See the full build: the full 1969 Camaro build
Larry Morgan's 1969 Camaro ran through his sons' whole growing-up: the homecoming car, the one nobody could learn a stick on, the centerpiece of every family story. Mom and Dad dated in a '67. So when a Camaro comes into the shop, it isn't a service line. It's the reason there's a shop. Our 1969 Camaro, red with black stripes like Larry's and an LSX 454 under the hood, is the clearest picture of how we build one.
We work on first-generation cars (1967–1969) and second-generation cars (1970–1981). The first-gen is the one most people picture, with the '69 as the most wanted year of the three. The second-gen is a bigger, longer car that's gotten a lot more attention lately and still costs less to start with. We're a family shop in Pelham, Alabama, south of Birmingham, and we take in Camaros from anywhere in the lower 48.
New to how a build goes? Start with how it works. Just want the drivetrain? See engine swaps.
The right color, the right trim, the right small-block or big-block under the hood, gone through so it runs the way it did new. Rust repaired in metal, gaps set before paint. For a numbers-matching car, this is the honest path and the one that holds value.
The body stays stock. Underneath: fuel injection, an overdrive or a modern manual, disc brakes, a suspension that doesn't wander, air conditioning that works in August. A Camaro you take on a Saturday without a tool bag.
What our '69 is. LSX 454, five-speed manual, Currie rear end, RideTech coilovers at every corner, Detroit Speed components, Wilwood brakes behind 18-inch Boze wheels, a hand-stitched interior. A 1969 on the outside and a modern car everywhere else.
On badging: a lot of first-gen Camaros wear RS or Z28 trim that wasn't born on the car. We'll build whatever look you want, but we won't call a car a factory RS/Z28 on paper unless the documentation says so. Every build is billed on time and materials, scoped around your car and your budget, not a package.
Rebuild the original small-block or big-block, or swap in LS, LSX, or LT power with the fuel system, harness, and cooling to run it. Manual or automatic behind it, and a rear end that can take the torque. Our '69 runs an LSX 454 through a five-speed and a Currie rear.
From a stock-style refresh to coilovers at all four corners, Detroit Speed components, sway bars, and a quick-ratio steering box. Wilwood discs with drilled rotors when the power calls for it, because a 450-horsepower car on drum brakes isn't a car anybody should drive.
First-gen Camaros rust at the rear quarters, trunk floor, rear window channel, and the cowl; second-gens add the rear frame rails and subframe mounts. Metal first, then paint, with bezels and trim sprayed to match if you want the clean look our '69 has: no chrome left but the shark gills and the wheels.
Stock reproduction or fully custom, stitched in-house. Our '69 got hand-stitched black leather with plaid inserts, a hand-finished red dash, chrome-bezel Dakota Digital gauges, a custom console, a Sparco wheel, and drilled aluminum pedals. Yours gets whatever the car is for.
If it's a documented, numbers-matching car, original is usually the right call and the one that protects what you have. If it's a base car or a clone, a resto-mod makes it a better car to drive without costing it anything it had. Most of what we build is somewhere in the middle, and the first call is where we figure out which.
An LS or LSX is the usual answer and what's in our '69. GM's newer LT engines are an option too. We do the whole swap, not just the engine: fuel, wiring, cooling, exhaust, transmission, driveline, and brakes to match. See engine swaps.
A full build typically runs 12 to 18 months once it starts, and a swap on its own is typically 30 to 45 days in the shop. Condition, scope, and parts move those, and you'll get a window for your car once it's scoped. The details are on how it works.
Yes. We take in cars from anywhere in the lower 48, and the build runs the same way with weekly photo updates. The nationwide restoration page covers transport and what to expect.