You have too much rust in the engine compartment, bumpers etc, just what I see from the pictures. Then I would assume you may have rust in the bird cage and other places. Stay away from the rust. Most everything else can be replaced, or repaired, If you don't have any serious rust (Bird Cage, frame) I would start at $20,000 if the engine is good, and transaxle. I doesn't take long to exceed the value on a 1968-even a 69 corvette. So don't buy for an investment, buy for the looks, sound and drivability.
I have a 1968 which was once a tri power car, but the engine was sold by the second owner in the 70's because gas got too high!!!! I have owned my 68 since the late 80"s and I have replaced most everything. I have gone with the 6-speed Tremic, rebuilt 427,rack and pinion, electric fans, now going with the electric headlights and wiper doors. Vacuum on a 68 is a nightmare. You can get it working right and then some other problem will cause it to fail. I have over $130,000 in my 68 Laugh, but consider- as long as I have owned it and I have been through a few seat upholstery, paint jobs, engine swaps, convertible top replacements, tires, retro projects etc. This is not for an investment, it becomes an obsession. Something you want to drive comfortably, car shows, everywhere you go someone wants to talk with you about the car. I have had a 1998-2016 corvette and I have probably lost in value on what I have spent on my 68 in much less time.

 

So what do you want to know about restoring a 68? Is it fun? Is it a lot of work?

Do you want to do this work yourself? In my mind, frame is everything. And the chances of the frame being in perfect shape at this point is next to zero. Don’t listen to the others here. The one year only 68 parts are not that big of a deal. Absolutely everything is reproduced. And the stuff I didn’t feel like making fully 68, I just replaced with 69+. So depending how true to a 68 you want to keep the car, the more you will have to invest. I was only looking to make my car a solid driver and not a concourse car.

As far as value, that sounds on the high side of the value for a project car. Even a big block.

 

I've never seen that before that is a great way to get the body on!

 

Ya ...with a Ford...LOL

 

Yup! It worked quite well.

 

I am always amazed when I see these Vettes that have been in storage/barn/warehouse for all these years that someone is trying to sell that they never take the time to wash it and clean up the engine compartment a little. An hour or two of work would probably increase the value considerably. Then you would be able to see how much work was involved in trying to restore it.

 

Agree, before and after is fine with me.

 

Agree, I think a lot has to do with auction houses and YouTube videos pulling it out of the garage with 1/4in of dust allowing the new owner to be the first clean it.

 

...very cool from another '68 NE Ohio owner!!! I see your '68 has the frame gussets. Is it original to that car? Always wondered when that started for '68s. My May 6th(#18434)built L-79 4spd '68 conv does NOT have those gussets. For awhile I thought it was in like the last 3,500 cars, but then over the years I've seen cars before the 25,300 VIN that have had them. They built 28,566 Corvettes for 1968.

 

oh my gosh 😳 130k for a c3 . I’m speechless lol

 

My original frame did not have the gussets. My car is a 68E, #12709 2/29 car. Mine is also an L79. But I figured GM added the gussets for a reason, so I wanted them in my car. This frame was a hack job. The story was told, is that it was originally from a 76, and the guy I bought it from was restoring a 72, so he had the back frame portion welded on from a chrome bumper car to fit his. And since the price for this frame was such that I couldn’t pass it up, I didn’t go with an original “un-gusseted” 68 frame. Add that to the list of non-68 modifications I did to this car to keep the restoration costs down and the custom fabrication to a minimum. Like I said, I wanted a solid driver, not a full NCRS 100 point original car.

I’d love to see your car. We’ll have to figure out somewhere to meet up this summer.

 

I have an early 1968 Convertible (#2595) with the 427 and 4 speed. I bought it for a price that would shock most of you, it was way below $10k. My Corvette came with a 427 from the factory and the current 427 is a "CE" engine. The numbers are not matching on my engine, my transmission numbers do match the chassis. I assume that some fool blew up or damaged the factory engine and it was replaced under warranty. The engine was cast in August 1967 and my car was built in early October. The heads are date matched to the block.

Does any of this really matter? Can you REALLY Trust the VIN stamping any more? I say No. You can't trust any stamped engine's originality without tearing apart the Corvette to verify it. Just the number will not impress me. What's next, an LS engine stamped with a 1970 C3 VIN number?

You can re-stamp any block out there and many others Can and still DO stamp engine blocks. I know a person who did it and I do not agree with it nor do I condone it. It is very easy to stamp an engine and then you antique it a bit to make it look original. Simply changing the numbers to match the chassis number should be illegal. A simple number stamping can reap huge rewards when selling the Corvette. Lots of incentive for people to do it.

I would not buy a Corvette because it has "matching numbers". It would be nice to have the original engine but it is not critical to me. I bought my C3 because it is a beautiful Corvette. When I bought my C3 I was told that it had a factory replacement engine. It was not a problem for me until I learned about how some folks are about their VIN numbers.

When I first went to Corvettes@Carlisle I met a young woman who worked at Paragon. She asked me "why would anyone want to restore a 1968 Corvette?" She suggested that it was not worthy of being restored just because of the 1968 year model. I was offended but she did not care and went on to help another customer. That was the prevailing attitude back in the early 1990's. Carlisle totally blew off the 1968 Silver Anniversary to honor the 1978 "Look alike" Corvettes. I screamed bloody hell and they could care less.

Today my C3 is a L88 clone and is one fast Corvette. The 560+ hp is a lot of fun to enjoy out on the roads. I have a 1968 C3 and I am darn proud of it. Even if the numbers don't match.

The 1968 Corvette is kind of like Rodney Dangerfield in that, It Can't get ANY respect....

 

I call BULLSHYTOWSKI here !!

My 68 has given me the least amount of headaches vs any other muscle car I have ever owned ( 20+ ) It's the luck of the draw as they say. Some people smoke & live to 100 others eat well, diet, go to the gym daily & die at 50 !!! Don't let the 68 model year worry you.

* * NOT ALL WAS CORRECTED IN 69 * * Not even close .......................

 

Agree with all of this 110%.

My favorite Corvette is the 68, why: it is a C3, IMO the best Corvette body design ever; compared to all past and present, it has many one off design features unique to 68 and lastly it is fun to watch a newbie try to open the door as you have to press the button AND pull on the door handle.

I actually like original antiques; furniture, firearms, ect and an original Corvette is fun to look at and study. However sometimes IMO we get carried away with this "all" original world view in our Corvette hobby and miss out on the fun of enjoying and valuing all Corvettes no matter the originality pedigree or lack thereof.

 

Well stated, & couldn't have said it better myself ..................KUDOS 20 MERCURY !!!

 

I agree with you 20mercury. I bought my 68 coupe in 1972 and I had no idea of the differences between a 68 and a 69. Back then there was no way to get any information on them.
One of the best things is that they have four real taillights! When I put my foot on the brakes, I want people to know it! The whole interior is different than a 69's and 68 coupes have the two nice interior sail panel courtesy lamps.
And the 69-77 map pouch is just a large dust collector to me. Until recently, it was fun to see people being astonished at the ignition key in the dash. Now a lot of new cars have ignition buttons there. Lou.

 

more than likely that will happen . It will take a lot of time and money . Be prepared to be upside down in the cost it will take to bring it back from the dead .