I've already been "educated" by two lovely posters on this site that my "Stingray" does not exist. So whatever it is that I own, can anyone offer me some advice on where to start on restoring this Corvette???

 

What's wrong with it?

What's your goal?

What's your budget?

 

Welcome!

 

What's wrong with it: What is it? I've been kicked to the ground for calling it a Stingray by several posters on this site.
It's not in awful shape, but it needs work, everywhere. It sat out in the weather for a few years, but has been under cover for the last 15 years. No body damage, just looks like old fiberglass, or old paint. Seats look decent, but other interior needs replaced.

What's my goal: To eventually restore it. I'm not on any timeline.

What's my budget: At this moment, I need to start small. My roof needs replaced, so that's my first priority. I have a new rag-top, other new parts. My question...can I start doing "something". Pull out the seats, pull the motor, what???

 

 

Does this work?

 

I had a 68 convertible in the late 80's. I bought it from a vette dealer in Milpitas, Ca. It had a dash pad that was embroidered
with Stingray.
I had quite a few Corvette people tell me it wasn't a Stingray. I loved the car anyway.
As a new owner I discovered that the car had quite a few items that weren't quite right. But that didn't affect my enjoyment of the car. Have fun and you will find that most owners will go out of their way to help with any questions you have.

 

1st, welcome to the forum. I still consider the 68 to be a stingray, in fact I think of all C3's as stingrays even if some didn't carry the badge.
And some forum posters just like to impress others with their knowledge. Even if it's not asked for. But enough of that.

So the car hasn't run in many yrs and needs some restoration. I think you will find many of us here bought corvettes in this condition. The first thing is to formulate a plan.
I would seriously consider how far you want to tear it apart. Speaking from personal experience a body off restoration is a huge investment in time and money. You also need space. And more good cars have been relegated to the discard pile when interest in a huge undertaking peters out.
Think hard about what you want to do. Maybe get the engine running before all else. Then make it safe to drive by replacing worn suspension bushings and brake parts. Once drivable, you can worry about the body and paint.
There are a lot of good forum members who have a wealth of knowledge to share. Sometimes it's better to just sit back and read posts from the archives using a search function. Good luck.

 

I appreciate your nice response. I have yet to find any owners that are not hysterically laughing at me that I thought I had a Stingray. I can look up 68 Stingray on-line, it shows me many gorgeous cars that look just like mine. Mine also has "Stingray" emblems on both sides of the car. I love the car! I've been on this site for two days, looking for a way to get off this site...I'm a female...I don't belong here. I don't have enough testosterone to survive here. Thanks again for your post!

 

It's hard to tell if you are seriously offended or just laughing about it. Regardless, I'd say that if the comments are bothering you, just don't take it so seriously. Who cares that it's not a Stingray? We all learn about our cars as we go.

If you wanted it to look more "correct," taking off the emblems, swapping out the rockers and wheels could be done in a weekend. Or, you could leave it as is and drive the heck out of it. I had a silver 68 roadster and loved it.

Enjoy the car and understand that owning a Corvettes will always result in more comments than you want to hear, regardless of the car. In one ear, out the other...

 

Where are you located SYauker?

The testosterone is in the car. Being female does not have any impact on if you belong here or not. What does determine if you belong here? Wanting knowledge about your corvette.

1968 was a fun year for the corvette. First year with the new body style, and the only chrome bumper car not called a "stingray" - the 63-67s were called sting rays (note the space), and 69 to 76s were called "stingrays" (no space). In spite of the missing "Stingray" script on a factory 1968 corvette, Chevrolet still marketed the '68 as a "Stingray". All of the folks giving you a hard time can read this, and optionally shove it up their ****. I have a size 11 workboot that can assist in that last part if you like.

http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/brochure...&page=2&scan=2

So, with that out of the way, welcome.

Now.... you're going to need some tools:

A good SAE socket set. A good set of box end wrenches. A grease gun. A jack and good stands. A set of ramps. A really good set of screwdrivers.

Regardless of mechanical ability, these are pretty easy cars to work on for general maintenance and repairs. There are some things best left to the more experienced or professionals - rear suspension comes to mind, as it requires some special tools to disassemble ( a press, for example ) and rebuild. The parking brake can be a pain in the *** too.

So- what's your background? What is your skill level?

Not having a timeline is a great place to start, but it's also a great place to end, quickly. You're going to want to DRIVE IT. Trust me. Mine's in parts, and will be for the next couple of years at least. I wish I had something I can runabout in, but both of my fun cars are in boxes.

Someone posted on here that she doesn't run, but I didn't see YOU post that. Does it? Let's add a couple of tools to the list - a compression tester, a vacuum gauge, and a timing light.

Is the car a 4 speed or an automatic?

Let me know if it's a running car or not, and we can go from there.

Out of the gate, I'd want to know what the car has.

Power brakes?
Power steering?
Transmission?
Original Engine?

On the inside of the drivers door, on the body, there should be a trim tag. On it you will find the codes for the original paint and interior.

On the motor, driver's side, just behind the distributor, there's a casting number. It will probably start with "391" - it's seven digits. Post that here. Additionally, on the passenger side of the motor, on the front, on a pad facing up, next to the water pump there's another stamp. That will let us determine if this is a numbers matching car, and/or possibly identify the motor.

If you're REALLY into it, pull the valve covers off and note the casting number on the cylinder head.

Here are some helpful links:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...locations.html
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...-a-series.html

If it's not running, that should be the first thing you do- just because it's fun.

The next step would be to go over the brakes and make sure they're functional. The idea is to make it SAFE before anything else.

Anything cosmetic - interior, paint and so on, comes after.

So. Don't go away. The '68s are my favourite. They're unique.

 

The 1st things I do when I buy an older car. Go though the brakes, Stopping is top priority.

Then I move to the suspension/steering. Once all that is in top shop it's carburetor, major tuneup and check for fuel leaks.

When its mechanically solid and can be driven without fear of dying I move to appearance like paint and interior.

 

Additional thoughts...

It sat outside for a few years? How wet are the carpets? Does it have any water leaks?

The C3s were assembled with typical american tolerances. Ie, give or take a foot. So they're known to leak. The problem with that is that they DO RUST. There's a metal frame hiding under the fiberglass around the passenger compartment. So before you sink any money into it- even before you start getting the motor, brakes and all that others stuff I said in my last post, please remove the interior windshield trim, and the kick panels. You're looking for rust. Post pics if you want an opinion on it.

Replacing the birdcage - that's the nickname for the sheetmetal structure under the fiberglass in the cockpit - is NOT a cheap or easy thing to do.

I know this because I'm doing it now on my '73.

This is what I found under the windshield header on mine:



And, if the birdcage is rusty... check the frame too. Thoroughly. This was hiding underneath years of undercoating. I put my HAND through it with little effort. I was actually rolling under the car on my creeper when it happened, I was pushing myself from one side to the other and grabbed the frame to pull myself out.



Your car looks a lot nicer than mine, and I'm really not trying to scare you away - but it 's best to check these things before spending the first dollar.

 

First off, welcome to the forum!

Sorry some folks have been d*cks. Believe it or not, there are actually two kinds of people on here. The "purists" that see these cars as needing to stay as the factory sent them out (I'll just leave it at that). Then "the rest of us". The ones that upgrade, add, and mod our cars so that we can drive them as they were intended. I'll let you figure out which group will call you names for calling a 68 Corvette a "Stingray". The other group will help you out with pretty much anything you might think about doing to/with your car.

These are old cars, so just about anything that can be done, HAS been done before.

Ask away, and the right group of people will welcome you with open arms and help you out.

 

No.

We need more.

I do see the reason you have this issue. Someone wanted it more like a '69 and put the '69-up Stingray emblem on it and the '69 rocker panels under the door. It could be they put the panels one because they were cheap and easy to find or to update the look.

No big deal unless you are after the restored original look.




More unique than you think. The literature marketed them as a 1968 Corvette Sting Ray -- two words, not one.

 

welcome,
First I'd like to add that anybody from the outside world refers to all c3's as stingray's from 68 to 82 for some reason some people see the stingray badge like if its a zr1 or zl1 badge like oh yeah the stingrays are faster than the other ones well you shouldn't take that to heart just ask anybody with a 77 and up about their "stingrays" or how they feel when asked if its a stingray that's our model before being called c3. Nice car and good luck I hope your in for the long haul unless you have a lot of money then youl'll be ready in 6 months. And fix it for the love not the resale.

 

The silver often gets a dull look, or at least has the 1/8 inch deep look to it, instead of the 10 foot deep look with colors like black and dark blue. It is just the nature of silver, so wax it, buff it maybe, and don't worry right now, since paint will run you $5000 to $10,000 and you can use the money for better things right now with it.

Everyone who comes here wanting to restore I recommend they simply drive it and do whatever it takes to be mechanically safe and reliable for the first 6 months or so. Too many rush into taking one apart, only to find putting them back together is much harder. As a friend said, 2 days to take it all apart, 2 years to put it back together.

His only problem was that he said that in '77 and the car was back together finally around '85, and that was after he dropped it off with a friend in '81 who likes to do this stuff.

Make it run, drive it, enjoy it, ignore the jerks, and after some time with it, then think about restoring.



And grow a thicker skin. You haven't even run into the "all '68s are terrible quality/junk/worthless/etc." group yet.

 

I took a look at the "rude" remarks about the 68 not being a "Stingrays". If you think that was rude, ill apologize right now because this is mostly a community of friendly people. Most of us are guys, so we'll throw friendly zingers around every now and then. There is no stigma about being a female around here, unless you are one of the "victim minded" ones. To tell you the truth, I almost wish I was a female around here because that's one way to get the most answers and the fastest responses.

As long as you are friendly with people, we'll be friendly right back. Also, don't expect an answer to a question as soon as you post. Some people make that mistake and get pissy because they think they are being ignored. Be patient because people have lives, families, jobs, and/or work on their own cars in their spare time.

There is usually someone online that CAN answer a question quickly, but not all the time. When I ask a question, ill usually post then go get a cold beverage or take a bathroom break and when I come back, ill have an answer. I also have email alerts turned on, so I'll get an email notification when someone responds to a subscribed post (I believe it's automatic by default when you respond to a thread).

If you want to start, the best way would be to buy an AIM (assembly instruction manual) from willcoxcorvette.com for $40 shipped at the link I posted and start doing some research by seeing how complex the car is and figuring out how much work it's actually going to be.

http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_i...ducts_id=25513

Keep your head up, this place is not as bad as you think.

 

nice catch!

 

SYauker, Welcome to the Group... Pay no mind to the ones that have way to much time on there hand and want to criticize anything they think is incorrect or they do not like. Only a few of them on here but they are also very knowledgeable. Its your vette so do to it as you wish. I just Love 68's.

Welcome again...

Tim