Some of you may recognize me from my "!971 LT-1 Resurrection" thread that I'm doing a frame off restoration on, starting a new thread for a nice car that just followed me home... God bless my wife! LOL

A neighbor of ours has been telling me her dad has owned a '69 Convertible her whole life and it had been sittin gup for years and she loved the car (she knows i'm a Corvette freak and building my '71). I got a call last week that her dad was ready to sell it and wanted to find a good home.. I asked a ton of questions and price, and her dad said "to come see it and make an offer"... Car was 15min away and curiosity got the best of me, so I went and looked at it last weekend. He had owned the car for 24 years and it had been parked for almost a decade because the trailing arms were bad and he lost interest. I was surpised at how nice of a car it was and it got my wheels rolling.. Being conservative, considering how well aware I am of how expensive it is to ressurect these cars , and that they nickle and dime you to death, I gave him a rather low offer that he declined. He was a great guy and we connected and had been talking this week and he agreed to get it out from buried back in the garage so I can do a better inspection an try and work out a deal... well he got me! lol Car was too cherry and I just had to have it. Good thing I've been planning to sell my ZR-1 and just put it for sale! I need another project car like I need a hole in my head, but this one doesn't need a restoration and won't take much to get back on the road! It's a '69 Convertible with the hardtop, 4 speed, PB, Pw, and it might of been an L46 car, but doesn't have the original engine. Has a rebuilt era correct 350 with LT1 heads.

The plan for this car is just to get it running and driving, which shouldn't take much. This is going to be an around town cruiser while I'm finishing my frame off on the '71. It's a good honest car with a very presentable driver quality paint job. Car was repainted once the original burgundy with laquer paint that shines nicely. Interior is in good shape and the car has zero rust on it. It's still pretty original and it was well maintained when it was being driven. Frame and bird cage are clean, which is a nice change from my current '71 I'm builing!

Here's how I found her recently burried in a garage:



And today when she followed me home:


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Looks like a great find! Glad you got it.

 

Neat; it's got a hardtop!

 

It looks like it's in the garage sideways. How did you get out?

 

It was on wheel dollies is how he had it tucked in there sideways. It was some work to get it out, but my buddies car hauler tilts back and has a winch so was easy to get on the trailer once we got the car out the garage and sitting on the tires.

 

Clearly, the garage was built around the car!

 

 

It appears on a convertible that it's quite challenging accessing the hard fuel line on the frame to replace the rubber hose that attaches and runs from the metal fuel line to the fuel tank. Any insight or tips here?

 

You could loosen the #3 and #4 body mounts on that side of the car enough to raise the body 1/4" to 1/2" . BUT nor more that that so you don't crack the quarter panel fiberglass.

 

It's werid they didn't run the metal lines to the back of the frame like a coupe an stop above the rear wheel where you can't reach it!!!! Body mounts can be opening a can of worms, i'm going to have to figure this out .. maybe been the metal line outwards to connect the rubber line?

I found where the rubber hose connects to the metal line above the rear wheel, here's what i'm working with:

 

Last night when I got it home, I had to pour some gas down the carb an see how she ran! The PO drained most of the fuel tank and the gas left in it was ehtanol free with Stabil that didn't look bad and the tank was really clean. So I disconnected the fuel hose from the carb and put it in a bottle to see if the fuel pump worked and what kind of crud came out. I then poured some 2 stroke gas down the carb and turned the keys: She immediatley fired up and ran excellent!!! Great oil pressure and no bad noises! The fuel pump also worked (was told it was replaced shortly before parking) and the fuel it pumped into the bottle looked clean!

So tonight, now I knew it ran and the fuel system wasn't trashed, it was time to change some old fuel hoses and put some gas in the tank. I changed the rubber lines at the engine and then looked inside the tank to closely inspect: fuel sender sock was broken in half! Luckily, I had a brand new one in the box from my other project I could steal and took advantage of the tank being drained and replaced it. The rubber hose on that side was brittle and I damaged it , so I spliced in a fresh line for now until I figure out how to access the metal hard line and run all new hose. I put a couple of fresh gallons in the tank, dumped a little 2 stroke gas in the carb, an turned the key: fired right up and purred like a kitten! I let the engine fully warm up and inspected what works: healights pop up, oil gauge works, tach works, fiber optics work, so did most everything else! doesn't seem like the temp gauge is working, and I'll be shocked if the clock works! lol Engine has a clean bill of health! So I move it around under it's own power in my garage today for the first time in a decade!




Now we know the drivetrain is properly functioning it was time to make it stop and address the suspesion issues: trailing arms have play and poly strut arm bushings are completley shot! Not too mention one of the front brakes leaks so the brakes didn't work. I decided to take the bull by the horns tonight and start pulled the rear suspension apart to replace the trailing arms and bushings.

Got her in the air and went to work without too much of a fight




An hour later, the drivers side was out



It was nice to confirm my findings of a beautifully rust free rock solid frame!!

 

This car keeps getting better: it's an HX code L46 Convertible!!!!

Seller told me he wasn't sure if it was numbers matching and I couldn't clearly make out the engine code from it being decked, so I priced accordingly... After doing some research it does indeed appear to be an HX L46 with AC, PB, PS, & Pw!

Indicators:

Correct L46 heads and valve covers
Correct 29207 L46 only Quadrajet
6000 redline tach
L46 console plate
L46 only fuel filter with return
numbers matching M20 - and I confirmed an L46 could be ordered with the M20 or M21
CF code emissions sticker
block is correct 3970010

Im going to have to get an acid stamp pad retrieval done , because you can see it there but not make it out. If it is numbers matching, I hit the jackpot! If it's just an era correct block with all the correct parts on it and a real L46 car = still super happy!

Experts take a look and tell me what you think:

Here you can see the L46 console plate


6000 reline tach for L46


CF emmission for L46


29207 Quadrajet only on L46


Proper heas, valve covers , an fuel filter with return for L46

 

Finished getting the passenger side trailing arm out tonight and have the rear suspension and brakes fully gutted



No surprises here: nice solid rust free frame!



The drivers side trailing arm bushings were completley shot, but the bearings didn't have too bad of play:



Passenger side was a different story: bushings shot and the bearings had horrible play!!



So I have a '71 I'm building with a built chassis sitting in my shop and decided to steal the trailing arms. These were redone 10 years or so ago and in good shape, but not perfect, and decided I coudln't justify having them redone on the '71 . Perfect for the '69 though and if I have to pay for a set I'll get a pair of Van Steel offsets built for the '71 and steal these for the '69 to get her on the road!

 

Looking good. Trailing arms are fun to rebuild (sometimes).

 

Nice work and great find.

 

good plan, great find

 

What a great find… That car looks fantastic!

I’m a bit jealous… I wanted a convertible for my 1969 project, but I’m afraid that all that I could find was a coupe. Your new car appears to be in a bit better shape too.

In any case, great job finding that 1969 and good luck as you move forward with it!

Regards,

Stan Falenski

 

Thanks! Car was too good to pass up! I had a lots of surpries in my '71 i'm building, so this is a nice change of scenery with no rust !!

 

I did consider it, but just stole the ones off my '71 and getting Van Steel offsets built for the '71

 

Marching forward tonight and got the new trailing arms installed. Getting the pivot bolt in is a real test of patience and skill! Only other time I did that was on the '71 with the body removed and fresh chassis on the ground so this took some methods: used long reach needle nose pliers and wire to fish the bolt. Lots of cursing too! lol new bushings come in tomorrow so I can button up the rear suspension then do the brakes.