The seller of this 1967 Corvette claims it is “the project you have been dreaming about!” We are not sure if they are talking about good or bad dreams, so you will have to be the judge. It is a 427 coupe which has been in storage since 1980. It is located in Houston Texas and is listed for sale here on eBay with bidding at $14k.
First, the good: 427 engine, four speed manual, factory AC, silver over black. Not a bad list in our book. In fact, this could almost be the perfect Corvette. Too bad it’s not…
Now, the bad, and there are a lot of them: the car was stored in the dirt, there is rust in the doorjams, it was resprayed red in the 70s, a bunch of the parts were removed and thrown inside, the block was swapped out, the original transmission is missing, the stinger hood was stolen… Wow, do we really need to continue?
Yet, the seller is confident that someone will want to take this project on and actually we are too. It wont be us though. This Corvette is going to require a complete restoration and we do mean complete.
We prefer to start with something requiring a little less work, but there are still those among us who love to bring these back to life no matter the cost. So, is this the one you have been dreaming about?
Good spec originally, but a lot of work to find parts and get body up to par. If there is rust in door jambs, how about chassis and cage? To much work unless you are looking for a challenge.
When you say the block was swapped out, do you mean the one in the pic is not the original? Is it another 427 block? Are the carbs still there? If you don’t get the original engine, tranny, etc., etc. There’s not a lot left to be bidding $15k or more on. You’ve got a lot of work just finding all the parts then the restoration work and when you’re finished it’s not a matching numbers restoration nor a survivor. Forget it.
I am no Corvette expert, but before accepting the seller’s story I would want to find out if it makes sense, and is documented. The seller first assumes that the car is an L36 (427/390HP), then later says that he knows that the original block was replaced with another similar/identical block under warranty by “a dealership sometime early in its life”. It’s not clear how he would know about the replacement block if he had to assume what the car’s original configuration was.
Checking the casting number on the current engine block as reported by the seller in the eBay listing shows that this block is 1968 production, so cannot be original to the car. Was this block an early (ie., 1968) replacement for a bad original engine block, and was it performed by a Chevy dealer under warranty? Who knows? No paperwork is described for the car, so it looks like the claims made by the seller cannot be documented. It could be that the original engine was replaced by a 1968 engine later in the car’s life, and that the replacement engine had different specs than the original.
Does it matter? Not necessarily, unless you want to sell the car after you restore it to a collector who will pay top dollar only if the car is well restored and all-original and if the originality can be documented. If the car is an L36 it could be worth between $62K and $109K restored. If it’s really an L79 car or a regular coupe (327/300 HP) it’s worth between $45K and $85K restored. (SCM Price Guide values).
I don’t think this car could be bought and restored to #2 condition for anywhere near $45K, and probably couldn’t be bought and restored for $85K unless you were a Corvette expert, had some needed parts on hand, and did most of the work yourself. But even if you could do that the car would still be undocumented.
I think it would be smart to resist the temptation to buy an undocumented car that needs everything just because it’s cheap. If I were after a C2 coupe I would buy a much better car to start with, with documentation and few needs, and pay a reasonable price for it. That way I could enjoy it, and then sell it without a big loss if I decided to move on to another car.
where dos it say all vets have to have numbers maching??? cars can’t just One be put back on the road? just to drive a vet, I can bye and not have put my house up no it?? where dos it say this,? had a 65 and a Gas can was drop in it My,X not dos cop too it OK, cool it was a car 50.566.3 car in 82? aVet was $26.000 and now $50.000+ Up if you have the right one, We love to have this car I have 396ci/400+hp and a 4st from a Z-28, And a front & rearend from a 86, vet, I take the frame make all the newer drive line under it and tack my Big-Block, 4sp.? and have the body work fix, and after all this I drive this Vet, till the day I cant…. so you see a car a man can drive like he has 2 more at home,Ok if you think all of them have too be this way it is you who is F-ing this up for all of us, So I had my say, now back at you, and I don’t cair if you don’t like my words we had so so meney cars and trucks, 98,+ trucks & 150+ cars,more cools ones The not cool ones 85 to 100 if you count trucks also,,In the last 17years I had like 27cars & Trucks, at this time I have 4Trucks & 2Jeeps, ???
Huh
I have bought EDSELS that were in blackberry bushes in better condition….
Rust in the door jams, on a fiberglass car? But you can be sure the steel chassis is history stored in dirt. Who does this? Hmmm none matching numbers. The body basically is all there except the hood…… Still it could be done…..
Love the design of the body………….hate the cars.
Heavy, ill handling. I don’t give two hoots what it does in the straight line A true sport car should do all things well, relating to sport car moves.
I agree with Dolphin. And why do cars like this become cars like this, what a shame.
This one is really a SAD Sack. I’m Afraid it’s Pretty far gone. what if anything could be salvaged I’m not sure here. it really looks bad Lots of Corrosion on everything. Missing the Original Motor I’d want to check some #’s to make sure this car is what they say it is. Even at that your Talking a 50-100K$+ Restoration here.
Under water barn find!
just bought my own barn find. 66 coupe. sitting in a garage for 30 years. recovered theft back in the 70 s it has reassigned VIN numbers from the RMV. has a 1967 nose. was originaly 427 425 hp. now a 327 350hp resides. and no paint in primer.the interior is mint motor
is stuck as are the brakes. i know this car will never bring big numbers because of the VIN. so i’ll do all the work my self mabey even try a driveway paint job make it a driver and drive the wheels off of it. Oh and i failed to tell you i only paid $4500.00.