10 minute read
STOCK
BETTER THAN PERFECT
THE RARE JL8 DISC-BRAKE OPTION PROMPTED AN EXTRA-COMPLETE RESTORATION OF THIS 1969 Z/28
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BY DAVID CONWILL • PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEF
THE Z/28 LIKELY NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION. The Camaro sub-model, called out on the window sticker as the $506.60 “Special Performance Equipment” option and with a name taken straight from its Regular Production Order code, was created in 1967 with an eye toward SCCA’s increasingly popular Trans-Am road-racing series. To comply with class rules, the Z/28 came with Camaro’s smallest V-8: the DZ-code 302, rated for 290 hp at 5,800 rpm (actual peak power was probably somewhere well north of the 300 mark) and 290 lb-ft at 4,200 rpm V-8.
The Z/28-only 302 married the 4-inch cylinder bore of the 327 and 350 engines with the old 283’s 3-inch stroke: a combination long known to hot rodders with hogged-out 283s as a “301,” although the factory’s version had large-journal crankshaft bearings and four-bolt main caps, a change made in 1968. The high-revving 302 proved a race-track terror that punched well above its weight, happily spinning as fast as 7,000 rpm, though not always satisfactory at speeds below 30 mph.
ABOVE: To produce the properly sized 5.0-liter engine for SCCA competition, Chevrolet started with a 327 or 350 block and added a 283 crank to make a 302-cu.in. engine happy at 6,500 rpm.
RIGHT: Cowl induction (aka the ZL2 Special Ducted Hood) is cool, but the real rarity on this car is the JL8 four-wheel disc brakes— only between 56 and 206 were even built that way.
After a relatively quiet launch for 1967, with only 602 copies produced, the Z/28 quickly became well known and sought after, and not only by would-be road racers. Many regular drivers, eager to show they were “in the know” by selecting not some regular 327 or even the sporty (in a straight-line kinda way) SS 350 or SS 396 models, instead chose the race-bred homologation special. That trend especially picked up steam after Roger Penske and Mark Donohue’s dominating use of the Z/28 in the 1968 Trans-Am season, leading to 20,302 Z/28s sold during the extended 1969 model year, a record not broken until 1978.
The equipment combination being homologated went beyond the 302, of course, and included dual exhausts, high-performance springs and shocks both front and rear, quick-ratio steering, heavy-duty radiator and clutch fan, quick steering, 15 x 7-inch Rally wheels, E70-15 tires, 3.73 gears, and metallic shoes for the rear drums on cars not equipped with the JL8 option. Special stripes were also a part of the Z/28 package and proved a lasting part of the Camaro image. A four-speed manual transmission was a mandatory option (as were power front discs, for those who didn’t order the JL8) and the original orderer of this Rally Green machine opted to go one better with the heavy-duty, close-ratio Muncie M22 “rock crusher.”
The heavy-duty gearbox is one of the first clues that this was not one of those Z/28s ordered just for style—although with other options like the “special” front bumper (a color-matched unit descended from Pontiac’s famed Endura nose), custom interior with console and Rosewood steering wheel, tinted glass, door-edge guards, the vinyl roof, rear speaker, and the entirety of the Rally Sport equipment, appearance certainly was not neglected on this one.
The style-only cars that would never see the racetrack were not usually outfitted with the special equipment meant for the real racers, including the cross-ram dual-quad intake and the JL8 four-wheel disc-brake option. The latter, at $500.30, was nearly as expensive as the entire Z/28 package on its own. This one was ordered with both the top brakes and the cross-ram. We know that, because the young man who ordered it new later became a name in Pro-Stock drag racing: Vieri “V” Gaines.
ABOVE: Floor mats, center console, Rosewood steering wheel, Special Instrumentation, AM pushbutton radio, and rearseat speaker are all features originally ordered on this car back in 1969.
RIGHT: Whether or not the crossram came in the trunk is a matter of some debate. All we can say is that when V Gaines saw this car in the dealership back in 1969, that’s where the manifold was.
V, who was in his early 20s at the time (a “wet-nosed kid,” as he puts it), wasn’t yet a racer but more of a technophile, aware of what a milestone the Z/28 represented.
“A ’69 Z/28 was the pinnacle of cars. I was just starting out in life, and I ordered it, which was exciting because we could order the options we wanted. It was the best you could get if you were performance minded back in those days. I really wanted the disc brakes because it was a rare thing back then. Four-wheel disc brakes were kind of an oddity, and the cross-ram was interesting because of the performance implications. I don’t know why green, but I know I was excited to get the Rally Sport front end with the hidden headlamps and the front urethane bumper and all that sort of stuff.”
While the car was being built, however, V found himself wanting to get married—a good choice, it turns out, as the marriage endures to the present. He cancelled the transaction, and the car went to a different first owner, but not until after V had the opportunity to see it in person, just after delivery to the dealer.
It dropped off the radar then until around 1985, when first-generation Camaro guru Larry Christensen saw it in the newspaper classifieds. V saw it too.
“I kind of chased it for a lot of years, kept track of it, and tried to buy it a couple times. The guy I was always bidding against, and who eventually outbid me, was Larry. He ended up with it and as of the last sale, I told him that if he ever sold it, I wanted to buy it. It meant something to my wife and I because it was a part of our relationship.”
Knowing the rarity of a JL8 car (only 206 were even ordered for 1969, and actual factory production may have been as low as 56), Larry called immediately only to learn that the seller had changed his mind about parting with the Camaro.
Larry kept track, though, and 15 years later the car was finally his. What he got was a car that was “driveable but hadn’t been driven in more than 20 years. It had a brown paint job with murals, including a naked lady on the trunk. It needed to be restored.”
The naked lady needed to go and so did the incorrect engine and transmission, along with the right-side fender and quarter panel. Many of the pieces Larry already had on hand, a legacy of decades running a business called Camaros Plus. He’s now retired, but can’t keep away from first-generation Camaros, a passion that dates back
to his days as an auto-shop teacher in the mid-1970s, when he purchas fellow educator’s ’67 convertibl restore and resell.
Despite that depth of experien it still took 15 years to collect all the parts needed to do this Camaro back to Larry’s standar
“I am a national concours jud for rst-gen Camaros,” he says, restoration is a passion of mine. I collected parts for this car for many years. Being in the parts and restoration business made it easier and I’ve done so many of these cars that they come fairly easy. The hardest part is dealing with my age. I can’t do things that I used to be able to.”
The 15 years were worth it, however, as Larry had the proverbial good thing come to him for his wait. At the 2015 Goodguys Colorado Nationals, he found the original 302 for his car. That’s right, not a date-code-correct replacement, but the actual missing engine from this car! Oddly, Larry says that’s the third or fourth time he’s discovered and reinstalled a long-lost original engine in one of his restorations. That was in September, and the nd kicked off the restoration. By November, he was done.
Larry rebuilt the engine himself, along with a correct replacement transmission, and reinstalled it. Don’t look there for the cross-ram, however: That’s in the trunk.
“V never owned the car; he ordered it and I have talked to him about it. He ordered the car with a cross-ram setup,
1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO RS Z/28
PRICE
Base price .....................................................................................................................$2,727 Options on car profi led.........................tinted glass; front and rear fl oor mats; door edge guards; black vinyl roof; center console; Positraction; four-wheel power disc brakes; M22 special four-speed transmission; heavy-duty battery; special instrumentation; AM pushbutton radio; rear-seat speaker; special front bumper; special ducted hood; Rally Sport equipment; Special Performance Equipment; custom interior; black vinyl trim; Rallye Green paint
ENGINE
Type .....................Chevrolet “small-block” OHV V-8; cast-iron block and cylinder heads
Displacement ......................................................................................................... 302-cu.in.
Bore x stroke ....................................................................................................4.00 x 3.00 in
Compression ratio ........................................................................................................... 11.0:1
Horsepower @ rpm ........................................................................................... 290 @ 5,800
Torque @ rpm ............................................................................................290 lb-ft @ 4,200
Valvetrain ................................................................................................... Solid valve lifters
Fuel system ........................... Holley 780-cfm four-barrel carburetor, mechanical pump
Electrical system ..............................................................................................................12-V
Exhaust system.........................................................Cast-iron manifolds to dual exhausts
TRANSMISSION
Type ................................................................ Muncie M22 close-ratio four-speed manual
Ratios ..........................1st/2.20:1 … 2nd/1.64:1 … 3rd/1.27:1 … 4th/1.00:1 … Reverse/2.26:1
DIFFERENTIAL
Type ........................ Chevrolet 12-bolt housing with Positraction limited-slip di erential
Ratio .................................................................................................................................3.73:1
STEERING
Type .............................................................................................. Saginaw recirculating ball
Ratio ....................................................................................................................................24:1
Turns, lock-to-lock .............................................................................................................3.5
BRAKES
Type .......................................................................Hydraulic, power assist four-wheel disc Front/Rear: 11-in disc, four-piston calipers
SUSPENSION
Front ................................................... Independent; unequal-length A-arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar, telescoping shock absorbers
Rear .............................. Solid axle; leaf springs, staggered telescoping shock absorbers
WHEELS & TIRES
Wheels ........................................................................................ Stamped-steel Rally wheel Front/Rear: 15 x 7 in
Tires .............................................................................. E70-15 Goodyear Polyglas bias-ply
PRODUCTION
Chevrolet built 190,971 Camaro V-8 sport coupes for 1969; 20,302 of them had the
Z/28 package; 206 of those were ordered with the JL8 four-wheel disc-brake option.
PERFORMANCE*
0-60 mph...................................................................................................................... 7.4 sec 1/4-mile ET ............................................................................................15.12 sec @ 94.8 mph *August 1969 Car Life road test.
and this is the only ’69 Z/28 that has that documentation. V visited the dealership when the car arrived and saw the cross-ram in the trunk. I show the car as he saw it in 1969, with an NOS cross-ram in the trunk.”
Larry’s work neither began nor ended with the powertrain. While he obtained the assistance of Brighton, Colorado’s Epic Auto Restorations with the bodywork and F&H Upholstery, of Wheat Ridge, with the headliner and seat covers, he did the rest, including assembly of the body and the rest of the black-vinyl interior. The car made its debut at the 2015 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals, in Chicago, just after its completion. Since then, the car has done, as expected, exceedingly well at judged competition, earning a 100.6 percent score at the 2017 Camaro Nationals by scoring 5,029 out of 5,000 points. That feat was possible thanks to extra-credit items like five original Goodyear tires, the proper embossed oil filter, and the original window sticker.
A rare ’69 Z/28 restored beyond perfection. Does it get any better? Just don’t go looking to buy this one: Larry finally sold it to V and his wife back in 2019, who purchased it as a 50th wedding anniversary gift to themselves. They drive it on occasion, but mostly appreciate it as a time capsule of 1960s race tech.
“It’s certainly a departure from today’s cars,” V says. “I try to get it out once or twice a year and take it around the block a few times or whatever. It has no power steering, roll-up windows, a high-performance small-block motor, stiff suspension, and it’s geared really high. You’ve got to drive it! Once it gets a few rpm on it, it performs pretty good.”
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