The original rear end to the car was long gone. I knew that it would be very difficult to find the correct one since the housing was a 1967 only version. Since I knew the car was an SS and it had a 4P on the trim tag the rearend was a posi and it also had a single traction bar (radius rod). The bracket seen on sticking up on the left side in the first picture is the mounting bracket for the traction bar, which is a 1967 only feature.
What gears the rearend had was also a mystery as there is no indication of what they would be.
I talked to Bob Harris of Camaro Specialties. He had several rear ends, but only one 67. It was rebuilt and had 3:55 gears, which was one of the gear sets the car could have come with. Bob was saving it for a 67 Pace Car Replica project he was working on, but decided to give it up. I pad A LOT for the rear end, but was not disappointed. The above pictures are what it looked like when I got it. It was stamped QK 06 15 C2. QC = 3.55 gears (1967), 06 = June, 15 = 15th, C2= 2nd shift (I think). My car was built the 3rd week of June 1967. The rear end was built on the 1st day of the third week of June 1967. So it is very correct for my car. Another thing to note is the cast date of either E87 (May 8th, 1967) or F87 (June 8th, 1967), which aligns with the stamped assembly date.
Of course I took the whole thing a part to restore it anyways. I look at the gears shows the numbers 11-39, which refers to the number of teeth on the pinion and ring gears. 11/39 = 3.545 or 3.55. So the gears were right.
I sandblasted everything and primed the parts with epoxy primer. I replaced the pinion seal, just in case and then painted the rearend parts with SEMS Hot Rod Black.
The original mono leaf springs were actaully still with the car when I got it. All I did with them was to sandblast them, replace the eye bushings and painted them with a Krylon Smoke Gray, which matches the original factory color.
I bought all AC Delco parts to rebuild the brakes. The emergency brake cables are stainless steel versions, which I got due to concerns that the zinc plate repos would corrode.
After painting the rearend it took no time at all to put togther. The brake lines are from Inline Tube, which fit like a glove. I did have a delay as I had to locate the correct pinion yolk (974 for 1310 U-jounts). The rear end came with the TH400 version (9210), which is for the wider 1330 U-joints.
The drive shaft was and easy thing to restore. I soaked it in muratic acid in a PVC pipe for a fews days and simply wire wheeled it not to clean off the chaulky residue and then painted the body with Seymours Stainless Steel paint. I detailed the ends with a dark cast gray and painted the color code stripes. The yolk I ended up buying new from Denny's Driveshafts as I was concerned that the one I had would burn up the rear transmission seal.
They make repo shocks that look close to the orginals. The spiral detail isn't as pronounced as the originals, but the shocks are the correct color. In the above photo I added the mounting hardware and the correct plastic cap that protrudes into the trunk.
I bought a concours correct exhaust system from Gardener Exhaust it was pricey but fit like a glove. I did learn one trick from them. They supplied a tube of silicone sealer for the joints. You put a bead of sealer around the pipes before sliding them together and clamping them down. It prevents exhaust leaks.
The Camaro did not have staggered shocks in 1967. That coupled with a monoleaf spring design resulted in wheel-hop during initial take off. Chevy resolved this, kind of, by adding a traction bar. The early cars had round radius rods and the later ones had square radius rods. In this picture that I stole from Camaros.org you can see how it is mounted. I will have to replace the photo with one form my car when I get a chance......
I bought a repo rear bumper, but used original mounting brackets. The bumper comes with the center bracket rivetted to it. I had no easy way to replace it, so I justed painted it black like the original bracket was. They make a pretty nice repo license plate light, so I bought one of those as well.
And lastly comes the gas tank. I bought a stainless steel fuel sending unit to ensure no corrosion of the fuel line. The foam block and the wire taped down with black tape is how the factory did this per the 1967 Camaro AIM.