Project "Dorothy" daily driven 1969 Camaro
 

I've been toying with my Camaro for many years now. I think that the only difference between my "build" and many others on these forums, is the fact that I drive the car daily, usually 5-600 miles a week. My knowledge and ability is less than stellar, but I'm trying.

I purchased the car from the original owners son, that kept it garaged after she passed away. Her name was Dorothy, so I felt it fitting to name the car in her honor. When I bought it, the car was all original, aside from tires, battery, some door/ side guards and a dash mat... My initial plans were to keep it original and enjoy it, no mods, no changes, just to enjoy it. Those plans lasted about a week. :lostmarbles:

I changed out the steering wheel, installed the seat track extenders (I'm 6'-4") and that's when the modifications began to snowball. I had another 69 Camaro that I had been planning to build for my toy, and this car was going to be my driver. I'm pretty sure we can all relate to the sidetracking of project cars. The changes started coming quickly, and before I knew it, the other 69 was sold, and the daily driver started getting better and better. :G-Dub:

I'll try to keep on track and with a somewhat "in order" photo trail here...

Enjoy

Jason

After the steering wheel swap, I decided to put a cowl hood on it, along with the rear spoiler. I had a set of 15x8 GM rally wheels, which ended up all being slightly out of round. That turned into using the wheels off of my 57 Chevy, so there were no vibrations while on the freeway. Custom wheels on a stock vehicle looks a little funny to me, so lowering the car came next. After adjusting the height, the stock drum brakes looked awful behind billet wheels. lol

Fast forward a few years... Don't think anyone wants the -entire- story here. haha

Motor and transmission ran flawlessly, but a 307 with a 2 barrel / T350 and a 2:56 gear out back makes for a big lack of fun factor. I decided to pull the engine and trans from my 91 Camaro (got tired of dealing with California smog nonsense).

Healthy SBC /T56 and 4:11 makes for much more fun

Now traction was a big problem. I decided to get some tires that would hook. Here is where things began getting (in my mind) serious.

Like I said at the beginning, it is my daily driver, so I am constantly making changes to suit my likes / needs. I hope to paint it this coming winter, but time will tell.

Great project and I love that you drive it a lot! :thumbsup:

how cool, very nice

Set the videos to auto-start.

How to embed Youtube videos on Lateral-G

A few random videos along the way

I just fixed the first one.

How to embed Youtube videos on Lateral-G

Very cool car. What brand rear end and gears?

Thank you !

The rear end housing came from Detroit Speed (GearFX I believe)
Axles are Moser, from DSE
Center section is a Moser carrier, Currie "posi" , Yukon gears and Timken bearings, aluminum Daytona bearing support.

The gears are noisy and I hate them. I set them up with 7 thousanths backlash, so they are well within spec according to Yukon. Everything I have been reading lately, is that every aftermarket 9" gearset makes noise. I'm sure there are a few people out there that get lucky, but I am not one of them.

Love the car and fact that you daily drive it. That green color grows on me the more I see it. I plan on daily driving mine once I wrap a few things up, what size rear tire did you go with ?


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Thank you. The car is British Racing Green, if you look closely, the hood and rear spoiler are Fathom Green, and are a shade or so lighter. I thought the car was fathom when I bought it... After looking through the enormous pile of receipts that were given to me, she had the dealership paint it BRG back in 69.

the tires are 335/30/18 in the rear

I like the paint as is, this way you don't have to worry about it too much but I get it..........fresh paint of your liking really finishes off the vision you have.
Quick question about your Caltracs, I'm presuming you're using the low pro option. It looks like in one of your videos that the leaf spring brackets on the 9" are different from Caltracs one that came with their kit. Did you bolt up the Caltrac one that was trimmed under the DSE leaf spring bracket. Reason I ask is I have the DSE leaf brackets and want to add the caltracs to my leafs for better hookup. Tks & keep posting some updates along the way.

Thank you 😊

Yes, low profile Caltracs are what I’m running. The front brackets are as delivered from Caltracs, the rears, I cut / modified to work in conjunction with the DSE plates. I’ll PM you pictures if you would like

Very nice! Thanks for sharing the pics and the details. Glad you're putting the miles on it. Hope you enjoy them all.

Jason, thanks send away. I have a feeling my LS transplant from last Nov. is gonna need some traction help.

Here is what I did. Just cut the shock mount portion of the Caltracs brackets, and trimmed them to fit inside the DSE plates. Very simple modification, works just fine and has been like this about 2 years now. The only thing I don’t like about the bars, is the rattle they can create. The slop in the heims and the front bracket annoys me when I’m on rough road. It’s not bad enough to remove them though. lol

Here's a possible cure for the rattling taken directly from the Caltrac website.
Attachment 78134

Thank you. I actually just did that yesterday. Haha

Here are a few pictures that I thought were cool next to each other.

Not too much difference between the two pictures LOL Nice!

Any future plans of swapping some sort of LS in this puppy? I really dig the green. Factory color?

Thanks ��

I am on the fence about the LS swaps. I know it’s worth it for power per dollar, and it’s relatively easy to do, but I’ve always liked being a little bit of an outsider and keeping things different. I get ALOT of people shocked that I’m still running an old school SBC. Also, the sound of an LS (from my experience) cannot compare to a stout SBC or BBC. One day down the road, I may give in and swap over, but for now, I’m staying traditional.

As for paint, it’s original GM paint, but not fathom green. It’s British racing green.

Thanks for the reply. I couldn’t remember the name of green GM used. I really like it (yours).

You can be different being one of the last 69 Camaros to switch to LS power. Or…… go L86 GenV. You may not be the first but every time you start it of fill it up, you’ll really notice the gas mileage increase

Cool car, looks it was originally Frost green based on the trim tag and the still visible fenders. 1968 is when they offered what you have now British Green

One day maybe. haha

I have a 5.3 from a truck that's sitting on the side of my house right now, but I have planned to use it in my 57 Chevy, so that may sway me to swap the Camaro too if it works out well.

You are correct, the car came from the assembly line in the frost green.

The original owner went to the dealership and there was this car in the frost green, and a Z28 4 speed next to it in Fathom green. She didn't want a 4 speed car, so... According to the story (and paperwork / receipts I have) the dealership made the sale by painting the car for her in the darker green that she desired. Definitely don't get that service these days. haha

The paperwork states dark green, not Fathom or British Racing green, so when I purchased the car, I had assumed it was Fathom. I bought paint for the hood and spoiler, and once sprayed, that's when I realized the shade difference. I was at a car show locally and parked next to a 68 Camaro in BRG. Before then, I hadn't heard of the color

I like Frost Green, it looks sharp. 1968 was the only year for the British Green color on the 1st gen Camaro. You've done good on the upgrades while driving it and not blown apart in pieces in the garage lol

This is, to me, what these cars are all about !!!

Getting out and enjoying them !!!

Agreed 110%

Very nice! You have an awesome ride and have done well with it! I am planning on having my Biscayne as a Daily Driver once it is complete as well.

I'm with you. You're not enjoying it if it sits in the garage 99% of the time. :thumbsup:

Oh, I thought we were supposed to take out a 3rd mortgage and build them for a decade only to never drive them? LOL

Decided to try a new intake manifold that's closer matched to the cam/ heads

Still driving the snot out of this car. I blew up the motor last November, built a new 383 for it, switched out the Flowmaster mufflers, with Borla XR-1 I am extremely happy with the current setup, aside from still not gotten around to painting it. lol

Jason

Congrats on continuing to drive it and persevering through the blown motor.

Looks good. So what AFR and cam is in the new motor?

Thanks,
Jimbo

Just scrolled through sweet driver. If you need a dependable oil to protect that beauty on the many miles ypu will see let me know. I'll get ya the best price. Cool car!

Sweet new motor...