Few names in Aussie street machining are held in such high esteem as that of Ron Barclay. His 1990 Street Machine of the Year-winning HQ ute (SM, Apr-May ’90) is without doubt one of the most iconic machines in our sport – two Top Judged awards at Summernats and a starring role on of one Street Machine’s best-remembered covers (SM, Jan-Feb ’91) are ample testament to that. But even going back to his metallic-brown LOPREM HQ from the mid-80s, all of Ron’s builds have featured his legendary attention to detail and knack for understated refinement.

First published in the December 2024 issue of Street Machine

His latest creation is no exception. As soon as this 1967 Camaro was unveiled at this year’s Meguiar’s MotorEx, there was a constant crowd around ‘Plain Jane’, as Ron has dubbed the car. At first glance, it seems like an apt name: you won’t find any sky-high blowers, monstrous turbos, mile-wide rubber or belly-scraping ride height here. In fact, it’s devoid of all the usual attention grabbers. So, what is it about this car?

For starters, the immaculate body and paint catches your eye and draws you in. Then you notice that nothing is out of place, there are no awkward bits, and everything is finished to perfection. There’s a quietness to it, yet it’s all so perfectly executed. It’s like a ninja assassin!

And it’s no mega-dollar pro build, either – Ron essentially built Plain Jane with his own two hands, with plenty of help along the way from a dedicated team of mates. It’s also obvious that he spent a lot of time screwing it together – 13 years to be exact.

“I’ve wanted a Camaro since way back,” Ron says. “I started saving for one when I finished my ’32 Ford hot rod in 2004. I was originally after a ’68, but when this ’67 came up in 2009, it was too clean not to grab.” The fact that the Camaro retains its original sills, floor and boot floor attests to that.

Even so, Ron completely de-skinned the entire car. “It wasn’t rusty, but it had been knocked about,” he says. “Both rear quarters had accident damage – they were both rooted.”

As always with Ron’s builds, a lot of attention was paid to panel alignment and gaps when piecing it all back together. Much of this work was done with 3M Panel Bond rather than the factory method of spot-welding. Ron worked side-by-side with Ed Miller to pull one quarter forward and push the other back, and material also had to be added to the door and bootlid edges to improve the sloppy factory gaps. Even the A-pillars had to be massaged to dial in the alignment.

After countless hours, the pair were finally happy, so Ed pulled on the spray suit to apply the PPG Nantucket Blue paint and Ivory White SS stripes. The partially assembled Camaro debuted on the PPG stand at MotorEx 2023 to showcase Ed’s skills, with the finish on the inside of the car just as good as that of the exterior. “This is how I approached the entire build,” says Ron. “My goal was to treat every part the same; doesn’t matter whether you see it or not.”

The satin black you see throughout the Camaro is PPG Delfleet polyurethane, a super-durable paint from the trucking industry. However, it’s also super expensive, as 10 litres is the minimum buy. That’s why, apart from the inner guards and radiator support panel, which have been finished in gloss clear, all the black parts are a dead-on match, as all the paint came out of the same, custom-mixed 10-litre batch!

The Camaro that would become Plane Jane was born in Van Nuys, California in October 1966, the 3563th of her kind. With an eye to preserving as much of this history as possible, Ron decided to retain the original block, crank and rods from the factory-fitted 327ci V8. Aftermarket highlights include a roller cam, twin-point dizzy, Detroit Racing Products alloy heads, Weiand intake and Holley Avenger carb. Ron commissioned another long-time friend, Alan Haywood, to build the mill.

Keeping things cool is a DeWitts aluminium radiator with tanks that mimic the look of the factory-pressed copper/brass item. It too has been painted satin-black for a distinctive look.

Ron decided to toss the factory Powerglide in favour of a World Class T5 from an ’87 Camaro. Naturally, the tailshaft is custom, but the original Chevy 10-bolt diff remains.

The suspension and brakes are probably the Camaro’s most significant deviations from stock. Up front, smoothed and deburred control arms link to Heidts PRO-G 2in-dropped tall spindles, QA-1 coil-overs and a UniSteer power rack. Out back, the leaf springs have been replaced by a fully adjustable Detroit Speed & Engineering (DSE) Quadralink parallel four-bar set-up, which employs all new mounting points, a Panhard bar and QA-1 coil-overs.

“I also used DSE’s weld-in chassis connectors and aluminium body mounts,” Ron says. “The factory rubber mounts compress and close up the panel gaps, but the solid DSE mounts help keep everything aligned.”

Welded plates were used to smooth out the front subframe. The ugly areas where the left-hook steering box and Pitman arm bolted up were also smoothed over, with neat, symmetrical indents added on each side for a bit of character. In the rear, even with the DSE four-link, the fuel tank had to be narrowed 120mm to provide sufficient clearance for the 2.5-inch exhaust to exit neatly out the back.

Robbie Taverna had carried out plenty of Camaro RHD conversions for his late father, John Taverna, so Ron saw him as the obvious choice to do the same for his car. The conversion uses a modified factory pedal box and a Commodore wiper motor tucked up into the plenum.

Robbie also helped install the DSE gear, and he and Ron fabricated the custom headers and exhaust. “I bought a TIG and a box of mandrels, and Robbie and I just pieced the whole lot together – there’s 96 pieces all up,” Ron says.

A Commodore VT booster and master cylinder squeezes VT front discs and VN Group A rears to bring the ’Maro to a halt.

The theme for the interior was ‘stock but with a few key additions’. The factory centre console has been deleted, along with the accessory gauges housed there, but the info they provided is still available to Ron via a Classic Instruments quad-gauge in the factory dash. The seats, along with the ’67 RS/SS steering wheel, door trims, dash top, hoodlining and seat belts, are all repro items from Classic Industries.

In the trunk, the boot springs have been replaced with gas struts, while the floor has been covered with tartan Golf GTi seat material. Trimmer Andrew Homburg did a great job of getting the pattern to line up across the four separate panels of the false floor, which are held in place by a 20mm-wide, laser-cut perimeter strip. There’s also a folded panel under the tail-lights that hides all the wiring.

Ron was able to make parts like these thanks to Rare Spares. “I’ve had a long relationship with Rare Spares, and they let me use all the equipment in their metal fab shop,” he says. “The wiring covers and rear bumper bracket covers are just a couple of the many one-off pieces I made using their equipment. I can’t thank them enough.”

Understated it may be, but Ron’s Camaro has certainly grabbed the judges’ attention at shows. It picked up Top Elite Paint at MotorEx, and Top Coupe, Top Paint, Top Bodywork and Top Undercarriage at the Sydney Hot Rod & Custom Auto Expo.

Given its sensible engine, five-speed ’box, four-wheel discs, significantly upgraded suspension, and Car Builders sound deadener from tip to tail, it’s clear that Ron’s classic muscle car was built to be an effortless Sunday driver. As good as that sounds, though, Ron has to be careful he doesn’t spend so much time behind that SS steering wheel, or else he won’t finish his next project – rebuilding a certain famous, coral-blue HQ ute!

MILLER TIME

Plain Jane may be a MotorEx elite winner, but Ron pretty much built the car himself, with plenty of help from mates and a fair bit of wheeling and dealing along the way.

The trophy-winning paint is a prime example. Ron’s relationship with Ed Miller goes back to 1987, when Ed painted the chassis and other parts of Ron’s legendary HQ ute. This time around, Ed needed a motorbike trailer, so Ron did him a deal in exchange for painting the Camaro. Ed’s help went way beyond that, though, as he allowed Ron to work out of his shop, Darred Motor Body Works, every Saturday for the past 12 years!

Ron wants to especially thank Ed for his help, and over the next year, he’ll be repaying the favour by helping Ed rebuild his ’58 Chev Apache!

RON BARCLAY
1967 CHEVROLET CAMARO

THANKS
Ed Miller at Darred Motor Body Works; Al Hayward; Andrew Homburg; Peter Mackovski at Immack Auto Electrics; Robbie Taverna; Warren Cartwright; Ray Caruana; Alex Garrard; Simon Pace; Mario Vassallo; Anthony Smith; Michael Pyz; Bernie Roeschmann; Tru-Fit Carpets; PPG; Rare Spares.