Home-Built Hero: Kyle Wenger’s ’67 Camaro Is A Dream Come True

67 CamaroKyle Wenger started his Home-Built Hero’s submission by telling us that he has always been fascinated with the first-gen Camaro for as long as he knew what cars were. He vowed to own one before he graduated high school. He kept true to his word, “I bought this 1967 SS in 2002. That was my Junior year of high school. It cost me $4,000.”

When he found the car, under the hood was a tired small-block backed by a Saginaw four-speed. The 12-bolt rearend had a not-so-friendly set of 5.13 gears. The car needed a complete overhaul, but, accoding to Kyle, the body was in really good shape.

67 Camaro

Every Home-Built Hero has a beginning.

“Throughout high school and into college, the money was never really there for me to get going on the rebuild, but every time I could save a little money from side jobs, I would go buy a part as finances allowed. Slowly but surely, the car started coming together. Here we are, fourteen years later it’s still not done. But, they’re never “done”.

Kyle says that he has spent more than 100 hours perfecting the body work on this car, and all of it has been in the back yard. He has installed new bumpers on the front and rear, new lights, new bezels, all-new emblems, new interior, new quarter skins, new 2-inch cowl-induction hood, new grill, and brand-new rally wheels wrapped in BFG rubber. The wiring has all been replaced with new from headlight to brake lights. “The old wire harness actually caught fire under the dash when we were breaking in the new engine,” Kyle stated.

67 Camaro

Speaking of the engine, it is now a rebuilt 350 block bored .040-inch over with Dart Iron Eagle heads, roller rockers, and an Edelbrock intake and 750 cfm carburetor. Inside is a .519/.523-inch lift Comp cam with .306 degrees of duration. Remember that Saginaw? It’s been replaced by a rebuilt Muncie M21 close-ratio transmission, and the rearend in the car now, is a Chevy 10-bolt with 3.73 gears.

The white and orange paint combo comes from his love of Tennessee football. At first glance, the interior might look stock, but look a little closer and you’ll see a “monster tach” with shift light, and the absence of a heater control unit. The area is now filled with toggle switches and a push button start.

67 Camaro

“I wanted my car to look like it could have looked in 1967 with small, tasteful upgrades that make it mine. I feel like I was able to achieve this, for the most part, with the absence of a monster bank account and doing everything in the back yard – other than machine work.”

Do you want to read about more Home-Built Heroes? All you need to do is click here. If you own a Home-Built Hero, we want to hear about it. Since we’ve started the series, we have received more than a few candidates, but we still want to see more – we can never get enough. If you want to see more cars built by you the readers, send us a few pictures of your car showing the engine, interior, and exterior, along with all of the pertinent information, and we’ll make you Internet famous. You can send your submissions to [email protected].

About the author

Randy Bolig

Randy Bolig has been working on cars and has been involved in the hobby ever since he bought his first car when he was only 14 years old. His passion for performance got him noticed by many locals, and he began helping them modify their vehicles.
Read My Articles

Hot Rods and Muscle Cars in your inbox.

Build your own custom newsletter with the content you love from Street Muscle, directly to your inbox, absolutely FREE!

Free WordPress Themes
Street Muscle NEWSLETTER - SIGN UP FREE!

We will safeguard your e-mail and only send content you request.

Street Muscle - The Ultimate Muscle Car Magazine

streetmusclemag

We'll send you the most interesting Street Muscle articles, news, car features, and videos every week.

Street Muscle - The Ultimate Muscle Car Magazine

Street Muscle NEWSLETTER - SIGN UP FREE!

We will safeguard your e-mail and only send content you request.

Street Muscle - The Ultimate Muscle Car Magazine

streetmusclemag

Thank you for your subscription.

Subscribe to more FREE Online Magazines!

We think you might like...


fordmuscle
Classic Ford Performance
dragzine
Drag Racing
chevyhardcore
Classic Chevy Magazine

Street Muscle - The Ultimate Muscle Car Magazine

Thank you for your subscription.

Subscribe to more FREE Online Magazines!

We think you might like...

  • fordmuscle Classic Ford Performance
  • dragzine Drag Racing
  • chevyhardcore Classic Chevy Magazine

Street Muscle - The Ultimate Muscle Car Magazine

streetmusclemag

Thank you for your subscription.

Thank you for your subscription.

Street Muscle - The Ultimate Muscle Car Magazine

Thank you for your subscription.

Thank you for your subscription.

Loading