Me and My Brother's 69 Camaros back in the day

[njsteve]

Back in the late 70's these cars were just...cars.

I was 14 when I got my first car - a '69 Z11 Indy Pace Car in 1977.

Let me frame this story in the right context: My dad was kind of confused seeing he and mom had five kids to tend to. Dad and I were out one day and saw this 69 Pace Car at a used car dealer and we decided to buy it (I had saved up enough money over the prior 14 birthdays being one of those annoying kids who always put their savings in a piggy bank and didn't waste it on stupid stuff). We get it home and my mom immediately says to him: "You know it's his older brother who just turned 16, your son with car is only 14 - remember???"

Well, Dad kind of forgot which kid was which so he had to start hunting and my brother ended up getting a Daytona Yellow SS396 Camaro within a few weeks. That car was really cool and scary fast. It was originally a 325 horse four speed car but the prior owner had converted the top end to 375 specs with the rectangular port heads and intake/carb. It was a Van Nuys built car from California originally and had the earlier vinyl top that went down the A-pillers. I still remember the seller's name: Vinny Racalbuto in Orange, Connecticut. My brother ended up selling the car to a man named Guy Ripa in Wallingford Connecticut several years later ...in order to buy a '77 Monte Carlo that he painted Candy Brandywine.

Here's some photos from 1979 when he got it and few months later when me and him drove our cars out to the 1979 Street Machine Nationals in Indy. I had a set of three deuces on an Edelbrock manifold on the NOM 350 in my car.

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2014/12/full-1359-19888-yellow_1.jpg

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2014/12/full-1359-19889-yellow_3.jpg

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2014/12/full-1359-19890-yellow_2.jpg

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2014/12/full-1359-19891-yellow_4.jpg

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2014/12/full-1359-19892-pace_1.jpg

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2014/12/full-1359-19893-mycamaro1977a.jpg

[SS427]

Cool photos. Your underhood detail and restorations skills have improved dramatically over the years..... <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/wink.gif

[jimbo]

Pretty cool.
How much did you buy the Pace car for?

[njsteve]

I bought the Z11 for $2700 and my Dad bought the SS396 for $3500.

[Dicky]

Steve, I like the additional horn on your pacer. (or alarm siren) <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/worship.gif

Dicky <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/flag.gif

[njsteve]

Everyone had one of those 1970's alarm systems back then. Giant siren under the hood and usually a big, ugly key cylinder drilled into the middle of the fender. (I used an existing hole in the subframe to put the key cylinder in. Kind of hard to locate in the dark but it saved the fender.)

[Day2_69Z]

Really Cool Stuff Steve !
my brother dad and I had something similar going on around the same time as well..... $$$$ priceless memories

Tom, Joe &amp; Big Joe (dad)

[njsteve]

I just did a little net surfing and I think Guy Ripa actually still owns the Camaro, though it may have been turned into a race car in the intervening decades with a full roll cage, a monster motor on nitrous, and an automatic trans. Sure would be neat to see it again, or even get the car back minus the drivetrain. Now THAT would really be fun to irritate my brother with. <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif

I found some photos from when I saw it at Guy's house in the early 1980's. Already had a monster motor in it. (My brother went through several engines while he had it. Several transmissions and driveshafts too). <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif

I now remember the tally on that Street Machine Nationals trip in 1979: two clutch setups, (one clutch went bad in Ohio from being adjusted wrong, then the replacement went bad from a broken bellcrank ball on the block that caused the clutch fork to jam into the pressure plate, crack the M21 input housing and pour gear lube onto the disc. And the most fun was replacing the brand new camshaft (lobe worn off) and adjusting the solid lifters in the Marriot Hotel parking lot in Indy with a crowd of drunken onlookers helping til the wee hours of the morning. Ah, those were the good old days! <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif

Oh, and I almost forgot. I abandoned him in Indy after he ran off with the maid at our hotel and took our trip money with him (and her). Ahhh, but I had the gas credit cards...and this was the middle of gas rationing time back in the day. It took him a week to get the 800 miles home because he could only fill up his tank on odd numbered days. <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/naughty.gif

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2014/12/full-1359-19934-yellow_6.jpg

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2014/12/full-1359-19935-yellow_5.jpg

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2014/12/full-1359-19936-yellow_7.jpg

[markinnaples]

Great pics and memories; you guys were crazy, lol.

[njsteve]

Oh, and I noticed a typo: Those initial photos in the snow were taken the moment my brother got the Camaro home in 1977 (not 1979) - notice that lack of license plates. Just in case you guys were fact checking my material.

[Material_Boy]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SS427</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Cool photos. Your underhood detail and restorations skills have improved dramatically over the years..... <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/wink.gif </div></div>

LOL.

[Bill Pritchard]

Ah yes, the 79 Car Craft Street Machine Nats....I was there with my 73 Z28....some pretty wild times <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/headbang.gif

[ss427copo]

Real cool photos. I could look at photos like these for hours.

[njsteve]

You gotta love those old Cal Custom quick release, valve cover bolts with the detachable wing nut tops. You couldn't go more than a mile without losing one which would inevitably fly out under the car and hit the car behind you. I think this was the only photo we ever had with his car having a full set of the wing nut tops on it.

[scuncio]

Now those are some vintage pics!! Reminds me of the cool older dudes who lived down the street when I was a little kid. Always wrenching on some Camaro or Chevelle.

[Mk IV Muscle]

I know Guy Ripa, haven't seen him in years but his yellow Camaro was at the CT Dragway Reunion show the past couple of years, (I was there, guess I just missed him). There are some videos on Youtube of the event and his car is next to a killer street-legal 10.5 Nova also from Guys' area. Years ago when Guy decided to get serious with the car and replace the 396 with a crate LS7 that had a camshaft upgrade; I worked at the shop that did the changeover and helped with it.

Since then the Camaro has been through numerous changes but as far as I know, was never cut-up.

[njsteve]

Cool! Do you have a contact email or number for him? You can PM me. And do you have a link to that youtube video? I tred searching youtube but all I got was Kelly Ripa videos. <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif Boy she is annoying.

[mmcporter]

Whatever happened to the Pacer? I remember a senior (when I was a sophomore) who had a super-rusty one in high school....I think it ultimately broke in half due to corrosion...even back then it was a pretty distinctive looking car...

[Mk IV Muscle]

njsteve, I don't have any contact info. for Guy, sorry. Here's one of the videos and the Camaro is shown right at the beginning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoKE9HoVEz0

[RST]

This is very cool, thank you for sharing, this is why we are all here <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif
I showed this to my wife and even she smiled .......... and then promptly said ..... OMG no more cars please <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif

My response ....... I just need one more Deuce honey <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif

[Mk IV Muscle]

You're welcome. Eventually I will post info. about my car in hopes of tracing its' history.

[njsteve]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mk IV Muscle</div><div class="ubbcode-body">njsteve, I don't have any contact info. for Guy, sorry. Here's one of the videos and the Camaro is shown right at the beginning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoKE9HoVEz0 </div></div>

Yup, there she is. Looks like he has a full roll cage in it now.

[njsteve]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: mmcporter</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Whatever happened to the Pacer? I remember a senior (when I was a sophomore) who had a super-rusty one in high school....I think it ultimately broke in half due to corrosion...even back then it was a pretty distinctive looking car...
</div></div>

I sold it along with my 1970 Superbird, in 1980 when I went off to Denver Auto and Diesel College. The guy I sold it was named Steve and he sold it to another guy named Steve who restored it back to stock. I think it was still in Connecticut from the last I heard.

[flyingn]

Ahh those days.. I was at the 70 Street machine nats too with my 69 Judge 4 speed RAIII AC car (and giant siren under the hood too). Crazy times..

[njsteve]

Just spoke with Guy Ripa! He still has the same phone number as when I talked to him a couple decades ago. And another bizarre coincidence is that he used to own a certain Butterscotch 1971 Hemi Roadrunner with an orange interior. They made only one of them in that color scheme and it turns out that Guy sold it to a friend of mine in Florida back in the late 1980's named Fred. Fred was from Connecticut but moved to Florida in 1991 and lived just down the street from me.

Here are a couple photos of how my brother's old car looks today. WOW.

(And of course I offered to take it off his hands as soon as he gets tired of it...I've been waiting 30 years so far and he isn't tired yet.) <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2014/12/full-1359-20075-photo_1.jpg

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2014/12/full-1359-20076-photo_2.jpg

[Xplantdad]

That's cool!

[brent396]

http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/4791878935.html not mine

[njsteve]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: brent396</div><div class="ubbcode-body">http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/4791878935.html not mine </div></div>

Thanks but I wouldn't want want any other car but the real thing.