my neighbor has a 73 coupe body with fairly nice birdcage in it. price is kinda high...FREE! but it is a 5 hour drive for you to south jersey. if you have room in the yard and wife-neighbors who wont come down on you... possibility to consider either body swap for chrome conversion or cutting tail panel and doing chrome conversion the messy way...the body itself is in good cond. windshield frame has been blasted and painted and is really nice. AC firewall. I need to make this leave cuz I DONT have wife-neighbors who will put up with me adding it to my pile of boats-cars and there is just enough there to tempt me since I am in the process of converting a 75 vert to chrome.

 

Thanks. Appreciate the offer. I need to look at mine first before deciding on anything else.

 

Forget the money. Does it make you happy or not?

 

What’s your budget? If you have $20k to pump into the car, you can find a nice chrome bumper, rust free car to play with that will be worth something when you are finished.

 

As a 4 year Air Force vet in the early 70's I spent all of my time state side so I cannot know the problems of serving in a combat zone. I can only imagine what horrors our fighting men and women have to endure. I can, however, relate to the therapeutic benefits of working on a classic Corvette. I was up side down from day 1 on my 75 Stingray and even though it was a solid driver I put more money in it to have it the way I wanted it. When I'm in the garage working on my car the problems of the day or week or whatever seem to be on hold. Whether I am repairing something or just freshening up the shine a little it is just me and the Vette for however long it takes. The very best part of a classic is on the road. I promise you a 10 fold better feeling out in the country running through the gears and enjoying the smells and sounds of your car. My USAF duty station was in Portsmouth NH. so I know how beautiful the North East is. There is no better feeling than cruising a mountain road or stopping by a peaceful lake to watch the squirrels play.I have also made many new friends along the way at local cruises and it seems that military veterans make up a good portion of the cruising population.
My advise to you would be to continue on the Vette. Make it road worthy and safe. And enjoy the crap out of it. If you want a little more kick out of the L48, put 3.55's in the dif when you rebuilt it. You won't be sorry. Continue on my friend and I hope your demons melt away some day.
Jerry

 

thanks everyone, you’ve all given me a lot to think about! I will give an update when I decide my next steps