Street racing in California circa 1969-1970

[Royce Peterson]

The Chevrolet service bulletin that I had the dealer install on my 1969 Impala / 396 (non SS) was a cable that captured the LH (broken) motor mount.

I know it's heresy to put this link up to a 69 Z/28 but most of us (I think) including myself can appreciate what the car represented and the time period in which it thrived.  I used to despise all things Chevrolet in high school due to certain rivalries, but I have relented as time passed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcVyTduXg_4

Has the chrome delete package. Check
Has the crossram carburetion.  Check

I remember a recall though for engines separating from the motor mounts in the first generation and Chevrolet using chains to hold them down until a fix could be had?

[deathsled]

Found a forum on that issue.  Here.
https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=367519

Maybe the Boss 302 was the better car then.  But the 69 Boss engines had problems.  Cracked piston skirts I think.  Which were cured in the 1970?

[Royce Peterson]

Stock the Chebby Z-28 was a LOT quicker. Modified they were close. Ford brakes and suspension was better. Ceebby had the 4.10 and 4.86 rears in more cars than the Mustang 3.91 and 4.30.

[6s2055]

Ah! Great memories from the "gray" group! Best of times and memories!

[6s2055]

Also, the '60s gave us CSX cars and real Shelby GT's!

[FL SAAC]

Found a forum on that issue.  Here.
https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=367519

Maybe the Boss 302 was the better car then.  But the 69 Boss engines had problems.  Cracked piston skirts I think.  Which were cured in the 1970?

Both where great cars, both solid lifter and high revving

The BOSS was more cantankerous

The Chevy just kept on running

[FL SAAC]

Stock the Chebby Z-28 was a LOT quicker. Modified they were close. Ford brakes and suspension was better. Ceebby had the 4.10 and 4.86 rears in more cars than the Mustang 3.91 and 4.30.

Both stock where little pigs

On the Chevy we found that a good breakfast and a set of 4.88 gears worked magic on the street or strip

Look at the lift with street tires, no slicks

These pictures where taken at the race track directly in front of our old house just before the authorities shut this particular track down....lol

[TA Coupe]

Hard to tell but it kinda looks like you had Lakewood traction bars?

        Roy

[mark p]

I guess we are are well off into the thread drift...

I wish that I had a photo... my cousin had a '68 Z/28. Black with gold stripes, Cragar S/S wheels.
I was a very impressionable 15, that car was incredible.
IIRC [it was not exactly "very close" to stock], he ran in SS/J at the track in KY, pretty sure that he said it would lift the tires with slicks, and 12.5 E.T. - does that sound about right?
Of course, it was also his college daily driver 

[FL SAAC]

Hard to tell but it kinda looks like you had Lakewood traction bars?

        Roy

Yes indeedee, we was bonafide....

Got to get that traction down in order to break out of the 16s and mid 15s

Boy we where fast in that DZ 302 290 h.p. (allegedly) !

[FL SAAC]

I guess we are are well off into the thread drift...

I wish that I had a photo... my cousin had a '68 Z/28. Black with gold stripes, Cragar S/S wheels.
I was a very impressionable 15, that car was incredible.
IIRC [it was "not exactly" stock], he ran in SS/J at the track in KY, pretty sure that he said it would lift the tires with slicks and 12.5 E.T. - does that sound about right?
Of course, it was also his college daily driver 

You killing me smalls,  the one time I saw a camaro break into the 12s and being street driven was when it got dropped out of an airplane at 15,000 feet...

[98SVT - was 06GT]

That's no Chevy - it's about to become a MoPile

[J_Speegle]

Rarely if ever a factory new car would be any threat on the street. Modified and home built cars ruled at that time.  As far as Z's there was a local glass company that bought a new one off the lot, took it home and stripped it of the interior and drivetrain. Raced it 3-4 years than put all the original parts back on the car then sold it to one of out group.  Think it only had 5K miles or less on the car at that time.

Wish I had taken pictures of us, our cars or more things but didn't have much extra money that didn't get spent on the cars or girls. More on the cars 

You killing me smalls,  the one time I saw a camaro break into the 12s and being street driven was when it got dropped out of an airplane at 15,000 feet...

One of our group ran a 68 in the early 70's - mid 10's if I recall correctly. It was run on the street from time to time but that always brought attention and the local police that always cruised by the houses we used in the city to keep an eye on us.

We had money (not great amounts) races weekly but it got more exciting and expensive when cars and people would travel through or visit from other areas of Cal or we took a trip to another region or town. Crazy stuff would take place when the local strip would hold big events. Recall one funny car that a short run down the main drag one night. Don't know how they carried that off without someone showing up.

Few years later we "organized" the Schools Out (became the Graffiti cruise) in a near by town. Big draw because of the movie and the location in relationship to the movie. Those got so big the police gave up trying to enforce anything  Thousands and thousand of cars and people.  Since by side racing down the main drag. Prepped cars all over the place and you could run open headers all night long without a worry.  As kids we would often never cap up before driving home for a half hour or so. Ah so young    But that cruise became a problem so we stopped attending once the bay area people and gangs started to escalate the problems later

[FL SAAC]

You killing me smalls,  the one time I saw a camaro break into the 12s and being street driven was when it got dropped out of an airplane at 15,000 feet...

One of our group ran a 68 in the early 70's - mid 10's if I recall correctly. It was run on the street from time to time but that always brought attention and the local police that always cruised by the houses we used in the city to keep an eye on us.

That is key right there, "from time to time". The ones we saw running 10s or better, would pull up on a trailer a few blocks away from the crowds and unload. Then drive in like it was a "street car".

You could smell that racing fuel before they arrived and once they arrived you felt as if tear gas was dropped.

This would complicate matters when the local law enforcement officers would arrive and look at everyone's eyes (flare red due to the toxicity coming out of the tailpipes) they would start asking if anyone was either dispensing or inhaling marijuanica.

[Side-Oilers]

Richard,
As always, I look forward to your car stories.

Wednesday was the best racing night at Van Nuys, year-round.   Fri-Sat was more for the teenagers, but street racers would still show up.

I agree that a stock 302 Z/28 wasn't/isn't a great drag race car...unless you do the series of mods that others above have already mentioned. 

I'd choose the 396 or Yenko 427 as a starting point.  Back in the day, more cubes were always better, right?  (I'm still in that cult.)

Another cool Chevy, and almost unknown to anyone at the time, was the '65 Malibu SS Z/16.  The first 396.  Solid-lifters.  Fender skirts and a vinyl roof.  Optional pale yellow paint made it the ultimate sleeper car.  It looked like granny's inline-six Chevelle, until it promptly ate your lunch.   

BTW:  My cousin had one in the late-60s.  With headers and other typical Day Two work, they'd really run.  Strangely, those cars had open-differential, not posi.  (The chassis engineers thought a Panhard rod would suffice.)  The result was a car that laid down the biggest and angriest one-legged burnouts on the planet.   Chevy only built 201 of Z/16 (200 hardtops, one convertible)  and they were among the very the first of the big block '60s cars to soar to giant bucks.  (Nice Z/16s were already at $50k in the early/mid-'80s, when you could buy an equal-condition Hemi Satellite or GTX for $20-25k.)  Z/16s have typically been over $150 for the past 30 years. 

If the Z/16 is not appropos for this article of yours...then perhaps in the future.  Keep 'em coning!
Van