Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

[John L.]

Other than a COPO, was it possible to get Factory A/C with a solid lifter engine in a Mid Year Corvette ??

[Joe C.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

Other than a COPO, was it possible to get Factory A/C with a solid lifter engine in a Mid Year Corvette ??

Yes.
For 1964 and 1965, it was an option on the 327/365.

[Richard M.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

Here's one a fellow member friend and myself inspected here in Florida, for a fellow member in Massachusetts. A '65 coupe

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[Wayne M.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

Yes.
For 1964 and 1965, it was an option on the 327/365.

You sure could: 133 convertibles, 227 coupes with L76 and C60. Add transistorized ignition, drops to 88 with radio, 2 without. My air coupe has original 4.11 gears, K66 and is a big tank car. Originally ordered by an AZ dealer, leased new to the the manager of a Pizza Hut in Flagstaff.
BTW, it's also Goldwood Yellow .

[Kerouac B.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

I have a 1965 Coupe (L76 engine) with factory AC and TI. I had an appraiser look it over and he said it was pretty rare. The AC actually works pretty well, too -- good thing as Summer approaches here in Los Angeles.

[Marc W.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

I have one as well, glen green coupe with TI, PW, teak steering wheel, white and black interior. Delivered new to Rathmann Chevrolet and 99% certain an astronaut lease car. Car is loaded with options.

[Dick W.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

I had a '64 365 with A/C

[Bob H.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

I have had two. One saddle/saddle 48k 3:08 rear end. I sold it to a friend that still has it. The other blue/blue with 3:70 rear end that was bloomington gold and duntoved.

[Mike E.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

Richard Mozzetta posted this photo of one at Kissimmee in Florida last January. I believe the gentlemen drove it all the way from California. They should have this rather odd looking pulley to handle high RPM to be correct.





Mike

[Kerouac B.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

Mike:

Yup, I've got that. I'd love to see a picture of that car after the guy cleaned up the engine. It's beautiful even with the dirt on it!

[Richard M.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

Yup.....That's fellow member Luke Rizzutto's '65 who lives in California. He and his friend John Quam drove it over 4,000 miles from California to Florida for the Winter Regional this past January.

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Interesting history how this all came about. Since I can't sleep at the moment and already into my first cup 'o java, here goes with a little story(ya right you know me by now) behind it all....I could link to the story in a earlier thread somewhere but I'm more in the mood to write than search.

Luke used to own my good buddy Chuck McSheehy's '65 black/red fuelie roadster. Chuck bought it many years ago from a guy that bought it from Luke. Chuck and Luke didn't know each other then. Luke bought it from a NY Law Enforcement Officer who moved to CA. The LEO was out one night and someone stole his black '65. He got the car back later, but somebody stole the fuelie unit clean off the engine. LEO bought a replacement unit, had it stamped with the vin to match the engine. Time passes. Luke bought the car from the LEO. Sold it years later. Many years ago Chuck buys it from Luke's buyer way out west and hauls it back to MA. Puts a few hundred miles on it and moves to FL apx 20 years later. Restores it in '10-'11 and gets a Top Flight in Kissimmee in '12.

Chuck gets a deduct for the FI unit plenum vin derivative font not exactly matching the vin derivative on the engine stamp pad. Sidenote....IIRC, at St Louis when the engines came down the line, as they were getting plunked onto the frame, they stamped the engine pad vin and the FI plenum in sequence seconds apart, thus the vin derivative fonts were identical.

A little over a year ago Jim Gessner, who has a database of '65 fuelie's of which Chuck's car numbers are included, calls me up and says....."Rich, I found Chuck's original fuelie unit on Craigslist! Do you think he wants to buy it?" I gave him Chuck's info. He calls Chuck, who can't believe it. Chuck calls Luke who is close to it. Luke buys unit for Chuck, who then buys it from Luke. Chuck and Rich install it on the '65 engine that it originally was under just under the wire to get it ready for Kissimmee '14.
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The original FI unit that Jim found got re-united after many many years to Chuck's(Luke's, NY LEO's) engine. The first time I saw the two after a long separation it was amazing. Gives me a few chills up 'n down my spine whenever I think of it.
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Flashback.....Several years earlier, Luke places a ad in the Driveline that he has the POP and docs for his old '65 fuelie. Chuck and Luke hook up over the phone and make a deal. Luke tells Chuck of his Great Race experience driving from NY to San Fransisco and that he'll meet Chuck some day when he drives his 400,000+ mile '65 L76 HT roadster with C60 to FL. Chuck says ......"Huh? CA to FL just for kicks? Wow!" Time passes.

Present..... '14 Kissimmee. There we meet Luke and John who drove the Spanish Trail(the long, winding, southern route) from California to Florida. We had a great time all week together, at the Regional, Judging stuff, Mecum Auction, Dinners with Adult Beverages, etc.

Rich

[Leif A.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

GREAT story!!! Sounds like a bunch of true enthusiasts who understand what the Corvette was and always will be about...driving them and enjoying the camaraderie of great people. Need more stories like this one...could be a nice thread. Thanks for sharing

[John H.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

I restored a '65 L76 A/C Tanker in 1973. Bought it off the back row of a used car lot in Sharon, PA under a couple of feet of snow in 1971. PO had painted it maroon. I returned it to the original Glen Green, black leather, telescopic/teak. Sold it at a Mahoning Valley Corvette Club show the day after it was completed to a guy in bib overalls with a big roll of Franklins who had to have it, NOW.

[Mike E.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

I restored a '65 L76 A/C Tanker in 1973. Bought it off the back row of a used car lot in Sharon, PA under a couple of feet of snow in 1971. PO had painted it maroon. I returned it to the original Glen Green, black leather, telescopic/teak. Sold it at a Mahoning Valley Corvette Club show the day after it was completed to a guy in bib overalls with a big roll of Franklins who had to have it, NOW.

It sounds funny when you talk about restoring a car that's only 8 years old. It's really amazing how "tore up" those cars could get in just a few years. I bought my GG/Black '65 Coupe in 1977. It was all there but a disaster from a visual standpoint. In just 12 years I found the car had been painted brown, gold, dark blue then primer gray. The interior was a MESS, it had red, white and blue shag carpet in the rear and Camaro seats. I was lucky the previous owner still had the original seats. I put it back to it's original Glen Green but changed the interior to white, which will now be returned to black. It's a wonder any of them survived.

Mike

[John S.]

Re: Factory Air in a Solid Lifter Mid Year Corvette

Add on to Richards story that Jim should be able to confirm. The fuel unit was actually found on craigslist was found by me. I have a 65 fuel car and Jim and I have been friends for years now. I saw it on craigslist the first day it appeared and called Jim immediately to see if the vin was on his list. I have actually done this twice now in the last few years. One guy did not care and the other was reunited with original car where it truly belongs. I believe this is the one that was reunited. Beautiful car, but of course I am partial.