Give advice: thinking '69 Camaro purchase...

[Jack be Quick]

Give me some things to look for, look out for, and what is a reasonable price for the model / year.

Since I am spending a lot of time in Tenn I've been looking around for a 'southern' 69 Camaro to keep down there and eventually bring back up to Michigan. I've seen some real interesting things. Almost every car I've seen has been manual drum brakes on all four corners, autos, no PS, no air, some butched up radio and shifter add-ons, and everything with SS stripes.

[Big-Foot]

What are your goals?

Investment?
Driver?
coupe?
Convertible?


More information about your likes and dislikes will get you more information on what to look for..

[Jack be Quick]

Coupe

Driver

Don't mind some restoration / improvement needs

Really interested in a stick versus an auto

Not looking to spend more than $35k and the less the better

[Big-Foot]

35k today will buy you an SS small block 4 speed car with zero rust.
Add a few more k and you have a 396.
5k more will be a very nice numbers matching car that will continue to appreciate.

If you just want a good clean 4 speed driver with PS and PB, you shoukd be able to sneak in for under 30k.

What to look for -

Rust of course. Worse place for these cars is in the trunk and rear shock mounts.
Next worse place is in the driver side floor pan right next to the rocker panel.

Look for excessive body shims in the front fenders. Particularly if there are a lot more in one side than the other. This typically means that there has been some damage to to cowl area.
Doors are fairly heavy and they eat hinges and pins.

Rust under the leading edge of the hood and the same thing for the trailing edge of the rear deck lid.

The cowl tag behind the master cylinder on the firewall will tell you where the car was built and what it was built to be. There are a number of places on the internet to decode the cowl tags. Some people say that the x11 cars were SS cars. Frankly I have never seen one. I have seen a lot of X11 cars that were basic plane-jane Camaros. Mine is an X55 car. 350 SS 4 speed with D80 (rear spoiler), etc. it is badged as a Z28. Be aware that there are more 69 Camaro Z28's on the street today than Chevrolet ever produced...
They never built an automatic equipped 69 Z28 and don't let anyone tell you that they have the only one.. Mny other things to look for too, but this is a starter for you..

Prices - are starting to drop now in anticipation of fall. Good time to start looking. September is the best time to buy..

[Jack be Quick]

Any thoughts on the Camaro's shown here:

Maple Motors Inc. - Hendersonvillet, TN - Cars








This place is about 30 minutes from where I am traveling / staying in Tenn and I was thinking about checking them out. Seems the pricing is a little high as listed for each one of them, but looking for some better informed viewpoints than mine as it applies to the Camaro market.


This is one that is close to my house in Michigan that I am looking at also, but I wouldn't be able to do anything until after the Woodward Dream Cruise here in Michigan as all muscle car prices spike just before and after that show.

http://southernmotors.com/ford_details.asp?CarId=2427

[Big-Foot]

Top one is not an SS but at 20.9 it's not priced like one. *Drum brakes on these cars were not very good. However, you can convert to disc relatively inexpensively (under a grand)

Second one is reported to be a Z28. It might be. *Lots of aftermarket stuff on it but all bolt-on. *If the body is clean and straight and If the numbers match on block, trans and rear - it might be worth the 39.9 they are asking. *I did note that it had non-stock early angle plug heads. *Standard steering like this car has can be a real PITB on these cars. *Mine had std steering and one of the best things I did was to convert it to power steering.

Third one is badged as an SS car, but they don't claim it to be so I would not think it was. *It does have power disc brakes and is a pretty clean car from the pics, but the pictures don't tell the whole story.. *The engine is the wrong one. Well if nothin else it came out of a later car as the cylinder heads are wrong. The HEI distributor came from something along about 1974-75. *The intake is 1968 or earlier judging by the oil fill tube. 22.9 is their price. *Depending on the rest of the car's condition - it might be worth that.

The fourth car is badged as a Z but it is basically a standard V8 automatic car. Nothing special. *Standard drum brakes, monoleaf springs. *It looks like the front fenders have been off recently. *Missing a cowl bolt on the right side and the left side is there but it appears that the cowl is rusting tight under the bolt .. These cars sometimes rotted in the cowl area under the wiper arms. This may be one of those. *Judging by the undercarriage being recently sprayed with flat black and the RR quarter panel has been replaced with *an aftermarket one - I'd say that someone fluffed this one up to make a few bucks on it. *At 28.9 - I would pass on it myself. *It is a 20k car at best.

Don't expect a 302 Z28 to be fast. *They were 14 second cars on the strip if everything was right. *However, they had the best handling and when properly geared, they would really haul the mail on a road course.

[Jack be Quick]

Thanks. I am heading back down shortly and I'll go take a close look at them and see if I can make a deal.

[kobrak]

Looks like a possible fire sale if you read the ad.

1969 Camaro