My father's 1969 Stingray has been sitting in our garage for 25 yrs after his "buddy" stole the engine out of it. My fiance is chomping at the bit to get a resto going but I'm not sure where to start. We have a 454 sitting in a crate but need a lot of parts to get it going.

Where should I start looking for parts? Are there any online shops worth buying from that aren't overpriced? I've mused about going to a local junkyard or two but if I am putting the time into this car then I better put in some decent parts too. Any advice would be great. Thanks.

 

Can you get the original engine back from the buddy? It would be worth the effort.

Start with the bank account. Restorations can be expensive. Start with your leisure time. Restorations are time consuming.

Don't start until you now what you need. There will be plenty of time later to shop for parts. Several of the best Corvette aftermarket parts providers are supporting vendors on the forum here. Surf their websites and peruse 69 parts. Compare prices.

What do you know about the car and 69 Corvettes in general? Do you know the 69s had 427s, not 454s?

Rick Bizzoco has a very good 69 Corvette reference book. Pricey, but nice to have.
http://www.cranescorvette.com/1969_s..._guidebook.htm

Dr. Dobbins' book is also a good photo reference.


You may want to consider joining the National Corvette Restorers Society. The NCRS has publications which can help with the restoration. http://www.ncrs.org/

Are you wanting to get the car driveable or undertake a factory correct restoration? Do you and the lady intend to have the car judged in the future?

What is your mechanical skill level? Can you do most of the work yourself?

Do you have the space for a restoration? Parts removed from the car during the restoration will have to be safely stored somewhere.

Do you and she have the time? As a rule of thumb you can figure a restoration will take three times as long as you plan, and four times the estimated cost.

Do you have a 69 owner's manual? If you don't have one with the car, order a reprint and read through it. You will want the 1969 Assembly Instruction Manual (AIM). The AIM shows how the car was assembled at St. Louis and lists the original part numbers. Nice to have when you're searching for parts. Order the GM Chassis Service Manual while you're at it.

Time for you and the lady to have a talk. Restoration can be a big project. She is likely to become as busy as you.

Good luck.

 

My best general advice, as Mike alluded to, is to educate yourself first. Don't go in blind! Learn how to do things in an orderly, progressive manner (frame & chassis, engine & transmission, electrical, body, interior.)
All separate pieces of the puzzle that should be tackled individually.

Go to a car show. Talk to some of the owners of some corvettes there. You should get some good, personal, local advice there.

There are a lot of vendors. Get their catalogs...they are usually free and are a good source of diagrams, pictures, and of course, prices. Find out which vendors people like, then try them on for size. Seems everyone has a favorite, for many different reasons.

Lastly, this section of the forum isn't as active as others.
Go here http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-general-119/ introduce yourself with your original question and you should get a lot of advice.

and good luck. Have patience, it's rewarding!

 

oxymoron

 

i actually did a 69 restoration some 20 years ago. you can go about this one of two ways - frame on or frame off. you didn't indicate if it was a small block or big block car. the level of restoration is up to you, and what are you trying to achieve - NCRS or bloomington, "number matching" status or just a nice saturday night cruiser. it boils down to how deep your pockets are, as well as how much time you are willing to invest. personally, i feel it costs more to restore a car today than what you would spend buying a finished car. these can be money pits if you are not careful. whatever you do, don't jump into this blindly. BTW, finding parts at a junkyard are going to be damn near impossible. there are a lot of reproduction parts available, and you may find some NOS stuff out there. BE CAREFUL WITH "MADE IN CHINA" RESTORATION PARTS - there is a lot of junk out there. quality restoration parts can be found but they cost a lot more and worth every penny. finally, try to do as much of the labor yourself as possible...



here is a shot of my 4 year restoration (1989-1993) - picture taken summer of 2008