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Dropping the price since I managed to crack the windshield this week (trying to remove header trim...). For my mental health, I have to be done with this car. For this price, you can afford a windshield to change the only thing anybody cares about... a manual transmission (already has some of the stuff for it, since it was originally a 4-speed car). I have over 30k and 2500 hours in it. My loss, your gain.
1968 convertible just completed 3 year refresh/restoration (over 2500 hours of my time). Non numbers matching 327. TH350 auto trans (although car was originally a 4-speed). Power steering and power brakes. No rust whatsoever. Birdcage, trailing arm pockets, body mounts, etc. are all excellent (have lots of pics).
Exterior: The exterior has been completely redone, finished in top quality PPG base/clear in the original 983 code British Green with excellent chrome (no overseas reproduction parts!). This was a strip-to-bare-glass-and-start-fresh job involving complete disassembly and all new weatherstrip and body seals, new OEM marker lights and door handles, new grilles, mirror, etc. The paint has been wet sanded and polished. The car is beautiful.
Mechanical: Nearly every system on the car has been completely redone. Below is a partial list:
· Steering (top to bottom, from the steering column bearings to the tie rods, including all hydraulics)
· Front suspension (EVERYTHING all new from the bushings to the wheel bearings including springs, KYB shocks, etc.). I pulled everything apart, sandblasted, treated, POR-15, then used POR’s “hardnose” paint. Did this to the frame in front of the firewall as well.
· Rear suspension (complete trailing arms from Bair’s, Vansteel monoleaf spring and adjustable strut rods, VB&P lowering bolts, new shocks, etc.)
· Brakes (EVERYTHING from the brake booster to the pads including new steel lines and hoses, calipers, wheel bearings, rotors, etc.). Parking brake is 100% new (all cables, stainless hardware, etc.)
· Lots and lots of little things (door latches and hinges, headlight mechanisms, window regulators, wiper door, convertible top, auto shifter, etc.).
· All new wiring throughout the car – all of it.
· New fiber optics.
· Body mounts and #4 reinforcement
· New tires and 17” Torque Thrust wheels (and lowered it a little to get the stance right)
When I say redone on these systems, I mean completely. On the convertible top, for instance, I did all the seals, latches, and screws, not just new vinyl. On the wiper door, that includes shipping the door to Paragon for new inserts, replacing all the rivets and bushings in the mechanism, new actuator and bracket, and new vacuum hoses. I did a mediocre job of keeping receipts, but still have over $10,000 worth just for parts.
Interior: The interior is very nice, though much of it is not ’68. I started collecting ’68 parts (door panels, passenger’s dash, rear quarters) to replace the ’72 interior somebody had put in it, but decided the cost-benefit for me wasn’t worth finishing the change out. Note that the key is in the steering column, not the dash. New console, carpet and insulation and many (many, many) other parts. Very good stereo (with a sub, Bluetooth and hidden USB).
Underside: Everything in front of the firewall is done (frame properly prepped and painted, all new hardware), but behind that point, the frame itself is original. Since I planned to drive it, I didn’t get picky with the underside. While I had the body off, I did prep and paint the areas you can only get to with the body off, like the tops of the frame rails (took pics). You wouldn’t have to pull the body to finish re-doing the frame if a show-condition underside is important to you. I also put new body mount bushings and hardware and replaced the #4 body mount supports (a nightmare job), but didn’t go the final step to show-painting and prepping the underside. Right now, the underside is in “honest” condition. Not grimy, but not “show.”
Engine Bay: The engine bay is neat and clean (I spent months disassembling, re-plating and repainting everything), but has some “incorrect” stuff for the year. It’s a non-numbers car, so I didn’t care if, for example, the radiator is a later one (which actually works, unlike the ‘68) or the ignition is HEI (which is, again, better) or the valve covers are wrong. I had hoped to drop an LS and five-speed in at some point, so didn’t get picky with correctness or making it showy. The 327 starts immediately and sounds absolutely mean. It has a new distributor, all new hoses, new vacuum stuff, new heater core, new alternator, water pump, fuel pump, etc, and a rebuilt Holley 4-barrel, plus a raft-load of other new parts.
Driving: This car starts, stops and handles like a modern car. The relatively-loud sidepipes are the biggest driving indicator that you’re not in a Honda. If you’re not into “extrovert,” the car comes with all new undercar exhaust (I was going to use it when I found a good deal on used headers/sidepipes). It also comes with the original wood steering wheel. I thought it was too big, so I changed to a more modern size, but kept the original.
I intended to simply spend 6 months turning it into a nice summer driver, but the “bones” were so good, I got carried away… I truly enjoyed the restoration process, so I’m chalking the loss in time and money up as a learning experience. It’s time for somebody else to either enjoy driving/showing it or put a big power engine in and make it truly special.
I have many pictures and can take more of any detail things you’d like to see. As far as flaws, I don’t hide anything. See below. Independent inspection is welcomed.
I built this car for me, so it reflects what I wanted in a ’68 Corvette. Specifically: Drop-dead gorgeous exterior. Hop-in-and-drive-anywhere reliability. Great interior with a stereo I can hear. Modern driving experience. Complete indifference to mechanical originality. If that sounds like you, this is your next car!
Flaws: The clock is right at 6:42 every day, can see left rear body seam in the right light (I didn’t know I needed to grind and fill until AFTER I finished the paint…), rear decklid gap is only fair (see picture), a small drip from the rear of the engine (maybe a nickel-sized drip every couple days), no jack, some pockmarks in the passenger’s seat bottom, speedometer quit working (haven't dug into it). The front bumper is the only piece not re-chromed. It is in excellent shape for an original ’68, but has minor scuffs.
$28,000 now $25,000 firm
Last edited by E.Murray; 10-10-2018 at 05:01 PM.
Reason: Sold!
And a few "in-process" pictures. I didn't do a great job of documentation, but have some pictures here and there of the work. I'll try to get some current ones under the hood this weekend.
As far as the car’s history, I don’t know much. I found it at a dealer not far from me. It had a ’74 front clip and was pretty rough and unloved. The tires were so dry-rotted I didn’t trust it on the road. I bought it not having the slightest clue how much work or expense it was going to be to swap to the correct clip. The plan was to put the right front on it, paint it to match the yellow it came in, and enjoy it. I quickly located a used front clip for a decent price and thought I was home free.
Yeah, right.
Just for fun, here are a couple "before" pictures.
Car speaks for itself, thats a TON of work & time. I dont see where lack docs have any effect on price at all. Nice job.
If anyone questions paperwork they dont have a clue what your car is about anyways.
THANK YOU for rescuing that car!! Reminds me of the one my Dad owned when I was a kid.
Hope it sells fast before I do something crazy.
It's the car I always wished my dad would buy when I was a kid. He was more of a muscle car guy (had a '69 Chevelle SS, a '79 Camaro with insane power, etc.), but I liked "sports cars." The C2 and C3 were where my heart was. That's the real reason for the 3+ years of work. I'll lose money (and every evening, weekend, and vacation day for a few years...) in the deal. But it was a dream to "save" a car that deserved it and put something on the road that will revive interest in the dying art of the classic car. My thinking is that I would have otherwise spent the hours watching TV, which means I won!
If I could afford to keep it, I would. But both the patience of my extremely patient wife and the bank account are exhausted. Time to move on!
As promised, a couple pictures under the hood. Also, I forgot to post the picture of the screwy gap in the rear deck. The body kind of pinches in at the top, so this is the best fit I could get (with my limited experience in the joys of fiberglass cars...). And one I forgot to post of the rear of the interior with the sub box. Thanks.
I'll try to stop spamming my own thread now...
I'm terrible at selling cars. I feel compelled to spend as much time on the negatives as the positives... But I want the buyer to know exactly what the car is, so I try to list everything I can think of in advance. When you're looking long-distance, I feel it's important to not just have sunshine blown up your rear. We're talking about many thousands of dollars, so disappointment is not ok.
That said, I have 2 more negatives that I found. First, the driver's window has a small gap when it's all the way up (about 1/4"). I don't think it's enough that rain would get in, but enough that water gets in when you wash it. Second, the speedometer quit on me yesterday. Not sure what the deal is, there.
Bump to the top.
Also forgot to mention that I would consider a trade (or trade with cash). NOTE: I require something I can easily sell. I've had somewhere close to 50 cars (this one is the record for time with me...), so I have a strong eye toward selling whatever I get, even if I really like it. No boats, bikes, RVs, ATVs, semi, hard-to-sell ratrods, etc. Car or pickup only. Also, I look at what the car sells for on the open market (i.e. if you think it's worth 20k, but I can buy them all day for 17k... it's worth 17k).
I had a question on panel gaps, so I'll just post the pictures here and give a no-BS rundown. If you haven't caught on yet, I make every effort to describe the car impartially, even if it's unflattering. If anything, I err on the side of being too critical. Just my nature, I guess...
The hood gaps are nice. The wiper door and grille line up well as far as side gaps. The wiper door front tends to sit a little high with respect to the grille (I can get a specific picture if someone is interested).
On the doors, both the front gaps are even and the door top lines up with the trim. The hinges are rebuilt, so there is no sag when the doors open. On both doors, the rear gap is a little tight (on the driver's, the striker plate scrapes the door latch area slightly - you can see it in the above picture of the driver's door panel). You could adjust the doors forward (there's room in the front gap), but then the glass would hit the windshield trim sooner, meaning the glass would need to go back a little. I expect that if it bothers you, fiddling with the doors and windows could even the front/rear door gap. For me, it's a good compromise (front/rear vs window fitment). All the gaps are even top-to-bottom At the rear of the door, the body lines match up with the door well and it's the correct height. Since the body is, for some reason a little tight at the top of the rear of the door (the reason for the deck lid gap mentioned earlier), the top of the driver's door sticks out maybe 1/16" - 1/8". Passenger's is flush.
The rear deck lid sits up a little bit at the back. Since there is no adjustment for this, I think it's the new weatherstrip holding it up. I leave the rear deck open when in the garage (keeps the cats off it...), so the seal hasn't compressed yet. With the doors, it took a couple weeks of compressing the rubber before I could close the doors without pushing, so I think that's the deal.
Here are the pictures. Anything else you want to see, let me know.
EDIT: I just noticed that these pictures were taken before I put the escutcheons around the door buttons. Oops. They are there, now.
08-30-2018, 09:52 AM
68 Convertible (nom, auto) - lowered price!
