Third Time Is The Charm

Some like to say that it's not about where you start but where you finish. Or that it's not about the destination it's about the journey. For this 1969 Chevy Camaro owned by Jedd Schola, it was a bit of both. Originally purchased by Jedd’s dad Sam in 1992 when Jedd was in high school, the duo worked on it together and finished the first iteration of this car in 1996. Sam handed the keys to his son in 2009 when Sam finished his Pro-Street Dodge Dakota. The father and son duo fixed it up a little and Jedd was firmly in the driver seat of a rally cool car.

The duo was proud of their work, so proud in fact that they decided to take all that happiness and good cheer to the Goodguys Show in Columbus Ohio in 2012, only to return to where the Camaro was parked and find it vandalized. The damage to the Camaro was significant, but the insurance company did not make their claim easy. Once the dust had settled, the Scholas once again set to work bringing the ’69 back to life. They stripped it down, replaced all the body panels except the roof, and began a proper ground-up rebuild.

With all-new body panels installed, some light engine work, new wheels, and tires, the Chevy was ready to go over to BRC/East End Rod Shop for final bodywork, paint, and final assembly. Then it was finished in 2017, Jedd traveled 21 miles from his home in Philippi, West Virginia to Anmoore, WV to pick up his precious Camaro. But they must have angered the car gods as disaster struck again. Jedd had the ’69 in an enclosed trailer tied down with some questionable straps that gave way sending the Chevy forward and damaging the front end.

That was quickly repaired, and soon Jedd was taking the Camaro out to local shows, had some great times with it, and even won some awards to top it all off. His greatest accomplishment was winning 2021 Muscle Machine of the Year Finalist. So apparently the car gods were appeased, or it just took three tries to get this Chevy where it needed to be. Whatever your perspective may be, it seemed to have worked out.

Stocki-Ish

For the interior, the Sholas decided to do a TMI makeover and chose to go with the stock-ish look of keeping the original seat frames but upgraded to new seat foams and chose new seat upholstery in the Sport-XR pattern opting for black on black with black stitching with new foam and upholstery in Sport-XR for the rear. They chose a matching TMI suede headliner, a carpet kit, and installed some new visors to complete the look. They then customized the factory console to include a housing for the FiTech EFI controller.

An ididit steering column and a Billet Specialties steering wheel sit in front of Auto Meter Ultra-Light Gauges, while a B&M shifter gives a little insight as to the capabilities of this Chevy. Jedd wanted some more custom touches so he installed a push-button starter from Summit Racing with Ring Brothers Billet Switches, and added a custom harness bar to hold his Corbeau seat harness for an extra measure of safety.

Team of Horses

Like a lot of other areas of this Camaro, Jedd and his father Sam built the 355ci powerplant to be capable, and fun, but reliable. The Scholas wanted a car that created a decent amount of power and grumbled nicely off the line but can be jumped into and started up every time needed. They added a B&M Supercharger, a Fitech fuel injection system, White Performance Aluminum Cylinders, Wiseco Pistons, an Eagle Crank, Comp Cam, lifters, and double roller timing chain, ARP head studs, and that was only inside the engine. Putting the power to the pavement is a Mad Dog Level 4 Dominator 700-R4, hooked to a strange Engineering driveshaft and a 9-inch rear end with a TruTrac Differential.

Outside the engine, they added an Edelbrock Air Cleaner, a Billet Specialties Pulley System, a Tuff Stuff Alternator, an MSD Pro-Billet Distributor, a Be Cool aluminum 4-row radiator with a Hose Candy hose kit, a B&M Engine Oil Cooler, aluminum valve covers, a Moroso oil pan, Eddie Motorsports Billet Hood Hinges, and an Anvil Auto Firewall cover. The engine breathes through some Dynatech ceramic headers and a Hooker Blackheart stainless 3-inch exhaust

Putting power to the pavement is a Mad Dog Level 4 Dominator 700-R4, hooked to a strange Engineering driveshaft and a 9-inch rear end. Keeping all that power in check is some Detroit Speed tubular control arms and JRI adjustable shocks up front, with Detroit Speed springs with QA1 adjustable shocks in the rear.

Black as Night

The exterior of this beast has some deep layers of PPG Black with clear coat, and Ring Brothers Cowl vents originally from a ’67-’69 Mustang that were retrofitted to a ’69 Camaro. All the paint and body was done at the BRC/East End Rod Shop in Anmoore, WV, where shop owner Jeff Richison brought the Camaro back from the dead.

Rubber Meets Road

The rubber meets the road in the form of 17x8 Billet Specialties Qualifiers shod with BFG Sport Comp 245/45/17s tires in the front with another set of Billet Specialties this time is 18x9.5 wearing some slightly bigger tires in the form of 275/40/18 BFG Sport Comp tires in the rear. A quartet of cross-drilled and slotted 12-inch Wilwood rotors front and rear with 6-piston calipers in the front with 4-pistons in the rear.

Father and Son Team

With all the trials and tribulations facing the Scholas, they really came through and built something they could both be proud of. This ’69 Camaro is a testament to how determination can see you through tough times. And maybe you’ll emerge out the other end with a kickass custom vehicle to roll around town with.