Well, it's been about a week since I brought the BluePacer home, and I am just starting to get a good feel as to what is here. There's a whole lot here. While this car did not meet the criteria that I had set forth, it is a great car. After looking at so many cars that were in very bad states of disrepair, it was nice to find a car that was not only a unknown car, but one that is fairly well preserved. I never expected to find a car like this with matching numbers drive train, let alone one with a good body, though restored. This car was restored bumper to bumper in a restoration started in about 1976, with all GM parts available then. Back then it was not new old stock, just new stock you could buy at the Chevy dealer. After the restoration, the car was driven very little.


The history as I know it to date is as follows. Bob, the seller purchased the car and owned the car 21+ years, and did nothing to the car. He did do a great job storing the car and starting it monthly. He bought it from a father son team who had done a bumper to bumper, roof to bottom of the rim restoration to the car, started in about 1976. The father here had collected model A's & T's, and restored many of them, as Bob witnessed when he bought the Pacer. While the restoration was up to some of the standards of the day(1976), it does not hold up to todays standards. However the work these guys did was tremendously important, as they saved the car from certain rust and decay in the Wisconsin weather. The father and son were from the same small town as Bob, so we have a 33 year history of a car in a small Wisconsin town. This is where the history turns a little gray, but the parts I will share here now are that this car was lost in a poker game, and hidden by the winner of the poker hand in a barn in the corner under a pile of straw. It was during this time the interior was stolen. The father son team bought the car from this guy.There is a lot more to this story, but I choose to save it for the owners page some time in the future. I do not have the history which would take this car back to when it was new, but am still pursuing it. The father/son team installed the black interior, as it was the only color they could get repro seat covers in, at that time.


One last preface here is about the Saturday the wife and I were to go buy the car. It is very hard for me to leave work early for anything, but I did manage to get away by 3pm. When I got the truck and trailer to the gas station to fill up, I checked the lights one last time, and no running lights. I had my 2 best guys go over the trailer good before leaving, and was assured everything was fine. I was not happy, and that's a bad thing. Looking at the clock I know there is no time to check it out, and I don't have a test light at home anyway. I decided to just go, and there would be no night time driving. I got home, packed the traveling clothes in the truck, and as we were about to leave. I had a case of the munchies, and went to the snack basket for something. I pulled out a fortune cookie, broke it open and ate it, and glanced at the fortune inside. May God strike me dead, bring me back to life, and strike me dead again with an even more painful death if this is not the truth. Here is a picture of the fortune that was inside. I had laid it on the counter on my way out the door, and it was there to greet me when I got home.......

Here is a picture of the car I took today, pretty good looking car..

Not visible here, but before buying the car, I sliced the paint at an angle so to see that it is white under the vin plate. The first thing I did to inspect the car was open the driver door, and look down to see if there was an embossed vin. I saw then the rossette rivets and the entire plate painted over with very old paint. In this instance, a good thing, though no embossed date. Notice the scuffed and slightly flaking black dye on the kick panel.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 1967 RS SS,

Taking a look at the cowl tag, notice the slight deterioration in the lower left corner, on the outside of the rivet as pictured. No tag fakers are making corroded tags, at least not yet. I don't know if it shows, but there is a little pitting on the firewall in that same area where the cowl tag is corroded. This tag has been on this car all it's life, except when removed to clean up the firewall. Why the hardware store rivets? This will become easily understandable as this thread progresses. Just look for fastners and you will see just about everyone the guys removed were replaced with hardware store bolts and nuts. I am going to need a nice master fastner set for this car. Anyway, while they were at Ace picking up bolts, they must have got a small box of pop rivets too...Steve

Notice how nice the GM trim is on this car, just awesome. Car has all new when restored chrome and stainless GM pieces....

Here is a picture of the hard to find molding on the passenger side. The car is on a low rise rack, so the gaps are spread a little at the top. Actually, this car fits together pretty well. There are a couple quirky things too, but I will have to show you that in another set of posts. It is getting late and I want to run this first question by everyone. It is in the next and last picture for today...Here is the right side moldings...

Is this the heavy duty radiator option? It is a 3 row radiator, with the more narrow shroud, but notice the factory bracket retaining the shroud mounting clip. This radiator is very similar to the one in my AC coupe, but these brackets and shroud are different. The ac car shroud goes all the way across. Notice the hardware store bolts holding the radiator on. The brackets use the factory core support holes perfectly. Is this the correct radiator for this car??? Steve

last photo today, picture of upper radiator

Steve , It just looks like the wrong fan shroud has been fitted to the radiator. Std radiator is 21 inches wide and the A/C one is 23 inches wide. So its possible EITHER the radiator or the shroud has been changed. As far as the fasteners AMK make the most correct ones as used by Tom and others. Contact me by PM before you buy any but...The car looks great and the story is amazing also

Hi Steve,
Really nice post on your new member of the family. It is an awesome looking Camaro and great find. I liked the Roset rivets on your VIN tag. They sure didn't take their time to straighten the VIN tag out. I also like how clean the engine bay looks. About your question on the radiator. At first glance, it looks as if they rebuilt it to be a 3 core radiator and also made it longer like a big block. Maybe to make it run cooler? They didn't even use the correct expansion nuts to hold the radiator on. It has the correct radiator cap though. I love the options on your Camaro. Very NICE! You will have to fix the rivets on the trim tag though. Those hardware store rivets have to go. Was there white paint under the blue paint? What about any signs of Bright Blue paint in the interior of the Camaro? Another good sign! I see your radiator core support has the holes on top of it by the support bars too. Have you had a chance to look at the hidden VIN's yet? I can't wait for your write up for the owners page. Love the history on your Pace Car so far Steve.

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It just looks like the wrong fan shroud has been fitted to the radiator. Std radiator is 21 inches wide and the A/C one is 23 inches wide

Geoff notice the bracket at the bottom is factory attached to the strap holding the radiator in, this is a poor photo. Look at this picture to see the bracket that the shroud is fastened to, it is directly above the drain petcock about 4 inches....BTW, the history gets much juicier...Steve

Tom D.
Thank you. Take a look at the bracket I described in the above post, it is factory installed. Here is a picture of the hidden vin in the upper cowl....

wider cowl shot, notice someone harvested my washer outlets and hoses

Steve,
When they rebuild the radiator they use the same tanks and replace the cores. So the tanks move outward and they can use the same fan shroud, but it only works on the one side.

About your fortune cookie. I think it is funny how these things pop up at the most aproppriate times. The same thing happened to me when I went to register my 67 big block convertible. Our DMV you have to pull a number to wait for your turn and my number was 67. I just about fell over backwards. Talk about fate. So I can totally understand your surprise. It was meant to be your car buddy.

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When they rebuild the radiator they use the same tanks and replace the cores. So the tanks move outward and they can use the same fan shroud, but it only works on the one side.

Tom,
I never considered that the supporting strap holding this end of the shroud on was custom made at a radiator shop. I need to pull the radiator out and get a good look at it. Thinking about it though, it did not appear to have had the radiator recored, but I thought it could really use it now. It's coming out in the morning...Steve

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You will have to fix the rivets on the trim tag though. Those hardware store rivets have to go. Was there white paint under the blue paint? What about any signs of Bright Blue paint in the interior of the Camaro?

Tom D.
So you don't like the William Robert Maple brand rivets (AKA Billy Bob Shade tree brand)?

The interior is all bright blue under the black paint and dye. It scrapes off fairly easy. I have not tried removing any from the dash pad though. I may be able to clean it off. The blue on the outside of this car doesn't bother me too much, but I need this black interior for another 67 convertible I am working on now....Steve

Great things happen to good folks here on this board!! Congrats Steve!

With no clutch fan and an arrangement like this I suspect the car had standard cooling but was monkeyed with. I would keep the regular 4 blade fan ( pending confirmation by the original owner that the car never had the clutch fan of course) and get the correct ( OD?) tanks... Then I would have the local radiator shop recore those tanks and install all getting the arrangement back to factory...I put a radiator together just this way for my C-1 car that has an aftermarket replacement radiator,, I can post a pic if you's like..Can't beat these guys for this stuff

PS.. Heartbeat sells the correct core with the correct tops but you will be sent to the poor house afterward..

Tom,
I never considered that the supporting strap holding this end of the shroud on was custom made at a radiator shop. I need to pull the radiator out and get a good look at it. Thinking about it though, it did not appear to have had the radiator recored, but I thought it could really use it now. It's coming out in the morning...Steve[/QUOTE]

Hi Steve,
If it wasn't for the incorrect bolts holding the radiator up which you can see in your photo's I might believe the strap holding the fan shroud could be factory, but there are too many things in question to say the radiator has been changed and the bracket is a clever way to hold the fan shroud in place. Putting things back the way they should be will make your Pace Car look very nice and original looking again.

quote:

Great things happen to good folks here on this board!!

Phil,
Thank you!!! I think this is a good place to thank Kevein K. for posting the eBay auction here at the site, Tony for sending the PM for me to follow up on this car, and Tom M. the for the time he spent with me on the phone reassuring me the cowl tag was real, and giving me the extra shove over the top to bring this car home, while not trying to play cheap and miss the car entirely to a higher bidder. And many thanks to all who both privately and publicly also assured me the tag was real, as you can tell, the reattached tag bothered me a lot. I was completely at rest when Tony told me in a phone conversation that the vin number along with the Norwood Fisher number and fleet code placed this car perfectly in the middle of other known cars here at the site. He did not mention anything other than this car was a perfect fit by the numbers. I was just about positive now the car was real, as long as the vin tag and hidden cowl number matched, and there was no sign of tampering with either. So far there has been no disappointments, just upside surprises everywhere you look....Steve

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Originally posted by 1967 RS SS:
Tom D.
So you don't like the William Robert Maple brand rivets (AKA Billy Bob Shade tree brand)?

The interior is all bright blue under the black paint and dye. It scrapes off fairly easy. I have not tried removing any from the dash pad though. I may be able to clean it off. The blue on the outside of this car doesn't bother me too much, but I need this black interior for another 67 convertible I am working on now....Steve

Steve,
LOL, You crack me up. Billy Bob Shade Tree Brand. At least the trim tag didn't get bent up like some do. The rivets didn't even come close to looking like the originals. Hopefully, the holes in the trim tag and firewall are not enlarged so when you put original rivets back in they seat nicely. It is good to see the hidden VIN's are the same and the car is proving itself. WAY TO GO!
Keep up the good work Steve. I love the photo's by the way!

Yea.GM would never leave that much core exposed with no fan air diected over it via the shroud.. I bet the rediator shop was being helpful at the time by saying " we can put a much bigger radiator in there for you.. We can get a 23" in place if the 21"....maybe a favour then.. but a incorrect resto issue now..

Don't forget to check the 21" spaced mounting area on the core for signs that that was the originally used location

I can't believe I missed this before, but I think the shot you posted of the cowl tag is the first good shot I have seen of the tag...I just noticed you have a remote mirror option!

I can't think of another Pacer with that option!

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Originally posted by Tony ( BigBlockPace ):
I can't believe I missed this before, but I think the shot you posted of the cowl tag is the first good shot I have seen of the tag...I just noticed you have a remote mirror option!

I can't think of another Pacer with that option!

Nice options on your trim tag Steve. 10 options in all. Would being a Pace Car be considered as an option? Then that would be 11 options instead!