swindom

How do I figure out if my 63 fuelie is an original fuelie?

desertpilgrim

Question #1: Do you have a car - or is this an "information" request? If you have recently purchased such a car, aren't you a "little late" with this request?

Vettrocious

Short of finding the original bill of sale and the selling dealer to testify that it was a fuelie, there is no way to verify it. Everything else can be and has been faked.

swindom

I do have a 63 split window "fuelie". It looks original but original fuelie or not I love it.

swindom

Selling dealer is out of business and old records unavailable or destroyed.

I know GM supposedly doesn't have or won't release the original records but it is hard to believe that they don't have records.

63Corvette

Well.......................Um, mine had a fuel injection unit on it when I bought it 40+ years ago.

Mine is a 63 Z06, and ALL of the RPO Z06 cars were fuelies, so my car is in fact a fuelie

Rich Yanulis

Many things could have been changed, modified or added over the last 50 years.

The only way to verify if it was born a fuelie, is if you have:
1. An original unmolested RF stamp pad.
2. An original unmolested VIN tag that matches.

Vet65te

Swindom - There's probably some old archived threads on what to look for to determine an original fuelie and no doubt the guys knowledgeable on them will chime in but it probably couldn't hurt to post some pics of your 63 to help look for clues. The only one clue I know about is the pair of holes in the driver side inner wheel well to support the FI air cleaner...if I'm remembering correctly. There is one other tell tale clue, but something that can be added, and that's the tag around the distributor.
Mike T - Prescott AZ

gbvette62

Believe it. GM doesn't have the records, or if they do, they don't know where they are.

Pontiac and GM of Canada, both have production records, and make them available to anyone who wants them. Chevrolet has the production records, for all Corvettes built in Bowling Green, and also some from the late 70's built at St. Louis. These too are available, so why wouldn't they be willing to release records from other years?

I'm pretty sure if they had the records, they'd be more than willing to make them available, as there are plenty of owners who would gladly pay for them.

As others have said, the only way to verify that your 63 started life as a fuelie, is original paperwork, or a correctly stamped block and matching original VIN tag.

MaineDoc

I would suggest that you join NCRS and take it to be judged. The results from judging won't be 100% final but you will have a much better idea if indeed your car is a real FI car or not.

Easy Rhino

Simple, correct answer above. If the engine stamp is unmolested and matches an unmolested VIN tag, you have a very high probability of having the real thing. Everything else can be faked. Start there. Then go to other signs if you cannot be conclusive with the above. If someone went to a ton of trouble to make a fake fuelie, they may have gone all the way, but it is also possible that they slipped up and left some detail undone.

Vettrocious

It's also possible that a real fuelie doesn't have any remaining evidence of what it once was, or that many of the original "signs" are long gone. Even the engine stamp on an original could be gone. Exhaust manifolds rot, air cleaner holes get filled, tachs get changed, power steering gets added. It's all possible after 51 years....

TCracingCA

What the heck if not sure, then why settle on a 300hp, or lowly 365hp car!!!! So go big with the Fuelie! I think all of the questionable cars should become Fuelies!

I hate to even say this, but unless it was some top forgery outfit that knows enough, a lot of us on here could look it over and know that it wasn't, but then I will never do that, because the conversation never goes good. It is like telling your wife or girlfriend that she is honestly fat! You will not like the honest reply and you will probably want a divorce or to end the relationship after hearing the truth!

TCracingCA

I hate when such a nice car and notable great car gets photographed by it's actual Owner with a big pole blocking my view!!!! What's up with that! It is bad enough that you cut the bottom of this fantastic cars front drivers side tire off in your photography!!!