1968 restoration questions

[John B.]

I'm starting the restoration and trying to figure out what parts on the car are original/correct and what is not. The car is an early build, S/N 2466. The trim tag is MIA, but I can tell that the car was originally green. I do not have a build sheeet since the gas tank was replaced, probably sometime in the late 80's or early 90's when the car was apparently refurbished/restored. It has a big block in it that appears to be original to the car based on the numbers and the casting dates. The rear checks as a 1968 big block 3.55. The trans is a 68 4 speed, but the numbers on it do not match the car. Anyway, trying to put the puzzle pieces together to figure out what I really have.
The rear spring has 7 leaves and does not appear to have been replaced. My understanding is that it should have 9 leaves unless it has the heavy duty suspension. Can anyone tell from the picture if I have the correct spring?
Attached to the birdcage sill channels are metal tabs that hang down below the sills. On the left side there are 3 tabs, on the right side only 2 tabs. What is the purpose of the tabs and should there be a third one on the passenger side?
On the body, there are steel brackets rivited inside the rear wheel wells that appear to be for a shoulder bolt attachment. Both of them have the remanents of a bolt broken off in them. Does this indicate that the car originally had shoulder belts, or did the brackets come on cars without shoulder belts and were filled with a bolt to keep water out?

Thanks for any help in advance. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I continue with this project.

John Brough

[Terry B.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

Hi John,

You have a number of questions and I will try to answer the ones I know for sure. The 7 leaf spring is the F-41 suspension. I cannot tell if it is original from the picture. I need to see the ends of the spring. Others might comment about the bolts going through the attachement plate and size of the sway bar to decide about being a real F-41 car.

Regarding the shoulder belts, they were standard on coupes and optional on convertibles. All convertibles had the reinforcement plate from the factory with a plastic insert cover over the hole for the attachment bolt if the shoulder belts were not ordered. What you think might be a broken off bolt could be the plastic with black out and deadener spray.

Someone else may know better about the tabs but I thought they were a guide to help position the body on the frame. No '68 had side pipes so they all should be there, to my knowledge.

We all would love to see more pictures as you project progresses. You can never take too many. Good luck.

Terry

[Patrick H.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

John,

How do you know that the car was originally green?
I can see red, and I can see the green chromate primer of the birdcage - which is not the original exterior color of the car.

Just checking.

Patrick

[Rich P.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

Looks lik a replacement rear end cover (Skinny leaf spring mounting bolts) So who knows if the spring is original.

Rich

Forgot to add all shoulder harness mount plates had plugs in them to prevent moistuer in. So if your car did not have shoulder harnesess the plugs will be there.

[John B.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

I've attached a few more pictures. Based on what is in the judging guide, I think the spring is a replacement. The cover has 464910 with an "M" below it and U1385 cast into it. So is the cover a replacement also?

I'm pretty sure it was green based on the dark green overspray on the floor and in the rear area. Also found a little dark green under the red on the doors.


Thanks for all the help.

John

[John C.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

John

The tabs are to support the body side rocker molding from behind. There should be 3 per side. They don't really do much so if you are missing one, no big deal.

Your spring is definitely a replacement as it has shackles near the end, original springs did not.

John

[John H.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

The cover has 464910 with an "M" below it and U1385 cast into it. So is the cover a replacement also?

John

John -

The 464910 rear cover is from a '78-'79, which used 7/16" spring retainer bolts; pre-'78 covers used 9/16" bolts.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

I've attached a few more pictures. Based on what is in the judging guide, I think the spring is a replacement. The cover has 464910 with an "M" below it and U1385 cast into it. So is the cover a replacement also?

I'm pretty sure it was green based on the dark green overspray on the floor and in the rear area. Also found a little dark green under the red on the doors.


Thanks for all the help.

John

John------


I think you will also find that this spring is 2-1/2" in width. All original 1968 springs were 2-1/4" in width. In any event, this spring is definitely NOT an original spring.

[Alan S.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

Hi John,
Starting a restoration...hopefuly a bit of fun, just a few tears, and a spot or two of blood!
As to the original color; I think a good place to look is under the blackout in the wiper bay. Often the car's color history is shown there since not too many color changes go that far.
Good Luck as you get going!
Happy New Year!
Regards,
Alan

PS: Sorry John , I thought the picture would appear, not just the link. I guess I don't understand posting pictures on the new Board yet.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc302/Alan6589/IMG_0001-18.jpg

[Joe L.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

I'm pretty sure it was green based on the dark green overspray on the floor and in the rear area. Also found a little dark green under the red on the doors.


Thanks for all the help.

John

John------


Doesn't this car have a trim tag which looks to be original? That would be the first thing to look at.

[John B.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

No, unfortunately the trim tag is missing.

John

[Ralph S.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

The build date on the trim tag should be C19 10/19/67

[Terry B.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

Hi John,

Have you thought about what you are going to do about the missing trim tag? Will a missing trim tag be a factor in what you do and how far you take your restoration?

Terry

[John B.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

I have thought about the missing trim tag a good bit and will probably at some point buy a replacement. The shipping data report that I got through NCRS tells me that the car was built on October 20, 1967 and delivered to Merollis Chevrolet in Detroit, the black door panel on the driver side has an early October 1967 date stamp, and based on a number of places that I've found dark green paint, I'm almost certain it was originally British Green. So, I can have a trim tag made that is accurate to the best of my ability. I bought the car in 2001 and did not know anything about trim tags, just wanted a 68 big block corvette. I've spent the last 10 years driving the car and fixing things as I had time and money. I decided to do a frame off because there was a poorly done frame repair done to the area in front of the rear wheel and the aluminum body mount spacers appeared to be disintegrating. Other than those two issues, the car is very solid and rust free so a restoration seems to make sense. Although I am nearly certain that the L36 engine and AZ coded rear are original to the car, I realize that without a trim tag and any other documentation I cannot be certain of anything. So, my thinking is to make it a very nice driver and keep it as correct as is possible and reasonable. I'm not sure if I will ever have it judged and even if I do I recognize that it will not do well because of the lack of documentation. I'm not restoring it to sell it, I really enjoy driving and working on the car. I've been looking forward getting the restoration started since I do pretty much everything myself other than paint and I get great satisfaction from the challenges of a restoration. I've restored several vehicles, but never a vette.

I added pictures of what the car looked like shortly after I bought it and what it looked like before I started this frame-off restoration. Thanks for all the help.

John Brough

[Terry B.]

Re: 1968 restoration questions

Hi John,

Sounds like a fun project and realistic expectations. My '68 is also a convertible British Green L-36. I had to replace my frame during restoration in '06. Sounds like your's is in much better shape. Let me know if I can be of help during the restoration process. I can maybe help with telling you about a few mistakes I made and some success stories, too. It seems to be a never ending project though.

Terry