Select® Restoration Projects
- 1972 Chevrolet Z28 Camaro 502
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We at Select Motors are often approached by customers who have purchased a vehicle or who have had issues stacking up over the years and need a hit list of problems solved.
Traction issues were first on the list for this 1972 Camaro. The engine in this car is a 502 hp 502 cubic inch Big Block and it had a problem of blowing the tires away and climbing sideways at highway speeds. In addition to suspension issues, the owner wanted to upgrade to a large set of four wheel disc brakes from the stainless steel brake corporation.
Cosmetic issues inside, outside and under the hood would be addressed along with a “rubbery, sloppy, hard to tell which gear you’re in” shifter.
As we addressed the traction issue, two very obvious problems were noted. The rear tires were old and hard as granite and the front suspension had little or no travel. The front suspension had been set up some time back with coil over shocks and the removal of the factory coil springs. The coil over’s were adjusted down at the time of their installation, apparently to match the ride height of a set of worn out rear leaf springs.
Our customer wanted to keep the low profile. When we ordered a custom four-wheel disc brake kit from Stainless Steel Brake Corporation, (SSBC), we opted for a 2” drop spindle in the front which allowed us to introduce suspension travel back into the front end and keep the lowered vehicle stance.
The rear suspension consisted of a set of collapsed mono leaf springs. The cure for traction and ride height would be a set of Cal-Trac 2” lowering split mono leafs and their famous adjustable Cal-Trac bars.
With our new suspension upgrades, we now had the ride height our customer preferred and a functional, tunable suspension. We installed a new set of B.F. Goodrich drag radials, made a few hot passes in the parking lot, adjusted our Cal-Trac bars and more horsepower was accessible and the car was controllable.
The factory shifter and console were key parts of this cars interior. The cable and bracket under the car were mangled and the shift indicator in the dash was not functioning. We installed a new cable and bracket and built a shift gate which would allow for positive shifts from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. By simply rocking the shifter forward from 1st gear, it will now only shift to second gear. Holding up on the shifter release button in second and rocking the shifter forward will allow the shifter to only shift into 3rd gear. To access neutral, it is necessary to then release the button on the shifter. The shift indicator was missing important parts which we believed disappeared with the original cluster. A drum was fabricated with a cable wrapped around it to make the indicator function again.
Other interior repairs included a replacement gauge bezel, door panel tops and a new set of seat belts.
The engine compartment was detailed by cleaning up the intake manifold and a new set of valve covers.
The endura bumper was replaced on the front of the car, the rims were polished and our ’72 Camaro was back on the street with a fresh perspective.
