I bought a 68 Camaro several years ago. The guy that sold me it said he believed it was a true RS/SS. The VIN doesnt tell me this and as far as I can tell, neither does the cowl tag. I don't see any stickers, ect in the glove box, except for a tire presure sticker on the inside of the glove box door. Does anyone know if there is a way I can tell if my Camaro is a true RS/SS and what motor/tranny originally came in it. Cowl tag is as follows:

Body By Fisher
09E V469
ST 68 12437 LOS 04853 BODY
TR 712 N-N PAINT

VIN# is 124378L305132

The car does not have the original motor or tranny in it now. Thanks for any help.

Jay

You are correct, the VIN only tells that it was originally a V8 car, nothing about whether it was an SS or not. Since you dont have the original motor there is really no way to know with absolute certainty...without documentation. Some of the obvious things would be: 12 bolt or 10 bolt rearend, where the heater hoses enter the cowl will give you an idea as to whether it was a small block or big block originally. Im sure others will chime in with other ideas. So nice with 67s and the info on the cowl tag...unless of course the cowl tag is a repro. :clonk:

jay,

What does the tire pressure sticker on the glove box door say? That can narrow it down a bit (with regards to the SS part), although it's possible to change tags and/or glove box doors... Also check where the back-up light wire goes through the trunk pan. People that clone RS cars don't usually go through the trouble of drilling through the trunk pan and attaching the rubber grommet (HERE'S (http://www.camaros.org/cgi-bin/webbbs4.33/cuscrg/cuscrg.pl?read=16618) a picture of what I'm talking about).

Ed

i bought a 68 as a rs/ss but soon realized it was not an ss at all...... 10 bolt w /mono leafs rearend that was enough for me now i have to take the stripes off and all the badges get new gas cap the idiots who built my clone put the ss badges on upside down.... but other than that im happy with my rs i love the front end all blacked out oh yeah and i need an rs hood now too..anyone looking for an ss hood in pristine cond let me know its the smokestack style not the 67 ribbed style

wheres the speedo cable running through the firewall?..multi leaf's came on all 68's with v-8's "not all 327's" ..if you can cross muncie off the trans list, then if it was an ss it must have had a 350....thats if it was infact an ss.
example....vacume lines in firewall, factory plug for muncie speedo.......muncie= ss

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/2287000-2287999/2287239_1_full.jpg

the rs options are more simple to find, vacume lines in firewall for headlight, rear valance cut outs for back-up lights..
im sure im missing some things but hey, im still learning..

Well, I checked the trunk and it does have old black wires that goes through the trunk floor, one on the driver side and one on the passenger side. The wire's/gromments appear old and original. The headlight vacuum lines appear to go through the firewall under the brake booster. The car has multi-leaf springs and came with disc brakes up front and a 12 bolt rear end with 4.10 gears. I suppose I should try to find some numbers on the rear axel to see if it is the original axel. The tire sticker on the glove box door lists a tire size of F70x14-4 ply

Jay,

Starting to look good, but proceed with caution! Now you need to see if the casting date and assembly date of the rear end is correct for your car. Also check to see what the ring and pinion code is. A 4.10 would be optional for an SS, but not too many of these actually came out of the factory! Again though, these are all easy things to change so it's not definate proof, just more collaborating evidence.

Eric is close in his statement that V8's came with multi leaf rear springs, but he's not quite right. The base V8 (327/210) and the L30/M35 (327/275 with Powerglide) came with the mono leaf spring and the 10 bolt rear end, as did the 6 cylinder cars.

Keep the numbers coming!!

Ed

Thanks for all the helpful feedback guy's. This forum is one great tool with good people. When I get a chance to get the car in the air, I'll check out the #'s on the axel.

Thanks Again,
Jay