67 Corvette Documentation

[John Visner]

Hi everyone, I am a new member and am looking for recomendations concerning documentation on the 1967 Corvette roadster I recently purchased. I am the 3rd owner. The gentelman I bought the car from has had it since 1969. The original owner lives 15 miles from me. The guy I bought the car from is going to introduce me to the original owner. I have the owners manual, warranty manual with protecto plate, Radio manual with the tag that was on the radio knob and I can see the tank sticker on the fuel tank. The delivering dealership is still in business and only 20 miles from me. I was wondering what you guys would recommend I should try to get since I am fortunate enough to have a "reunion" with all of the owners of this car. The car has a 327/300 hp engine, 4-speed, 3:36 posi, AM/FM radio and tinted windshield. The guy I purchased the car from lost interest and parked it 28 years ago with 28,037 miles on it. Thanks for your expert opinions.

John Visner

[Mike Yager]

Re: 67 Corvette Documentation

Sounds like you have a real find! I would start with the original owner. Talk with him. See if he has any original documentation such as bill of sale or window sticker that he would be willing to part with. Based upon your conversation with him and what he has/does not have you may want to try the selling dealer to see what documentation they might have. After you are finished there you can decide if you want to/need to remove the tank sticker or leave as is. Since the car is original, you may want to have it judged before touching or removing anything.

[John H.]

Re: 67 Corvette Documentation

John -

Sounds like a great find! You're very fortunate - I'd ask the original owner if he has any of the original paperwork, like a copy of the dealer order, the window sticker, and any service work orders he may have filed away, along with any old registration/licensing paperwork and any old pictures he may have. None of this is judged, but it would make a terrific chain of documentation for the car.

[Eric H.]

Re: 67 Corvette Documentation

John -

I would be great to have a photograph of the car, the three owners, and the original dealership in the background!

Ric

[Patrick H.]

Absolutely!

I'd concur that you might want to have it judged before doing ANYTHING, and if you can find an appropriate NCRS member in your area see what they think about having the car Bowtie judged if it is original enough. Sounds like it might be!

The less you do to the car, the better off you'll be. Just my own $0.02

Patrick

[Loren L.]

Re: 67 Corvette Documentation

And after you take the picture, THEN go explain to the owner of the dealership what you're trying to do, with the original owner in tow - who knows, maybe if the owner of the dealership is there, he should be in the picture and the local newspaper should take it!

[Jim Hansen]

Re: 67 Corvette Documentation

John: I recently made a purchase similar to yours, namely 1967 327/300 low mileage (36K), matching numbers, tank sticker still on the tank, spider webs galore, and very original. Mine had aluminum valve covers rather than the steel orange that were supposed to come with 327/300, probablly slapped on by an early owner for dress. If yours also has aluminum, you might want to ask the prior owners and/or the dealer how that came to be. Does your car have the ignition shielding in place? If not, it may well be in the garage of one of the two prior owners. I was fortunate enough to find and talk to 3 prior owners, and asked them everything from A to Z. Afterwards, I drafted detailed Memos of the conversations for the documentation file. Another thing you can do is start checking all the part numbers, casting numbers and other dated materials on the car and compare them to the 1967 Corvette Technical Information Manual and Judging Guide. Then create an excell spreadsheet describing the match, dates found, etc. If something doesn't match or have the correct date code, then you'll have a specific question to ask the two prior owners. Have fun, Jim Hansen.

[Mike Yager]

Re: 67 Corvette Documentation

To add to my other post. I was able to go back almost 25 years of ownership on my car. I spoke with owners and a garage owner that performed repair work on my car. I found all kinds of interesting things. My car sat for a very long time as one owner was supposedly in the mob and in jail for quite a while. I put it all in a notebook as well. Unfortunately nobody I spoke with had any original paperwork and the trail went cold in the mid 70s as to ownership.

However you never know what you will find. I remember reading a story about someone researching their car and found the original owner. Turns out he still had the original window sticker and sales order tacked to a wall in his garage. He gave it to the guy.

Good Luck!

[John Visner]

Re: 67 Corvette Documentation

Thanks to everyone for all the fantastic ideas. From the best I can tell and by talking to the previous owner the only items that were replaced was the rear tires. I am now working on getting the car safe to drive and dependable. I have removed the original belt, hoses, tune up parts, calipers, brake lines and rear shocks. I do know enough to keep everything I replace and don't do anything that can't be reversed. I would like to drive it a year and learn more about the car before doing anything else. Thanks again for everybody's input.

John Visner

[Patrick H.]

Re: 67 Corvette Documentation

John,

Most of the larger brake caliper rebuilding services for Corvettes will stainless sleeve your original calipers and return them to you for a nominal fee. I've done this through Vette Brakes with several cars, both restorations and originals like yours, with good success. Make sure they know you want them back and that you want them in black like the originals. Tell them you want them "NCRS style" and they'll know what you mean.

And by the way, I get the O-rings style pistons from VB when I do this. Less leaks and a better design.

Patrick