tell:

• The location that Placke Cheverolet was at is now Don Brown Chevrolet.
• The building used to be a two story red brick building.
• Placke Chevrolet was owned by Donald C. Placke.
• His son Clifford D. Placke had a used car dealership at the same location in the mid 70’s.
• The address was 2244 South Kingshighway, St. Louis MO 63110

Here is a March 2012 Google maps picture of the location that Placke Chevrolet used to be at:

It would be awesome to have pictures of what Placke Chevrolet looked like back in 1969, but I don’t think I’ll be able to find pictures.

The master cylinder cover that came on the original master cylinder was also sent out to be restored. The pitting was too severe though and it’s not OK for a show car.

A very well known former GM engineer that uses the screen name JohnZ has had a few postings where he states that the correct cap for a 69 Z does NOT have “SAE J1703” on it.  It should only say “USE DELCO BRAKE FLUID” and “SERVICE WITH DELCO PARTS”. He posted a picture of his cap:

His 1969 Z/28 cap is identical to my 1969 Z/28 cap except that his looks very very very nice.

The original DZ 302 oil pan had a few dents and a small tear in it. Instead of having Mike Labrecque fix it, I thought it would be easier to pick up a NOS one on EBay. That was a mistake. Each year is different for the DZ 302.

I believe this one is for a 67:

and this one is for a 68:

and this yellow one I bought on EBay I thought it was for a 69, but I think it’s for a 68. The original 69 pan is in the same pictures:

The end result is that Mike has restored the original oil pan.

Mike said that the catch assembly (bottom piece) was heavily pitted.  He wants me to find a used one in better condition.

 

Time to find a 3947609 and to check on the condition of 3891682 next time I am there.