We love hearing from the Barn Finds Community, especially when it’s an update about a classic car that we featured! Reader Martin A spotted Adam’s feature on this 1970 Corvette Stingray and decided to bid on it. It was the height of Covid lockdowns and a project sounded like a fun way to spend some time. There’s more to this story, but I’ll let him tell you how everything played out in his own words below, as it’s a fun read! He’s done a ton of work getting this Vette back into driveable condition, but he’s likely going to be selling it soon. His sons ended up catching the classic car bug, so he’s purchased some projects to restore with them and this one might have to go to help fund those, so in the end, it will be worth moving this one along. We will be sure to let you know if he lists it, but for the time being, be sure to read the story below and let him know how you think his Covid Corvette turned out in the comments section below!

From Martin – During the first days of the covid lockdown, I found myself with nothing much to do as my real-estate business had to come to a standstill and we were all stranded at home. My wife and I found ourselves playing board games with neighbors and drinking wine, playing cards and drinking wine, drinking wine… well you get the picture.. on one of those nights (after too much wine and bored of yet another card game) I was quietly scrolling my phone in-between hands and saw your post linked above. Maybe it was the wine or the fear of being in lockdown for a year with nothing to do but a light bulb went off and in that drunken moment, I decided I would restore this Corvette with my young son during lockdown… I had always loved these cars (my uncle restored dozens of the 1950-960 varieties) when I was a kid but I had never touched a C3 corvette focusing my collection on vintage 4x4s. I went straight to the eBay donation ad and placed a few bids and frankly forgot about it.

As the morning wine fog lifted I started to remember, checked my phone and realized I was the proud owner of a Corvette I had never seen or knew anything about. I thought Oh’ Jesus what have I done… but there was nothing else to do but to grab a trailer, drive to Anaheim and pick it up. Upon arrival I spoke to the auction people at length and legend has it the car was a one-owner car, the man that owned it had driven it hard in the cars early years but started to “restore it” in the early 2000s, ran out of steam and it sat in a garage until he died. Then his daughter donated it not being a car person or having the energy to deal with it. I got it home and started my inspection… let’s just say whoever did the auction pictures was talented or the wine I was drinking was strong but the car was a mess and needed much more than what I had signed up for.

The good news… the parts for these are readily available if you want to spend the money. I quickly decided to just go for it, I wasn’t worried about resale on the car but more focused on the memories my son and I would have tinkering with it during the long dark days of covid. Below is a list of what we did to the car. The car is not perfect but pretty close and we have had a wonderful time putting it together. Now that my boys have the car bug I have recently purchased a 1969 K5 Blazer plus two 1970s International Scouts. We are focused on restoring those, so it is likely I will be putting the Corvette up for sale to finance the projects. Anyway, I think is a great story and it all started with a Barn Finds post and some wine…. So I thought I would share.

Here’s the list of all the work Martin has done to the car since purchasing it and talk about an extensive list! It’s almost a new car at this point.

New Exterior Parts:
Corvette Bronze paint (original color) first repaint of vehicle
Wiper door with stainless molding and clips
Complete weather stripping
Park light bulbs
Headlights
All badges and emblems
All bumpers restored with new chrome
Driver and passenger Chrome rocker panel trim
Driver and passenger rear view mirror
Restored Turbine hub caps with new wheel cover center caps
Electric headlight pop-up actuator conversion (eliminating vacuum)
Electric actuator pop-up wiper door conversion (eliminating vacuum)

New Interior Parts:
Ignition key and matching new exterior door lock kit
Fiberoptic indicator interior indicator lights and grommet
All inner dash light bulbs replaced
All interior bulbs replaced
Console engine data plate
Shifter console Upper Trim plate
Auto shifter console pattern trim
Driver and passenger Trim Post
Driver and passenger sun visors and stainless install kit
Driver and passenger seatbacks
Dash defroster grill insert
Upper dash pad
Driver and passenger door panels and with stainless screw kit and inner door panel retainers
Whisper quiet door panel insulators
Driver and passenger inside door panel lock knobs
Driver and passenger door pull straps
Stainless interior screw kit
Driver and passenger sill plates and screw kit
Wiper switch
Hood release cable
Driver and passenger seat back release button
Driver and passenger new seat covers and install kit
Driver and passenger seat foam
T-top pad fasteners and install kit
Electronic tachometer conversion kit
Air- conditioning ducting and new vent ball with retainer kit
Electronic rearview mirror with integrated backup camera screen
Emergency brake handle restoration kit
Brake and gas pedal pads
Custom auto sound vintage blue tooth stereo with hands-free microphone
JBL amp and 4 infinity 6×9 dual rage speakers with custom rear speaker boxes

Engine Bay and Suspension Work:
All new engine decals
Rebuilt 350 with Extreme Energy Cam and lifter kit (less 200 miles on rebuild)
New polished Edelbrock 1406 Performer 600 CFM 4 Barrel Carburetor, Electric
New cooling fan clutch assembly
New polished Aluminum cooling fan
New polished aluminum intake manifold
New polished aluminum max flow ram style exhaust manifold
New Alternator
New polished aluminum alternator brackets
All new hoses and belts
New polished aluminum radiator
New brake calipers
New brake lines
New heater core
Complete rebuild of the air conditioning system
New electronic distributor
New plug wires
New wiper washer pump
New windshield wiper motor and gasket
New water pump
New transmission pan gasket
New filler tube and O-ring
New transmission modulator
New custom metal transmission cooler lines
New fuel pump and fuel pump lines
New gas tank
New gas lines
New battery
New shocks and bushings
4 New Goodyear Tires

I’m sure many of us here have purchased a project, gotten it home, and discovered that it’s a bigger job than originally planned, but I applaud Martin for not backing out of the deal and for doing the work to get this Corvette back on the road! In the end, he has a lovely car and he got his sons into the hobby. The memories he will make working on the 4x4s with his sons will be priceless and in my book are well worth the stress of a spur-of-the-moment purchase. Special thanks to Martin for sharing his story with us and for sending over these beautiful professional photos of his Corvette (feel free to drool over them in the gallery below). It’s hard to believe this is the same car that we featured back in September of 2020!