Newbie Intro

[Dennis S.]

I've been driving and working on my '69 BB side exhaust coupe for five years now and finally decided to start restoring the car myself, in my garage. I'm the fourth owner and the car is almost entirely original, matching numbers drivetrain and really good documentation, including the original window sticker and tank sticker (still on the tank.) The engine and transmission are out of the car and being rebuilt thru Dave Walters. The mostly original paint and chrome is still pretty good and I'm not willing or able to go so far as to take the body off, but intend to do whatever work I can according to the NCRS judging manual. This looks like one huge project and I am sure I will have lots of questions for the members of this forum.

[Steven B.]

Re: Newbie Intro

I've been driving and working on my '69 BB side exhaust coupe for five years now and finally decided to start restoring the car myself, in my garage. I'm the fourth owner and the car is almost entirely original, matching numbers drivetrain and really good documentation, including the original window sticker and tank sticker (still on the tank.) The engine and transmission are out of the car and being rebuilt thru Dave Walters. The mostly original paint and chrome is still pretty good and I'm not willing or able to go so far as to take the body off, but intend to do whatever work I can according to the NCRS judging manual. This looks like one huge project and I am sure I will have lots of questions for the members of this forum.

Welcome Dennis! it sounds a sif you have a mostly original car---congratulations! How about some pictures?
Be sure to buy the books form the NCRS store!

Steve

[Terry B.]

Re: Newbie Intro

Welcome aboard Dennis!

Enjoy the journey. Before you do any major work on your '69, be sure to get the '68/ '69 judging manual and the assembly manual. I made that mistake. If you have one close by, join a local NCRS Chapter and start networking with the members. Those people will be able to help you out a lot along with this discussion board.

Terry

[Dennis S.]

Re: Newbie Intro

Steve,

Thanks for the reply.

I've got the '69 AIM, '69 Chassis Service Manual, '66-'82 Corvette Shop Manual, '69 Stingray Guidebook by Rick Bizzoco, '53-'72 Corvette Chassis Restoration Guide by Joseph Tripoli and the NCRS "68-'69 Judging Manual, as well as the NCRS '68-'82 Corvette Specifications Guide and the Corvette Black Book. Man, that is a lot of reading.

Here are some pictures of the car. I'm in Miami but went to Winston, Oregon to buy the car. When Dave Walters first looked underneath the car, he said "it's very original all right." Last service receipts were from 1985 and showed 55k miles. When I bought it in 2004, it had 56k. Now it has 62k.

[Richard R.]

Re: Newbie Intro

From what the pictures show you don't have a very big job ahead of you. Nice car and welcome to the forum. Richard

[Rob M.]

Re: Newbie Intro

Hi Dennis,

Welcome aboard. First a warning: Don't do anything with the car before you decided you don't want to turn it into a Bowtie candidate!!! Untouched and very original cars are very valuable to our organization to teach others how they once were build...

Looks like yours is very nice indeed (e.g. I see some very nice decals, if these are still original).

Only gently clean things without destroying any (ink) stamps, crayon marks or other markings!!!

Make up your mind and only then start to work on your car...

Remember each item is only completely original until it is altered in one way or the other...

What ever you do, never throw anything away, even if you consider it totally unrestorable. It often is very usable during a judgingschool to explain how an original part looked like (e.g. used exhaust, seat covers, tires, radiators, etc. etc.)

regards,
Rob.

[Stuart F.]

Re: Newbie Intro

Dennis;

First off; welcome aboard. Looks/sounds like a nice original car. I'd
agree with Rob - think twice before you restore. I have an original 63 that I bought new and I did sort of a restoration back in the mid 70's thinking at the time I was "restoring" it's value (new paint, re-chrome and rusted parts replacement w/NOS items, etc.). I regret some of the things I did, but originality wasn't a big deal back then and I would not have a way "to know better". Fortunately, I saved every old part including the weather stripping. I've dragged those parts with me through 4 moves and favored keeping them over a lot of more valuable after market stuff such as a collection of Holley carbs and parts (gave them away) as I needed to reduce my shipping load. My critera was keep anything Corvette related and the rest was expendable. I have some regrets at that, but I just blame the wife.

Stu Fox

[Dennis S.]

Re: Newbie Intro

Rob

I have been having that debate for five years now...to restore, or not to restore. Even got a little excited about the Bloomington Survivor program until looking into it further. My wife likes the car's "patina" because she knows antique furniture and how it needs to be left alone. All that I see is dirt, rust, grease, oil leaks, paint chips and worn smelly carpet. Of course, it doesn't cost anything to do nothing and she likes that.

Bowtie and Survivor cars have their place but so very few people appreciate them. I take my car to the local Corvette shows and can't even get a stupid $15 trophy for third place. If you paint the car and change the carpet and seat covers, you are a "winner."

I am proceeding with the help and advice of Dave Walters. I myself am doing the disassembly and cleaning, being careful to bag and tag all fasteners and photograph any markings. Alll fasteners are being replated and components rebuilt and refinished with Dave's assistance. Nothing has been thrown away since I bought the car.

[Steven B.]

Re: Newbie Intro

Beautiful car! I would not worry about placing at local shows as most are beauty contests and not appreciative of originals. As they say, it is only original once.

I bought my '57 in '64 and within a year replaced the original top and carpet. I have really regretted it.

[Jim T.]

Re: Newbie Intro

Dennis your 69 pictures show a really nice unrestored 69 that to some would be more valuable to some buyers if you were to sell it if left alone.
What happened to the tranmission and engine on such a low mileage car that required rebuilding of each?

[Dennis S.]

Re: Newbie Intro

The clutch actually broke, necessitating either removing the transmission or engine. The engine had a rear seal leak, broken valve stem seal(s) and a noisy lifter. It also had a broken-off bolt in the front left cylinder head for attaching the alternator bracket. I had already changed the timing chain and gears, front crankshaft seal and water pump (rebuilt, correct and date-coded.) BTW, I had already changed the carb (had a '67 passenger car quadrajet with a cracked fuel inlet) a few years ago with a NOS replacement carb still in the box/shrink wrap. Taking the opportunity to replace it's 37 year old accelerator pump.

Upon disassembly of the engine, it was found to have a broken top ring on one cylinder, two bad lifters (one stuck in the hole) and a worn camshaft. The engine has been bored .020 over and fitted with new pistons and rings. The crankshaft was good so new main and rod bearings, rods re-sized and balanced, new camshaft and lifters. The heads have been shaved and re-done with new valves, dual springs and pushrods. Sure was glad to know the block did not require decking...need to preserve that stamp pad!

The M21 transmission was leaking thru the o-ring seals in the side cover plate. Other than that, everything inside was excellent except for very minimal wear of 2nd gear. Debating whether or not to change it. The u-joints are originals with no zerks and very bad, causing a lot of vibration. Lucky for me they never broke. Then again, I never popped the clutch.

The side exhaust system was a Bubba-designed glass pack setup with a crossover tube. The heat riser was stuck almost closed. The side covers are okay, but slightly pitted and dented. The insulator inserts will need some minor repairs.

You know, the seller's leaving the car sit in storage from 1985 to 2004 might have been the problem. When I first started working on the car in 2004, I removed the oil pan and saw a lot of varnish in the engine. I suppose the seller dragged it out of the barn and just fired it up. Probably broke the ring and the sticky/stuck lifters screwed up the cam. Funny though, the compression on all cylinders was around 160 psi when I first got the car.