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The type of steering wheel, type of rear bumper emblem, lack of fiberglass floors and lack of Astro Vents all point to this C3 being newer than model year 1975.
The type of steering wheel, type of rear bumper emblem, lack of fiberglass floors and lack of Astro Vents all point to this C3 being newer than model year 1975.
In that case, the low-hanging fruit to check is the partial VIN on the engine stamp pad (in front of the passenger-side head, just above the water pump). You may have to scrape old paint and grime off to read the numbers.
OK, I think I'm going to stick with my original assumption that this car is a definately a 1976. Again, I am in agreement with Kie. Especially after seeing the rear deck. Lack of Astro ventilation was certainly a 1976 feature. The car has the metal floors of a '76 as well as a '76 rear bumper and steering wheel. I have seen many change out the '76 style wheel for a different, more desirable wheel, but I've never seen anyone remove an orig. Corvette wheel to install a '76 wheel. I don't want to rain on your parade (maybe the less said about this the better) but this car already had a questionable VIN. Perhaps the problem goes deeper?
As mentioned above, you could compare the engine stamp pad to the VIN if the car still has the orig. engine. A sure and quick check will be the driver's A pillar trim tag. Is the paint code 74 (1975) or is it 37 (1976).
Best, Greg
Way too funny Bikespace. But if anyone is interested, I have a 75 Nova up for grabs, you just have to find the car...lol.
The big mystery to me is why did seller place nova vin over vette vin, oh yeah, he knew the vette wasnt his to sell and was committing a felony.
you did end up with a title and vin tag for some nova which im pretty sure is illegal to do either direction, buy or sell,
But you thought you were buying a vette.
When seller handed you a corvette title that had "nova" written on it didnt any red flags go off?
So yeah, i still have a case of *** the guy gets to do this and keep 1k and move on the cheat the next guy.
Here is the vin and engine tag. They match and shows 75 and the actual real title for the vette says 75. Why would it have no vents, metal floors and a 76 steering wheel then?
I just went and looked at the Nova title and all it says is 1975 Chevrolet. It doesn’t have the Model on it. I did notice it does say 6 cal on it though which I didn’t notice before since I was just matching vins. Guess I was too excited about getting the Vette...lol. I’m tempted to try and track down the owners of the Nova to get the story on that car too so I can give them their title back. Maybe they can go after the conman and he can finally get what’s coming to him.
Here is the vin and engine tag. They match and shows 75 and the actual real title for the vette says 75. Why would it have no vents, metal floors and a 76 steering wheel then?
In the time ive been putzing with vettes i too have heard the "expert mechanic" say this or that happened at the factory causing an oddball and in some cases like mismatched parts in an early or late 69 it is documented and does happen.
Otherwise i say...prove it.
The wrong steering wheel, who knows, swapped in later its only the most common wheel gm used.
The missing vents, since i would need a document or a person from NCRS i trust tell me yeah, sure some 75s didnt get astro vents to believe it so perhaps some bodywork or rear clip change removed them, i had a buddy removed his on a 71.
do your side windows have astro ventilation on them front bottom, but some 76s even got the astro etched glass,
So, when the title you first got said "nova" didnt that make you wonder?
I was looking over the forum about the Astroventillation and one person said some factory AC cars did not come with it. Really got me curious on this one. Here is a picture of the sad looking doors. Also, the title I got does not have Nova on it anywhere. I’ll include a photo of that too. Since I’m still a novice on Vettes and learning more thanks to you guys, I didn’t even think about decoding the vin when I was looking at it originally. Lesson learned there too.
Why doesn’t mine have vents then? I looked in the rear and it doesn’t look like there was any fiberglass work making them go away. Did I get a factory reject? Lol
Did you ever consider that maybe the "con man" was a relative of the owners of the Nova that may have passed away and he obtained the title and clapped out Chevy from their estate? Then he realized that the Corvette his cell mate had told him about was worth more than the Nova and was looking to score a few extra bucks?
Since you now have legal titled proof of ownership of the Corvette, and not the receiver of stolen goods, I would turn the title over to the Sheriff that assisted you originally and let them do (or ignore) the legwork and tracking of the felon.
Either way ,nice score and have fun with the resto.
Did you ever consider that maybe the "con man" was a relative of the owners of the Nova that may have passed away and he obtained the title and clapped out Chevy from their estate? Then he realized that the Corvette his cell mate had told him about was worth more than the Nova and was looking to score a few extra bucks?
Since you now have legal titled proof of ownership of the Corvette, and not the receiver of stolen goods, I would turn the title over to the Sheriff that assisted you originally and let them do (or ignore) the legwork and tracking of the felon.
Either way ,nice score and have fun with the resto.
Sounds like a good idea. I would love to see the conman get what he deserves. It will also save me a ton of time trying to track the Nove owners down too so I can play with the Vette and get the brakes working again. I do have a question that you guys an probably help with. The seat tracks are completely locked and a friend of mine said to soak them in transmission fluid for a couple days and that will brake them free. Have you ever heard such a thing and does it actually work? I was considering buying aftermarket seats but if I can get the original ones back to new condition without breaking the bank, I might consider doing that instead.
I'll let others advise on the Nova, that's a CFOT discussion.
As to why your car lacks Astrovents? I think you ended up with Johnny Cash's Corvette (but not his Cadillac).
That trim tag has a 75 exterior color, and a 74 interior (any "natural" interior left?) and I don't know if trim tag rivets can rust. The partial VIN on your engine is not lined up, as if it were stamped by hand with the head still in place. CKZ is the engine code for a 1974 190hp 4-speed car. The VIN tag looks to have proper rivets, and you need to remove the windshield to do that anyway.
My guess:
VIN and (new) title are correct. Restamped motor, but whatever. Rear clip replaced at some point with a 76 (no vents, new badge). I won't speculate on the trim tag, perhaps my website source has a typo.
You have a car, a title, a matching VIN, and a great project. Make it the most fun 1974-75-76 Corvette you can, and you'll have a great story to go with it!
I shouldn't say anything cause I have no grounds to speak on but is it possible that sometime when the car was new the owner had it converted to look like a 76'? I've heard of people converting late 1990's ford pickups to look like late 2000's trucks via a conversion shop. Just my two cents, don't take me too seriously lol.
soak them in EVAPO-RUST fluid for 24 hours. I used a wall paper tray and 2 small jugs of the stuff. Came out perfect. I sprayed them down with black rust paint afterwards and greased the bearings...work perfectly now for 4 years.
the ones near you are bigger, might only need 1 jug
