The Muscle Car War of the 1960’s led to the development of some truly incredible cars. With one of the most famous being the Chevrolet Camaro, launched with the intention to knock the current Ford Mustang off its pedestal. On todays Re:Fuelers Rides we are featuring Kieran’s 1969 Camaro which took in excess of three years to build… it’s safe to say that it was definitely worth the wait!
Becoming an owner of a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro involved a 17 year old me sitting watching the film Transformers, I noticed the Classic Camaro and it got me thinking about how I’ve always wanted some V8 gas guzzling muscle car in my life. 2 months later I completed my purchase, side note: never tinkered with a car before, oh how naïve I was…
The car was purchased in 2014 from some local guys in Wales who had started importing classic american cars. As soon as it arrived at home, my restoration had begun. The car was effectively a “bird cage”, with a 396 Big Block engine which was in an unknown condition on a wooden pallet, and a 4 Speed Manual Muncie transmission which had previously been torn down and was given to me in some oil soaked cardboard boxes barely able to contain the abundance of parts.
I completed much of the full restoration myself, engine & transmission rebuild, complete rewire, suspension, upholstery etc etc. However the body was in a very sorry state of affairs, it was time to hand it over to the professionals; Dave at RestoShack. I had my first drive in the car after over 3 years of me constantly throwing, chucking, pouring, emptying nothing but money and countless hours at it… but worth it!
I’ve had the privilege of driving some hot laps around GoodWood Motor Circuit during RetroRides. Some future events I have planned are the rearrangement of LeMans Classic in 2021 and of course, more Re:Fuel events.
I recently decided to carry out an LS Swap on the Camaro. I purchased a 5.3L LM7, pulled it apart and threw a large camshaft in there with some nice speed parts. I mated it with a Tremec T56 6 Speed Manual Transmission, which is perfect for having a close ratio 1-5 gears and almost an overdrive 6th gear that allows me to cruise down the motorway barely making it over 1500 rpm.
Future plans for the car is to install a coilover tubular front end suspension kit & a 4 Link rear end set up from RideTech. As for the engine, I’m hoping to boost it further down the line with a single… or twin turbo setup, options are endless in the LS world!
Hope to see you soon at a Re:Fuel event!
Kieran.
Car Facts:
Make: Chevrolet
Model: Camaro
Year: 1969
Engine: 5.3L LS
BHP: 400 RWHP
Top Speed: Unknown
0-62mph Time: Unknown
Weight: 1500kg
Additional Mods: LS swapped, T56 Transmission, 3.53 Rear End gear, suspension mods, Holley Terminator X EFI system, line lock.