I might have the chance to purchase a 1968 Ss Or Rs Camaro in Amazing Condition Body wise mechanical wise. It is a California Car with no rust. It is a 327 with a 3 speed floor shifter ? Which I thought was Odd , Plus It has no Hood Stacks/Vents. I Take pictures of the car Thursday and Intend on shooting the Door Vin , Dash Vin, Cowl Vin, And If the S.o.b will let me the p-o-p. Lol. Im new to this and really trying to get the numbers end of it correct


Whats it Worth with out pics? How do I tell if its a Real SS or not? SS didnt come in 327 ci motors? But the Special 3 speed floor shifter was SS only option?

Correct the SS did not come with a 327 or a 3 speed I believe. The SS is a performance package. My RS, which is only a trim package, came with a 327 and 3 speed manual. There are many posts on here that will tell you what to look for in a real SS. Here's one: http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=153667&highlight=identify+1968
You will see that 68s can be tricky so be careful and get underneath the car to look too. Is it original paint?

3 speed manual transmissions were available on 67-68 SS.
Here is a link for you to read.

http://www.camaros.org/trans.shtml#3speed

Good luck with the car, please post pics and #'s for all to share.

The 350 was only available in the SSs in '67 and '68. If it's not a numbers matching 350 in a '68, there is no way to prove it was an SS. But one can say it "could have been" an SS if all the other signs are there... If the 327 is numbers matching or you get a real POP, it will answer some questions.

Welcome to TC Aaron, sounds like a nice car. Yep, 327, 3 spd was standard equipment for a V8, manual trans 68 Camaro. Check Kens (Indy 69 ;)) link for the tranny specifics. The venerable 327 are good little engines...could possibly be an L30 which is just a couple horses shy of the SS350:). Check the engine stampings just in front of the passenger side cyl. head to see what/where the engine started life as. http://camaros.org/drivetrain.shtml#PadStamps

The obvious clue distinguishing an RS (Z22) are concealed headlights.
http://camaros.org/options.shtml

There wont be a door jamb VIN..that was 67 only, before it was moved to the dash in 68.

Good luck with your findings. Sorry, I can't put a price on it....pix & more info required.

welcome to team camaro!

Aaron,

If you are near San Diego I'd be happy to help you out with it. The car needs a 12 bolt rear to be a true SS unless the rear was changed during the life of the car.

Gregg

I am learning Faster and Faster and am getting smarter towards locations of the different numbers. I am lost on how to find the "protect o plate" Do i disassemble something?

The original colors are white with orange stripes. Thats atleast what the Owner Claims. The Owner also Claims that its an SS that originally came with a 327 but now has an Inline six in it.

I am looking for a 12 bolt vs 10bolt rear,
I am looking for plated metal finishing on the door trim,
I am looking for the Recessed front headlights,
I am looking for the Ext Paint Code,
I am Looking for the Trim package Z22.
I am Looking for a Punched out factory hole by the Brake booster
I am looking for 26 Vs 28 coils on the Hood springs

And a VIN (on top of the dash, not the cowl tag on the firewall) that begins "124" for a V8 car.

White with orange stripes was not a factory color combo in 68, so if the car was "originally" that way, it would have a "- -" denoting special paint on the cowl tag. If there is a color code of letters there, it was originally whatever color the codes indicate.

With what you're describing so far, I am betting you find a 123378 at the beginning of the VIN tag. I cannot think of one single documented case where someone took out a small block V8 to put an L6 engine in.

And a VIN (on top of the dash, not the cowl tag on the firewall) that begins "124" for a V8 car.

White with orange stripes was not a factory color combo in 68, so if the car was "originally" that way, it would have a "- -" denoting special paint on the cowl tag. If there is a color code of letters there, it was originally whatever color the codes indicate.

With what you're describing so far, I am betting you find a 123378 at the beginning of the VIN tag. I cannot think of one single documented case where someone took out a small block V8 to put an L6 engine in.


this was worst case scenario in the back of my head the entire time.

So to add , I am looking for 123378 vs 124XXX On the Dash Vin

Aaron- the protecto plate is a seperate document and is not found "on" the car. It was usually carried in the glove box. You may be thinking of the "build sheet", which is pretty rare to find. Also, google: Camaro research group (CRG). tons of great info on there. Welcome to T.C

this was worst case scenario in the back of my head the entire time.

So to add , I am looking for 123378 vs 124XXX On the Dash Vin

Just to clarify what the xxxx will be:

1 = Chevrolet
2 = Camaro
3 = 6 cylinder, or 4 = V8
37 = Coupe (67 for vert)
8 = 1968 model year

The next character will be the assembly plant, either an N for Norwood, Ohio, or L for Los Angeles, CA.

The final six numbers are the sequential production number.

So, if it has a 6 cyl VIN, definitely not an SS.

If it happens to be a V8 VIN, then you can check some of the other SS clues you've been given. However, if it had a V8 VIN but an L6 engine, I would want to check the hidden VINs on the body to make sure they match the VIN on the dash. http://www.camaros.org/numbers.shtml#PartialVIN

Also, if you find that the dash VIN and the partial VINs do not match (meaning the car has been titled with a VIN that belonged to a different Camaro), for giggles you can check the partial VIN on the L6 engine and see if it matches what you find on the hidden VIN. As I mentioned earlier, I would be hard pressed to believe that someone went to all the work to put an L6 drivetrain in a V8 car, but I could easily imagine someone with an L6 car but no title for the L6 VIN to swap on a V8 VIN with a title.

I am learning Faster and Faster and am getting smarter towards locations of the different numbers. I am lost on how to find the "protect o plate" Do i disassemble something?

The original colors are white with orange stripes. Thats atleast what the Owner Claims. The Owner also Claims that its an SS that originally came with a 327 but now has an Inline six in it.


That protect o plate was put in the glovebox 42 years ago, so it should still be there, unless some one opened the glove box and removed it. Sorry, thats sarcasm in case it wasn't obvious. The POP was worthless to the car owner after the warranty expired so many of them got tossed. They are however very valuable to the collector who is lucky enough to find it or the owner wise enough to keep it. Good luck finding it, most are long gone.

Your seller either does not know Camaros very well or is being untruthful. I would take anything he says as a grain of salt and keep on researching with the help of this site.

That protect o plate was put in the glovebox 42 years ago, so it should still be there, unless some one opened the glove box and removed it. Sorry, thats sarcasm in case it wasn't obvious. The POP was worthless to the car owner after the warranty expired so many of them got tossed. They are however very valuable to the collector who is lucky enough to find it or the owner wise enough to keep it. Good luck finding it, most are long gone.

Your seller either does not know Camaros very well or is being untruthful. I would take anything he says as a grain of salt and keep on researching with the help of this site.

My Seller is probably a little of both. There is some things not matching up like saying the car was an SS 30 years ago and that the White Car with Hugger Orange Stripes is its Original Color...

I am Now starting to Get the hang of reading mock Trim Plates of the 68 but am now Broadening my scope to the Entire first gen and their codes and respective trim packages.

I am no expert nor am i trying to become one but I think I like the journey I have begun and even if I dont land this one i think my search will continue regardless.