I have a 1968 Z28 that needs restoration and I have decided that it needs to be restored to original and I don't think I can do it justice. I live in west Texas with no restoration shops anywhere near me. Could any of you guys recommend a good resto shop, anywhere in the state, that can restore my Camaro to its former self? Any help or info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.....

theres a guy ive been watching on youtube lately South West Rods And Customs i think he in dallas or houston

http://www.youtube.com/user/swrnc

Do you have any pictures you can share with everyone??

Is the car a survivor, or, has it been restored before? Pics would be nice.

Camaro Concepts in Houston Texas. They do excellent work.

Talk to Roy Chaney.

http://www.camaroconcepts.com/

Well.....here's the story....pictures later.

I purchased the Z in 1972 from a used car lot making me the second owner. This was back in my younger and stupider days and I thought I needed to upgrade it somewhat so I proceeded to install a 350 LT1 shortblock, modify the heads, install headers, large exhaust exiting at the rear axle, different manifold and carb, and ran it that way until leaded, premium gas went away. It has been in storage ever since. I kept the original 302 shortblock but used the other parts on the 350. I now have pulled the 350 and remove all the 302 parts to reuse on rebuilding of the 302. I have had all the machine work done on the original 302 block and purchased the .30 over pistons from Ricks for installation and started to rebuild the 302 shortblock. But if you have ever been to west Texas in summer you know how hot it gets and this has stopped my work till fall (cooler weather). So that is how my restoration of the engine stands.

The running gear is still all original with the exception of the shifter...I installed a Hurst and threw the old shifter in the trash....OOPS.

And now to the body.....It has all the original sheetmetal with minimal rust. All the original glass is still in good shape. The original interior is good with the exception of the headliner and sail panels...they need to be replaced. The headliner fell down due to the rotting of the stitching to the bows. This was caused by some water getting in the trunk and the hot sun making steam...also there is some rust in the trunk pan but not all the way through. Also needs a new package tray...sun and water damage also. The paint is in bad shape, the front header is dented and the bumper is dented due to hitting a highway marker pole, and there are a few dents on the driver door due to hits on it in storage. The firewall has a couple of 1" holes in it for the air conditioner lines to go through to the hang on air conditioner installed by the original owner and since removed. I now have removed most of the front end sheetmetal in preparation for cleaning and repainting.

And now I have come to the conclusion that this baby is in too good shape for me to butcher.....it needs to be restored to its former beauty as it was on day one. So that is why I'm looking for someone that can get it right the first time. I am too old to wait around to do and redo everything myself. I would still like to drive it some before I get too old to drive.

Will get out in the garage with camera in hand and try to get several pictures for everyone.

Thanks.....

Was the block decked? Can you post a pic of the "MO" stamping on the block. Maybe a pic of the cowl tag? We are hungry for pics. Thanks.

Check this link for photos. The block has not been decked and there is a photo of the pad, trim tag, and the POP.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/album.php?albumid=160

Yes that is a very nice car. It should put back to original. Congradulations on keeping it that long. I have had mine for 28 years but I cut mine up. It was just a plain jane X-11car.

I like that color combination!!

Neat Ride!! thats in pretty darn good condition -especially NO Rust! to speak of anyway definetly needs help. IMO a rotisserie would be a bit extreme but what ever the wallet will allow - make it too nice then you(or I would) have a hard time driving it. But why not do it yourself? you save big $$ and you can take pride in doing it yourself and keep it a driver- what fun are they if you cant drive them?

Could any of you guys recommend a good resto shop, anywhere in the state, that can restore my Camaro to its former self?


Jerry,
If you pay someone to restore your car, you will easily have way more in the car than what it is worth. Ask me how I know.:yes:
A good quality paint job will cost @ $15k. Rust issues, more money.
Most professional restoration shops are going to charge you $70 to $85/hr.
And, they are going to charge you time and materials.
Whatever you think it will cost to restore this car, times it by 2.

You might think I am nuts, but I would clean it, detail it, spray the trunk, sub frame etc. and put that baby back on the road. Sorry if I missed it, but is that original paint and interior?

Just read your post again. I would do minimal to it (rust treatment, bumper, sail panels etc. and drive it!)

Original paint on a 1st gen can be brought back to life with some touch up, color sanding and buffing.

You might think I am nuts, but I would clean it, detail it, spray the trunk, sub frame etc. and put that baby back on the road. Sorry if I missed it, but is that original paint and interior?

Just read your post again. I would do minimal to it (rust treatment, bumper, sail panels etc. and drive it!)

Original paint on a 1st gen can be brought back to life with some touch up, color sanding and buffing.

I agree clean it up and put it on the road

Jerry,
If you pay someone to restore your car, you will easily have way more in the car than what it is worth. Ask me how I know.:yes:
A good quality paint job will cost @ $15k. Rust issues, more money.
Most professional restoration shops are going to charge you $70 to $85/hr.
And, they are going to charge you time and materials.
Whatever you think it will cost to restore this car, times it by 2.


Dayton is right, you will have a bunch of money in it. It is redicilous now how much it cost. If you can do alot of the work yourself you will save a bunch of money.

Beautiful car... as above... do as little as possible since she's a survivor. :yes:

Hey Jerry my name is Keith i own K.C racing and classic"s i am in the middle of moving my shop to Rockwall tx about 5miles east of Dallas I have done MANY 67-69 camaro resto i own a 68 race car and a 67 rs/ss i am restoring now many people on this site know me and trust me and i have no unhappy costumers i can also give many reff. I am a small bussiness so i only do one or two cars at a time so i can beat anyones price most of the time buy half give me a call if you have any questions or for pricing or if you just want to know about another shop i can give you my opp. thanks Keith 682-552-4768

Don't restore it if that is the original paint!

+1 for orignal survivor...its like a time capsule!

It has been said before many times.... It is only original once........follow the advise and keep it as it is including the AC holes from previous owner......Cleaning it up documenting it along the way etc. will be very rewarding.....

You can drive enjoy it vs restored trailer queenish....When you show the car it will not just blend in with all the other restored cars....It deserves to be kept as is, more then it deserves to be done right......

You will develop the skills and knowledge along the way it is all part of the hobby and at times can be a lot of fun.

Best of luck with your Z keep us updated to its faith....

Sorry to have been absent recently, but I have been away from home for a few days. Thanks so much for all the advice you guys have provided me. I am going to continue with the engine assembly and I will for now continue with my dis-assembly down to the subframe. I plan to clean the subframe, rear axle and the under body.

As to the paint.....I failed to mention that the black paint stripes are beginning to crack and peel all the way to the metal. This has caused a lot of the spots to start rusting. This worries me and I thought the only way to cure this problem was to strip and repaint. Maybe someone else might have a better cure. If so.....Please let me know.

Again Thanks.....Later

Lucas Restorations is second to none in my opinion. And they are very affordable. I have known Ken Lucas for about 20 years and he treats every resto like it's his own car.

We do all the drive train restoration for Ken and 302's are generally making 350-380 hp with pump gas on the dyno when I get done with them. And that's on Burtonsville Machine's dyno which is very conservative. I do a lot of my little Stock Eliminator tricks to pick up the power on these engines. Last 396-375 I did made 436 hp.

Jerry

Woooh, Jerry "the man" check'n in!
Hi Jerry
Dale