When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I recently traded my dad his 67 Corvette for my 69 Chevelle SS396. He wanted a car he could drive and the Chevelle is an automatic with AC. I was underneath it cleaning out all the spiderwebs and noticed that it had in the past had something welded to the frame in the front and the back. He said someone told him when they shipped the cars to Alaska on a barge they welded them to the barge, anyone know if this is true? I should mention the car was sold new in Alaska.
I've been heavily into 67's for moons now (not as long as some on this forum though) and am an NCRS 67 National judge and i have never heard of this, ever. That is not to say it's not "possible", but i haven't ever heard of this before. ARA
I did entertain the traction bars for a minute but that doesn't explain the one on the front. This car is a very original, it still has the correct shocks and the green sticker on one of the front springs. Here is a pic of the car in 81 at a NCRS meeting in Bend Oregon. The following pics are from when I brought it home and after I cleaned it up. It's a 34,000 mile car. There is actually an ariel photo of this event as well on the cover of Vette Vues but you can't really see anything in it.
Wow, beautiful coupe and great story. I certainly can't explain what the purpose of the welding was for, but I can't imagine back in the 60's that a barge company would spend a huge amount of time cutting and fitting plate steel to secure a car to the barge, and then have to torch it back off at the delivery point. The rear welding is really strange in that on the first picture, it shows a weld on the inside of the frame just forward of the sway bar and very close to the rear tub. The other rear weld is attached to the trailing arm. It appears both of these pictures are from the passenger side?? Why would they both be on the same side and one would be sprung while the other is unsprung.
The front plates would be typical of a tow bar used in the old days to flat tow to the drag strip. Any known race history on the car?
I would also add that if these plates really bother you, I would be happy to take the car off of your hands!!
What a beautiful car! I think the welded down idea is a bit of a stretch. Chains and or nylon straps ratcheted tight at multiple points would have been more than enough to secure it,
That is a beautiful car, you are a lucky man. As far as your welding pictures, I bet there were only a handful of C2 cars shipped to Alaska new so who knows what protocol might have been. I was up in Alaska a couple summers ago and I was amazed how many Hot Rods were on the roads and in garages. No emissions laws at all, reminded me of Hot Rodding in California back in the late 60's and early 70's before smog laws came along. Your Summer weather is amazing up there. Get that car out on the roads and enjoy! How many NCRS judges have ever judged a car born in Alaska? Maybe I am wrong but I bet the number is close to zero. I'm looking forward to learning more.
As a resident of Alaska for many years, I’ve never heard of the practice. If cars come on the barge, they’re always loaded into containers first then locked down.
I transported cars professionally for over 20 years.....back in the day we used the FACTORY tie down slots that are in the frame rails of virtually all American cars from the 1930's to present. Welding a plate to solid mount a vehicle to a ship or train would allow zero movement and likely cause frame and stress cracks. The welding story, IMO is absolute hogwash. Look up 'T-hook' and 'tie down slots in frame'. I don't have a pic handy.
I transported cars professionally for over 20 years.....back in the day we used the FACTORY tie down slots that are in the frame rails of virtually all American cars from the 1930's to present. Welding a plate to solid mount a vehicle to a ship or train would allow zero movement and likely cause frame and stress cracks. The welding story, IMO is absolute hogwash. Look up 'T-hook' and 'tie down slots in frame'. I don't have a pic handy.
I'm doubling down on the hogwash. That may have been some Bubba way of transporting it, but no way was it on a new car in transport. My best wild guess is someone used to race that car and welded those on to strap the car down.
I work ON THE DOCKS in Seattle where the Container Ships are Unloaded/Loaded..............plus Alaska
Marine Lines barge is loaded here.............All Cars/Truck are driven into a enclosed container or
driven into special Car Hauling Racks that are same size as container and can be stacked.
ANYWAY....All these vehicles are Secured with RATCHET Straps or Nothing at all except a Block
of wood in front of the tires.....
Also TOTE has a huge operation in Tacoma,WA where EVERYTHING is driven on/off the ship.
and then the cars are strapped down to anchor spots on the deck......
Likely a communication error. Possibly the previous owner have the plates welded on with a right angle bracket with holes to tie the car down for transport.
Likely a communication error. Possibly the previous owner have the plates welded on with a right angle bracket with holes to tie the car down for transport.
No need to. The car has factory tie-down slots made specifically for transport. A T-hook is inserted in the slot, and a chain and binder is used to cinch the car down. Ratchet straps as used today were not in use for car transport back then. The commercial 5-10 car haulers still use T-hooks and chains to transport cars. My bet is the plates were a homespun mod for racing. Hauling or traction, or whatever.
Thank you for all the compliments! It has the plates welded on both the drivers side and passengers side. The rumor is the car was sold new in Alaska to a Navy Pilot, he sold it to someone unknown and the 3rd owner was who my dad bought the car from in 76. I guess it's possible the brackets were to assist in racing whether it was traction or towing.
If you look real close at the drivers door in the right sun you can make out a very faint bowtie in the paint, it's about 8" wide and my dad says it's on the passenger side as well but I've never seen it. It's like maybe there was a decal or something on the doors at one point in it's life. My dad never changed anything on the car and all told he probably drove it less than 3000 miles the whole time he's owned it. The one thing I don't believe to be original on it are the heads which are aluminum, interesting enough though they do have date codes that are before the cars born date. Someone is probably going to ask me how I know what the casting date on the heads is, the intake manifold was leaking oil and water out the back. I put a torque wrench on the bolts and they weren't very tight, turns out the rear most bolt on the drivers side was stripped out in the head. I pulled the intake manifold to fix the bolt and I discovered that most of the intake valve guides were cracked so I pulled the heads off to have them fixed.
07-30-2020, 11:05 AM
Cars that were shipped to Alaska
Dennis
