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Don, that is a question I can't answer yet. I started gathering parts when I bought it. I bought the car in 2007 when both my boys decided they did not need college against our advice and went to work. I bought the car and a couple months later one son announced he had been accepted into Cal, US Berkeley and was going back to school. Good for him, bad for the Vette fund. After college we had a couple of mariages in the family, 5 grandkids came along and the Vette waited. Normal family stuff. Getting back on it I built the new 406 for it a couple years ago. Picked up a 5 speed tranny, new radiator, gas tank, 2 - new frames, (long story), many interior parts, a body dolly, etc. All waiting for me. I have had several years with projects that had to be done first and many of those were profitable while time for the Vette was an expense so it waited. I read up on fiberglass work whenever I can to work on stress cracks before paint can be started.
I had a couple months left of home projects planned for this spring and summer that all had to be put on hold for a health challenge. Can't do projects when you can't function normally unfortunately. Picked up a bug called Polymyalgia Rheumatica, never heard of it before, it attacks your joints, Hip Joints and Shoulder Joints mostly but also affects how all muscles in the body can or can't function. Scary stuff, at the worst of it I thought I might be checking out. Got to where I could not get out of a chair or sit in one more than 10 minutes. Could not lift either arm except from the elbow down. Could not sleep at night due to pain for nearly 4 months. Finally found a specialist, on the road to recovery but they say that it takes a long time and you can't rush it. After 2 weeks of treatment it is already getting better but they say it is a very slow heal and if rushed I will be set back so no rushing. We never know or plan for surprises like this one in life. Just have to adjust and move on. Unlike issues others face at least this one shows promise of getting better with no long term issues hopefully.
I hope to be able to get Moma"s home projects on track in a month or five and wrap them up. Once they are complete I have a green card to start the Corvette project and I really am looking forward to it. No problem doing the work if I can just get healthy and find the time.
Watching your projects out there gives constant motivation and knowledge that will be mandatory to get mine driving again. (one of these days)
Have not been sitting around, the past 8 years I probably turned 25 auto and truck projects for profit and fun but I knew each of those would make money while the Vette is an investment with no plans to ever sell it so it keeps waiting.
I keep it insured and licensed each year because I am positive this year will be the year it goes back on the road. Optimism! Got to have hope.
Mark, very sorry to hear of the health issues, and glad and hopeful you have turned the corner. Everything else takes a back seat to our ability to function. As for the family stuff, last weekend was a granddaughter's birthday party, followed by a dance recital for three of them the next day. Can't very well say "Sorry sweetie, I can't watch you dance because I have to work on the Vette". I'm sure many of us doing project cars are dealing with variations of the same issues.
I'm fortunate beyond words to have a patient understanding wife. She isn't into cars as a hobby but does enjoy wandering around a car show looking at the displays. She's the one who gave me the final push when I was on the fence about buying each of the Vettes. And she still tolerates the '66 Chevy truck which has been disassembled in the garage since 1990 .
I think it will be a psychological boost for me once we can start rolling up the miles on the '64. Even tho there will always be more to do on it, the accomplishment of going through the gears a few times and seeing the familiar bulge of the fenders aimed down the road will be like reaching the top of a long climb, with an easier time after reaching the summit.
You are so close Don, has to be driving you nuts not to be driving it already. I admit to sitting in my car in the garage and rowing through all 4 gears a few times just to pretend it is on the road again! Keeps us young I guess. Keep up the great work.
Congratulations Don in getting te 64 finished. I hope the health issues are behind your wife and now you can put some miles on that beautiful car!
Ted, thanks for the well-wishes. She has absolutely no signs of a relapse, it's as if it never happened.
You have done more on your '64 in 8 months than I have in 8 years, and mine is FAR from finished. but it's great to see progress, and even being able to turn the key and back it out of the shop is a boost. This coming week won't be good for the alignment - it's a short week, have not booked the shop time, and I have a couple things on the calendar. Go figure, the weather is supposed to be great. I'm going to aim for the week after as it stands now.
Ted, thanks for the well-wishes. She has absolutely no signs of a relapse, it's as if it never happened.
You have done more on your '64 in 8 months than I have in 8 years, and mine is FAR from finished. but it's great to see progress, and even being able to turn the key and back it out of the shop is a boost. This coming week won't be good for the alignment - it's a short week, have not booked the shop time, and I have a couple things on the calendar. Go figure, the weather is supposed to be great. I'm going to aim for the week after as it stands now.
Rain all day here yesterday and today is suppose to be the same. Plenty of other things to do...chores.
Car is once again loaded on the U-Haul car trailer and will be going for alignment and inspection. Calling for rain tonight and rain tomorrow morning so I put the soft top on, such as it is. Much better than nothing but driver's window is out of the car at present. Sure hope the weather man is wrong!
Well I'll leave it to y'all if this counts for the first drive or not. The rain magically failed to show up. Trailered to the dealership without problem, they did the alignment and corrected several other things in the steering (Because the chassis had never been on the road since restoration, some of the bolts etc were "on" but not tight). It passed inspection. About 11:30 the tech brought it around and said let's go for a ride.
I had not brought the plates with me so highway was not an option. It's a large property, they have the "regular" Chevy dealership, and the Corvette showroom, shop etc separate. So we went here and there around the various buildings and lots. Just awesome, couldn't get the smile off my face! The plan was to trailer it back to our shop, my wife was going to meet me there, and take a shake-down cruise.
Now you KNOW this wasn't going to happen without a glitch! As I was lining up to load onto the U-Haul, the !@#$% shifter locked up! I DID, way back, line everything up with the 3 notches on the shifter levers in line, but at some point either I didn't have them tight or something, and I had 2 gears at once. I know we have threads on that but no help in the parking lot. Went back in, they sent the tech out to crawl under. Took the car in, put it on the lift, and adjusted it properly. After setting down we were discussing the idle, and he made a timing adjustment that made the car idle and respond much better. He then talked me into taking another drive around the premises (didn't take much convincing). What a difference!
By this time it was 2PM, the dealership is 50 miles from my shop plus had to return the trailer. We have family coming from Tennessee Saturday so the highway trip got postponed. Tomorrow morning my wife and I are going to watch the Union Pacific's steam engine go by. After that we're going to our shop, get the plates on, and make an OFFICIAL first drive. Based on the parking lot, it's going to be awesome.
Gotta give a plug to the dealership - https://www.vanbortelcorvettes.net/ . We all like to bash dealers, myself included, but these people seem to really know, and care about what they are doing. The tech that did my car has been working on Vettes there since 1991. He took the time to point out numerous things to know - many I already knew, some I've seen on here, a couple I had no idea.
Hoping tomorrow to have pics of it on the road, but I've already run up about a mile and a half and can't wait to add to the total.
Yes sir. It will be going by about 15 minutes drive from the shop. If I had gotten one good shake-down run on the '64 I might have tried taking that and getting it in the picture. Although no doubt it will be a rolling mob scene of people following/chasing/pacing it anyway.
Don,
I am sure you will have it figured out in no time, dont leave home without a cell though just in case. Van Bortel always has a nice mix of cars, even usually a couple of midyears.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
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I'm going to aim for the week after as it stands now.
The rain magically failed to show up. Trailered to the dealership without problem, they did the alignment and corrected several other things in the steering (Because the chassis had never been on the road since restoration, some of the bolts etc were "on" but not tight). It passed inspection. About 11:30 the tech brought it around and said let's go for a ride.
