FEATURE
Images by THE AUTHORohn Jackson fell in love with Camaros while in college and owned a lot of them over the years, ranging from numerous first-gens to a 2010 SS and 2014 RS. “I have enjoyed them because they were easy to build and didn’t cost a bunch,” he tells us. “I always owned small-blocks and was fearful of big-blocks because they were expensive and harder to maintain, but one day at a show I heard one start up, and wow! I had to have one. It took 40 years before that dream came true.”
John’s big-block odyssey began in 2013, when he got wind of a derelict ’69 SS396 coupe in Northern New York. “It was a rust bucket,” he recalls, “a big project that was going to take years to reconstruct, but it was a real SS396, so I bought it.”
John left the 396 engine with Camaro Specialties to be rebuilt and went full steam ahead on the body himself. He removed the subframe and had it sandblasted and powdercoated by Action Powder Coating in Huntington, New York. Both rusty fenders were replaced with originals from a donor car. John cut out the rusty floor and quarter-panels and welded new ones in. The trunk floor extensions were replaced but, surprisingly, the trunk was solid enough to save. After replacing all the rusty steel, fitting the doors and front end, and massaging the body surfaces to perfection, John primed and painted his ’69 the original Rallye Green hue.
A few months later John got going on the Camaro again, shipping it to Camaro Specialties to have the drivetrain and body glass installed. “I thought that would be it,” he recalls, “but I got a phone call telling me I didn’t install the driver side quarter-panel correctly and it would have to be replaced. I gave them the go-ahead and after several months the work was done, and they completely stripped and repainted the entire car.”
After the paint was finished, John went back to Camaro Specialties to assist with the drivetrain installation and interior restoration. “As the build progressed, I decided to add power steering because I knew it would take too much effort with manual steering and the big-block.”
The car was completed in the spring of 2016, three years after John began the work. After trailering it to his home on Long Island he put some time into researching the car’s history. The previous owner told him it had been raced in the Syracuse, New York, area many years earlier but beyond that he didn’t know much. The National Corvette Restorers Society’s shipping records revealed that the car’s production date was February 25, 1969 and it went to Salina Motors in Syracuse. This Chevrolet dealership is long gone so there was no hope of getting any records from there. John’s quest to find prior owners and information about the car continues.
“At the show everyone was shocked to learn that I drove this newly restored car all that way,” John chuckles. “But for me it was built to drive, not to be a trailer queen. In the end I was very pleased when it scored 879 points out of 1,000 and got a Bronze award. With the judging sheets I was able to see what needed to be done to improve her for the next show.”
After returning to Camaro Specialties, it was discovered that the intake manifold gaskets were incorrectly installed. Fixing that minor issue solved the oil consumption problem. For the remainder of 2016 John divided his time between driving, showing, and obsessing over the car’s details. “It placed First or Second in every show it was in, and I studied all of the judging sheets to continuously improve my scoring,” John confesses.
In 2017 he returned to the Camaro Nationals, and this time scored 964 out of 1,000, earning a coveted Gold award. It helped that he trailered it there to avoid even the slightest hint of road dirt on the underside. “I was thrilled to get Gold, but I knew I could do better, so I went back in 2018 more determined than ever, John says. “Unfortunately, as I was trailing it down, my Jeep’s transmission decided not to make the trip. I had to turn around after getting only 15 miles from home and ease it back slowly. I unloaded the Camaro and drove it to the show in light rain that followed me most of the way.”
Despite all of the cleanup required from the drive, John’s Camaro earned 992 points and another Gold. In the years since John has continued to both show and drive the car, bringing home many trophies and averaging a little over a thousand joy-filled miles per year.
Vehicle: 1969 Camaro RS/SS 396
Type: Chevrolet iron-block V-8, four-bolt main, nodular iron bearing caps
Displacement: 396 ci
Compression Ratio: 11.0:1
Bore: 4.094 inches
Stroke: 3.760 inches
Builder: Camaro Specialties
Machine Work: Camaro Specialties
Rotating Assembly: Chevrolet forged steel crankshaft (PN 3882849), Chevrolet forged steel 3/8-inch connecting rods, Chevrolet forged aluminum pistons
Valvetrain: Stock 2.19-inch intake and 1.88-inch exhaust valves
Camshaft: Stock Chevrolet (PN 3863143), 0.520-inch intake and 0.520-inch exhaust lift, 316-degree intake duration, 302-degree exhaust duration
Cylinder Heads: Chevrolet cast-iron (PN 3919840)
Induction: Chevrolet aluminum Winters (PN 3933163) intake manifold
Carburetor: Holley four-barrel, 780-cfm, Chevrolet (PN 3959164), Holley #44346
Exhaust: Chevrolet cast-iron exhaust manifolds, Gardner pipes and muffler
Valve Covers: Chevrolet chrome plated
Accessory Drive: Stock Chevrolet
Output: 449 hp at 6,200 rpm, 625 lb ft at 4,800 rpm
Transmission: Muncie M21 close-ratio four-speed
Clutch: Stock 11-inch GM
Rear Axle: Stock GM 12-bolt Positraction axle, 4.10:1 ratio
Front Suspension: Stock upper and lower A-arms, coil springs, Delco (PN 3192477) monotube hydraulic shocks, 11/16-inch antisway bar
Rear Suspension: Stock leaf springs, Delco (PN 3192851) staggered monotube hydraulic shocks
Brakes: Stock J52 power-assist single-piston front disc with 11-inch rotors, 9.5-inch rear drums
Wheels: Stock Rally 14×6
Tires: Goodyear Polyglas Custom Wide Tread, bias-ply, F70-14
Upholstery: Stock ivory and black vinyl from Distinctive Industries
Installation: Camaro Specialties
Seats: Chevrolet front bucket, rear bench
Steering: Chevrolet standard steering wheel
Shifter: Stock Hurst
Dash: Stock
Instrumentation: Stock Chevrolet, including U17 console-mounted gauges
Wiring: American Autowire
HVAC: Stock Chevrolet
Entertainment System: Option U63 AM radio
Bodywork: Owner
Painter: Camaro Specialties (East Aurora, NY)
Paint: Stock Chevrolet, 79 Rallye Green
Grille: Stock Chevrolet
Bumpers: Stock Chevrolet
Headlights: Stock Chevrolet
Taillights: Stock Chevrolet