A friend has info. on the car described below. Does anyone know Brad Runyon or other owners?
I bought the car on March 3, 1970 from Melton and
Snow Auto Sales in Fort Worth. I paid $2,072.56 for it. (I actually took
over payments for this guy who was about to default on his loan.)
It was a 1967 coupe, black with red stinger and red interior, factory electronic ignition, 4-speed, factory 4.11 gears, and factory
metallic brake pads. (They squealed like crazy until you got them heated
up.) 427cid-435hp, three 2 barrels. VIN: 194377S114220
A couple of other sort of odd but interesting things that I was told about
the car by the previous owner but can't confirm:
1) The car came from the factory without any of the usual insulation /
sound deadening material.
2) The front wheel arches (not sure about the rears) were slightly larger -
from the factory - for some reason.
I'm pretty sure that the body, suspension, drivetrain was completely
original. I was at least smart enough to look it over carefully. The
previous owner "blew" the original 427 and had Hudiburg Chevrolet (North
Richland Hills) install a factory new short block; I confirmed this with the
Service Manager at Hudiburg. And, being the knowledgeable car guy that I
was, I made a few improvements of my own:
1) Removed the front bumper and threw it away. (Extra weight. Who needs
that, right? Looks cool too.)
2) Replaced the huge and heavy exhaust manifolds with much more sensible
Hooker headers. Threw the stock manifolds away.
3) Replaced the 3-2bbl mechanical secondary setup with an easier-to-adjust
3-2bbl vaccuum secondary setup. Threw the stock stuff away.
4) Had Vandergriff Chevrolet in Arlington replace the noisy metallic brake
pads with more sensible standard pads. Threw the metallic pads away.
Sort of like watching Antiques Roadshow and listening to the little old lady
tell about how she "restored" the original 1754 Bostonian writing table by
sanding and re-staining it herself.
I sold the car in 1971 or 1972 (could have even been early 1973). Brad
Runyon was, I'd say, in his mid twenties at the time, which would make him
roughly 62 to 67 years old now. All I can remember about him is that he was
either a lieutenant or a captain in the Air Force or Navy. He was a fighter
pilot stationed temporarily at Carswell for some aircraft evaluation and
testing. He called me and we talked about the Corvette. He bought it sight
unseen. He had a 1971 (or 1972? or 1973?) Pontiac Grand Prix with a factory
428cid (421?) engine and a factory installed 4-speed that he wanted to use
as a partial trade. I wasn't interested, so we made a deal for $3,200 cash.
He showed up two days later with the money. I took the cover off the
Corvette. He looked at it, handed me the money, and asked if he could leave
it in our garage for a few days. I said "Sure" and asked him if he wanted to
test drive it. He said, "No. I can tell it's exactly what I want!" So, a
couple of days later, he showed up with his wife (or girlfriend) and away
they went, her in the Grand Prix and him in my Corvette. That's the last I
saw of it.
I will be glad to talk to Brad or other owners.
Ronnie
I bought the car on March 3, 1970 from Melton and
Snow Auto Sales in Fort Worth. I paid $2,072.56 for it. (I actually took
over payments for this guy who was about to default on his loan.)
It was a 1967 coupe, black with red stinger and red interior, factory electronic ignition, 4-speed, factory 4.11 gears, and factory
metallic brake pads. (They squealed like crazy until you got them heated
up.) 427cid-435hp, three 2 barrels. VIN: 194377S114220
A couple of other sort of odd but interesting things that I was told about
the car by the previous owner but can't confirm:
1) The car came from the factory without any of the usual insulation /
sound deadening material.
2) The front wheel arches (not sure about the rears) were slightly larger -
from the factory - for some reason.
I'm pretty sure that the body, suspension, drivetrain was completely
original. I was at least smart enough to look it over carefully. The
previous owner "blew" the original 427 and had Hudiburg Chevrolet (North
Richland Hills) install a factory new short block; I confirmed this with the
Service Manager at Hudiburg. And, being the knowledgeable car guy that I
was, I made a few improvements of my own:
1) Removed the front bumper and threw it away. (Extra weight. Who needs
that, right? Looks cool too.)
2) Replaced the huge and heavy exhaust manifolds with much more sensible
Hooker headers. Threw the stock manifolds away.
3) Replaced the 3-2bbl mechanical secondary setup with an easier-to-adjust
3-2bbl vaccuum secondary setup. Threw the stock stuff away.
4) Had Vandergriff Chevrolet in Arlington replace the noisy metallic brake
pads with more sensible standard pads. Threw the metallic pads away.
Sort of like watching Antiques Roadshow and listening to the little old lady
tell about how she "restored" the original 1754 Bostonian writing table by
sanding and re-staining it herself.
I sold the car in 1971 or 1972 (could have even been early 1973). Brad
Runyon was, I'd say, in his mid twenties at the time, which would make him
roughly 62 to 67 years old now. All I can remember about him is that he was
either a lieutenant or a captain in the Air Force or Navy. He was a fighter
pilot stationed temporarily at Carswell for some aircraft evaluation and
testing. He called me and we talked about the Corvette. He bought it sight
unseen. He had a 1971 (or 1972? or 1973?) Pontiac Grand Prix with a factory
428cid (421?) engine and a factory installed 4-speed that he wanted to use
as a partial trade. I wasn't interested, so we made a deal for $3,200 cash.
He showed up two days later with the money. I took the cover off the
Corvette. He looked at it, handed me the money, and asked if he could leave
it in our garage for a few days. I said "Sure" and asked him if he wanted to
test drive it. He said, "No. I can tell it's exactly what I want!" So, a
couple of days later, he showed up with his wife (or girlfriend) and away
they went, her in the Grand Prix and him in my Corvette. That's the last I
saw of it.
I will be glad to talk to Brad or other owners.
Ronnie
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