My Next Project Car

[chazde3]

Re: My Next Project Car

Oh sorry to hear that man. That's rough right before Christmas.

Not looking forward to seeing how much rubber for those beasts costs. I'm hoping that my dad stashed some spare tires for them in the garage. The good thing is that I think we will be using the money from selling stuff from around the yard and garage to fix the '68, the '75 corvette convertible that my sister is getting and the '82 corvette collectors edition that my mom is going to be keeping. Just gotta start clearing some stuff out.

[chazde3]

Re: My Next Project Car

So there is a chance that the engine is an L88 427 and not the 454 that my buddy thought itwas so i got out to take another look at the '68s engine again. Snapped up some pictures of the interior and the engine.










And lastly, the all important engine pad.


So I couldn't find anything stamped onto the pad at the front right. Not sure if there is so much gunk and rust built up that I cant read it or whats going on with it. I took some wd40 and a rag and tried to wipe up the pad but still couldnt find anything. Looks like we wont know the engine for sure till I can get it into the garage and torn apart lol.

[RedBullADDICT]

Re: My Next Project Car

damm lol needs some tlc and some spider removal looks like. i cant wait to see the progress

[Lampoon]

Re: My Next Project Car

Before you do anything to it I would run it by a few Corvette fellas to make sure you dont do anything regretible to your Dads baby.

I like this forum...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-general-119/

Just do me a solid and inquire over there for a little advice and see what you get.

[chazde3]

Re: My Next Project Car

Hey lampoon, I joined up over there a week or so ago and have a thread going about the '68. There is a very good possibility that this will end up as a frame off restoration to do things the proper way. There is also a very good possibility that the engine is an L88, not numbers matching, but still a potentially $10k engine. If it turns out to be the legendary L88 it will most likely be pulled from the car and rebuilt and put back in the car. I decided that if it was the L88 I would keep the car as a street legal racer. It will really only get taken out of the garage for the rare cruise or car show anyways so leaving it as a car that needs 104 octane isn't that terrible. Only sad part is it wouldn't be able to do parades lol.

I've been doing a ton of research on this beast to make sure I do everything correctly. I will keep you guys updated as this project starts moving along. Gotta fix my dad's tractor so I can start getting stuff moved up from the back yard and sold.

[stratman]

Re: My Next Project Car

Glad to hear you are doing all the right things concerning your vette!


Do you mind sharing the link to your thread in the Corvette forum?

[chazde3]

Re: My Next Project Car

Sure, it pretty much has all the same stuff as this thread but with a little insight from the corvette owners tossed in as well. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...e-project.html

[G_KITT_6]

Re: My Next Project Car

Good luck with the vette build one of the best body styles for a vette if you ask me

[chazde3]

Re: My Next Project Car

Good luck with the vette build one of the best body styles for a vette if you ask me

Thanks man. I have always loved all corvettes except the c4 bodies. I hate boxy cars like that. But my favorites have always been the c3s. This '68 has been a racer since the early 70's and had custom flares that my dad did to accommodate Mickey Thompson 15in wide tires all around. It has one mean stance. There will be an issue getting new tires on it though since the frame is almost on the ground. Gonna be fun to get it lifted to replace the wheels.

[stratman]

Re: My Next Project Car

Could the vette (with the rollcage), in these pictures from your vette forum thread, be...




...one of these Greenwood Sebring GT (or at least the body kit)?

http://www.greenwoodcorvettes.com/StreetGT.html

[chazde3]

Re: My Next Project Car

Huh nice spot. I haven't done any research on that thing yet but it appears it may be one of the body kits since the back vents aren't cut out. I always assumed it was just some corvette monstrosity my dad came up with lol. I wish he were around to ask questions about all this stuff.

[stratman]

Re: My Next Project Car

And the yellow hood...



...looks identical to the hood on this Greenwood Turbo GT.

http://www.greenwoodcorvettes.com/StreetTurbo.html

The other interesting thing is that all these cars are running American Racing Vector wheels like your '68.

[chazde3]

Re: My Next Project Car

Man you are doing a lot of my leg work lol. I figured something was up with the yellow hood since I had never seen that one before. I have some more digging to do. It looks like the drag car body was probably an ecklers body kit components since the front looks pieced together. The hood for all I know could be the real deal. I will have to check it out more.

[stratman]

Re: My Next Project Car

Man you are doing a lot of my leg work lol. I figured something was up with the yellow hood since I had never seen that one before. I have some more digging to do. It looks like the drag car body was probably an ecklers body kit components since the front looks pieced together. The hood for all I know could be the real deal. I will have to check it out more.

If only I had a job doing this sort research, lol! You probably have a lot on your plate right now, I don't, and I just love the whole 60's, early 70's muscle car era and have spent far too much time reading about these cars (particularly Pontiacs). I had a restored 1968 Firebird 400 that I had to sell for family financial reasons a few years ago and now I'm just a muscle car owner wanna-be. I don't know a whole lot about Corvettes, so it's been fun poking around the internet learning about C3 vettes.

Anyway... apparently, your vette was once red on red. Here's your trim tag:


Paint 974 = Rally Red
Trim 407 = Red Vinyl

http://www.vettefacts.com/C3/1968.aspx

Here's a trim tag from a red on red '68 Corvette- it's the same as your's:
http://www.proteam-corvette.com/Corv...W/NSN-WOW.html :


Also, your vette may have been one of the last '68's made because the build date on your trim tag is M02.
M02 = August 2, 1968

http://www.c3vr.com/C3-Corvette-Build-Date-Trim-Tag.asp

In those days, the manufactures would shut down the factory production lines in early August, change the tooling, and then start producing the next model year.

[chazde3]

Re: My Next Project Car

I knew about the car coming of the assembly line as a red on red convertible based on the trim plate. I thought this was funny because the car as early as I have pictures from was metallic green and gold, which you can see on the trim tag, with tan interior. That was back in '72 when my dad was racing her. Looks like she had a major overhaul as a youngster lol. That major of a change makes me wonder if it was in a wreck and dad rebuilt her. I suppose I will see if it has a salvage title when my mom signs it over to me. But then again did they do salvage titles in the early '70s?