Greetings. I am new here, and new to Corvettes. Been into Pontiac GTO's for the past 36 years, though. I have been looking for a C2 Corvette for the past 5 years or so, and stumbled across a 1961 C1 that was in fair shape. After much research and what I thought was a thorough inspection, I bought it and hauled it home. The story: it came out of an estate in Northern CA and had sat in an airplane hanger at a small rural airport since about 1992. The owner had wanted to clone it into a replica of his original, bought-new-in-'61 fuelie car. He never completed it. What I got: a mostly original '61 Corvette, built early Nov '60, with the correct trans and rear end. 4 speed, iron T-10 and Positraction. The engine is a '68 350 out of a Nova. Good thing is, the car came with the 270HP dual 4 intake and carbs, plus air cleaner. I believe it's a 270 HP car due to the 6500 rpm tach, but that may not be original to the car. Hard to say. The car has original paint with some touch up, and may have been partially repainted about 45 years ago. The interior is all original, and nice....even the dash is crack free. Obviously, the car was stored inside most or all of its life. I have re-done the brakes, and am currently ordering parts to get it operational. Frankie the Fink, whom I met on the GTO forum, has already been a huge help. I will post more pics as I progress, and I'm sure I'll be asking a bunch of questions. I'm learning a LOT already, mainly, Corvette parts are expensive, and these cars are FUN!
Jeff

 

Welcome to the C1/C2 forum. You scored a beauty there with that gem. And, with Frankie the Fink helping you on it, you can't miss.

 

Welcome Jeff - Neat find. Not sure about this but I thought only the 58's had a convex lens on the tach 'or' someone just flipped the lens but no doubt someone knowledgeable about solid axle tachometers will chime in on that.
I see the license frame mentions Chico, a few hours north of where I used to live in Sonoma County. Good luck with the 61 and post up some pics of the engine compartment.
Mike T - Prescott AZ

 

Great car, don't change a thing and only fix what's broken! You will find these are very popular, get it out and show it around. Oh and consider disc brakes they will improve your peace of mind.

 

Nice job Jeff!

Looking forward to reading more on this as you "un-cover" the history!

Also, out of curiosity, what was the town in Northern CA? I know Vet65te already mentioned Chico due to the license plate. Is that where you came across this?

I only ask because I happen to live in Northern CA.

Pat

 

Thanks, guys. The plan is to keep it as a 'survivor', and it looks good at about 10 feet. It has a lot of rock chips and small scratches, some crazing in the paint, and hairline cracks in the usual places. It was drag raced in the late '70's/early '80's, so I will need to get it running and operational in order to baseline the condition of the drivetrain. The rear gears appear to be 3.36 or so, which would not be original. The housing is correct for the car, though. The engine is supposed to be a 383 stroker, but has the original valve covers with an Edelbrock manifold and a Holley....and no way to add oil without removing a valve cover. Also, no PCV or breathers at all. A real mess. I've gotten some plain jane late valve covers just so I can connect a PCV and have breathers. The tach is connected to the distributor, which is a FI unit with 2 drive outlets. I will need to fire it up to determine what the tach reads....if accurate, it's the wrong one for the car. I sourced a generic '61 big car generator without the tach drive just to get it running. The plan is, if the engine is healthy, to return the engine compartment to stock '61 appearance, and install the dual quad set-up. If the engine is toast, I will source a more or less correct 283 block and try to get it as correct as I can without getting too crazy. The end goal is to have a dependable driver that is original in appearance. As for drum brakes, been driving them all my life, and am very well versed on their limitations. I am more worried about getting hit than hitting someone! Thanks for the replies, and I'll keep the posts and questions coming!

 

Great score, it will be a lot of fun to get that one back on the road.

jp

 

WELCOME!

that car looks great! Its going to be a lot of fun. Keep us posted on your progress, take LOTS of pictures!

 

Nice find, good luck with it. C-1 s are very cool

 

Very nice, have fun.

 

Welcome to the Forum. Nice to see another early Corvette come to life.

 

Jeff and I have had a bunch of emails and a few phone calls about this car. It's a solid car and he got a great deal. He's gonna have a lot of fun with this baby !!

I suspect it was a 'real deal' 270hp car; but we'll prob never know for 100%!

 

FI dist. and FI script on fenders? Would this indicate an original FI?

Yogi

 

Nice find Jeff, good luck with it and welcome to the forum!

Don

 

The Fuel Injection emblems were put on the car by the previous owner, who intended to clone it into a FI car. The water pump failed around 1992, and it was parked in an airplane hangar up near Oroville, Ca ever since. A lot of jury-rigged stuff I'm finding, like no way to add oil and no breather set-up, ign. wires fastened to the steering column, burnt up on the exhaust, etc. etc. I keep finding 'stuff' that looks ok at a glance, but in reality, is fubar. Doing the cooling system, I found I had the wrong fan shroud and no hardware to mount the radiator, so I had to order all of that. $$$. Now I need an overflow reservoir. The stamped steel valve covers with an oil fill and PCV are at work soaking in the solvent tank. I'm determined to get this thing running!!!

 

Very cool find! I sympathize with your Pontiac obsession. Welcome!

 

Nice find! Many of us have-and will continue-to benefit from Frankie. He, along with many others, made it possible for me to get my '62 to where it is today. Good luck with the 2-4's; what an addition for a "wow" factor!

Mike

 

Props to The Finkster.

 

See if there are two holes on the left inner fender for the FUEL INJECTION AIR CLEANER. Maybe it was a FI car, or as Frank says 270hp car when new. The FI distributor tells me FI car.

 

Jim, I checked out all of the FI indicators before I bought the car, and it is not a FI car by what I can find. No holes for the air cleaner, washer location, etc. The car has the generator cable hole in the firewall, the correct 270HP intake and carbs, and the high redline tach, which makes me think it's a 270 2x4 car. The estate I got if from stated that the previous owner was in the process of turning this car into a duplicate of his bought-new-in-'61 FI car. He apparently never finished anything. I am at the waiting for parts stage....including an elusive left lower fan shroud piece. All the hoses are replaced, water pump is replaced, fuel lines cleaned out/replaced. Need to install the radiator (mount is on the way) and see if this thing will start. Meanwhile, I'll polish the plexiglass in the hardtop to keep busy. Took some photos...I suspect my car may have had a soft top at one time. It seems to have all the brackets, but there is absolutely no wear and tear on them...they appear to never have had anything bolted up to them. My deck has the latches, too. I had assumed it was a hardtop only car....did these cars have soft top mounting plates as well? Plodding along, the car is cleaning up well, though there is a TON of farm dirt underneath it still...I need to give it a steam cleaning. The rear springs were modified for racing, and were thought to be un-original, but I think they are the oem stuff, just with extra leaves stuffed in. The ride height is normal, but it feels pretty stiff. All the body mount shims/bushings appear oem but are not cracked or falling apart. Two questions: how does the speedo cable route and how does the hood release cable route, when I get them? Thanks, gents.