Quil

Well, I have finally gotten myself into a midyear. It's been a lifelong dream of mine...ever since my Dad took me to the Corvette Expo every year when I was a kid. 30 years later, I've finally pulled the trigger.

This is the 9th Corvette I've ever had. 2 C3s, 3 C5s, and 3 C6s. I still have an 08 Z06 that I drive almost every day, so now my wife and I can enjoy a new one and an old one.

I got this car through a trade for an '08 convertible that I had for sale. I won't bore you with all the details, but I will say that I got into this '67 for what I considered to be a ridiculously low investment, so I feel pretty good about my starting point. I always wanted a midyear coupe, but when this trade presented itself, I figured I'd be stupid not to jump on it, so I did. I may end up selling the car after it's finished to get into a coupe, or maybe I'll just fall in love with the convertible and keep it.

(A little backstory on the car...previous owner had the car for 30 years, and had completed a full resto about 6 years ago when a friend of his was driving it, lost control, and hit a phone pole in the driver's door. Car was towed, and parked. The guy I bought it from ended up with the car after loaning the previous owner some money he couldn't pay back. This guy didn't really want the car, and the PO had paid a body shop to do the body repair and paint work, so everything was put on a new frame and redone. Title is clean and isn't rebuilt/salvage, so I felt OK about that. Guy who sold it to me intended to put it up on eBay as soon as it was out of paint, but ran across my ad for my '08 convertible, and offered up the trade. )

It's a white on red car with the 327/300hp engine and 4-speed trans. Engine and transmission are matching numbers. Has a stinger hood (which I was told is an original '67 hood, just not original to the car), as well as side exhaust. It has also had power steering added, and came with American Racing Torque Thrust polished wheels. I ended up with the original frame as well, which has been straightened and repaired. I also ended up with a couple rear ends, a Be Cool radiator along with the original, and the car has a Flaming River steering column installed. There's a lot of other random spare parts as well, which I never turn down.

Car is Ermine White with red leather interior, which is what is identified on the trim tag. I went through and verified the VIN to match with the engine and trans today when I got everything, just to be sure. The car is pretty well in pieces, but most everything is there. Although I must say, I've already compiled quite the list of parts that need to be replaced or are missing altogether. Chrome that is there and wasn't damaged in the accident is in good shape. Most of the interior components are in good shape, although I've got my eye on replacing several things. Carpet is dirty, but looks like it will clean up really well. Top is white and is also pretty dirty...I may swap it out for a black one. Everything else really does seem to be there, except for some fairly minor parts. Hopefully I can source those OK.

The car just came out of paint on Saturday. It's decent quality...not the greatest, but good driver quality paint which is fine with me because I intend to drive and enjoy this car.

So there it is. Just another run-of-the-mill project for you guys, but to me its a dream come true. I'll use this thread to update as I go. And I'll definitely be looking for a lot of advice, so I'll go ahead and say thanks in advance.

Onto the pics...

rtruman

good luck looking forward to see the progress.

Vet65te

Congrats, looks like a great project car. Everything looks solid. I see you're staying with the original color scheme, are you adding any other options along the way like PB, PW? I noticed that the dash pads have a stitching pattern along the front edge, I've never seen that before on repro's, any guess as to who made them?
Mike T.

Cobra_4

Congrats on the midyear!! You will love it! Looks like you've got all the right pieces!! Can't wait to see it finished!

Quil

No idea on the dash pads. Obviously I could tell they were repros....don't really care for the emblems, so I may replace.

I'd say I'll add PB...not sure about PW.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I'm a little overwhelmed at this point, but excited nonetheless...

OldKarz

Going to be nice! Enjoy the journey!

bluestreak63

Looks like a nice project...

Brandons72vette

Nice trade! I will trade you my 1970 428 CJ Mustang! haha I miss '65 already. I found a green '67 327/ 4 speed convertible for about $30K. I also know of two local C1's (a '60 and a '62) in nice shape are for the same price. MAN it is tempting. Nice color combination,white with red is very classy!

tri blk 65

looks like a great start

jcarmichael

Thats my favorite way to purchase a project, with the paint work done, then just clean and rebuild the parts as they go back together. Not everyone can put one back together and there are always parts missing but it is a lot more fun than one of those large pictures that a lot of people my age work on.

SonnyAK

Going to be a beautiful car!! You'll definitely know most every nut and bolt of that one when complete!! Can't wait for a ride!

Quil

Just made my first purchases for the car...

-Assembly manual
-Chassis service manual
-Laminated wiring diagram
-(4) wheel dollies so I can move the car around *****-nilly

wilbur

Congrats on the 67 !!
Looks like you have a nice rust-free birdcage/windshield frame .

Revfan

This is AWESOME and I am very excited for you (I am also a potential buyer as white/red is my favorite combo!)

Best of luck... and KEEP us posted!

Quil

Swapped the AR rims onto the car and the old Rally's onto the other frame so I can get the other frame out of the way and the Z back in the garage. I love the look of these rims on a midyear.

I also compiled a want/need part list today. Came in just under $7000, which is acceptable for me at this point. That just about covers everything I can foresee...I'm sure there will be many additional expenses, but I have some budget left to apply to that as well.

The one part I'm having the most trouble sourcing is a drivers side headlight. I have a good motor for it, and some hardware, but I need everything else. Is it easier to just piece one together from a distributor? Anyone know what parts make up a whole assembly?

I also need to piece together an entire z-bar assembly. I have the bar itself, just need the fork, springs, brackets, etc...I was sure I'd be able to find a distributor selling everything as a kit, but no luck on that yet.

So now, I just need to decide where to get started. Interior first, or engine/trans/mechanical stuff first...

Joe Inama

Did ya get the directions with it ??

Quil

Joe, they left those out...I was depending on you for that!

ChattanoogaJSB

Welcome! I dig the project! Are you referencing Expo in Knoxville tn by chance? We may be two C2 owners about the same age. You'll enjoy the group here a great deal I believe!

Quil

Yep, I grew up in Knoxville. My Dad used to take my brother and I to the expo every year. He had a 63 SWC that he sold before he left for Vietnam, so we always enjoyed Corvettes together.

SonnyAK

The only way I could get a project like this started, would be if the parts were on one of those little plastic model parts holders (like Revell, etc) and I could break them off, by numbers, and place them on the car!! Otherwise I'd still be walking circles in the garage!

Looks like you're off to a great start! I like the wheels too...Mine are identical on the '66!!