Hi there
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
From: Burney CA
Hi there
My name is Mike and I have just joined. I have a 63 Red roadster with a white soft top and also have the hard top.
My story about this car is a little interesting. I FIRST purchased the car in 1972 from a Chevrolet Dealer in San Rafael CA. It was in rough shape with crack in the glass, flared fenders and generally run down in every catagory. I was 22 years old. Soon after purchasing the car I joined North Bay Corvette Assc. which provided the peer pressure to fix up the car. I rebuilt the suspension, restored the body work to stock and repaired and painted the car the stock Riverside Red. At the same time the club got me interested in autocrossing and that became my prime focus. Everything I did to the car was to improve its competitiveness. I became so obsessed with racing that I sold the car in 1984 to purchase a roadrace car. In 1997 I finished the season of racing and retired from racing. On a whim, I went on the hunt for my old 63 and found it four owners later. The last owners were eager to sell the car at the time I found them and the 63 was back in our family. It was a wreck. Someone along the way started to dismantle the car and then hurridly put it back together to sell it. The last owners were not very motivated to restore it, so it was a little scary driving it home.
I patched things up for the summer to enjoy it a little before starting the restoration project the next winter.
I tore the car down to the bare frame and started the rebuild with a complete frame straighting and replacement of rotted sections. I was intending to race the car in vintage racing so I added in things like a roll cage, suspension bushing upgrades and some extra bracing. When the frame was completed I put the body back on with a rebuilt drive train. I decided that this would allow me to drive it sooner than to wait another couple of years before I could afford to paint and restore the enterior. In that time I have been driving the car once in a while for day rides, some track days at Thunderhill where I instruct with the Hookedondriving.com group. I also did some drag racing with the car. My plans this winter is to get the car painted and replace the incorrect cowl panels with the proper 63 panels. The interior will be replaced with all new materials.
Next spring I will go back to where I started with my racing career and return to the autocross sport. There are a few things I have to change to put the car in a competitive class such as replace the side exhaust headers with the stock underbody system and replace the rear strut rods with bushing end struts.
There... now you have the complete story.
MikeB
My story about this car is a little interesting. I FIRST purchased the car in 1972 from a Chevrolet Dealer in San Rafael CA. It was in rough shape with crack in the glass, flared fenders and generally run down in every catagory. I was 22 years old. Soon after purchasing the car I joined North Bay Corvette Assc. which provided the peer pressure to fix up the car. I rebuilt the suspension, restored the body work to stock and repaired and painted the car the stock Riverside Red. At the same time the club got me interested in autocrossing and that became my prime focus. Everything I did to the car was to improve its competitiveness. I became so obsessed with racing that I sold the car in 1984 to purchase a roadrace car. In 1997 I finished the season of racing and retired from racing. On a whim, I went on the hunt for my old 63 and found it four owners later. The last owners were eager to sell the car at the time I found them and the 63 was back in our family. It was a wreck. Someone along the way started to dismantle the car and then hurridly put it back together to sell it. The last owners were not very motivated to restore it, so it was a little scary driving it home.
I patched things up for the summer to enjoy it a little before starting the restoration project the next winter.
I tore the car down to the bare frame and started the rebuild with a complete frame straighting and replacement of rotted sections. I was intending to race the car in vintage racing so I added in things like a roll cage, suspension bushing upgrades and some extra bracing. When the frame was completed I put the body back on with a rebuilt drive train. I decided that this would allow me to drive it sooner than to wait another couple of years before I could afford to paint and restore the enterior. In that time I have been driving the car once in a while for day rides, some track days at Thunderhill where I instruct with the Hookedondriving.com group. I also did some drag racing with the car. My plans this winter is to get the car painted and replace the incorrect cowl panels with the proper 63 panels. The interior will be replaced with all new materials.
Next spring I will go back to where I started with my racing career and return to the autocross sport. There are a few things I have to change to put the car in a competitive class such as replace the side exhaust headers with the stock underbody system and replace the rear strut rods with bushing end struts.
There... now you have the complete story.
MikeB
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 10,092
Likes: 1
From: I speak the truth. Harsh but accurate. The Woodlands Texas
St. Jude Donor '09-'10
Welcome Mike,
Look in the C2 section of the forum. Many mid year members and lots of knowledge there and I am sure that there are many people who could either give some advice or would love to here some from you.
You should post some pictures so we can all see you '63.
Look in the C2 section of the forum. Many mid year members and lots of knowledge there and I am sure that there are many people who could either give some advice or would love to here some from you.
You should post some pictures so we can all see you '63.
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