Matthew Betz’s dad let this 1969 Camaro RS/SS sit for 28 years before it finally started again — and that dramatic restart was just the beginning. This update picks up years later, deep into sandblasting the rusted metal ahead of a full rebuild around an aluminum big block. Longtime followers are still demanding updates. See how far a real, multi-year father-son build has come.
Twenty-eight years is a long time for anything to sit quiet, let alone a car built to make noise. When Matthew Betz’s father’s 1969 Camaro RS/SS finally turned over after nearly three decades of silence, it wasn’t the finish line — it was barely the beginning. This video picks up years after that first startup, deep into the teardown phase, with sandblasted metal and a father-son project that’s been running long enough to have its own fanbase demanding updates. What started as one dramatic ignition moment has turned into something much bigger, and much slower.
The Video That Started It All
This installment builds on a much-watched earlier video showing the Camaro’s first startup in 28 years, a moment dramatic enough to have earned the project its own dedicated following on the channel. Rather than a quick restoration montage, Matthew Betz has documented the build across multiple parts — this update, labeled “three years later,” followed by subsequent videos covering metal work, paint, and final assembly still to come. That kind of long-form, multi-year documentation is rare even by classic car YouTube standards, giving viewers a genuinely honest look at how long a proper build actually takes from start to finish.
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A Big Block Wearing Aluminum
The Camaro’s engine is a big-block built with an aluminum block rather than the traditional cast-iron unit, a combination one commenter specifically praised for giving “the performance of a big block, but because it’s aluminum you get the handling of a small block with the weight savings.” That’s a meaningful upgrade path for a car originally built with 1969 technology, letting the Betz family chase genuine big-block power without saddling the nose of the Camaro with the extra weight that historically made these cars feel heavy and reluctant in the corners.
Sandblasting, Slowly, Piece by Piece
This video’s centerpiece is the completed sandblasting of the car’s rusted metal sections, a tedious but essential step before any bodywork or paint can begin in earnest. One commenter suggested soda blasting would have been gentler on the surrounding metal and better at removing rust without the abrasive damage sandblasting can cause on thinner panels, a common debate among restorers working on decades-old sheet metal. Whichever method proves right in hindsight, the teardown documented here represents real, unglamorous restoration labor rather than the highlight-reel version most build videos choose to show their audience.
A Project Measured in Years, Not Weekends
Multiple commenters, clearly having followed the series for a while, expressed a mix of affection and mild frustration — one joked the car would probably sit in the shop for three more years “because it’s a pain in the butt,” while another simply asked “where’s the updates?!?!” That kind of long-running audience investment is rare, and it reflects something true about serious restorations: they rarely move at the pace anyone, including the builder himself, originally hopes for when the project first begins.
Why a ’69 RS/SS Is Worth the Wait
The 1969 Camaro RS/SS holds a specific place in Chevrolet’s muscle car lineup as the final first-generation Camaro before the dramatically redesigned 1970 1/2 model arrived, and its combination of Rally Sport styling cues and Super Sport performance badging makes it one of the most recognizable muscle cars of the entire era. Commenters repeatedly call the ’69 their favorite year outright, with one specifically citing the 302-equipped variants as a personal favorite — a nod to the Z/28’s high-revving small block, distinct from the aluminum big block powering this particular family build.
A Father-Son Build, Not Just a Restoration
What sets this project apart from a typical shop restoration is that it’s being done by Matthew and his father together, turning a mechanical project into a shared undertaking spanning years of the family’s life rather than a paid transaction with a shop. Viewers picked up on that immediately, with several commenters describing their own father-son builds and specifically praising the emotional weight of working through a project like this one alongside a parent rather than simply writing a check and waiting for a finished car.
Documenting a Build in Real Time, Mistakes and All
Matthew Betz’s channel doesn’t edit around the slow parts, and that transparency is exactly what’s kept viewers coming back across multiple installments spanning years of real time. Rather than presenting a polished before-and-after reveal, the series shows the sandblasting, the false starts, and the years-long gaps between updates that every real restoration includes but most car content edits out entirely from the final cut. For anyone who has ever started a project car and watched it stall for a season or two, that honesty is part of the appeal.
Building a Muscle Car From Alaska
One commenter mentioned being based in Alaska, a detail that adds real context to a build like this — sourcing parts, finding shop time, and working around a much shorter outdoor build season all become harder logistical problems the further a project sits from the Lower 48’s classic car supply chain. That geography likely explains part of why this project has stretched across so many years, and it makes the eventual completion feel like it will mean even more once the Camaro is finally back on the road.
The series description also notes the drivetrain teardown and a new engine installation happening alongside the sandblasting work shown in this update, according to the video’s own chapter markers covering metal work, sandblasting, drivetrain teardown, and a brief cruise. That structure — intro, metal work, sandblasting, drivetrain, new engine, cruising — suggests Matthew built this particular video as a genuine progress report rather than a highlight reel, walking viewers through each phase in the order it actually happened rather than jumping straight to the most exciting parts of the update. It’s a small structural choice, but it matches the honesty that’s earned this series its loyal audience. Viewers checking back for part four already know exactly what kind of update to expect, and that consistency is exactly why they keep coming back.
Watch the full video and tell us what you think – comments are open below.
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Want to sell it.
Had one just like it with a flat hood !
Love it
Z 28! NOT SS!
Read Thomas’ comment. Z28-RS ( because of the “hidden headlights”)
Could be a L88 too…
Even a ZL1!
302 only
DEFINITELY FOR THAT YEAR! Gave up on keeping track of the later versions after “70.
It’s a RS/Z-28 not a SS
My buddy had one with both ss and rs nomenclature.
You are correct I had a friend with a RS/SS They made SS, RS/SS, RS,RS/Z28 ,Z28 that picture is a RS/Z28
Is it really one hundred years old?
48
Lol
My Navy buddy had one , white on orange RS/SS mild version 302 al. Rocker covers,4 spd Muncie, Hurst shifter, 850 Holley 4 bb….
If its a real Z 28 it should have a 302 sbc in it.
Neal Riley: That is one fine Z you have. In this story above, I don’t recall a Z-28 of the 69 Vintage ever coming with a big block, eg, 396 or 427, stock from Chevy?
Jim Zeiger They said they couldn’t find the original motor. That replacement looks pretty good !
The motor rocks for sure. Would love, if they were going to do a full restoration, to see them build a 302 for it. I think that’s a 283 crank in a 327 block?
the engine they have is a big block, so evidently its NOT a real Z-28. somebody just labeled it as one.
Guarantee not without work done on it
Awesome
Thought it was a z/28 like mine!
I love it!!!
God to find another one
I have an uncle that never owned one of these. He liked liverwurst.
Chew that plastic chub open with my teeth!
Gnaw that shit!
Please! What do I have to do?
Make it new again!
Z/28 only had a 302, bad ass engine.
A new lease on life! Well done