1974 Camaro z/28 Type LT

Camaro z28 Type LTbr By Bob Hoke, Ecklers Senior Product Marketing Managerbr img src"http:blog.rickscamaros.comwp-contentuploads2016061974-Camaro-Z28-LT.jpg" alt"1974-Camaro-Z28-LT" "600" height"286" I have owned my 1974 Z28 Type LT since 1989 or 1990, depending on what of it you are talking about. I have only owned one other car longer. My attraction to it started in high school when a friend bought a beautiful, low-mileage 73 Z28 with a 4-speed. He took me for a ride and I was impressed at how docile it was to drive normally, but it was an animal when he got on it. That stuck with me, so when in 1989 a co-worker announced he was selling his 74 Z28 4-speed, I was interested. Beautiful it was not, but I bought it for about what the engine and transmission were worth. It was originally from New Jersey, then was brought to Florida to live on the beach. As you can imagine, this meant there was rust everywhere. It was too extensive to economically repair. It ran great though, and I had lots of fun running it hard without worrying about tearing up something nice. img src"http:blog.rickscamaros.comwp-contentuploads2016061974-Camaro-Z28-LT-3-4-view.jpg" alt"1974-Camaro-Z28-LT-3-4-view" "600" height"357" In 1990 my mother spotted an ad in a local newspaper for another 74 Z28 Type LT. It had just 64,000 miles, was really solid, had the original and was even the same color combination as the rusty one. It was far taken apart though, and was missing some Ironically, I exactly the same amount for it as I for the rusty one. It was stored for the next few years until I felt the rusty one had gotten too unsafe to drive. At that time I was stuck on a 3:00 PM to Midnight shift so my mornings were free (my wife worked during the day). I combined the two cars along with some very nice replacement and took the result to a friend with a body shop. He stripped the body down to bare metal, it in epoxy and cut it in with the correct color code 74 Medium Red Metallic (maroon). This was a slow taking about five years before he was able to return it to me. The idea was that I would get it back, reassemble it somewhat, and return it to him for final img src"http:blog.rickscamaros.comwp-contentuploads2016061974-Camaro-Z28-LT-interior.jpg" alt"1974-Camaro-Z28-LT-interior" "500" height"373" As with many life happened in the form of two wonderful children, a house, ever increasing job etc. I was able to make the Z functional and kept it alive with maintenance runs until about three years ago when brakes became an issue. It has been mostly sitting since then, and some of you reading may have recognized this is the car I mentioned in my Stalled Projects story in the February 2016 issue of Chevy Classics. There is hope for it soon though. I have everything I need to make it functional again, and to begin the this summer. In addition, it will be treated to some underhood detailing and a new exhaust system. I have no idea when I will be able to take it back to my friend for a quality job, but I am really looking forward to bringing this animal back to life. strongspan style"font-family: Times;"Shop for Camaro at a href"http:www.ecklers.com"www.ecklers.comaspanstrongbr strongspan style"font-family: Times;"Follow us on our Camaro Facebook a href"https:www.facebook.comCamaros.Ricks?frefts"Click here and Like us!aspanstrongp