1965 Vette Gets a Subtle Update
Daily Slideshow: Sometimes a Corvette is so right that it doesn't need much. That was the case with this gorgeous midyear C2.
While the Getting is Good
Ever have that feeling that time is running out? Not in a YOLO tee-shirt wearing way, but in a 'the tide is rising I better find a boat' sort of way? That feeling came to Larry Woods at a car show in 2004. He was there with his 1969 big-block Stingray when he overheard a conversation about the rapidly rising prices C2 Corvettes were commanding. Woods was already kicking himself for having gotten rid of two examples of the breed, a '64 and a '67, so hearing the comment triggered something inside of him. In no time, woods was on the phone to his pal Bob Dombrowski, from Columbia Station, Ohio establishment Koolcars. Dombrowski told him to come down and take a look at a '65 coupe he'd just picked up. The coupe had been sitting since 1985. The previous owner had started work on it but quit sometime after the body and paint had been completed.
Getting Fresh
Woods liked what he saw—he dug the Rally Red paint, and the chassis was complete. After putting a little work in to finish the coupe, he drove it for a good ten years, adding a small thing here or there along the way. Ten years is longer than many of us make it before we decide we can't leave well enough be, but that's how long Woods went before deciding more power was in order and a little cosmetic freshening-up also wouldn't hurt. Even with the new changes, the Sting Ray could pass as stock since Woods' exterior mods were limited to swapping in a 396 hood and adding replica cast-aluminum knockoff-style wheels from Corvette America wrapped in redline Diamondbacks.
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No Maroon for You
It turns out Woods' '65 was originally finished in Milano Maroon, making it one of 2,831. Woods was used to the Rally Red, not to mention he liked it, but with the paint nearing 30 years of age, he decided to re-do it to the highest possible standard. He went to Mitch Rudolph's Eastlake, Ohio shop Excalibur Auto Body for the work. Stripping the car revealed it had never been damaged, and Excalibur proceeded to lay down the best Rally Red Woods had ever seen.
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Running the Numbers
A call to the National Corvette Restorers Society turned up the info that GM had originally shipped the '65 to Greve-Daum Chevy in Northfield, Ohio. The coupe was sold on March 13, 1965, but what's more interesting is that Greve-Daum, though it had since gone under, was located less than three miles from Woods's home in Ohio.
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New Numbers
Under the big-block hood lies a small-block Chevy engine. Corvette Conspiracy in Cleveland punched a 1971 400 ci motor out to 409, added an Eagle crank and I-beam rods, and installed Mahle 10.2:1 c.r. pistons. Cylinder heads are aluminum Trick Flow units port-matched to a Pro Products intake manifold. An Xtreme Energy hydraulic roller camshaft from Comp works with Accel Gen 7 multi-port electronic fuel injection to make sure the small-block is well fed, while an MSD unit adds spark, and long-tube headers from Doug’s exit exhaust gasses. The combo makes a reliable 413 hp at the wheels.
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Turning Gears
With a reasonable 413 hp to handle, the decision was made to stick with the stock Corvette Posi rear end, running 3.70 gears. The gearbox, however, got an update, going from the original Muncie to a five-speed-manual TREMEC TKO 600 housing a McLeod clutch. Steering was made a little more user-friendly with help from a power steering conversion kit from Borgeson, yielding a responsive 12.7:1 ratio.
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Turning Corners
Corvette Conspiracy performed the suspension work on the '65, including the installation of adjustable Ridetech shocks and a Muskegon rear spring. Woods took a successful stab at refurbing the interior himself, using both Corvette America and Al Knoch products to tackle the job. The Eric Freeman Fat Boy teak steering wheel now tilts thanks to a tilt steering column from Flaming River, and Woods keeps cool in those muggy Ohio summers with the help of a Vintage Air A/C unit.
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Keeping the Dream Alive
Woods took time to finish the coupe, three-and-a-half years in total and credits his buddy Jerry Bullock for additional help. Woods loves the results of course, and the '65 has won jewelry from Corvettes at Carlisle and Piston Power in Cleveland. If he ever gets the rejuvenation bug again we hope it's another mild case, because few have been able to improve on the beauty of a C2.
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