Ok, so I picked up a decent 68 RS convertible from it's second owner, original owner was his uncle. I have the original dealer invoice, protect-o-plate, dealer literature manual, etc. The car was redone once in the early 80's. Kind of a mid level optioned car, RS, console w/gages (so it has the tic toc tach, etc.), 327/PG, ash gold exterior, gold deluxe interior, bumper guards f/r, door edge guards, power top, rear antenna, a few other options. Anyway, the car is already apart to do the floors, suspension, etc.

How bad of a camaro sin would I be doing by putting in a z06/ls7, t56, etc vs restoring it? If it were an RS/SS I'd restore it for sure, but for a 327 powerglide combo, I'm not sure. Also the ash gold color is not my favorite, so could it even be a 'restoration' with a color change? Part of me says restore it, but with the driveline and color combo it's probably only a 30k car when done in todays market. The ls motor thing would be kind of cool to try the power tour with, etc. -Dan

I wouldn't modify it, but that's just me. Especially with all the documentation. Your choice.

Dan, could you scan in your docs and email them to me? I'd like to add your car to the database.

My email address is in my signature below.

Thanks
Ed

Dan, could you scan in your docs and email them to me? I'd like to add your car to the database.

My email address is in my signature below.

Thanks
Ed

Ed... Depends... are you going to yell at me if I don't restore it? :)

FYI, my 68 coupe (which I've had since 92) has one of the mis-numbered motors CRG's site mentions, the block vin was off by one on the last digit - helped me get the car for a lower price too! I wish the convertible was a SS car I wouldn't have to ask for some opinions...

I should probably list 3 or 4 options I'm weighing on the convertible, and luckily I have a few months to figure it out while welding in new floors.

1. 100% restoration
2. Restore to correct colors, but change to a 4 speed (automatics annoy me!)
3. restore but change the color combo and put a 4 speed in it, mild cam in the motor, etc.
4. LS7/z06 motor and t56 (which I already have waiting for a project), mild protouring suspension but nothing that can't be unbolted later. (i.e. no mini-tubs, etc. - maybe just a hotchkiss suspension and frame ties to keep it from twisting apart.)

-Dan

Dan, I vote for number 1, but I'm a purist. However, this is only after 40 years of hot rodding these things to death, so no, I won't yell at you! I understand the "urge"!! Heck, I still get it from time to time!

Ed

Hi Dan,
I agree with Ed. Restore it the way it was when it rolled off the assembly line. Your RS sounds like a very nice car. Please keep us posted.

I have a 68 Ash Gold coupe and I was thinking about doing the same thing..repainting it another color such as blue or red, but I decided to keep it the original Ash Gold color and put a black bumblebee stripe on the nose..

I don't have any regrets and the color has grown on me.. It gets alot of attention at local shows because the color is different than most Camaros..

If mine were an original RS with your options I would keep it original..

Being a 68 and having DOCs... restore or slightly modify (to be returned to stock later) I would not cut it up....and save all the "numbers matching" parts for later also.

I have a 68 coupe that is ash gold also. I have documentation on mine. I don't have the POP but I bought it from the "original owner family". I have the original bill of sale from the dealership as well as the build sheet for the car.

As I said, it's ash gold, black vinyl top, black std. interior, 327 PG. I have elected to take the path of modifying it but in a way that I can convert it back to original if I want to. My neighbor jokes that I have enough parts in the crawl space to build another Camaro with all the original parts.

I am choosing to keep it ash gold with the black vinyl top for the reason stated above. You just don't see alot of them that color in the sea of blue, red, and black Camaro's out there.

I have modified the top end of the 327 and it now runs around the 327/300 spec's. I put in a TKO600 with center console and gauges (with tic toc tac). New posi and gears in the original rearend. I plan in the future to put in an LS series engine. When I can afford it.

Just my thoughts.

Murph

Is it to be a keeper...or a sale down the road? If the former...#1 makes more sense, since you have the papers. And if you do...try to stay with bolt ons.

It's your call...but as the rest have indicated...I'm biased towards the restore as well.

capt

I like restored cars also but it would be nice cruising around with a LS7 and T56. Especially on power tour or something like that. Just do it so it can go back to original at a later date.

seeing that you have 2 68's and the other one already has a 427, i say you just restore it. i have a restored 69 so for my 68, im gonna do a bit of a resto mod.

Thanks for the input guys... I'm on the fence on this one, especially because I remember what a stone a 327/pg combo can be, and even at a full restoration I'd want to add power steering and front disk brakes just for safetyon the brakes.

If anyone has some good pics of an ash gold car please pm or email me. (esp for RS or verts) The guy I'm buying it from is trying to find the negatives from some pictures of the car after it's previous restoration in the 80's.

As a few mentioned, even if I do the LS motor route, I think I can do it without the use of the sawzall! Then again for what I can get for the LS7 and T56 I have around I can pay for a new interior, top, and paint! -Dan

there is a picture of mine in my profile.. let me know if you want more..

Restore it 100 %.........you will never regret it and it will be worth more. As always though, your car and your choice. I have gone through the same dilema for years.

:noway:
Hey Dan. Thought I'd add my 2 cents. I'm all about upgrading and modifying, but when it comes to survivors, I would most definitely restore.

There are so few of these original cars left it would be a shame to see it change.

BUT... if you feel you really want to do this, it is your car. At the very least, I would save the block and tranny so you can let it go with the car if you ever decide to sell.

Good luck

:noway:
Hey Dan. Thought I'd add my 2 cents. I'm all about upgrading and modifying, but when it comes to survivors, I would most definitely restore.

There are so few of these original cars left it would be a shame to see it change.

BUT... if you feel you really want to do this, it is your car. At the very least, I would save the block and tranny so you can let it go with the car if you ever decide to sell.

Good luck

thanks- yes, IF I mod it, I would keep it to reversible items and save the original parts too, heck I did that with my RS/SS... the motor hasn't run since 1992, but it's still around. (tranny and rear end too.) One thought is since I don't have plans for a short term flip/sale, build it to my likes - 10-15 years from now it's only a paint job and interior to put it back to stock (and of course returning the original driveline to it.) Even on the short term thought, it's what, a $30k car restored? but modified properly it can be a $60-80k car to the right audience.

I'll post some pics of the new toy soon. While a survivor of sorts, it's pretty rough underneath. lots of work to do!

-Dan

Since it is is documented and matching numbers, why not restore and sell it. Then find an undocumented roller and build it your way?

Since it is is documented and matching numbers, why not restore and sell it. Then find an undocumented roller and build it your way?

Now that's a great idea!

Since it is is documented and matching numbers, why not restore and sell it. Then find an undocumented roller and build it your way?

oh, but then I wouldn't get as much abuse from the restoration types, and that's not as much fun! It is one of the options I'm weighing, I'm really not going to decide until the floors, etc are done, plus it will let me get into the car more, make sure it can be restored right. If the floors/undercarriage were still mint it would be a non issue, but since it is so punky underneath I wouldn't lose any sleep over not restoring it at this point. I just wish and ash gold 327/PG RS vert was worth more, then again it would be a non issue, I'd restore it for sure. thanks again for the input. -Dan

I just wish and ash gold 327/PG RS vert was worth more

Yeah, but Dan, if it was, you wouldn't want to drive it for fear of wrecking it!! Base cars are ALWAYS more fun to drive because you don't have the fear. Who cares if you total a base car!!

Ed

i would restore it. if you want to modify a camaro, buy one without a motor and build from the ground up. there is no point in destroying an all original camaro when there are thousands out there that are already chopped up.

from the sounds of it if you can afford an ls7 then chances are you got enough cash flow to take a 1000 dollar rust bucket and turn it into exactly what you want.

At one time I would have said restore it. But after driving a restored car for the last 20 years I'm getting bored and starting to (non-destructively) modify it. Yours, with manual steering and brakes and PG won't be very exciting to drive either. I say keep the color, nothing wrong with Gold, it's now as uncommon as my Butternut Yellow. I don't believe in cutting up these cars as it hurts the value, but there's nothing wrong with building it your way if it can be put back to original afterward. If I had an LS7 and T56 laying around, they would be in the car ASAP!

Looking forward to your decision.

I agree that if it was an RS/SS or Z28 it should be bone stock. With a 2bbl powerglide.....I'm going with the urge to put a manual trans in the car. And sure, why not upgrade the engine. Bottom line is that all of those things can be taken out and the car put back to original down the road if you want. But for all of the expense and time needed to do a first class job, you have to enjoy the end product.

Actually, that is exactly what I did with mine. I kept the entire vehicle looking stock with the hood closed. Original colors, gauges, etc. Under the skin is an updated 327 with Edelbrock Proflo2 fuel injection and a Tremek 5 speed. Much more fun than the 210hp 327 2bbl and powerglide. Got all of the parts and the expertise to put it back, however.

Remeber, ya gotta have fun!

A high-performance transmission would run circles around a powerglide and be much more reponsive on the road but it depends on what you want to do with the vehicle. If you are going to take it on highway road challenges then by all means, go all out with the modified powertrain and suspension. Otherwise, keep it original. In my opinion, there is nothing like the feeling of picturing the era of when it left the assembly line.

If you intend to keep the car for your own enjoyment then make it what you want to drive, LS7 and all. Of course keep all original parts so if you regret the swap then put it back to original. Lots of guys here are driving cars with 5 speed transmissions and that doesn't make them any less of a sweet car.
Now if that were a numbers matching 6 cylinder car I would say restore. :D

I say do what you want to make it fun to drive. I would lean towards doing the original paint, but also do reversible modifications and keep ALL the original parts. I understand why people want to keep it original, but you gotta make it fun to drive too. What's the point of having an original car if it's no fun to drive?

Now me personally, I would ditch the LS7 idea and do a cheaper carbed engine. Put the extra money into the rest of the car. But if you have the money to spend, go for it (as long as you can bring it back to stock later).

I think that most of us are on this forum because of our passion for our cars, not for the money that we make on them.I would be pissed if every time I opened my garage and saw a vehicle that I didn't like to drive , was the wrong color etc. For me it would be like coming home to a wife that you hate. I say sell the vehicle to someone that is excited about a gold RS and find something else and build your dream so when you open your garage door its like Hell Yeah.

thanks guys... hopefully I'll get some time to shoot some pics this week. The more I look at it, the more I keep thinking of a car that I can drive long distances, power tour, pigeon forge, etc. But I really want to get out and see a finished car in ash gold before I decide- If I'm not into the color that throws a restoration aside for now. Why couldn't by buddy's uncle checked "SS" as an option when he ordered this car!!

I say mod it since you need to do sheetmetal replacement to the degree you've mentioned. If it was a survivor I'd consider being able to undo what you want to do. Orginality is nice for preserving history. Even my old VW I had in 1973 seems better as time goes on (in my mind).

You could always restore the original subframe and keep it all intact and have the original motor/tranny restored. They make a cool static display in the garage. Run a aftermarket sub frame and motor and tranny and have fun with it. As long as the original stuff is there to do a switcheroo on standby, I would see no harm. I have a 69 SS 396 4 speed car. My goal is to make it the way I want it without any permanent type modifications and to have all the right date code original stuff to go with it. The cool thing has been accumulating original stuff for my L78 block. Gives me an excuse to goto the swap meets and look in ebay and be picky. There is no pressure and I can blow off the jerk thats trying to take advange that he has the exact date correct part and wants to gouge me. I am driving and enjoying my car and can wait a year or two till another one is for sale at the right price. Meanwhile, my 550 hp 454 and corvette brakes make it really enjoyable to drive. Looking to add Tremec 5 speed and perhaps some vintage air.

You could always restore the original subframe and keep it all intact and have the original motor/tranny restored. They make a cool static display in the garage. Run a aftermarket sub frame and motor and tranny and have fun with it. As long as the original stuff is there to do a switcheroo on standby, I would see no harm.

I'm leaning this way at the moment, I think the car would be a blast with a LS7/6 speed combo.

ok, hopefully my album is working, lots of crusty floor pics: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/members/68sixspeed-albums-68-camaro-convertible.html

and one linked picture:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/members/68sixspeed-albums-68-camaro-convertible-picture24706-this-is-how-i-found-it-not-at-my-house-yet.jpg

Dan,

While I'm new to the forum and it's all your choice, I had a similar predicament 15 years ago. I had found deal in So-Cal on a very beautiful 69 RS/SS number matching convertible full of options that had all the paperwork and provenance needed to make it a concours show car. I had trailer queens before and knew this wasn't what I really wanted and the wife wouldn't allow me to have two Camaros so I passed on the deal. I wanted a "daily driver" that I could modify as I wanted with to it. I finally found a non-number matching car that needed the right amount of work to make it a driver that I could enjoy and not feel bad about modifying.

Well, just an update, believe it or not, I'm leaning toward restoring this one! Maybe a 4 speed and 275hp intake swap, that's about it. (Well, I'm still debating on the color too.) So hopefully in a month or two I'll have some new pictures of it after getting the underside blasted! Thanks again for everyone's input. -Dan

Here's the starting point.....

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/members/68sixspeed-albums-68-camaro-convertible-picture29948-p7180125.jpg

Hey Dan. Nice project. You know I have a few cars, but It's hard to drive them all as much as I'd want. So my two cents is go original on this one. You have the other that's quick and get a less documented car for a resto mod. If you change the color it can be very costly. At least in time. I did that to my 64 vette because I was tired of ermine white. (See photobucket). But that's a low value 64 that I owned for 25yrs. Stay true on this one. I'm not a purist persay, but the restoration back to original perfect condition will be worth it. Good luck and Happy New year! Dan