Keith's 1969 Camaro Build

Keith bought his beautiful 1969 Chevy Camaro 16 years ago when it still had the factory 350ci block with a turbo 350 transmission.

In 1998 he built a fuel injected 406 small block and installed it with a 6-speed transmission, Baer brakes and new 17” wheels. About this time the new LS1 motors hit the market so he and his crew quickly got their hands on a couple and began figuring out how to pull the new breed of motors apart. By early 2000 they had begun building two stroked LS1 motors for their race car and for Keith’s ’69 Camaro.

At the time you couldn’t just run down to the corner store for stroker LS1 parts so they called up Lunati, the only company making them at the time, and ordered two 408ci kits using the iron 6.0L block which they chose for its durability and strength.

They spent the next year or so building the motor and finally around 2002 the ’69 had a big bad 408LS stroked motor with a 6-speed transmission that put down 440 rear-wheel horse power and still got 20 miles to the gallon, great numbers at that time.

Keith used the car as a daily driver putting an average of 20,000 miles on it each year until 2004 when out playing the role of “Rookie Road Racer”, he stuffed it into a guard rail. So disappointed he parked the car in the back of his store where it sat for almost 5 years before he laid eyes on it again.

In March of 2009 some customers in the process of rebuilding first generation Camaros stopped by the store. After helping them and listening to what they had going on, it inspired Keith to dust off the cobwebs and rekindle an old flame with his ’69.

He quickly gathered his crew together and laid out the plans. This was not going to be a simple face lift but a complete and total rebuild. They started by pulling the car out and gutting it from one end to the other. They saved what they needed, cut where they had to and chunked the rest. Once the dust settled they were happy to see that the only damage to the car was superficial encompassing both the fender and the hood.

The first area of reconstruction began with the installation of mini-tubs. Next they installed Heidts 4 link with coilovers on a Moser 12-bolt rear end with 3:73 gears. Then they used the Heidts Pro G front clip with coilovers.

After the rear end was finished, they moved on to replacing the whole wiring system with the Painless Performance integrated wiring harness that has both the chassis and motor wiring in one piece. They added a powerful Kenne Bell 2.8L Twin Screw Supercharger to the same 408ci block which upped the max output of the motor to approximately 750HP running on 93 octane fuel and kept the 6-speed transmission.

To finish the suspension they added new 6-Piston Baer brakes on all four corners and put 18” x 8” wheels on the front while stuffing 18” x 12” beasts on the rear with 345/35-18 Mickey Thompson Drag Radials wrapped around them to put the power to the ground.

Next on the list of things to do was the interior. Keith wanted an updated look and feel to the interior while trying to hold true to the original 1969 Camaro style. To accomplish this he kept the original gauge cluster and other key components in tact while having main pieces, like console and wood grain trim on and around the glove box refinished in a Hydra-dip Carbon Fiber. Then they worked on the seats by reupholstering some late model versions with a beautiful hounds-tooth pattern trimmed in black. In the end it held true to the heritage of the original 1969 interior and looks updated, fresh and new.

The car was completed in May of 2010 just in time for the Super Chevy event held at the Texas Motorplex. The new version of the ’69 Camaro only has some interior parts and the sheet metal remaining from the original car. She is running stronger than ever and Keith drives her quite often but now he leaves the road racing to the track.