I've been a member of this forum for 15 years and have always received very valuable advice, so here I go again, please keep it as painless as possible. Here is my situation, in 1991, I was a young uninformed and eager kid looking to purchase my 1st vette. I started out buying any reference book out there so I could learn what to look for and not get burned. It took me about a year before I found the car I wanted and after looking it over based upon my research, I bought it. It was a white 1966 427/425 convertible that was painted red, ok, light bulb went on but, I was to stupid to listen, all I could think about was having this car and driving those 425 horses. So after a few days of negotiating, I forked over $30,000 and I had my vette! Well for the next 5 years, I drove the car and enjoyed it as much as I could, it was wonderful. Then, something else wonderful started to happen, I was visited by the stork twice in the next three years. My driving days started to diminish, my vette went into the garage and I started to do something that I would have never thought I would have done, I forgot about it. Now its 2006, I now have my life back, sort of? Its time to bring the vette back to life. So, here is where it gets difficult, I start a body-off restoration. I take the body off and make a body dolly and put it in my parents garage. I keep the chasis with me and start removing everything. Well, once the motor is out, I ship it off to be restored and start on the drivetrain. Now, I noticed the rear end isn't the correct one for the car, its for a small block. Next the transmission, doesn't have the right one either, at this point I'm a little upset but I keep removing parts. I finally get everything off the chasis and send that out to get restored too. I spend the next few months searching for correct parts and buying another rear end and transmission. The chasis comes back looking great, I start to re-assemble. Now, the kicker, the engine company calls me with a problem with the block. Once the engine was stripped and the block was cleaned, the numbers on the block starting to fall off. The short end of the story it that the block isn't the correct block, its a fake. Someone used some kind of putty to make it look like the correct block. So now, I have a car with over $35,000 invested and don't know what to do? I really want to finish the restoration but I just don't know what will come out of it. I know this car will never be an NCRS car but I'm not sure I care. My biggest concern is how can I continue to restore this car when I don't know what if anything on the car is real or fake. Can I restore it back to a big block car like I thought it was or do I just throw in the towel and sell it off for parts? I need advice, what should I do?
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Re: C2 $30,000 Mistake - What to do?
Jim---sorry that what you got was a misrepresentation. I think you need to step back one big step for a while and just consider what you are going to do. Don't make an emotional decision quickly.
You mentioned research--trim tag research has improved tremendously over the years--I'd start by determining if the tag is correct or not. If it is, the car certainly has desirable colors.
Do you want a really nice driver or a show car? What was your intent when you started taking it apart? Does any of your discovery change that? Is it really a big block car? There are those who can help with those subtleties that determine that. Can you enjoy a small block car made into a big block? Or a small block car returned to small block? Those are decisions only you can make for yourself.
Don't rush into an emotional decision--and when you decide, good luck! -
Re: C2 $30,000 Mistake - What to do?
Jim,
I would make the nicest non-original big block car, paint it what and how you would have liked it to be, that I could. You loved it when you first got it, and you can enjoy it even more now. There are a lot of crummy mid-years out there now that are selling for more than $40K.
ChasmanComment
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Re: C2 $30,000 Mistake - What to do?
Jim I totally agree with Chas. Wish I had a 66 Corvette to put back together and drive. For a car a person who is going to drive and enjoy a C2 Corvette a non-matching numbers car to me is more desirable because the price could be lower for purchase.Comment
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Re: C2 $30,000 Mistake - What to do?
Jim, what was your intention when you bought the car? Driver or NCRS judged car? You have a classic with the power you wanted for 35K, which isn't bad when you can't get much in the way of a unique, powerful sports car for that kind of money now.If you bought the car for an investment, you appear to be in a bad position, if you bought it to have fun and drive and turn heads while driving, revise your budget and spend what you feel you can break even on at a later date. How many others do you know that have '66 427s? If you like the car and enjoy it, finish it in a cost effective manner and drive it!Comment
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Re: start with IDing the car
i bought a car with a small block but it had signs on being a BB. i found many of the right clues but did not get confirmation ubtil a year after i bought it. i had already began investing in returning my 66 conv back to an L72.it cost about the same to restore a BB as a SB but BB's are worth a considerable amount more so you have a better chance to recover your investment if it is a BB. IF you are a BB man and it is a SB you have 2 choices finish it as a BB or finish it as cheap as reasonably possible and sell it. look for these clues: hood reinforcment on left, 2 coils on oil line and is steel. sway bar bolts in rear go into capture nuts in frame. 3 holes for TI. hole where ballast res was (proof of TI) i will give you more as they come to me. i sold a 66 427 in 89 went on to have 3 girls, bought another 66 in 2005 because i had become a zombie with no hobbies and wanted my girls to know who and what i really am, a motor head that loves corvettes. you will find the one on one you will get taking your kids for a ride worth every penny you invest! no competition for your attention. kids love saying my daddy drives a vette.Comment
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Re: C2 $30,000 Mistake - What to do?
Jim,
First of all, while you were deceived originally, you haven't thrown your money away. If the car is complete with a clear title, good body, solid birdcage and frame then it's still worth $30,000.
Granted, if were real, it would be worth at least twice that price, but you still have what many people are looking for.
Get some coaching from your local NCRS chapter to determine what the car really is and then decide if you can live with it restored to it's orignal configuration. If you can't and still want a big block...then keep the big block and drive it.
tcComment
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Re: C2 $30,000 Mistake - What to do?
Jim, I agree with the great advice above, this is an opportunity to have the "vette" you always wanted...go for it!!! Bill's comments about taking the kids for a ride is so true...some of the best times in my life were trips up and down the California Coast with my son and daughter...one on one...THAT'S quality time!!! It's been twenty years since we made those trips and they still talk about it. In your situation I'd be tempted to build that engine up a notch or two...no reason not to...also Keisler has a Tremec 5 speed that is an exact fit in a C2 that would be sweet. (I mention it because I'm considering doing the same). Give yourself the gift of leather on those seats. I also agree that the finished car will have a tremendous appeal to a wider range of potential buyers...but if I had it...it wouldn't be for sale! I'm new to NCRS but I've found this to be the best group of people I've seen for providing support, unbelievably detailed answers to any question, and the occasional creative approach when it's needed. I'm not adding anything more to what's been said other than you're now free to push the "FUN" envelope on a car that loves that kind of attention...Go For It! and please keep us all posted from time to time...I for one would love to see the final product...actually...I'd love a ride in it!!! Pete
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Re: i agree
you are free go red and white black and red or what ever makes you happy. build your dream car and start having fun now! my buddy has spent 18 yrs finishing his 66 427.Comment
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Re: i agree
You need to decide whether it's going to be an NCRS type car or not. I started off not thinking about a correct restoration and was just going to put the car together and go and I have had to change a lot of things that I did 7 or 8 years ago.
If you find out it's a real BB car and decide to get the correct motor the good news is that they're not that hard to find and not as expensive as the 67 BB engines. If the NCRS judging route is what you want as long as the engine is correctly dated for your car, which I think is 6 months prior to the build date, it will still be possible to get a TF.
Myself, I really like the restomod cars that are being built now and if I had to do it over again with a NOM car I would have to consider one of those, especially after driving and riding in a couple.
BLComment
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Drive it and Enjoy it! *NM*
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if you think that is a expensive mistake,marry the
wrong women.Comment
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That's a big 10-4! *NM*
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The mistakes are two and not what you thought
The mistake wasn't buying a car with a fake engine. I've heard a guy who seems to have a realistic handle on this stuff often make a comment that "everyone gets screwed on their first Corvette" and I think he is right. So you bought something that isn't what you thought it was. Big deal, you have had 5 very good years driving it, and apparently another 3 or 4 when the time allowed.
Here are your mistakes.
1. Stopped driving it.
2. Restored it.
1. Yes, we have all had kids, or most of us, and the time they require is overwhelming. But as long as you keep it registered and insured, you can always take it to the store late Sunday night to get that gallon of milk you need for the kids' breakfast before school Monday. When you have to pick one up at school, you take the Corvette. When you have to go to the doctor for yourself, take the Corvette. Of course, that is history now, but just to let you know that when you get this one back together, it doesn't have to stop, unless money is the issue.
2. From what I get, you bought it '91, had first kid '96, second kid '99, and parked the car either '99 or '00. That means it had been sitting undriven for either 7 or 6 years in '06. WHY RESTORE IT? Heck, you could have changed the oil, dropped in a fresh battery, aired up the tires, bled the brakes, and gone for a ride.
Restoration is for cars in desperate need of overall work, when you have lots of spare time and money, or a very strong desire to make the car as new.
But since you are here now, what are your options? Lots. If you liked how the car ran before, put it all back together and enjoy it. Numbers mean something in only two places - the NCRS judging field and in selling.
Those numbers don't make it ride better, ride faster, ride further, or anything.
If your goal is to restore and have it judged in NCRS, you can still do that. Do the NCRS things as you put it back together, like paint it the correct paint, use accurate interior pieces, and so on.
So the engine is wrong, you take the 350 points or so, and go on. If you want to Top Flight, then you need to find a correct engine, but you don't need to do that now. The worse thing for most is to have to do something "now". That is guaranteed to double or triple the cost. You can always change the engine, whether it is a year from now or 10 years from now. Keep an eye out for the correct engine, and when you find it cheap, buy it. Odds are that won't happen until the current market crashes in another 2 to 4 years.
Here is what I would do:
1. Put it all back together with the engine you have.
2. Drive it, wonder why the heck I ever quit.
3. Drive my kids in it. Wonder why I missed out on those other 7 years with them.
4. Research the car. Find out what it really is.
5. Take it to events and drive it some more.
6. Meet other NCRS guys locally, hopefully into midyears, and ask for their help figuring out what the car is.
7. After I knew what it is, then and only then would I begin to plan on what to do with it.
And you can remember that life does not begin and end with NCRS. This is a great hobby, but if the car you have isn't going to work in NCRS, it doesn't mean it is junk or should be sold for parts. ENJOY the car! Enjoy it with your kids. Enjoy it with your wife, on those evenings out with her or during the day while the kids are in school.
Worried about the $35,000? Go look on eBay at the prices these cars have sold for. You may not make a killing for having an original big block, but you haven't lost any money. And if money is the main driving reason of having it, then you are talking to the wrong group.
It is about the car and the people. Enjoy them both.
eBay search for '66 CorvettesComment
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Amen to that Clem! *NM*
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