im wondering if anyone can help me. i have a 69 camaro thats sitting in my garage with engine prob. and im debating on what to do.

this is the information of the tag under the hood

tr st 69 123437
711 nor 2604338dy
02 b 69 bpn x22
vin I24379n598024

i wanna rebuild this motor but im not for sure if it is worth it or not. please help! :clonk: :beers:

x22 = original BB car = big bucks!!!! Post the #'s from the motor, tranny, rearend to see if they're original, but even if they're not, it's still worth restoring. It will most likely be worth big bucks if done correctly!!!!

02B = Built the Second week of February.
69-12437 = Coupe.
NOR = Built in Norwood Ohio.
711 = Standard Black Bucket Seats.
69-B = Lower Color is Cortez Silver and the Vinyl Top Color is Black.
X22 = SS396 with style trim

DEFINITELY worth restoring!!

Joe did most of it but heres the rest for the VIN and tag again. Also whats the engine code on the front pad on the engine block by the head?


1 = Chevrolet
2 = Camaro
4 = 8-cylinder engine
37 = coupe body
9 = 1969 model year
N = Norwood, OH assembly plant
598024 = vehicle serial number sequence

Decode for body number: 260433

02B = Built the Second week of February.
69-12437 = Coupe.
NOR = Built in Norwood Ohio.
711 = Standard Black Bucket Seats.
69-B = Lower Color is Cortez Silver and the Vinyl Top Color is Black.
X22 = SS396 with style trim

Thank you! I will try and get the engine and tranny # sometime this week. Thanks again :thumbsup:

"x22 = original BB car = big bucks!!!!"

Yeah, but...

Restoring a car = BIGGER bucks. Unless you can do all or most of the work yourself, and you DO NOT count your time as part of the restoration costs, you will not profit from restoring the car. These things are not investments. Restore the car because you love it and will enjoy owning it.

If you are looking for an investment, buy some land. They are not making any more of it. Unfortunately, for all of us, they ARE making more 1969 Camaros.

Having worked in the business end of the hobby for 15 years I agree with 69SSconvertible.

In addition to the initial cost of the car one can easily bury $30,000-$40,000 fixing some of the overdescribed crap offered on ebay. And it could take years to complete the car. I have far too many restoration horror stories for this forum. Lets say the first mistake is using a production body shop.

A frame off takes lots of time, cash and patience; you had better be good friends with lots of talented people. If your life will not be complete until you have a 1969 Camaro, find one done or nearly so. And expect a few surprises.

If your life will not be complete until you have a 1969 Camaro, find one done or nearly so. And expect a few surprises. Like the suprise of the price you would have to pay for a factory big-block car! Very hard to find in decent condition for under 30k today. If yours is halfway restorable and you want a big block car, you are a lucky soul. If you really don't care about a big block vs small block, then you could sell yours as-is and make nearly enough to buy a very nice completed small block driver.
You failed to mention the condition of the body of the car you have now??

Not to disagree, but not every car has to be "restored" to 100 pointers. With some elbow grease and spare time most people can reasonably make "daily drivers" out of their projects. Will it still take money? Sure, I am not debating that. Just a point that not every car needs a 50k "over restore". I personally like a nice decent paint (which you can get for around $2000.00 here in Louisiana), good body and a strong engine.
I like a car that I can enjoy driving, and sometimes drive hard. If it gets a chip in the paint at the sat night cruise in, sure, I'd be bummed-but not devistated.
sjk7679, there is nothing like having a car that is invested with your own sweat, tears and of course, blood (from all of those knuckle crunchers).
I say give it a try. Being a X-22 car, you will ALWAYS have people looking to buy the car from you.
Just my .02
Rich

All he said is he has engine problems. The rest of the car could be mint for all we know. I guess he wasn't interested enough to check back??

All he said is he has engine problems. The rest of the car could be mint for all we know. I guess he wasn't interested enough to check back??

I don't know how this thread got so far off topic. The guy asked if he should rebuild his engine, which is a stupid question to begin with, since he gives no information about the engine in question. It could be a transplanted 250 I6 for all we know. Then somebody jumps in and tells the guy to restore the car without having any information at all about the car except the cowl tag data. Do you guys actually read the threads before posting?

So, to get this back on the topic, Yes you should rebuild your engine. Why? Because ice cream doesn't have any bones.

I don't know how this thread got so far off topic. The guy asked if he should rebuild his engine, which is a stupid question to begin with, since he gives no information about the engine in question. It could be a transplanted 250 I6 for all we know. Then somebody jumps in and tells the guy to restore the car without having any information at all about the car except the cowl tag data. Do you guys actually read the threads before posting?

So, to get this back on the topic, Yes you should rebuild your engine. Why? Because ice cream doesn't have any bones.The question is did YOU read the post yourself? i wanna rebuild this motor but im not for sure if it is worth it or not. please help! Yes, he needs to provide a little more info on the car, but it sounds like he's asking if the car is worth spending money on rebuilding the motor for, that's why he included the cowl info! If it is the original engine the answer is obvious, and even without the original engine you should know that a factory big block car is worth quite a bit these days in any condition. Before you call his question stupid, you should take the time to read AND comprehend his entire post.

"Then somebody jumps in and tells the guy to restore the car without having any information at all about the car except the cowl tag data. Do you guys actually read the threads before posting?"

Stupid question? Man if someone was keeping track of my stupid questions, I'd been kicked off this site along time ago! Little harsh huh? :)

Scott, the heart of the thread was that the guy presumably (based on primary post by him) has x-66 car with an engine problem. The question was should he fix it?
and that is followed by his statement "and im debating on what to do".

I guess as always, we as a hobby seem to take it to it's lowest level. Money. Don't get me wrong, that is definately a consideration, and for most of us not a small one. I was just making the point after a couple of posts that were throwing numbers around like 30k-40k to restore the car. Most cars (not all, but more than 50% for sure) can be made into nice, safe and fun daily drivers for +/- 1/4 of that. Will they win 100 point trophy's at car shows? no. But they will be a whole lotta fun.

And while there are MANY horror stories, I think that there are many more success stories where people have invested more than just money in their cars, but their time. These cars then become more than an asset, they become part of the family!

A case in point. I had a 69 that I was building for profit, as a street driver. Guy from Mississippi (who by the way is now a member here, Pop McCoy you reading this?) came to look at it before it was complete. He spent the next couple of months coming down every weekend to New Orleans "helping" with the resto. In was during this time that I think the car really bacame "his". His busted knuckles, His sweat equity. He also knows the good and the bad. No "hidden" surprises behind a 10k paint job. We also became friends. He decided to swap the motor, and to change a few things that I had already started. I actually tried to talk him out of the car because it probably would have been cheaper to buy a car with the type of motor he wanted in it already. Guess what? He was already attached to THAT car.

If you cannot understand this story, then we will never agree on why what was posted, was posted. Which is OK. It's all good.

Again, this is my .02, not trying to offend anyone, and if I have, I apologize in advance.

Rich

Before you call his question stupid, you should take the time to read AND comprehend his entire post.

I read his post a dozen times and I still come up with the same answer. There is not enough information provided in his posting to formulate an intelligent answer. What is the nature of the engine problem? What kind of engine is it? Is it the original engine? If the engine is a non-numbers 6 cylinder, then no don't rebuild it. If the problem is a bad coil wire, then no don't rebuild it. If it is a numbers matching 396, then yes rebuild it. If it is a Yenko 427 then yes rebuild it. That's my answer and I'm sticking to it. Oh, and since I have no information about the condition of the car, if it is in bad shape then you should restore it. If it is in good shape then just leave it alone. Any grey areas, just go ahead and use your own judgement. Oh, wait, that's why you came here for advice...

Thanks for all the feedback on my question! Im glad to see others feel the same way as i do about cars. Alittle more about the car i didnt tell anyone is that the body is in awesome condition, a few paint chips and thats all on the body. As for the motor it is a 396 the tranny is a m-22 and the rear end is a 4-11pos. This i do know, but my father and i bought this car when i was only 14. I knew nothing about cars and my father can hardly change a spark plug.( god help him) We have owned the car for 14years now and has been sitting in the garage for 11 years. I got to drive it by myself for the first time on my 16th birthday. Thats when the problem started LOL :clonk:

Well well...Looks like a few people did jump to conclusions! As for your reply Scott Taylor, I agree with rich, it was a little harsh. If there wasn't enough information for you to "formulate an intelligent answer", then you thought the next best thing would be to flame everyone else for trying to help him??? So that's a more intelligent response, huh??

Well well...Looks like a few people did jump to conclusions! As for your reply Scott Taylor, I agree with rich, it was a little harsh. If there wasn't enough information for you to "formulate an intelligent answer", then you thought the next best thing would be to flame everyone else for trying to help him??? So that's a more intelligent response, huh??

I didn't flame anyone, I simply pointed out that people were getting way off topic. I probably was a little harsh bagging on the original poster but he really needed to think about his question before hitting the enter key. His post should have been more like this:

I have a '69 X22 car with the original 396 in it that is making a loud knocking sound in the area of the crankshaft and it blows tons of blue smoke. The car is in great condition otherwise. What do you guys think might be causing this and should I rebuild the engine or just replace it with a crate 350?