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From: PHOENIX, AZ Yes, it's true. You are a good woman. Then again, you may be the Antichrist.
FINALLY! My '69 vert
Not being a very patient man, I've caved in (again) to my Corvette addiction, but in a very satisfying way. Allow me to present a couple teaser pics of my 1969 Lemans Blue convertible.
On the other side of the garage sits my '75 coupe. I bought it a couple years ago with the intention of tinkering with it and learning how these cars are put together. It needed A LOT of work. Still does, but I was able to get it back into running condition...fixed the fuel system...fixed the cooling system...fixed the headlight vacuum system...rebuilt the power steering pump and control valve...rebuilt the front suspension...and addressed everything that was leaking. TONS of work. Learned a lot. Had some fun.
However, it quickly became apparent that my heart was being pulled in a different direction...towards the chrome bumper versions.
I've been scouring the internet for the past 10 or 12 months for '68 to '72 small block cars, finally deciding that '68-'69 was my favorite. I love the gills.
Color had to be either Lemans blue or silver. Why is it that when you're looking for a particular color, you seem to find everything BUT that color?
Anyway, I passed on a couple good candidates before happening upon this '69 convertible at a local Corvette dealer. I'd been consistently searching my local Craigslist ads, hoping to find a private owner car (in AZ, you don't pay sales tax on private vehicle sales). Wasn't finding what I wanted, so I decided to check dealer ads and this one happened to show up.
Matching #'s car. The previous owner had rebuilt the engine, installed brand new brake calipers, new tires, and new front and rear sway bars.
Things started out a little rocky when a rocker arm nut backed itself off after getting the car home, but I was able to get that fixed and I'm really loving the car!
Anyway, the car is pretty well preserved, but there are plenty of projects I have in mind to make it better. I'll document them in this thread.
Oh, and I'll be listing the '75 coupe in the "for sale" section sometime in the coming weeks. I hope to find someone who can finish what I started and bring it all the way back to it's former glory.
Hi R,
A LOT to like in those photos!!!!
It appears to be a very nice convertible.
Terrific color!
I hope it gives you lots of pleasure.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan
From: PHOENIX, AZ Yes, it's true. You are a good woman. Then again, you may be the Antichrist.
Thanks to all.
First order of business is going to be safety upgrades.
No power brakes. Going to install a power booster.
Steering is too loose for my liking. Reminds me of a '75 Blazer I had when I was young. You could turn the steering wheel almost a 1/4 turn before the wheels started turning. The vette isn't that bad, but it could be much better. Probably going to do the Borgeson steering box upgrade.
Congrats from one '69 owner to another. Mine hasn't got power brakes, but I've never had any problem with them, and it will stop on a dime. I think I actually prefer them over power brakes.
You may also want to check the rag joint, and at least tighten the rag joint bolts. This may take some of the slop out, it did on mine.
I got my '69 lemans blue convert in 2012. After the first season of taking it out on nice weekend days it became clear that if I was going to really enjoy the driving experience I needed to do a few things.
Things I did in order of improving the driving experience:
1) Power steering. I went with Borgeson.
2) 5-speed. I went with a OEM WC-T5 from a F body.
3) Wilwood aluminum brake calipers (manual brakes).
4) Max caster alignment. Added a larger 15/16" front swaybar.
5) Reduced rotational mass. Light weight wheels replaced Rallys
6) weight reduction off nose of car. Aluminum heads (L98), aluminum intake manifold (OEM '79), aluminum water pump, aluminum radiator, aluminum fan shroud, aluminum brake master cylinder (CPP), steel tubular exhaust manifolds (OEM '81/85), etc all took nearly 150 lbs off the nose of the car.
In the second season of driving the original light blue comfort weave seats decided to die in rather dramatic fashion. I reupholstered with Al Knoch. That was a real workout doing those.
Last edited by Dynra Rockets; Apr 11, 2017 at 08:00 PM.
Brisbane...did you have to convert yours to right hand drive?
No, but I have had it done, as my partner has MS and it can be quite difficult to get her in and out sometimes, which is not what you want to
be doing on the traffic side of the car.
It was actually done in L.A. before it was shipped out to OZ.
FINALLY! My '69 vert
