Hello everyone!

Without getting into a long, sad story you can just say I'm an old motorhead from the seventies, who just lost his way. I owned several Camaros back then and even ran at Byron Dragway once.

Bringing us up to present day, I'm looking to get back into the old Camaros. Fortunately, I had the foresight way back when NOT to sell my last Camaro.

Sitting in the back of my shed, in pieces for too many years, is my old 1967 RS/SS 396 Camaro. I bought the car in 1984 and I believe I'm the third owner. The car was almost stock with only some bolt-ons added and I managed to get the stock iron ex.manifolds from the previous owner.

I drove it for awhile, until one very foggy morning - when I got into a fender bender with it. I then stored the car for a year -refusing to drive it with the damage caused by the accident. It was then I decided to begin a restoration.

I purchased almost all the parts needed, just shy an interior which was badly faded from several years of sitting in a factory employee parking lot. The body shell is done and it still needs the motor/trans rebuilt and the front end painted and assembled.

The project suffered numerous setbacks and distractions until I somehow lost interest. As I said, it's been in my shed in this condition for years. I'm now hoping to pick up the pieces and get this car finished. I'm hoping this site will get me re-motivated.

Just a few more details, This '67 RS/SS is Bolero Red with a red interior. It was built in the Norwood factory at the end of May which leads me to believe this is one of the first big blocks made. And it was delivered - and still has - a column-shifted Turbo 400 transmission. It also has front disc brakes and a 12 bolt posi rear.

Those that I've talked to have said this is a rare car. I do know only 1,453 cars received the 400 turbo and no-one has any idea how many were column-shift. I would assume very, very few. I can't seem to find the transmission code on the cowl tag - so I'm going to try to upload a picture I took today. I'm too embarassed to take pictures of the rest of the car.

Can someone point out where the trans code is, please? I only tried decoding the tag once and that was years ago. Any info would be appreciated. The interior of the car is as standard as can be with only bucket seats and that's it. The window sticker was long gone, and no build sheets were found when it was disassembled.

Thanks in advance,
Buzzard

welcome to team camaro!!!! sounds like a nice project!! lets get going on it !! im pumped and ready!!

Thanks Sparky, I'm getting excited too!

The code for a TH400 (or any optional trans.) would be in option group "2" on the tag. Your tag has no options in group "2". Probably had the base HD 3 spd manual trans. (M13), originally.

From the CRG:

The heavy-duty 3-speed manual transmission, made by Borg-Warner, was available as RPO M13 for 67-68 SS models. For SS350 models, M13 was optional (but required if you wanted a floor shift). For SS396 models, M13 was a required option if another transmission was not ordered.

Thanks for the reply, John! That confirms what I thought which was the trans code was not there. My next question is - was the heavy-duty 3-speed manual transmission on the column in an SS 396 if the floor shift was not ordered? The reason I ask is the floor is uncut with no floor shifter opening. This means a turbo column was swapped into the car at some point to accept this trans.

Something else I haven't mentioned here, is the 12 bolt rear has a round traction bar instead of the square unit that usually was in the big block cars. It also has mono leaf springs. This has been explained two ways by two different sources. One fellow said it probably got a small block rear assembly due to an assembly line shortage. I was also told the early big blocks received the small block mono leaf 12 bolt rears until they switched to multi-leaf springs.

Again, thank you all for helping me discern the oddities of this car.
Buzz

http://www.camaros.org/radiusrod.shtml

Wow! That's a great report. I took a quick scan, but for now it will have to wait as family matters require my presence. Thanks John! I'll study up on the radius rods. At least I have the correct rod for the L35/M40. That once again makes me wonder what gives with the column-shift Turbo 400 trans vs the cowl plate.

Thanks again,
Buzz

greeting old motorhead
i'm also a new person to this website... Lets get on that car and
get it on the road..it took me 14 years. Started project, getting single, and restart from scratch to get my 69 camaro convertible
on the road and its almost done {never really done} but i'm enjoying it and driving it as much as possible

Welcome to the Club, Buzz.
Your column shift, does it have P-R-N-D-2-1 scale? Can 1 & 2 be selected manually?
Could it be a transferred column?

Welcome Buzz! Your column should be dated (stamped julian date) in the inside near the firewall. Have a look. If the date is before your cars build date, then some more digging is needed. Not the first time things have gone from (no way that happened, to Hmm, that window sticker proves that exceptions happened :) ). If the date is past you build date, then its been swapped. Luck!

Hey Guys!
I'm back from the weekend camping trip. I also got a day pass from the family camping to attend Saturday's racing program at Cordova Dragway park. A friend was running his '36 Chevy coupe which runs 10.00s.

Thanks for the encouragement, Jay. I'm hoping to have my finances in order shortly so that the project can begin again.

Hello Everett! I was expecting this question and yes, the column does have the indicator with 1-2 present that would accompany the turbo trans. The column is also painted the same color red as the dash and has similar fade/loss of luster. As I said before, the car's floorpan is unviolated without a hole for a previous shifter.

Thanks for the tip, Kevin! Your suggestion should yield a valuable clue! I had never given a thought to looking for a date stamp. I will do this at my earliest convenience and I will then report back. Which leads me to ask, would the car's transmission prove or disprove that the car's original or not? Is there a case number that should match the engine block or is there just a date code? Where would these numbers appear?

Thanks for the help, guys!
Buzz

Buzz, your vin should be stamped on the trans on the drivers side, the build info will be on the ID plate on the pass side. look here for pics http://www.camaros.org/drivetrain.shtml

What is engine code suffix?

Now we're cookin'! I will be looking at these stamps and codes and will report back ASAP!

Thanks again for the Help, guys!!
Buzz