The Original Vehicle

1968 Camaro Sports Coupe

• Inline L6 250, 4.1L (Serial: F1108CM)
• Numbers Matching
• 89,000 Original Miles
• 3-Speed Manual Transmission
• Trim Package: 722
• Paint Code: G G (Ash Gold
  

I have found my perfect project car. It is a 1968 Camaro Sports Coupe with a 250 L6 engine and a 3 speed manual transmission. Interestingly, over the years as I have been looking, I either find a gutted shell that is currently 6 different colors with no interior, or a fully restored high-dollar beauty.

Well, I don't know enough about this year model car to be brave enough to try to tackle the shell. Not sure I would know how to figure out what is missing. It appears that the car has been painted once. The original color was Ash Gold, it now is a couple of shades off with a slight greenish tent.

What excited me the most was the fact that it is a complete car. The only piece of trim missing is a strip of headliner molding above the driver's door. With the plan of changing the interior to Black, this will not matter too much.

The car is very straight with relative little rust. Well we'll see about that as we digg into it a bit. I was very supprised with how tight the transmission is and how smooth this baby floats down the road.

The interior is all in tack. The carpet was really messed up and with a little bit of poking around, I knew what the first project was going to be... New Floor Pans. There is a small leak in the rear window area that landed all of the roof water in the rear right floorboard. From a quick survey, I could tell that front and back of boths sides would need to be replaced.

Above are pictures (click to enlarge), that include a good shot of the front right quarter. All four wheels are painted steel of the same color as the car with small center hub caps that are all rust free original gear. The right rear window area and left rear quarter help show just how straight this car is and you can see some limited rust that was treated at some point by the previous owner. This minor rust prevention effort is probably responsible for retarding major rust advancements allowing this car to maintain its current condition.

Well, at the heart of the drive train is the original 250 straight 6 engine. Currently, there is a little knock and an exhaust leak that makes it sound a little rough, but it does run smoothly at cruising speed. The photo on the right is the block serial number. For 1968, the "CM" suffix indicates a crank that makes this a 250 CuIn configuration as apposed to it's standard 230 CuIn little brother. This car currently lacks A/C and power steering, but I am hoping the cards work out where we can add these options.