Bowtie or Topflight for this 1970 Barnfind???

[Kenneth W.]

Steve,
It's very rare to find another unmolested Cortez Silver 1970 454. 58K original miles and unrestored. I have original paint on the door jambs, but the exterior is wearing a circa 1995 repaint. I have heard that the original silver paint aged very quickly and did not wear well. I'd love to see some pics of your original silver.

Gentlemen, I just acquired a barn find 1970 Cortez Silver 454 parked since 1973 with only 10,547 miles. Excited to get to the restoration and bringing it back to life.

[Don H.]

Re: rockchester carb info

Ken,
welcome to the club, and the Tech Discussion Board (TDB). Before you do anything at all to your new acquisition, you might consider the car for Bowtie/Star (pure originality) evaluation. You could discuss that possibility with other long time members who specialize in chrome bumper C3s who will very likely be speaking up here soon. Your car could be a very unique time capsule that could score very well in originality evaluation, and benefit many members of the classic corvette community by having the opportunity to see it. But, that would mean no restoration whatsoever....


830 area code, San Antonio TX area, and he is a TX Chapter member. Maybe we can see this car in Frisco in Oct 2020.

[Terry M.]

Re: rockchester carb info

Ken,
welcome to the club, and the Tech Discussion Board (TDB). Before you do anything at all to your new acquisition, you might consider the car for Bowtie (pure originality) evaluation. You could discuss that possibility with other long time members who specialize in chrome bumper C3s who will very likely be speaking up here soon. Your car could be a very unique time capsule that could score very well in originality evaluation, and benefit many members of the classic corvette community by having the opportunity to see it. But, that would mean no restoration whatsoever....

Don, just barely, beat me to the punch. A lot of us chrome bumper fans would love to see that car before you do anything to it. I wish this board would show members locations so I could suggest a meet for you to bring the car to. Within reasonable distance to Northern Illinois I think I could get a couple of us chromies to attend.

[Kenneth W.]

Bowtie or Topflight for this 1970 Barnfind???

Hi everyone. Only been an NCRS member for just over a year so I'm still new to all of this. I recently acquired a Barn find:

1970 Coupe
Cortez Silver
454ci 390hp motor (numbers matching)
4-speed M21 transmission (numbers matching) may need rebuilding
Factory Air
Upgraded interior package
10,547 original, documented miles
Still has 1973 plates, registration sticker.
Bought from original owner. (Heir to the Gar Wood racing boat fortune)
Protect-o-plate
Original title
All paperwork.
Parked since 1973!!!

Here's the issues:

not currently running. Don't know why the owner parked it. Believe he was street racing or drag racing the car and maybe blew the transmission? The motor does turn over manually.
Three of four polyglass tires are flat
Original owner replaced the carburetor and intake manifold with edelbrock/holley combination
Original owner put chrome sidepipes on the car.
I have the original intake and exhaust manifolds, exhaust pipes, muffler, chrome tips.
I do NOT have the original Rochester 4-bbl carburetor (7040205)

Wondering if I can restore the original equipment, find a numbers correct carb, and try for a bowtie before restoring it?

What does the group suggest?



Lats picture is after a wash, clay bar, polish and wax. Will need new tires, and probably rubber bushings, etc.

[Harry S.]

Re: Bowtie or Topflight for this 1970 Barnfind???

Ken, before you do anything else I suggest you contact the National Team Leader. Chuck Berge is always ready to help with these questions. He can be found in the CONTACTS link.

The car does not have to run. You may be well past a star on Mechanical but Chuck can walk you through the criteria.

Good Luck

[Chris H.]

Re: Bowtie or Topflight for this 1970 Barnfind???

Hello Kenneth, welcome to the NCRS. Quite a car you've found there. I had a '70 LS5 that I Bowtied and Top Flighted. As they say they're only original once, so I'd lean towards leaving original and not restoring. The car looks to be in really good condition.

If it were me, I would gently clean the car, get it running, then have it Flight Judged to see where the car is at.

You mentioned some things have been replaced. A real bonus is that original owner saved the original pieces. The Rochester may be a challenge to find. Looks like the distributor is aftermarket.

I'm partial to originality and unrestored cars, they have a "soul" and history that tell a story. Restored cars to me have lost their soul.

[Gary C.]

Re: rockchester carb info

Terry,

FYI - Click on the Poster's name in a thread and then click on View Profile to see their locale in their About Me.

Gary
....

[Bob D.]

Re: rockchester carb info

Ken

I live in the New Braunfels, Texas area and would love to come by and look your beauty over. I am a chrome bumper guy ( have a '71). My advice would be to do nothing and let the judges evaluate it and they can tell you whether to pursue Bowtie or Flight. We have a regional in Frisco in October and will be having a chapter meet in Austin in the spring. You can send me a PM.

Bob