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....the world is an interesting place,some times you get the opportunity to meet somebody that has a real 'Impact' on your life!!!!!
I had the pleasure to come into contact, here in Melbourne,with an American Gentleman,in the true sense of the word, Jim Hartz,
Jim's enthusiasim for all things PPG ( the Automotive Paint Company/USA ) was infectious,but better still, he had a total understanding and passion for the World of 'Custom Paint',he embraced and understood the commitment required to get a 'Great' result, he understood his product range like he had desgined it himself
Jim was,I Believe, head of the group,based in Sydney,that was instrumental in formulating the take-over/buy-out of the 'Dulux Automotive Group', (now, PPG Australia) this was some years back and durring that time ,Jim supported 'Loose' canons like myself with our Custom Paint fantasies and questions!!
Durring one of our 'bench racing' sessions (by Phone!!) I explained how excited I was to have the opportunity to rebuild the Bob Jane Camaro, a Real 'ZEEEE EL One',Jim was right up with the breed,going on to tell me that PPG had been the 'Original' supplier of paint to GM/USA,'69 Camaro colour was 'HUGGER ORANGE' and was also used on the Corvette!! Jim imformed me....a plan formulated in my mind,....."So why don't we paint it with genuine PPG Again"!!!!?........so when it came time for paint and the "Red Dress' to go on ,Jim, by now back in the USA organised for PPG Australia to supply our paint needs,they where fantastic and the product is better than excellent,never once did they complain as to how much we used,consider to that this October the Camaro will be 10yrs old and the paint job when you get to see it has never been 'Cut-n-polished....ever!!!....it shines like it was painted yesterday......to Jimmy in retirement,'Your Health,and Thank You!!!....To Andrew (ex Dulux/PPG),then Tony ( who has a 'Killer':cool: '69/Camaro Z/28)and the team at PPG Melbourne, a Heart felt 'thank you' for your support all these years.....regards Thunder427/Myles Johnson :):):)
NB; If considering the 'what will I use' paint factor,consider first PPG,I say this with '40 something behind a spray gun,(starting in the old 'acrylic Laquer' Days/ yep!!,Happy Days!) three things,User friendly,great colour range that goes back to the 30's,excellent product back up and 'Yes' I use other brands as you do to check out 'whats what'.....but I find I wind up back at the PPG counter !!!!.....unashamable addvitorial !!!...................may your paint job be 'Dust Free' ......MJ:cool:
PPG Paint products!:)
.....A buddy who 'scans' around our 'Famous' forum phoned me late today/Sunday regarding some Corvette parts he requires,was on my case about the PPG 'plug'....."Oh!!its good to give a product a high rating when they supplied it 'FREE'!!!!!!,mind you he won't 'post', a bit 'Shy' I'm thinking!!!!
But he made me think!!!.....'User Friendly',to me that means that they have compatable products EG:Yes, each line of product has its own range of recomended reducers and hardners,but should you find your self short a reducer/hardner from another line of PPG product,it will mix and be compatable....where as some of the high dollar brands wont allow a cross over of lines..EG If you are using a 'Euro' line of 2pac you have to use ONLY thier product as recomended on the label, thier hi-fill undercoat reducer will not work in thier 2pac colour products......don't get me wrong ,no way do I subjest we should 'Mix and Match' ,but some time's we do run out and at 3 in the morning nobody is open
PPG probably don't recomend what I'm subjesting,but they do agree that that thier product range is adaptable...Thier 'blurb' on the label does subjest 'you should follow a set line of proceedures to get a maximum result!!!!!!!!.....but it is ' User Friendly,remember the 'usedcar salesman'..Trust Me!!!:cool:......regards thunder427/MJ:)
The more i see of this rebuild the more i have to congratulate all involved, just amazing. A real credit to all of you.
Just letting you guys know that this thread is still alive ..... The pictures posted so far were in albums..... There are still many more pictures to come, but they are boxed and need to be sorted a little more prior to scanning..... but they will appear...
Thanks Greg, looking forward to the next instalment.
Bout time you guys updated this thread?
"Houston.... We have a problem"........
Steve, I quote those famous words as I look how long it it since I did an update...... can't believe it was September last year!
As with the Camaro project itself, sometimes you encounter problems or delays that were not in the "Master Plan".
I do have in my possession a box full of photographs and negatives of the Camaro for further sorting and scanning. This will be a slightly more time consuming process than the original posts, as they were "page" scans, which enabled me to do them a little more quickly... sorting individual shots is a little more time consuming...
However, having said that, the issue at the stage may be the image hosting service that I have been using is changing its terms of usage as of March 1, 2012, and as a result the images that I have already posted on this thread may disappear on that date.... only time will tell.
If the images remain visible after that date I can continue on..... if not I may have to move to plan "B" and re post them plus the additions....
All I can say, is keep your finger crossed :)
Thanks Greg, I'll copy and paste all the pics from this thread onto my pc and if they do all vanish on March 1 I'll upload them myself from here. Hopefully it won't come to that.
When is the McLaren M6 project due to start??
Good news, pics are still here!
Steve, I think this is what you guys are looking for....... just something to wet he appetite...
http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/3908/powerup.jpg
This is is sust a small sample of the contents of some of the boxes yet to be gone through.... about 480 pictures in this lot.
http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/6442/pictures480.jpg
...if you look very carefully through the windscreen you will see 'Elvis' swinging there,he was our reminder that all things built,bought,fabricated had to have the 60's theme,he was still hanging there when we delivered the Camaro to Bob Jane at its debut,Bob Jane.t.Mart sponsored Bathurst 2002..........the rebuilt Camaro put a 'Smile' :)on Bobs face,but 'Elvis' got a laugh!!!!!:D.....regards thunder427/MJ:cool:
Awesome work guys! I love the Elvis iea. I'll have to apply that to my projects in future. What a cool idea. Did Bob keep Elvis?
Myles, thanks a lot for sharing these restoration photos. I've seen the finished product and it was clearly worth the effort. Having gone through my own post drag racing restoration I know the dedication it takes to do it right. Now, if you could only post some sound...
... :pWith a tag like, 'ZL1 49' ,I'd be guessing that you might just be the 'Proud' owner of the #49th ZL1 Camaro ever built,my Crystal Ball is telling me you and your family have just made New York home, I'm now thinking I've Seen you starring on V8TV, standing in front of a beautiful Blue "Fred Gibb Chevrolet' Drag Camaro.....( Forum members check this out...http://v8tvmid,108/topic,11122.msg15147/ ).......feel obliged to post pictures of you Camaro ZL1 on this thread, outlining your history with your car......I know your real busy at this time,but it would be great to look at the parrallels in reconstruction and the commitment to endevour to get it right,.....Again welcome,...watch for harrasment from Steve Holmes,:o'OFL' (Our Forum Leader) this Forum is his creation and we are greatful to his foresight,But I do know his weakness for Camaro with ZL1 credentials..........Jeff, great to have you join this Forum......regards thunder427/Myles:cool:
Hey guys. It's Jeff Murphy here. I was lucky enough to make contact with Bob Jane and Myles a few years back not long after the Australian Muscle Car Magazine cover article. I took a flyer that the door might be open for a visit given I was also a ZL-1 owner, so I called Calder Park from Singapore airport while enroute to Sydney. We ended up exchanging emails over the next couple of days and Myles said he was open to a visit so I flew from Canberra to Melbourne on my way hom. We spent a great afternoon with #33 and I flew home to the UK stinking of race gas!
My car was done then, but needed a do over because the owner two before me took out the mini-tubs, etc., but didn't spend the $, time or attention to do it right. I drove the car a few times, and even raced it once (gently) against one of the 50 1968 Gibb COPO Novas, but something broke every time, so we decided to start over.
You can see some of the restoration at the Facebook site of the Super Car Workshop, owned by Brian Henderson and Joe Swezey of Latrobe, PA, in two separate links here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...3181609&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...3181609&type=1
Enjoy
Jeff, hey its great to have you here. Yours is indeed the ZL-1 I was was thinking of. The car is a credit to yourself and to Super Car Workshop. Its just stunning. I really hope you'll create a dedicated thread on the history and restoration of this car. Plenty on here would really love to see it. The cars competition history sounds interesting.
This just in. The April 2012 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines is out with coverage of the 2011 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals. The Chicago-based MCACN show has become the pre-eminent muscle car show in the US, with close to 500 of the finest cars across all the brands.
http://www.mcacn.com/hmm412.pdf
One of the features of this past show was a ZL-1 display that attracted 16 (was supposed to be 18, but 2 were last minute no shows). We had the #1 and #2 cars, the #1 car in race form - tubbed with candy red and gold lace paint as per the 1969 season - and #2 back to plain jane Dusk Blue. We also had Ken Barnhart's original owner #16 Super Stocker, with which he won the 1970 NHRA US Indy Nationals, a 900 original mile 2 owner Hugger Orange car (#58, I think), and 1 of 2 Garnet Red cars. This was the show at which I did the interview Myles posted (I have to acknowledge the mistake I made in that interview - while trying to think on my feet I neglected to remember that Gibb ordered 5 colors, not 4: Dusk Blue, Le Mans Blue, Cortez Silver, Fathom Green and Hugger Orange. Inexcusable given Barnhart's and Bob Jane's cars are two of my favorites). My car was fortunate enough to be awarded Best of Show - Chevrolet and is the Le Mans Blue car pictured in the article.
......that it Steve!!!!!....time you created the dedicated ZL1 site,most people are most likely unaware the stats behind these select 69 factory 'Hot Rod' Camaro's from 1969,Fred Gibb Chevrolet, 427 Alloy Big Block ( read 'Can- Am & Mclaren) this is great story hanging to be told..."come on Uncle Steve, you promised you would tell me a story before lights out!!!!!:):):).....regards thunder427/MJ:cool:
I have a question. What is the story behind Bob Jane's Lemans Blue Camaro? All the focus is on the orange one... Obviously it started life as a race car but what was its history up until the time it was scrapped? Do you have any photos of it? Cheers
......quick reply!! The Lemans Blue ZL1's Alloy 427 is the engine in the #7 Camaro, so in 'Spirit' she still lives!!!!....for those that don't spend the 'wee' hours of the morning trolling Camaro threads , just recently Jim Rathman passed away,twice 'Indy' winner,owner of Rathmans Chevrolet in Melbourne ,Florida...imagine his relief when somebody called Bob Jane rang from Melbourne Australia and bought both of his ZL1s as they were not the 'Hot Ticket' At nearly twice the price of a FULLY loaded Z/28 and were the basic 'poverty' pack' ,the first 50 that where ordered by Fred Gibb Chevrolet.... Will find some shots for you Yenko.....regards thunder427/MJ:cool:
Thanks for the reply mate. I have always been curious about the lemans blue ZL1 of Bob Jane. It seems to be the forgotten one, overshadowed by the orange ZL1. After the blue one was retired from racing it kind of just dropped off and wasn't heard of. What happened to the car during that time frame? Either way, I eagerly await the photos. Cheers
Just returned from Phillip Island. Meet Miles and had an awesome discussion about the car and the rebuild. You can see why the car is so good as it reflects the attitude of the person. Also had chat with Mr Bob Jane another very pleasant gentleman and interesting to chat with. I hit the jackpot as while we were talking Mr Beechy and his wonderful wife dropped in and we all had a great chat. Norm mentioned how he loved Bay Park and had been good friends with Mr Rorrison and always enjoyed his stay in NZ. A great meeting, never to be forgotten
Thank you Miles for the time and it made my trip. Will keep in touch.
Miles with the car in picture 1
Rod, The sentiment is likewise, it's great to meet with passionate and knowledgable people....to you personally,you ready assistance and no fuss approach getting my favorite Camaro back to our pit was very much appreciated,there is no damage, not that I want to test it's RPM's again,Matt the engine builder gave her a 'clean bill of health' a new throttle cable will make all the difference,......again, great weekend look forward to time for a chat next visit ......regards thunder427/MJ
Bloody cool pics Rod! Thanks for sharing. Beechey looks almost exactly as he did in 1965!
Attachment 6788
Bout time for another update guys?
Thought I might just do this to get it back on front page for a while, this is a great bit of history and a great read. For new members spend some time on this.
Great idea Rod, I agree.
From the Bob Jane Racing Heritage, this was a press release from 1971 for the Camaro.
Attachment 17485
It must be time for the next installment of photos and info on this legendary car.
Hi Mark, yes another update would be great, but Myles Johnson, who restored the Camaro, has been busy lately since getting the Bob Jane Racing Heritage going, and hasn't been on here much of late, unfortunately.
It will be worth the wait.