This is the second car Jason hunted down and bought from Tennessee, the first was from Kentucky. He has wanted a 1970 Camaro Z/28 ever since he was 15 years old. Jason was restoring a 1979 Corvette for a friend while looking for parts he came across the first one (1971 body only no int, no drivetrain, just a shell) he got too excited and bought it sight unseen. Once Jason arrived to pick it up, he was heartbroken to see it was just too far gone to salvage. A $1,800 lesson. It had a few decent parts. Jason stripped it and scraped it.
One year later he was completing the corvette project and he got a call from the car’s owner. He has a lead on a real 1970 Camaro z/28 and it’s in Tennessee. Jason wasted no time and called the owner. He takes a deposit and that weekend he is heading down to pick it up. Met the guy, and looked over the 1970 Camaro, in fact, a real 1970 Camaro z/28 but it too was a title and a VIN number. The 1970 Camaro’s body was a complete loss. But everything was there, he wanted way too much for what was left. Jason was disappointed, to say the least. Standing there looking over he saw the rear end of another 1970 Camaro, the unmistakable taillights peeking through at him from between a huge stack of second Gen Camaro parts. Jason asked permission to walk over and look at the 1970 Camaro. The man tells him sure, but then those infamous words “it’s not for sale” looking at the 1970 Camaro it needed both rear quarters, floor patches, roof, and Pilar’s rusted out. No interior, 350 small blocks, and a turbo 350 trans. Not wanting to go home empty-handed Jason started in on the guy. It cost me more than it was worth and a few hours haggling, another few hours digging it out and it was loaded up and he was on his way home. Stripped the 1970 Camaro down and sent the 1970 Camaro off for soda blasting. When the car came back it was another disaster. Swiss cheese would have been a compliment. Now the second attempt, discouraged and feeling defeated Jason vowed that day that he would use what was left and build himself a new 1970 Camaro. Jason ended up reusing the firewall and the rear package tray, and the toe boards.
Started out with the original small block 350 and rebuilt it. From a bare block to a completely rebuilt engine. The transmission was also rebuilt and ready to install. Ran into some self-inflicted financial issues and ended up selling the engine and trans to provide a roof over his family’s head. At this time, it’s a bare shell. Epoxy primer coated. Waiting on sheet metal. Over the next ten years, Jason started at the back and replaced everything. And he means everything. Once he had a body ready Jason started hunting for a small block Chevy and learned about thwe LS swap world. He pulled the trigger on a complete drivetrain from a wrecked 2013 Camaro SS. The whole experience was a blast. Jason did everything himself and installed it wired it plumbed it, bought an HP tuner interface, and dove into tuning it. He has not run it on a dyno yet, but can it be got all the power he would ever need as a driver/ occasional pro touring car? It’s 100% driving and tuning. All that’s left is paint and interior.
The only thing that is really unique or special about the 1970 Camaro is the fact that the car is built from the ground up by a guy in his garage, using all aftermarket parts and some NOS GM parts. Jason can say with absolute certainty that the only original metal is the rear package tray and the firewall / front toe boards. The rest is AMD, Dynacorn, and a few NOS panels. He plans on driving the daylights out of this car. It’s not built for a showcase; it will never see a trailer. And it’s not a pro-touring build per se. Its purpose-built to drive everywhere. Not sit in the garage. It’s taken me almost 14 years to get to this point. And he is not going to go into detail about how he sent the car off to get painted and spent $17,500 at a restoration shop on the paint and bodywork… he picked it up and trailered it home when they asked for it more money. The rear of the car was in primer but not even ready for paint. So now Jason is learning paint and bodywork as well. It’s been a learning experience from the start. Why stop now?
Jason is planning on painting the car himself. The upgrades included a supercharger. And converting it to power door locks and windows.
It is mainly being built to go the long haul at Power Tour, as well as raise some eyebrows at the local autocross events. Good guys lookout, Jason is looking forward to seeing you real soon.
