I'm currently restoring a 69 LM-1 Camaro. I'm novice at this but am going to give it a try. This site has been very informative and helpful to me and I thank all members for support. The Camaro I'm restoring has never been apart, and it appears that all the original parts and bolts are in place. I took the front cap completely off to restore the fenders and fender wells. Since the bolts to the front cap are original, should I buy a bolt package from Rick's or should I restore the original bolts? Also, will the bolt package for the front cap from Rick's be correct? My goal is to leave as many original parts as possible, and I'm wondering if it's worth the bother to restore these bolts or just go with new ones. I know these questions seem pretty (stupid??) but as I said this is my first attempt at restoring and I don't want to make any mistakes I'll be sorry for later. Any input would be MOST appreciated. Casey :confused:

Casey, how about a picture? Some here might say 'don't restore it'. But you sound like you've made the call based on your cars condition. Right?

Casey, If they are original I would blast them and then purchase from Palmetto (do a search for the address, great guy) the chemicals to phosphate them yourself (zinc-grey and Manganeze-black). Remember the bolts were not painted except on the assembled engine. The phosphating is easy to do and the results are great or purchase reproduction bolts with mostly correct head markings from http://amkproducts.com Most repo houses purchase from them plus you can enter a bolt number from the AIM a see a picture and description of it on their site. If you decide not reuse your original bolts send me pm and I will purchase them from you

Mike

I'm currently restoring a 69 LM-1 Camaro. I'm novice at this but am going to give it a try. This site has been very informative and helpful to me and I thank all members for support. The Camaro I'm restoring has never been apart, and it appears that all the original parts and bolts are in place. I took the front cap completely off to restore the fenders and fender wells. Since the bolts to the front cap are original, should I buy a bolt package from Rick's or should I restore the original bolts? Also, will the bolt package for the front cap from Rick's be correct? My goal is to leave as many original parts as possible, and I'm wondering if it's worth the bother to restore these bolts or just go with new ones. I know these questions seem pretty (stupid??) but as I said this is my first attempt at restoring and I don't want to make any mistakes I'll be sorry for later. Any input would be MOST appreciated. Casey :confused:

I would suggest to reuse your original bolts first, and only replace if they appear to be to old and weak to do the job.
I am starting to do some work on my Z28 which requires disassembly. I will reuse all of my hardware when possible.

Good Luck!

After cleaning all original threads, both the bolt and internal, and during assembly, paint the bolt threads with antiseize.

Purchase the Palmetto chemicals first. Vernon recommends that you recoat within 3-4 hours of blasting them. I hit mine with a wire wheel, as I don't have a cabinet. The results were good, but I suspect if you follow his directions you will get optimum results. Wire brushing does not etch the metal like blasting does.