After Roy died, Joann asked if anyone in the club was interested in purchasing the car. Tom was; he couldn’t say “no” on bringing home Roy’s Camaro. The car came with the original bill of sale, but the 327 and powerglide transmission were long gone, so Tom’s plan was to reincarnate Roy’s car as a full-on Pro Touring street machine with aftermarket suspension and an all-aluminum 406ci small-block with fuel injection. The inspiration came from Ridetech’s 48-hour Camaro built a few years ago.

All was moving along on Roy’s Camaro, but it was happening rather slowly, as after a paintjob and an engine build Tom eventually lost focus so the car sat on his two-post. A few years in, the car was still nagging at Tom. He wanted the project completed, so he changed course and decided to go with a Roadster Shop SPEC chassis as the new foundation for the car. He also determined the best course of action was to have it professionally built by the crew at Goolsby Customs in Hueytown, Alabama. “The attraction to Jonathan Goolsby and his crew was seeing all the quality builds coming out of that shop, Tom explains. “I’d see their cars at shows and noticed they have the sharpest lines and amazing attention to detail.” Once getting the car to Goolsby’s things moved quickly. “The communication with [Goolsby] was exceptional,” Tom says. “He understood exactly what I was looking to do with the build and he also shared my vision of keeping the car somewhat basic–nothing over the top, although they are absolutely capable–I wanted this car to represent something Roy might have done with the car at some point.”

Tom’s experience driving his ’17 ZL1 Camaro and his wife’s Z06 Corvette started the love affair with the Chevrolet LT4. “That engine has great street manners, and a big fat torque curve that is quite addicting,” Tom conveys. “Plus, I wanted to buck the trend of going with an LS that is so common with restomods these days. Goolsby has used the LT powerplant in several of their projects, so it was an easy decision. Their experience shows and the detailed engine compartment looks like it was made specifically for this combination.”

Preferring a manual transmission, Tom chose a Bowler Performance–prepared TREMEC T56 six-speed for added strength and smooth gear changes. The confident shifting comes via a Tilton twin-disc clutch; the whole enchilada offers solid high-rpm shifting capabilities and the overdrive makes driving the vintage Camaro feel like a late-model sports car. A GearFX Driveline 9-inch rearend houses 3.90, a limited slip posi, and Strange 31-spline axles.