Hi,

I have the oppertunity to buy a 1968 Camaro SS Convertible and need some help with decoding, to see how many of these were built in 68 and if there is anything rare about it. The seller has the original 396/325HP M40 Transmission engine in his barn and put a 427 in the car. Rear end is a 12 Bolt 3.07. The car needs some serious body work and I want to know if it is worth my time and money. Here is the info, any help would be greatly appreciated.

VIN #: 124678N336943

Trim Plate:

Body By Fisher

10D
ST 68-12467 NOR 36625 BODY
TR 712 D1 Paint

1 = Chevrolet
2 = Camaro
4 = 8-cylinder engine
67 = convertible body
8 = 1968 model year
N = Norwood, OH assembly plant
336943 = vehicle serial number sequence

Decode for body number: 036625

10D = Built the Fourth week of October.
68-12467 = Convertible.
NOR = Built in Norwood Ohio.
712 = Standard Black Bucket Seats.
D-1 = Lower Color is Grotto Blue and the Convertible Top Color is White.


As far as how rare, it is not possible to know for certain.

There were 16,927 V8 verts in 1968
There were 10,773 L35 396/325 cars, coupe and vert
There were 5,466 M40 TH400 cars, coupe and vert

So, it is certainly in the 1 of 5,466 club, and probably a lot rarer than that (but no way of saying for sure).

If all the stamps are real, it is rare. A complete, but needing full resto (lots of rust) 68 SS396 vert with born with drivetrain sold around $20K two years or so ago.

Hi,

I have the oppertunity to buy a 1968 Camaro SS Convertible and need some help with decoding, to see how many of these were built in 68 and if there is anything rare about it. The seller has the original 396/325HP M40 Transmission engine in his barn and put a 427 in the car. Rear end is a 12 Bolt 3.07. The car needs some serious body work and I want to know if it is worth my time and money. Here is the info, any help would be greatly appreciated.

VIN #: 124678N336943

Trim Plate:

Body By Fisher

10D
ST 68-12467 NOR 36625 BODY
TR 712 D1 Paint
No number known for BB convertibles, but they are somewhat rare and desireable.
I saw this car at Carlilse, your right it needs serious body work. It's also a M20 4 speed car, not an M40 automatic car.
Have you seen the engine/trans/rear end stamps/casting #'s or pictures?

You are right, it is the M20 4 Speed Car. I was thinking of my current 68 Camaro, it has a TH 400 in it. No, I just saw some pictures of the CAR. I would definetly want to check out the original engine. I cannot do the body work myself and that is where all the $s go. Could you tell if the quarter panels were replaced at one time? I don't know if it was the poor quality picture but it looked like there was a considerable valley where the quarter meets the deck lid. It looks like it needs to be sand blasted, no way around it. Thanks for the help on the backround.

Eric, Do you know how many M20s there were? Thanks, Ken

Lots. Not being a knucklehead, but because M20 is the wide-ratio 4-speed, it could have been a Saginaw or a Muncie, and could have been behind any engine (including the L6's) except L89. Obviously a big block had the Muncie version, but those are not broken out separate.

35,161 cars got RPO M20.

Eric, Do you know how many M20s there were? Thanks, Ken

http://www.camaros.org/pdf/options.pdf

Could you tell if the quarter panels were replaced at one time? I don't know if it was the poor quality picture but it looked like there was a considerable valley where the quarter meets the deck lid. It looks like it needs to be sand blasted, no way around it. Thanks, Ken If a deep valley you may want to look inside the trunk at that area, seems a lot of hacks lay the new sheet metal over the old and weld or even screw it the coat it with bondo. Another item is if the cocktail shakers are missing then I would bet work as been done to that metal. Just my two cents...

You are right, it is the M20 4 Speed Car. I was thinking of my current 68 Camaro, it has a TH 400 in it. No, I just saw some pictures of the CAR. I would definetly want to check out the original engine. I cannot do the body work myself and that is where all the go. Could you tell if the quarter panels were replaced at one time? I don't know if it was the poor quality picture but it looked like there was a considerable valley where the quarter meets the deck lid. It looks like it needs to be sand blasted, no way around it. Thanks for the help on the backround.

Eric, Do you know how many M20s there were? Thanks, Ken
I don't know if the 1/4's where replaced, but they need replacing now. I really didn't look that hard at the car, not because I would'nt love to have a numbers BB 4 spd vert, but because I am not interested in a need everything resto. I have done a couple convertibles and they are alot of work.

Thanks for the help. I decided to leave it alone. There is too much body work that needs to be done. I got a pic of the engine, it needs to be rebuilt....at least that is what the guy said. I have no way of knowing if it has major internal damage. Ken