1974 Camaro Z28
Discussion
unsprung said:
Yes, this is more than a restoration.
There's an engaging story -- one of equal or greater interest, I'd say, to any second-gen Camaro project over here, where the car came from.
One of the things I've actually enjoyed most about the car so far has been decoding the various tags on the car to see where it came from. I'm not sure I ever did post this (apologies for repeating myself if I did!) but for anyone else who is interested...There's an engaging story -- one of equal or greater interest, I'd say, to any second-gen Camaro project over here, where the car came from.
- The body was built at the GM plant in Norwood, Ohio during the last week of July in 1974. A month earlier, the engine had been assembled somewhere else in the factory. The serials match so the engine and body are both original.
- The engine was the 1974 Z28 spec, a 350SBC V8 producing 245bhp and 280lb-ft. It was subject to the new (at the time) California emissions laws, so the engine was essentially choked to this power. From the brochure,
"Includes special 350 CID, 245 hp V8. Four-bolt main bearing caps, forged steel crank, impact extruded aluminum pistons, heat treated & shot peened connecting rods "big valve" cylinder heads with high speed valve train. Cast aluminum rocker covers with internal galleries. Hydraulic lifters cam & cast iron intake with EGR. Rochester Quadrajet. 17-quart cooling system with 18" 7 blade flex fan. Oil pan windage tray and high speed crankshaft damper. Dual Exhaust pipe system. Same setup as 1973, HEI (high-energy ignition) introduced in mid-year (January 74). Special dual snorkle air cleaner with chrome lid."
A lot of that equipment has since been removed and the car now has an uprated Edelbrock 4-barrel carb, a high-rise intake and an uprated cam.
- Having had the 4spd Super T10 gearbox off as well I know the serials match to that too. All built in Norwood. The Super T10 seems to be fairly rare as a factory box, although the regular T10 did replace the Muncie in January 1974. As well as being a little lighter than the regular T10, it also has a 26-spline input shaft (as opposed to 10 on the regular T10) and a bigger output shaft. The biggest bonus for me nearly 50 years on is that the Super T10s are apparently still built new under licence in the US!
- The original colour for the car was midnight blue with black vinyl interior, fitted with factory bucket seats. The trim-spec for the instrument panel and steering column was black.
- Being a non-LT Z28, it was one of 79'835 built and would have cost around a smidge over $3000. I guess that would make it the equivalent to around $15k today.
So essentially, the car rolled out of the factory looking like this:
I actually really like the blue, although I'm not convinced I would replace the black. Over the years, it seems that someone replaced bits of the interior with LT-spec trim (such as the woodgrain instrument panel which has now been replaced with black).
Anyway, its Christmas time so I've been decorating mine.
Ordered myself a staple of American toolsets, a leather working cover so I can get into the engine without scratching the paint. Complete with cheesy slogan!
Our club was also approached last week by the Barnstorm Motor event group, an upcoming show based in Yorkshire, for a private photoshoot. I was half-and-half whether to bin the shoot off; the car is finally gleaming and the weather looked awful. With a gap in the rain I decided to go for it and get the old girl out.
Predictably, it hurled it down all the way there but the car didn't miss a beat. Lots of surprised looks from people who I assume thought I must be mental to be out in the downpour in a car like that.
The organisers wanted to showcase a variety of cars and I think they absolutely nailed that - not many photoshoots where you'll find a Fiesta next to a McLaren and a Camaro next to a Honda E!
It was really nice to hear the organisers say they liked my car the most, high praise considering the company it was in! A kind chap sent me this video of my car rolling up to be shot, I didnt realise he was filming at the time so excuse me being an absolute
Video link:
I'm looking forward to seeing the finished shots, but for now here's a couple off my phone from over his shoulder.
Our club was also approached last week by the Barnstorm Motor event group, an upcoming show based in Yorkshire, for a private photoshoot. I was half-and-half whether to bin the shoot off; the car is finally gleaming and the weather looked awful. With a gap in the rain I decided to go for it and get the old girl out.
Predictably, it hurled it down all the way there but the car didn't miss a beat. Lots of surprised looks from people who I assume thought I must be mental to be out in the downpour in a car like that.
The organisers wanted to showcase a variety of cars and I think they absolutely nailed that - not many photoshoots where you'll find a Fiesta next to a McLaren and a Camaro next to a Honda E!
It was really nice to hear the organisers say they liked my car the most, high praise considering the company it was in! A kind chap sent me this video of my car rolling up to be shot, I didnt realise he was filming at the time so excuse me being an absolute
Video link:
I'm looking forward to seeing the finished shots, but for now here's a couple off my phone from over his shoulder.
Cheers everyone!
Shnozz said:
Looks brilliant mate. Would dearly love something similar down here in spain. The cost of something like that here would be £30k+ though.
Where abouts in Spain are you? We've got a place down south but haven't been able to visit it all year with all this current mess going on. I'd love to drive down for a road trip and I finally feel like the car might be ready! 
Shnozz said:
Hi mate - apologies I overlooked this. I have a place about 30 mins south of Alicante (although usually Leeds central based as I think you know as I walked over the road to the AMS meet where I saw your car before all this Covid crap!). If you are heading down this way at any point do let me know and welcome to drop by or even take in a local car meet where the Camaro would go down a storm! A few American classics usually in attendance.
Ah that's brilliant, I'm guessing we're not far off being neighbours as ours is down near Torrevieja. We'll have to meet up for a beer! 
I know what you mean with the photos - the chaps were kind enough to give me the raws but the settings used kind of made them unworkable (really high ISO). In fairness to him, the images of the other cars I've seen all look good (certainly on my phone screen) so I think his camera struggled with the relative lack of light and the huge lump of black. Unfortunately there's only so much photoshop can do. That said, they did shoot the car for free and offered the raws up straight away. They have a great work ethic!
therealsamdailly said:
That is not at all how I pictured you
Unfortunately for me that is in fact a very talented Calvin Klein model. If I had the looks and talent she has I would be earning much more money and you would be reading about my 2nd gen shell placed atop a current gen ZL1 
I bought a carb rebuild kit last year because the car was running so rich I knew it would probably need one soon. Partly through lack of time but largely also through fear, I've left it alone and put up with the intermittent bogging down under load and retina-burning smell of fuel. The last couple of times I drove it though, there has been a gargling sound and a small fuel leak from the top of the carb. Time to get it sorted.
Armed with one YouTube video, I had an initial surge of confidence. Once I started taking it apart and I saw how complicated the instructions looked in the kit, that confidence waivered.
With the carb apart, it's actually quite easy to see how the whole thing works. It's a 4-barrel Edelbrock 1407 (750CFM) which has two primary barrels for pottering about, with two much larger secondary barrels for being anti-social and dumping great gobs of bang juice into the engine. The components that came out were actually in good nick and despite the internals being desperate for a good clean, it seems clear this carb has been apart recently. There were notably a couple of crucial smaller parts missing which goes some way to explaining the awful performance I've been getting from the carb.
It was actually really therapeutic reassembling everything and relatively straightforward!
With a bit of mixture tweaking, the performance now is night and day!
Armed with one YouTube video, I had an initial surge of confidence. Once I started taking it apart and I saw how complicated the instructions looked in the kit, that confidence waivered.
With the carb apart, it's actually quite easy to see how the whole thing works. It's a 4-barrel Edelbrock 1407 (750CFM) which has two primary barrels for pottering about, with two much larger secondary barrels for being anti-social and dumping great gobs of bang juice into the engine. The components that came out were actually in good nick and despite the internals being desperate for a good clean, it seems clear this carb has been apart recently. There were notably a couple of crucial smaller parts missing which goes some way to explaining the awful performance I've been getting from the carb.
It was actually really therapeutic reassembling everything and relatively straightforward!
With a bit of mixture tweaking, the performance now is night and day!
Jake899 said:
In my opinion the good old days of muscle cars ended in 1971. There's very little made after that that floats my boat.
I'd agree for the most part to be honest. 74 really was the first year that manufacturers started to strangle the engines with emissions gear in order to sell them in California. Thankfully mine has had that ripped out I took the car out for its first proper drive since the carb rebuild - a YSOC day at the DMB Collection at the former RAF Church Fenton Airfield. Trying to keep up with friends in a Cayman GT4 and an MSO HS in a 47 year old muscle car on twisty back-roads is about the most terrifying experience I've had with it so far, but the noise the car made makes it all worthwhile!
However one thing I did notice is that under full throttle I'm still getting some of the 'bogging down' I had before when I'm waiting for the secondary barrels to engage.
I figured before I take it somewhere to have the carb properly looked at and set up, there are things I can check myself first. So I bought an adjustable fuel-pressure regulator (a Malpassi filter king) and roughly plumbed it in to see how the fuel pump was faring.
The Edelbrock pump should be kicking out around 6PSI with the carb itself running best at 5.5PSI. Assuming I've done it right (having never done this before!) the gauge showed 2.5PSI.
After adjusting it to 5.5PSI, the idle noticeably smoothed out and the car sounded much happier. Next test then is to find somewhere solid to mount it to and go for a drive (as well as order a new Edelbrock pump...)
In the meantime though I've bought something I absolutely dont need; a workshop flag for the garage wall.
However one thing I did notice is that under full throttle I'm still getting some of the 'bogging down' I had before when I'm waiting for the secondary barrels to engage.
I figured before I take it somewhere to have the carb properly looked at and set up, there are things I can check myself first. So I bought an adjustable fuel-pressure regulator (a Malpassi filter king) and roughly plumbed it in to see how the fuel pump was faring.
The Edelbrock pump should be kicking out around 6PSI with the carb itself running best at 5.5PSI. Assuming I've done it right (having never done this before!) the gauge showed 2.5PSI.
After adjusting it to 5.5PSI, the idle noticeably smoothed out and the car sounded much happier. Next test then is to find somewhere solid to mount it to and go for a drive (as well as order a new Edelbrock pump...)
In the meantime though I've bought something I absolutely dont need; a workshop flag for the garage wall.
LeighW said:
Your car looks great, I must say you're a braver man than me to tackle that carb rebuild, I wouldn't know where to start.
I'm just a few weeks into owning a muscle car, after years and years wanting one. As I expected, it's an 'experience' driving it, vague steering, crap brakes (drums!), but ooh, the noise and looks. I love it.
To be honest the fuel leak necessitated my involvement, I've been happy to leave the carb alone for over a year. In reality though its not a bad job!I'm just a few weeks into owning a muscle car, after years and years wanting one. As I expected, it's an 'experience' driving it, vague steering, crap brakes (drums!), but ooh, the noise and looks. I love it.
What have you got yourself? That about describes it perfectly
LeighW said:
Probably the best front end of any American car ever made!
ECG1000 said:
Just read this from start to finish - very enjoyable! Hats off to you for putting all the time and effort into making it yours. Mega photos too.
And now you've got me pining after some American muscle. I can image the sense of occasion even just sitting in this must be immense.
Please let me know if you plan on using Leeds as a photo back drop again. Would love to see the car and have a natter about your ownership experience. I could quite likely show you some good photo spots too.
Glad you like it! There's a lot more I'd like to do to it (especially in terms of how it looks) but I'm at the point now where anything I do potentially takes value away from what is essentially a working, original car. You're right though, it's a great thing to be in.And now you've got me pining after some American muscle. I can image the sense of occasion even just sitting in this must be immense.
Please let me know if you plan on using Leeds as a photo back drop again. Would love to see the car and have a natter about your ownership experience. I could quite likely show you some good photo spots too.
When all the madness subsides I'd be happy to show you the car. I'm always open to new photo locations too, especially in Leeds!
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