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My brother bought the '78 Anniversary edition in '81 with about 18,000 miles. He drove it for a few years around Chicago only in the summer. Then for the last 14 years, it sat in his garage until last Sept when he needed to sell it to make room in his garage for his new Tesla. So, I offered $6,000 and he accepted. It had 31,000+ miles. While I assumed that being garaged and protected, it'd need a couple grand to make it road worthy. Big Mistake. EVERYTHING was rusted out - including the notorious windshield cage. When I pulled on the emergency brake, everything underneath fell to the floor! Well, about $10 grand later, it runs just fine. Needs seats, carpeting, a little insulation between the firewall and floorboards and a new paint job but that's for next year. I plan on driving the Blue Ridge Parkway this fall. I Can't Wait!! I'm like a little kid. I've had five offers to buy it already.
Did you get to drive the Parkway yet? Has your brother asked to borrow it?
Bought my '79 350 few years ago back before sophomore year of high school. Really wanted to find an old '69 stingray but I got too tall to fit in any of them and still tolerate driving it. I ended up noticing an old, dusty-blue '79 sitting in front of my neighbor's house. I drove by that project for almost 2 weeks before I gave in and went to talk to the owner about it.
I expected the very tall, middle-aged man to be the owner who drug it out of storage in Oklahoma but turns out it was his pregnant wife's first car! She was due less than 2 days after I first spoke to them and she was intent of selling it to a gentleman down the street for his full restoration build. 15 year-old me decided to gather up every dime I made machining parts over the summer and get it in cash to go and make an offer for the car that same day before it went to the other potential buyer.
So I go and knock on the door in the afternoon and the owner's husband comes out. I open my little backpack and start stacking cash on the hood of his Audi until we came to an agreement. Turns out my offer was significantly less than other offers previously made but his wife wanted me to be the 2nd owner of her car. After I drove the car 2 blocks back home with no brakes but a strong 190hp 350, I began the path to repairing it and improving on it.
Up until I moved to Dallas this past summer, I would bring it by their home to show them all that I had done to it at that point and give them rides. It's been a long 4 year restomod project and I've been fed up with it multiple times over the years but even the 2 1/2 inch flowmaster exhaust coupled with a nasty sounding 515 wheel horsepower 383 stroker can't compete with the smiles of that family and their 4 year old daughter when I park the car in the same spot I bought it from.
I bought my '76 new. I was wondering how unique it is.
Of the 46,558 that were made in '76, only 3,268 were blue.
As only a total of 9,933 were four-speeds, I wonder how many were blue.
As only a total of 5,771 were made without A/C, I wonder how many were blue 4 speeds.
The odds are high that there weren't many like mine manufactured.
I bought my '76 new. I was wondering how unique it is.
Of the 46,558 that were made in '76, only 3,268 were blue.
As only a total of 9,933 were four-speeds, I wonder how many were blue.
As only a total of 5,771 were made without A/C, I wonder how many were blue 4 speeds.
The odds are high that there weren't many like mine manufactured.
My '69 turned 49 yo just yesterday.
The story began back in '93. Well I caught the 'vette bug' and started looking around. Found my car in northern Connecticut. Took the 2 hour ride on Friday, in April, to check her out.
The first thing I notice as I pull into the driveway, (now mind you the car was sitting nose in, in the back of a tandem garage) was that the car had a hitch on her. HOLY CRAP...what is that...lol. Owner explained that the first owner used to tow a small speed boat with it, that had a matching paint job. Ok, then.
Took her for a drive. Ran rough. Motor needed work. But I fell in love. Car was clean, numbers matching, 4 speed, you could count on one hand the various small parts that were not original, and blue on blue. The only thing that was missing was the smog system.
The greatest thing about my C3 was learning the history. Figuring out that the engine block was completed in September of '68, and the car was finished on the morning of October 4th, 1968. Only worries there, is it was a Friday...lol. I look around the car and all the lights have '68 markings on them.
I also love when a fellow '69 owner takes a good look at the car and scratches his head. Comments like, "Where is your ....", and "How come that's not over .....", often come up. One time my local vette shop had finished something on the car, when another '69 owner walked in and asked question about a particular part. The shop owner told him to go look at my car. She said that guy came back to her white as a ghost wondering why that car did not look like his. She laughed when she realized the Vin of his car.
Last edited by 69 LeMans Blue; 10-05-2017 at 11:24 AM.
I already posted this in the intro's section, but this looked like a good place to put it as well.
So, back in June, I was on a job site in Northern California, way back in the hills, when I entered a large barn on the property. (Really it was more of a 60,000 square foot shop... but hey, barn sounds better!) Anyway, tucked away, way in the back, I stumbled onto a 1969 Stingray Convertible. The owner of the barn wasn't sure who it belonged to, someone had asked a caretaker if they could store it for a winter several years earlier, and the caretaker had passed away.
It took me a month of asking around the small town, but I finally tracked down the owner. He had owned the car for about 10 years, and had attempted to sell it several years prior. The prospective buyer had put it in the barn, and the owner had lost track of where it was, or even where the keys were. The person that was supposed to buy the car fell on hard times and no longer had the cash. The owner thanked me very much for tracking him down, but was now reluctant to sell me the car. He owned the car for 10 years, only driving it a few weekends every summer. It took me 5 months to convince him to sell, but this afternoon we signed a contract and I made a small deposit. I will travel up north on the 5th of November to take possession of my dream car!
The car is in pretty good condition. Unfortunately, the engine is not original, but other than that, everything is completely original. It has a small block 350, and a 4-speed manual transmission. The underside has very little rust. It is driveable, although he says it runs through power steering fluid almost as fast as you put it in, but the P/S does work when you first put the fluid in. My guess is after sitting in that barn forever, it needs either a hose or a reservoir. He also says it needs a right front brake caliper and/or hose.
I am extremely excited to get her home and start working on her. My plan is to keep her as stock as possible, although, I will be switching to electronic ignition ASAP... (I am too lazy to adjust points every few months.) The plan, in this order, is to 1) Make It Stop (pads, rotors, hoses, and calipers on all four wheels. Master cylinder if necessary. Tires.); 2) Make It Steer (power steering hoses and possibly a pump); 3) Make It Go (full tune-up, electronic ignition, anything else as necessary; 4) Make it Pretty (dents, dings, paint, cloth, carpet, etc.); and then we will see if we can 5) Make It Go Really Fast.
I am setting a goal to make her road worthy for a trip from San Diego to Seattle along the coast next summer.
HEI Ignition is fine, but breakerless ignition is also available.
Nice find - Enjoy!
Originally Posted by cyxelsid
Hello all,
I already posted this in the intro's section, but this looked like a good place to put it as well.
So, back in June, I was on a job site in Northern California, way back in the hills, when I entered a large barn on the property. (Really it was more of a 60,000 square foot shop... but hey, barn sounds better!) Anyway, tucked away, way in the back, I stumbled onto a 1969 Stingray Convertible. The owner of the barn wasn't sure who it belonged to, someone had asked a caretaker if they could store it for a winter several years earlier, and the caretaker had passed away.
It took me a month of asking around the small town, but I finally tracked down the owner. He had owned the car for about 10 years, and had attempted to sell it several years prior. The prospective buyer had put it in the barn, and the owner had lost track of where it was, or even where the keys were. The person that was supposed to buy the car fell on hard times and no longer had the cash. The owner thanked me very much for tracking him down, but was now reluctant to sell me the car. He owned the car for 10 years, only driving it a few weekends every summer. It took me 5 months to convince him to sell, but this afternoon we signed a contract and I made a small deposit. I will travel up north on the 5th of November to take possession of my dream car!
The car is in pretty good condition. Unfortunately, the engine is not original, but other than that, everything is completely original. It has a small block 350, and a 4-speed manual transmission. The underside has very little rust. It is driveable, although he says it runs through power steering fluid almost as fast as you put it in, but the P/S does work when you first put the fluid in. My guess is after sitting in that barn forever, it needs either a hose or a reservoir. He also says it needs a right front brake caliper and/or hose.
I am extremely excited to get her home and start working on her. My plan is to keep her as stock as possible, although, I will be switching to electronic ignition ASAP... (I am too lazy to adjust points every few months.) The plan, in this order, is to 1) Make It Stop (pads, rotors, hoses, and calipers on all four wheels. Master cylinder if necessary. Tires.); 2) Make It Steer (power steering hoses and possibly a pump); 3) Make It Go (full tune-up, electronic ignition, anything else as necessary; 4) Make it Pretty (dents, dings, paint, cloth, carpet, etc.); and then we will see if we can 5) Make It Go Really Fast.
I am setting a goal to make her road worthy for a trip from San Diego to Seattle along the coast next summer.
Not so sure about those C4's...
Where I come from in New England they use them as winter cars while the "real Vette" is put away 'till spring.
Watch it buddy!! I would agree if you said "early c4's".
I have a '92 and it's very fun to drive. 300hp with the low gearing of the 700r4, overdrive, and hugs the road like a go cart. 5 1/2 seconds to 60 and you can cruise at 100-120mph for miles and miles (I'm told) and the engine isn't even taching 3000.
Plus, it's so hard to get in and out of it gives me an incentive to stay fit.
HEI Ignition is fine, but breakerless ignition is also available.
Nice find - Enjoy!
Enjoy, I would have it aligned and look to see if it had been hit, check the shields in the wheel wells. After repair, they sometimes don't replace them. Live your dream!!!!!
In 1970 I was driving a '67 Mustang fastback with 390CI/4-spd. One day my wife was sick in bed with the flu so I stayed home from work. She needed an Rx so I went out to the local pharmacy, which happened to be across the street from Crest Chevrolet. In the used car lot was a 1968 Corvette Bronze/Tobacco coupe with AT/PS/PB/AC. I went over to look at the car and the sales manager came out. The car looked great and he said "Let's go for a ride". So we took a short drive and then stopped in front of our house and I beeped the horn several times. My wife then looked out from the bedroom window and I could just imagine her thinking "That idiot, I send him out to get my medicine and he's driving around in a Corvette." So I quickly drove back to Crest, got my 'Stang, picked up the Rx and headed home. Later my wife said "When I feel better we can go look for a Corvette, but it has to be the latest body style." I would have been happy with any Vette, but I really wanted a 4-spd. So we looked and looked at several cars that were either too expensive or in bad condition. As a result we ended up back at Crest and bought the first one I had looked at, even though it was AT. But the car was in great condition and a pleasure to drive. It was my daily transportation from May 1970 until late 1978, then was just used on weekends until October 1981 when the brakes were shot. The car then sat in the garage until 1991 when I finally got around to upgrading to a complete S/S brake system. Since then it has received a new paint job in 1997, new carpets and leather seats. The entire suspension has been rebuilt and the original engine still runs great (at 115,000 miles). I have never regretted buying this car and it is still a thrill every time I get in it to go for a ride, which I do several times a week all year long.
Enjoy, I would have it aligned and look to see if it had been hit, check the shields in the wheel wells. After repair, they sometimes don't replace them. Live your dream!!!!!
@Philgran... Is this general advice, or did you see specific items in the pics that I should be worried about?
wife wanted a chrome bumper car...we were at bowling green swap meet back in 1986 where we found poor shape 72 it barely made it home to huntsville.
it was black painted over steel city grey.
now days its torch red with a zz4 crate motor and rear stereo ..new seat covers....carpet tires new exhaust...
09-06-2017, 08:13 PM
Blue Ridge Parkway
I would agree if you said "early c4's". 
