cool 69 camaro story!

[cwc]

recently heard about a guy who had a 69 ss396 4 speed car he had bought in 1970 with 5000 miles on it for sale,he was wanting to buy a new one,i called him and he told me it was a 325 horse 4 speed with 4.10's originally blue but now was maroon,car needed to be restored but ran great and was all original except color,he was a little high so i passed with out ever looking at it. well one of my good friends knew the car when he was younger and had seen it when the owners daughter drove it to work some 10 years ago and he was interested in it,and wanted me to go with him to check it out
when we show up the car is outside and has been for a little while.raise the hood,dusk blue,standard interior,X66. car has no tach no gauges or console,no power steering,but has fold down rear seat.original spare XT wheel and wide oval tire. engine is NOT the original its a 69 truck 396,trans is 69 camaro m20 but not for this one,small block crossmember.but the owner swears its the engine that came in it when he bought it and we have no reason not to belive him.pulls out the protect to plate,has his name and cars vin number,NO engine,trans or diff numbers?.he has the purchase agreement from the used car lot he bought it from.
we actually left,my buddy was tore up over it not being numbers matching and on the way home i get my gears turning a little,and ask Matt did you notice how many fuel lines the car had? he said just one! well we all no what that means! he turns around after dropping me off,goes back jacks it up. BV code rea axle, ZD code radiator!
So we come to the conclusion it must of had the l78 either blown up or stole when it was less than 6 months old. the owner had no idea,he always assumed it was a 325 horse car.
Matt did inform him that it was a 375 car after he paid him for it,now don't think we stole this car from some unsuspecting old man he was paid well for it.
i will try to get some pics tomorrow.

[Charley Lillard]

Second owner Protecto plate won't have any of the codes on it.

[FAST 72]

I am the guy who owns this car now, Matt.Does anyone know how I would go about contacting the guy who bought it new,if he is still kicking? I have his name and address from back when he bought the car,I would love to talk to him about it because there are many unanswerd questions that I know he could help me with. Any help would be GREAT
Thanks!

[Dave Rifkin]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: FAST 72</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I am the guy who owns this car now, Matt.Does anyone know how I would go about contacting the guy who bought it new,if he is still kicking? I have his name and address from back when he bought the car,I would love to talk to him about it because there are many unanswerd questions that I know he could help me with. Any help would be GREAT
Thanks! </div></div>

I would try to Google his name and see what comes up.

[BARRY]

HI i can see the engine story ..but what about the trans and cross member

[PeteLeathersac]

If stolen when relatively new the missing engine/trans/crossmember seems plausible?.
Also considering how crows and thieves like shiny things, maybe it was an L89 car!?
Possible w/ the BV and a ZD rad right?.
Dig deep for paper!!!

<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif
~ Pete

[BARNFOUND YENKO]

Neat car!

[AutoInsane]

Congrats on the purchase!

First, try the Google search for the original owner. If you have no luck, you could A. have someone here drive by the house to see if anyone remembers the family (you could share the State and Town on here and the street address via PM) or B. send a letter to the address.


Now..... how about those pictures???!! <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/wink.gif

[FAST 72]

I am thinking or better yet hopeing that this was a L89 car,wouldn't that be a GREAT find!The address was a 2437 Beechcrest Indianapolis 46200 Does anybody on here know anything about that area?

I will deff get some pics of it as soon as i can and put them on here!

[Unreal]

That house is for sale.

[FAST 72]

I was digging through some papers I got with the car and I have found a blue piece op paper that says it's a application for transfer of warranty and it has the engine# TO217JH rearend#BV02227G trans#P9B03
Is that cool or what!

[BARNFOUND YENKO]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: FAST 72</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was digging through some papers I got with the car and I have found a blue piece op paper that says it's a application for transfer of warranty and it has the engine# TO217JH rearend#BV02227G trans#P9B03
Is that cool or what! </div></div>

Sweeeet!!

[mockingbird812]

JH is iron head 375 horse with MT. Keep digging!

[AutoInsane]

I have sent the OP the name of the current property owner and property info from the website Indy.gov


http://maps.indy.gov/PropertyAssessmentViewer//

ZIP is now 46203 .....

[PeteLeathersac]

Although L89 out the window, cool you found the warranty transfer paper!.
Is there any date noted on it?.

<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif
~ Pete

[FAST 72]

It says date of application is 1 7 70
date acquired 3 5 69
original date vehicle placed in service 3 5 69
thanks for the help and the interest in my car,it's not everyday somebody finds a car that has been around here for 41 years and nobody knew what it was,I love it!

[PeteLeathersac]

Cool the original In Service Date of the car was 3-5-69 but if the Warranty Transfer application is dated 1-7-70 and engine TO217JH, rear BV02227G and trans P9B03 #'s noted on it, unless they made a mistake or something sideways was happening at the dealer level it looks like the components were still w/ the car at that time?.

If the parts were indeed there and the transfer date when the vehicle was purchased by the guy you got it from, is he perhaps forgetting the engine/trans going astray while he owned it or were they maybe swapped without his knowledge?.

If no, is it possible he purchased the car some time after the Warranty Transfer date and the swaps happened w/ a different owner before he got it???
<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/hmmm.gif

Cool car whatever happened and any paperwork/components that back up it being an original L78 car the better!.

<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif
~ Pete

[SuperNovaSS]

Maybe, either that or the dealer got the car as a trade in or repo and just copied the info off the protecto plate? Were dealers really checking the engine, trans, and rearend stamps when the cars came in used? I imagine most guys who wrote up the paperwork did not know where the engine stamping was, let alone the trans or rearend stampings.

Very cool find!

Jason

[X66 714]

One way to start looking for people is beenverified.com. Put in the name &amp; the known state. Go down the list &amp; see if you can find any possibilities of the correct age. Then you can use the cities &amp; states listed to find a last known address thru qwestdex. It's a little drawn out but it can work...Joe

[FAST 72]

Thanks for the intrest in my car!I have had many 69 camaro's in the past and this is by far the coolest one in my opinion,I love it and am going to try my best to restore it back like it came out.
I have talked to some of my friends that remembered the car back in the day when he got it and thay have all told me that the car was stolen before he got it.I am trying to dig up the whole story,I think i may have found the guy who bought it new and i have sent him a letter asking him to call me or send me his number,all i can do is hope he does.
Thanks