What are some of the things to look for to help determine if a 1969 camaro is an SS or not? I believe they came with multi-leaf rear springs (how many?), a heavier radiator (how do I tell), a return vapor line from the gas tank, etc..... Any and all items would be of great help! THANKS!

By the way the car has the 350 motor and 350 auto trans if that makes a difference in other items to look for.

If the car has the original engine and trans check to see if the partial VIN on the engine matches the public VIN on the dash. Now verify that VIN by looking into the cowl panel with a strong flashlight on the passengers side. There is a partial VIN stamped into the cowl. The partial vin should show you the build number of the car and match the public VIN. If you can't see it through the cowl, you have to remove the cowl panel to view it. The all of the VIN's match, check the casting numbers on the block. The first portion of the engine Serial number will tell you what car the engine came in from the factory. Sometimes this is a very specific application and sometimes it will just indicate a vehicle line. You can look under the rear on the outside frame rail next to the gas tank to see if the dual exhaust hangers are there. That is just another indicator but not a positive ID. The best evidence is a build sheet, protecto-plate, or delivery invoice. If the car has not been molested, you may find the build sheet behind the rear sheet or on top of the gas tank. There are a lot of variables to look for. Good Luck

Thanks 69X11ss! Will be checking the vin numbers, the hanger for the exhaust is the kind of thing I was looking for, one more little thing to help add things up.

I will be looking at the car tomorrow, hopefully it will pan out and Maybe I can change my name to 69X11rs/ss.
Thanks again!

My 69 is a 350 300 hp 4 speed factory car.Code X55 on the cowl panel.It does have multileaf spring,12 bolt and front discs.Possibly options?

If the numbers on the engine match, and the car is unrestored, that's a strong indicator of real SS. If it is restored, almost anything can be altered.

If it is unrestored, clues are easier to check.
Tire sticker on the driver door, emmissions sticker on the core support, tach, if it has one,
proper hose brackets for disc brakes, to name a few.

BTW, don't waste your time looking for a build sheet. Virtually no Norwood cars have been found with them. With Van Nuys cars, it is probably worth the search.

It should have 5 leaf springs on a 12 bolt, 4 barrel carb, hood louvers or cowl hood, and "SS" emblems. Look in the trunk to see the mounting of the SS emblems. Shouldn't be extra holes or bondo oozing out of filled holes.

Spoilers were optional and your trunk lid could have 2 sets of holes for the Camaro badge. The CRG has some good info for you, check this out... http://www.camaros.org/diffs69.shtml

Can you post your cowl tag info and vin? The CRG have a database and can use your info. If your car is already in the database they may be able to tell you more about your car...

Originally posted by 68RSZEE:
It should have 5 leaf springs on a 12 bolt, 4 barrel carb, hood louvers or cowl hood, and "SS" emblems. Look in the trunk to see the mounting of the SS emblems. Shouldn't be extra holes or bondo oozing out of filled holes. 350 SS's with a power glide transmission could have a 10 bolt transmission and still be an SS. Almost any SB could be ordered with a 12 bolt, that would not make it an SS.

Springs were selected by a "computer" based on the options ordered with the car. A vast majority of SS's came with 5 leafs, but there are some 3 and 4 leaf SS's out there. There are also 5 leaf Z28's out there even though the "books" say all Z28's have 4 leaf springs.

Cowl hoods on an SS are about as rare as a cross ram Z28. Only 10,006 cars originally came with the cowl hood. 4000 of those were Z11 or Z10's, another 1000 were COPO's (L72's ZL-1) and 98% of the last 5000 were Z28's. There can't be more than 100 or so, non-Z10, Z11, COPO or Z28's that got the cowl hood originally.

All 69 Camaros have 2 holes in the tail panel for one of three emblems. RS, SS, and Bowtie all mount in the same holes.

SS's are pretty simple in 69:

All SS's required power front disc brakes, and dual exhausts. Camaros with dual exhaust have an extra bracket on the drivers side rear frame for the driver's side tail pipe hanger. Remember you could order dual exhaust on an LM1, or L65 so the presence of this bracket alone does not indicate SS.

The rest is simple stuff.

1) Any X55, X22, or X66 tagged car is an SS (assuming the tag is original)
2) Any small block made after 1/1/69 with 2 fuel lines is an SS.
3) Any big block (except L72 or ZL1) is an SS (assuming it is original)
4) Any Non-Z28 with an Aluminum 4 speed Muncie is an SS. (assuming it is original - you can tell by the location of the speedo hole in the firewall even if the transmission is missing)

[ 05-03-2003, 05:28 AM: Message edited by: Mark C ]

Originally posted by Mark C:
Almost any SB could be ordered with a 12 bolt, that would not make it an SS.

A vast majority of SS's came with 5 leafs, but there are some 3 and 4 leaf SS's out there.

Cowl hoods on an SS are about as rare as a cross ram Z28.

4) Any Non-Z28 with an Aluminum 4 speed Muncie is an SS. (assuming it is original - you can tell by the location of the speedo hole in the firewall even if the transmission is missing) [/QB]Clarification on these items.

You could not specify the axle size. GM determined that by the powertrain combo. 69 307 & 327 cars didn't get 12 bolts, no matter how you ordered the car.

There were no 3 leaf springs in 67-9 Camaros.

Cowl hoods did come on SS's, but there were no cross-ram cars made. smile.gif

Non-SS cars could and did receive Muncies in 69. LM1's for sure and some L65's.

where is the correct location for the speedo cable on a four speed to exit? is it through the front of the shifter tunnel or the firewall? does anyone have a pic of it? just want to confirm mine also.

thanks,
angel

On an SS, it's through the side of the transmission tunnel right at the front above the accelerator lever hole.

thanks mark

angel

THANKS everyone, all the information was great, some of the hints mentioned I could find others I could not. Car was re-done and had many new parts, motor from a 72 camaro etc..., so overall no way to verify if its a true SS. However that does not matter to me it has a working RS package and the car was in a #2 condition so I purchased it.

Ready to cruise as soon as I get it taged!

Two more things to add if you're interested.

1) SS cars w/disc brakes have a "pressure balance" valve mounted on the subframe rail, under the drivers-side door area. Look for that.

2) SS 350's have the same engine frame mounts as the Z28's did. Forgot what the P/N's were but they end in "7" & "8". The numbers are stamped onto them.

Regular small block Camaro's have different engine frame mounts. They're the same ones used for big-block cars too.

Originally posted by 69ss350:
1) SS cars w/disc brakes have a "pressure balance" valve mounted on the subframe rail, under the drivers-side door area. Look for that.

2) SS 350's have the same engine frame mounts as the Z28's did. Forgot what the P/N's were but they end in "7" & "8". The numbers are stamped onto them.

Regular small block Camaro's have different engine frame mounts. They're the same ones used for big-block cars too. 1. Most SS's have that valve, but non-SS cars can have it to.

2. Non-SS Camaros with the 350 engine have the same mounts too.
BB mounts are not the same as any SB mounts.

Just to clarify, not all SS cars got the "pressure balance" valve mentioned above. It is still not completely clear as to when this valve was and was not used / installed...

And as I said, most (95%) 69 SS's should have a rear brake line valve.
69 Z28's have a much erratic usage.