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Sometimes it’s not entire cars that are stumbled across in barns or garages, but very special vehicle components. Which is how well-known designer and car customizer Chip Foose came to acquire a rare and original 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 engine.
What made the engine even more exciting to Foose was that it was date coded the exact day as a 1967 Chevrolet C10 pickup truck he already owned. Hmmm, he wondered, what if Vince Piggins and his Camaro team had decided to build a C/28 sport truck back in the day? What might that vehicle be?
At first, Foose was going to go exotic with his design, perhaps a Camaro-based El Camino sort of truck. But he quickly changed his mind and decided that instead he was going to go somewhat more subtle because this vehicle would become his daily driver.
He rebuilt the 302cid V8 to make it fully compatible with contemporary fuel supplies, lowering compression, installing updated hydraulic roller camshaft with low-profile rockers that would fit beneath the stock valve covers, porting and polishing the stock heads, porting the intake and opening the exhaust to fit the D-shaped ports on period-correct Rams Horn exhaust manifolds.
The engine was balanced and blueprinted and mated via a custom Centerforce clutch and flywheel to a Bowler T-56 5-speed manual transmission. The rear gears were changed from 4:11 to 3:08.
Meanwhile, the truck’s frame was cleaned and powder coated. Hotchkis suspension and disc brakes were bolted in place. Magnaflow supplied a slightly modified C-10 exhaust kit to fit Foose’s custom installation.
Foose also designed custom wheels inspired by the original wheel covers.
The truck was painted in BASF 22 Line Glasurit White, a shade that matched the original factory color, and the bed floor was covered with furniture-grade wood planks Foose finished in a deep brown/black.
The driver compartment was done to reflect that of a ‘67 Z/28, with orange vinyl and herringbone inserts, but with matching orange carpet, and the metal surfaces were sprayed orange.
