partsman912

Out in daylight for first time since 1975

Bluestripe67

It's not nice to tease us. Story and pics required. Dennis

partsman912

This story starts in March of 2012 when I purchased this C2 Corvette , It is being pulled out of the previous owners garage after being parked there 37 years ago. He was 25 years old when he started to transform his car into an Autocross / Road Racer street car . At the same time he developed a deep passion for motorcycles and never touched the Corvette again .
Fast forward to 2012 , the PO is 62 years old and ready to retire to South Carolina and still loves motorcycles ,still an avid rider , there were 5 motorcycles parked in one bay of his 2 car garage.
In the other bay was this Corvette , with boxes of his personal belongings neatly stacked around and on top of it. It was almost as if he forgot it was there . I was able to inspect the car in his dry suburban attached garage along with all of the parts he removed , these were in his basement , attic and behind boxes in the garage . As much of a basket case as it appears , and scary that the parts were in 3 different places in the house, it was very organized and I felt confident that I had a complete car.
This is a long story so I will try to post text and pictures in chronological order as my time permits .

partsman912

More pictures of the day C2 came out of hibernation.

60 series belted tires still holding air

My Expedition full of parts

partsman912

Sorry Bluestripe67 , kind of slow with the computer thing . I see you are in Maryland . I live in Fallston and found the car in Jarrettsville .
Posting more text and pictures as fast as I can.

partsman912

Some obvious things first , roll bar is welded directly to the frame at 4 points. Done very well with finished holes in fiberglass tub and terrific smooth welds.
Birdcage was easy to check since all trim was removed , no rust .That is foam around the top of the windshield frame to protect your head from injury while working on the car. Frame is only surface rust , and comes right off with sanding . Seats are from a 68 or 69 , came with 2 sets. Fender flares are Ecklers with part numbers still on the inside. Road Hugger Belted Tires have little wear and are G60-15 rear and E60-15 front , the size used by serious autocrossers in 1975 .
I will realize later that the parts stash was from more than one car , I ended up with duplicates of many parts. When PO dismantled the car in 1975 he wrapped every part in newspaper ,
the Baltimore Sun dated 1975 . I now have portions of the newspaper framed and hanging in the garage.

3JsVette

A very interesting find. Keep the details and pictures coming as time permits.
Good luck with your project.

Bluestripe67

Dennis

ChattanoogaJSB

What a cool car!

kellsdad

I'm looking forward to seeing this run again. ..... Several years ago I bought a race car project that hadn't gotten off the ground. The owner had been collecting C4 parts for it. I found a random collection of parts that, while from Corvettes, were from several different years. Fortunately, the Internet and this forum allowed me to figured out both what I had and what I still needed for the project. Good luck with yours.

partsman912

partsman912

These photos show my car at it's new home in my garage . Now the real detective work can begin to determine what I really have . The Maryland title in the previous owner's name was issued in 1972 . It matches the VIN and trim plates on the birdcage for this 1964 Corvette . Yes , it's a 64 not a 67 . The photos show a dash and console from a 63 , and fender vents and big block hood from a 67 . It is obvious that many donor parts from other cars were used , the PO said he and his friends traded parts all the time to build their cars. That is why I ended up with many extra parts in the boxes that came with the car. The 64 dash was included (PO liked the 63 better and so do I ) . You can see on the left side of the first picture the black factory hardtop sitting on the floor . The big block hood is not original , the scoop was fiberglassed to the 64 hood . Also done well are the 67 fender vents , all bonding strips are still present so I am guessing that the vents were added to the 64 front end. You can see the 4 point roll bar and also battery cables in the right side storage box , another 70's autocross trick to move the battery to balance weight. Stewart Warner gauges and 70's tachometer hose clamped to the steering column , along with the Hurst Competition Plus shifter were all common mods in the day. The roll bar was designed not to interfere with the rear deck lid , so it operates as it should uncut. The front air dam was molded in without cutting front valance , easily removed if desired ,but since I have decided not to change anything as found it will stay . NCRS need not apply .
The 15 x 8 rally wheels and tires were hardly used .

GUSTO14

Partsman, thanks for posting this. I stashed my '63 away in 1971, although I did drive it a few times over the next couple of years. It's terrific to see these old works in progress live another day.

You haven't yet mentioned the drive-train? Did it come with one, or will you be putting one together? Since they changed so many of the original parts, (as you mentioned a common practice back then) did they change the brakes to disc? Does the roll bar show any markings that indicate it was built to any (SCCA or NHRA) specifications?

Thanks again for posting and looking forward to hearing more about the car and progress.

GUSTO

partsman912

partsman912

Thanks Gusto , There is nothing on the roll bar . Latest photos are of the drivetrain that was in the car when I bought it. It is a 327 / 365 HP CE engine purchased brand new by the PO over the counter at a local Chevrolet Dealer in the early 70's. His claim of low miles was confirmed by a teardown and inspection by me and also the machine shop I sent the heads to. The machine shop called me to say that he was only charging me for a hot soak and new valve seals because the heads were like new. All internal components specific to a 327 / 365 HP were confirmed by the original GM part numbers. The Edelbrock Torker manifold did not serve my intended purpose going forward so it was replaced by me in the last photo with a vintage Edelbrock C3B . I believe the aluminium valve covers are Cal Custom and I love the look with no name on them. The distributor is a dual point Delco tach drive from 1962 , along with a "Mark IV "CD ignition box wired in , another "upgrade" done back in the day that I will retain. The old orange headers will not be used because the PO gave me a brand new set of Hooker side mounts with mufflers still in the box that he bought in 1975. The suspension under the car when purchased had already been updated to F40 / 41 spec springs ( still had green tag EA code ) and anti roll bars including adding a rear bar. All brake and suspension components are GM 4 wheel disc . In the 3rd photo of this series , you can just see the larger front anti roll bar with the solid aluminum pillow block frame mount eliminating all rubber . This is again another 70's autocross modification to remove compliance in the suspension. Rear differential code indicates a 1968 4:11 posi unit and is confirmed , along with the Muncie 4 speed transmission .
After the initial inspection , my intention is to restore this car to the vision the PO had in 1975 .

partsman912

So to recap , I have a 1964 Corvette with 1967 suspension and brakes . Except for the master cylinder which I replaced with a dual 1967 unit.
It has a CE 327 / 365 GM crate engine , a Muncie and Rear differential from a 1968 .
Fenders vents from a 67 and a hood the looks like a 67 . Seats from a 68 that I will not use.
I don't think I will be getting any calls from the NCRS .
In the photo of my Expedition with all the parts in it , you can see that the PO saved everything he removed from the 64 chassis .
I have springs , control arms , steering box, spindles , drums , brake shoes , trailing arms , axle shafts , etc . literally a complete C2 drum brake suspension left over from the parts stash .

Besides fitting the doors , the body was in excellent condition with evidence on only one minor repair on the right front corner .Headlight assemblies are metal and the motors work .
The exhaust holes in the rear valance are filled in , PO anticipating installation of the Hooker side exhaust he already purchased.

partsman912

It would be easy to assume that this is just a junkyard owners way of building a Corvette for himself. But I was there in the early seventies and this is representative of what modifications Corvette guys did to their cars to be more competitive. It was done in a very thoughtful way , using proven knowledge from other racers ,and it was far from haphazard or unprofessional.
Conversion from drums to disc is an obvious improvement , HD suspension components and improved compliance , along with fender flares for wider tires was a must .
The front air dam was necessary to counter the well known C2 front end lift at higher speeds. Open fender vents to aid in engine cooling and the 67 scoop opened up to the air cleaner for cool air , all modifications to improve the goal of the owners intent.
So no this is not a custom Corvette with filled in headlights or 6 taillights or other "tasteful" fiberglass mods. It is what a lot of us did back in the good old days when we had fun with our cars in any parking lot that would let us run an autocross or a track day if we could afford it.
My plan is to preserve this Corvettes history as it is , and then drive the heck out of it just like we did back in the 70's , oh what fun it was .

Crunch527

Cool car...love the roll cage...

Tonio

1Cerberus4u

Ok, parts man... I need to know more about the Albert Blue? 911....... beside the new vette