“That car quickly became one of his greatest joys,” Jeff fondly remembers. “He loved taking it out for weekend drives and especially enjoyed picking up his grandchildren from school in it. It was a special tradition.

“Unfortunately, Duane was diagnosed with lung cancer and a few weeks before he [died], I took the car out to keep it running and refuel it,” Jeff says. “After I parked it back in his garage, it was just a little off from straight. That small detail mattered to him—he wanted everything just right, especially his pride and joy. Despite his declining health, he got in to straighten it out. Sadly, he accidentally hit the gas and bumped the front end into the garage wall. He was heartbroken. I came over immediately and reassured him, ‘Don’t worry, Dad, it can be fixed. I’ll make it even better.’ Unfortunately, just one week later, he [died]; but I never forgot that promise.”

Eventually, the car was taken to Jeff’s friend Steve Sbelgio’s Eclipse Engineering that used to be in Whittier, California, where Sbelgio removed the TREMEC and replaced it with a 4L80E built by Dave Dibbs at Orange County Transmissions in Costa Mesa. Steve also removed the existing GM MEFI engine controller used on all Ram Jet engines and replaced it with a Holley Dominator ECM for both the engine and trans.
            
Unfortunately, things went a bit south when it was discovered that some previous rear fender repair work was not quite up to scratch. A deep dive revealed that new quarter-panels had been welded on top of the rotten ones partially left underneath. There was nothing for it but to have Pauly Rivera at Mick’s Paint, in Pomona, California, remove the quarter-panels and replace them along with the inner fenders with new sheetmetal. “While you’re at it,” Jeff said, “let’s smooth out the firewall, fix the funked up inner front fenders, detail the bumpers, and repaint the car. Oh, and let’s install stack injection and black out everything.”

A bit of TLC turned into a major overhaul at Mick’s, but the result was worth the effort. Fabricator Rivera began by removing the rear quarters from the door all the way back to the rear panel and up to the roof panel—it was a major task after which Rivera installed new Dynacorn quarters. Another unforeseen problem was the discovery of holes around the roof where the factory vinyl roof trim had been removed. The holes, and there were many, that had been filled with Bondo and not welded, had to be ground out and welded. 

Attention next moved to the front where the gnarly inner fenders were removed and extensively reworked as was the firewall, while all the A/C lines, wiring, and so on were carefully rerouted and hidden along with the wiper motor. Meanwhile, the tops of the framerails, that would be seen, were likewise massaged for a smooth finish. 
            
Having completed the major bodywork, Rivera moved onto the bumpers, which were cut, shut, shaved and re-contoured for a more precise fit to the body. Again, it was lots of work that would go mostly unnoticed, but it’s those details that separate the good from the bad. From Rivera’s fab department Jeff’s Camaro was passed along to Mick’s paint team. “It’s always a challenge to improve on an already-nice car,” Mick says, “but Jeff had a vision for this black-on-black tribute to Duane and entrusted us to execute it. We encountered a few more problems than we anticipated but hopefully we executed the rebuild with attitude and taste.”

Simultaneous to all the bodywork, Sbelgio was working on replacing the GM MEFI system with a Borla eight-stack Chevrolet V-8 injection kit with 50mm IDA throttle bodies for oval-port heads. According to Sbelgio, “This is a fairly simple swap, however, new fuel lines and throttle linkage using a Lokar pedal and cable were required. We retained the factory Ram Jet distributor but used a Holley engine management system to control idle speed and ignition timing. The most time-consuming operation was the balancing and synchronization of the injectors before developing the calibration.” Once the componentry had been determined, all the parts were detailed in black with orange anodized accents to match the graphics and wheels.
            
“This car is now a legacy piece.” Jeff surmised, “As a family of car lovers, we plan to keep it in the family for generations. My family and I all take joy in cruising together, and I know my dad is smiling down from heaven—especially knowing this Camaro might end up in a magazine.”