We bought this old Corvette. Now what to do with it?

Update by Tim Suddard to the Chevrolet Corvette Coupe project car
Feb 26, 2024 | Chevrolet, Corvette, C2, inspection, C2 Corvette

In addition to figuring out what we bought, we needed to figure out what we were going to do with it.

Now that this one-owner 1965 Corvette sat in our shop, what’s the plan?

In all honesty, we bought the car sight unseen because we trusted the sellers, always have loved the looks of these cars, and thought it might help the SCCA’s charity that was selling it. We also gambled that our audience would dig it as well.

[How a 1965 Corvette Coupe fell into our lap]

We first laid eyes upon the car as it rolled out of the trailer. We were impressed as it was a true time capsule.

The finish might not have been original, but it was last painted in the ’70s. A talk with the former owners revealed that a minor shunt with a Buick had damaged the front-end fiberglass–but, fortunately, not the frame. During the repair work, the car was repainted. Around the same time, the engine was rebuilt.

There was evidence of overspray, and the paint job was not of the quality one would expect today, but we could survive that.

Inside the car, there were a few cracks and evidence of a removed sticker on the dash. The carpet was faded but still very intact, and the seats were nearly perfect, except for some damaged piping that could be fixed.

A piece of tape on the emergency brake handle advising not to use it told us that we had at least one repair to look into.

Underneath the car, there was zero corrosion. A caring owner and the kind climates of Texas and Colorado had been more than kind to our C2 Corvette. This was a candidate for some pressure washing or dry ice blasting and little else. With all the truly rotten projects we have started with over the years, this was a true blessing.

[Dry ice blasting: A better way to clean that project?]

We unlocked the spare tire holder and were shocked to see a 1965 date code on a brand-new tire. It was obviously original to the car.

We also found evidence of maintenance. The rear end as well as its bushings looked much shinier than the rest of the car.

Three of the calipers came from Stainless Steel Brakes and were not original, while the fourth one was rusty and leaking. The exhaust system had also been recently and professionally replaced.

The tires were six-year-old Kumho white walls and didn’t seem appropriate or new enough to keep. They were mounted on later, but still early style 6-inch-wide Chevrolet Rallye wheels. A 1965 Corvette would have come with either 5.5-inch-wide steel wheels or the optional turbine-type knock-offs.

A call with the previous owner confirmed that he had traded the original wheels for the Rallye wheels. While the car came with five of the original hubcaps, they would not stay on the Rallye wheels while driving.

We checked the fluids, which all seemed clean and full, and went for a test drive. The car started and ran just fine.

In addition to the mystery problem involving the emergency brake, we found just a few minor issues: a leaking brake caliper and a filthy air cleaner element. The suspension bushings felt a little worn-out but, by and large, it seemed like a decent running car that just needed a little love to at least be a driver.

On an unrelated trip to the National Corvette Museum, we picked up a copy of the National Corvette Restorers Society restoration manual and learned that the grille was not from a 1965 model–must have been changed during that accident in the ’70s–and the overflow canister for the cooling system was not original. Everything else seemed stock.

So, what to do with our midyear Corvette? Spend a fortune to take a nearly perfect car and change almost everything to make it a concours queen that will most likely never be driven again–or clean it up a bit, fix a few things, and perform an economical rolling restoration with just a few minor, comfortable performance mods that would make it perfect for a tour, autocross, local show or even a track day?

We think we have our answer: The world does not need another perfect Corvette, while doing so with this car would cost nearly six figures.

Look for more updates very soon.

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