Good Evening,

I'm about to embark in the purchase of a 1960 Corvette that has matching numbers however I've been told by seller that under his extremely long ownership he has never swapped out or changed the ownership purchased the car in 1962. However, apparently the engine has some kind of number stamped in the rear of the engine that says it's the right type of engine but an earlier number. Other vehicles of that time period that I've purchased have actually had the wrong year engine from factory verified. Did this happen with this GM Model do I have any proper way to verify that it's an original engine in the car and the early number is not a concern? I plan on buying this vehicle tomorrow morning. 10/2.

Please advise, Thank you, Alan

 

I'll move you here to get to right folks welcome to the Forum

 

Alan

Do yourself a favor and hire a qualified inspector. If you post the location of the car it will help find someone near.

Rick

 

Hi Rick, I really want to just be able to confirm VIN # and Motor. I have a couple calls to places that supposedly will be able to do that for me. I'll know more on my way to see the car. I've purchased many cars which most of them I still have. I actually only used an inspector once when I purchased a 1956 T-Bird at the end of the day I'm not sure he really was value added. I did speak to another Corvette collector this evening and he said it was actually very common that an earlier motor could have been put in the car. Since it's a fuel injected model I'm being overly cautious. However, I don't need to commit tomorrow if I see something that doesn't seem correct I'll certainly take your advice and search out an Early Corvette Specialist.

I truly appreciate you moving my post to the right area and look forward to future chats. If I purchase the car I'll post it. Thank you very much for your advice as well.

Alan

 

“I did speak to another Corvette collector this evening and he said it was actually very common that an earlier motor could have been put in the car.”

Very common, from the factory? No, its not.

 

The sale of our older cars quite often have stories to try to justify situations just like this.
For you , the buyer it comes down to having the car inspected by a qualified appraiser .
They will write a report that will show the good and bad points of the car.
It is better to have this done so you have a report that you can use to decide if you want to buy or pass on the car.

 

I agree with the above. I presume you would be paying a premium price based on the claim of "numbers matching". Unless you have enough cash that it doesn't matter what you lose, get a qualified inspector to look it over. Not just a guy who had a Vette for years back when he was young. If you give a location we can suggest an inspector, if you are concerned about someone beating you out of the car just give a region - "New England", Texas" whatever. These guys will find every little nuance and item that may be right or may be wrong with the car and give you a detailed written report.

There is a thread working here right now about someone who bought a "nice" Vette and then found it has serious frame problems which had been disguised. "Matching numbers" can be original or they can be faked in several ways. I strongly suggest you don't make the deal until it has been looked at.

(And I am assuming you are already too smart to fall for the on-line scams where they want you to send the money RIGHT NOW and they'll have the car delivered for your approval etc If it sounds too good to be true, it probably IS)

 

Please read every post in this thread:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ame-trick.html

Dcamick

 

Alan-
Put aside for a moment the copious larceny that permeates the old car hobby, especially as it relates to "dealers" of old cars as opposed to individual sellers.

Consider this: Would you buy a 63 year old home without a structural or mechanical inspection?

Of course not.

Same considerations exist between old buildings and old cars. Both exist beyond their design life. The quality of both are directly related to the care they have received. Even folks in the construction business often hire a third party inspector so as not to miss anything.

Dan

 

There is no number stamped on the rear of the engine. There is a casting number and date cast on the rear of the block. The casting# is 3756519. The date cast should be prior to this car's assembly.

 

Expert advice given.

Also depending if it is an early or mid-late date the stamp pad will have the VIN on it (very early 60's, prior to approx s/n 1800 did not have the VIN on the stamp pad).

Lets assume that it is a 519 block, the casting date falls within reason of assembly date and there is a VIN stamped that matches the VIN plate, unless there is sure fire proof that this is the "born with" engine all you have are a bunch of numbers that may or may not be original to the car (especially if we are discussing a fuel car.....)

I'd personally get one of the reputable inspectors to take a look and weigh in.

Tom

 

So you're after a numbers-matching fuelie, and it seems there "might" be a problem with the date of the engine. I think a good percentage of us would admit there are a lot of fine points on such a car which can widely swing the "fair" price. And having an expert inspection would seem to be common sense unless you already consider yourself an expert. For just one example - are you aware there were many different part changes on various parts of the fuelies over the years? You might recognize yes it's a fuelie, but do you have the knowledge that your early, or late,'60 might have come with a given part number, but what's on there now came from say a '63 instead? If you were buying some piece of elaborate jewelry, would you hire a gemologist to verify what you were getting, or figure you know enough to roll the dice?

Over the years there have been too many stories to count on here of people who thought they knew what they were buying, only to find out that either the parts ID or the quality was not what they thought. I hope for your sake it is everything it's claimed to be. If not.... I've said my piece, and will sit back and see how you make out.

 

OP
Don is giving you very good advice that is in line with most of your responses .We are trying to help you to make an informed decision based on facts.

 

I've tried to read that bold section of the first sentence from a lot of different angles but am having a hard time figuring out what is being said. Any help on understanding it?

 

To me, it reads as though the individual that currently owns the car never transferred the title/registration from the previous owner into his name...JMHO.

 

Another red flag.

You know, it's only been a month or two since we were all "taken for a ride". You don't suppose we're taking the bait once again?

 

Thanks you two; that's what I was thinking it was saying. I'd steer way clear of a car that was being sold by someone who doesn't have full, unquestionable ownership when given the chance to make it official during the last 60 years. But then again, that's just me and my jittery, risk-averse sensibilities!

 

I want to thank all of you for your knowledge and thoughts. I am an avid collector of automobiles and not a novice. However, I took the advice of many and did research much deeper into the depths of what I was being told about this vehicle. Since my experience in early Chevrolet cars is minimal. Based on my research and discussions with an expert Corvette collector we have determined that it is a numbers matched 1960 fuel injected vehicle. The issue was that the "Corvette" dealer that was selling it was less familiar with the earlier Corvettes and although he had the Corvette "Black Book" which was very helpful he was having trouble wrapping his own thoughts of why the stamped date on the engine block was earlier. As expressed to me as long as the block was within 6 months of the production date of the car we are in good territory. Turns out that the numbers on the block are 4 months prior. casted was done in the Flint plant before the production date of the vehicle which was produced in St. Louis. All other numbers on the engine and the car which appeared untampered with matched exactly to the title. I also have a copy of the actual title from 1962 and a proper title in the selling dealer was correct and matched the title from the 2nd owner of the car who took possession just under 2 years from new. I feel I made an educated purchase and thank everyone for the feedback I received. Looking forward to meeting many of you during some up coming events. I'm building my own personal auto museum and will welcome all who would like to come when it's completed in the NJ area. This is a non commercial location and completely made up of my own collectables.

I'll share a crazy story that I experienced with a car that I had professionally restored by a Professional British Restoration Company.

I purchased a 2 seat 100-6 Austin Healy which needed an extensive restoration. I had done a rotisserie restoration absolutely every foreign material was taken out of this car every rotted inch (7 linear feet of rot) replaced with metal and at the end of the project I had an absolutely stunning 100-6 2 seater restored to perfection. A car I thought I'd keep forever. Well this is the part of the story that is engine related. We ordered and received the British Heritage Certification on the car and this car was a complete match in everyway. Paint had been modified we put it back. Pieces for a racing roll bar had been cut out. This was removed and repaired back to original. The crazy thing that was unidentified before starting restoration was the engine had the proper numbers BUT it was the size of the next generation Austin Healy. Since numbers matched I went for it and had the car restored. Fast forward 10 years later I accidently, when meeting an individual in Ct. to buy a fender for my 1985 Porsche 911, met the person that actually was in charge of the plant in 1958 in British Leyland that built my car. He looked at my car and the id # and asked me "have you ever been told this engine doesn't belong in this car" of course I responded yes and was astounded that he asked this question. It turns out that the last 7 cars at that time inclusive of my two seater ran out of motors and they took off the shelf and put these motors in the car. I would have the car today but at that time I was in the need of the cash and was able to auction the car after acquiring the proof of this new information for over 50K more than I would of expected to get for a 100-6 automobile.

Again, I want to thank everyone for their input. I believe I made a very educated and thought out decision when buying the Corvette.

If I can figure out how in this site I will post a photo of the Corvette I purchased and the Healy that I sold. Thx again !!!

 

I think I figured out how to create an album. I posted a beginning album of my recent purchase.

 

I looked at the photo album in your profile.. A beautiful 60, and happy birthday to you.. That car should make a fine addition to your private collection.

ps, posting photos to a thread are easy. You just click on the photograph icon next to the smiley face icon in the middle of the small tool bar at the top of any reply box. And follow the prompts to load photos from your personal on-line album into your post.