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1970 Corvette Stingray
1993-2000
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| clean lines...gray paint? |
aftermarket taillights... |
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antenna mounted on wrong side... |
clean up front |
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original interior |
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grungy but original |
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original tank sticker and owner's booklet |
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ditto... |
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| You might have guessed from all of my previous vehicles that I was a Ford man. Yeah, I guess you could say so, but I couldn't turn this one down. During the winter of 1992, I was finishing my Bachelor's Degree at MSU, and was sustaining myself by re-painting aircraft out of a hangar that I was leasing from the airport here in Starkville. When things got lean, I sub-leased space in my hangar. One of the guys who worked at the airport had a car that he needed to park for the winter. As it turned out, it was the Corvette you see above. It didn't take long for me to make extra trips to my hangar to check out this Chevy, and before long I was sitting behind the wheel pretending to be cruising around town. Blasphemer!!! I finished school in December 1992, and put the house trailer I had lived in as an undergraduate up for sale. I had been offered a job down the road in Louisville, found a nice house out of town (with a pool...), and managed to get $8000 for the house trailer. I decided I deserved a present, and bought the 'Vette for $8000. Great deal!
Except for a crappy re-paint (an ugly gray), the car was bone-stock original and had everything there. It was a bare-bones, no frills car, with no options, but it did have a 300HP 350, 4-speed transmission, and all the documentation back to 1970. It made a great second-car, and I spent alot of time cruising through town. As things broke, I would replace them, and made it a 7-year rolling resoration. Eventually, everything got attention. I tackled one major area every year, starting with the suspension: a new set of Rally wheels and tires, new front coil springs, and a TRW fiberglass rear spring. In 1994 I had it repainted in the original color of Cortez silver.
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The paint was removed by scraping it off with razor blades, which revealed the original coat of Cortez Silver. It also showed a virgin body, with no signs of any previous damage. Yay! |
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The Emperor's new clothes. It looked good from any angle.Note the new original Rally wheels, with new BFG Comp TA's. I also bought a set of folding soft-tops, to go along with the regular tops. |
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I was doing alot of moving around in the '90's. I stayed at my job in Louisville through 1994, and decided that punching a clock was not my thing after my band got signed to an agency out of Nashville, TN. Hell, you only go around once...I moved back to Starkville and began spending a great deal of time on the road, coast to coast. Coming home meant that I could always play with the 'Vette. In 1995, I stripped out the old interior, cleaned out all the old crud off the fiberglass, re-dyed all the original vinyl and plastic, and installed an AM/FM cassette radio along with a new carpet set...all by myself! |
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By 1996, the only thing left to tackle was the drivetrain. By now, it had over 100,000 miles on it, and had never been rebuilt. It was matching #'s on both the engine and the Muncie M-21 4-speed transmission, but when the clutch started slipping, I decided it was time to yank everything out and have both rebuilt. While it was out, I disassembled the front suspension, stripped and repainted the control arms, as well as the engine compartment. I had Geoff Burroughs of Jackson Cylinder Head Services rebuild the motor, and it turned out sweet. It was bored .030 over, with forged pistons and rods, the heads were ported, and I topped it off with an Edelbrock Performer intake, 600 cfm carb, Hooker ceramic coated headers, and a 2-1/2" stainless steel exhaust system with Dynomax Mufflers. It was kicking about 350 horsepower... |
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| By 1998, the Vette was running like a top. I was starting grad school at MSU, and had as much fun with the car that I could afford. Unfortunately, history repeats itself. Just like my good old undergrad days, the money soon ran out, and I had to put my toys up for sale in order to finish school. As much as I hated to, I sold the Vette to some lucky dude from Tennessee for $14,500. My loss was his gain... :_( |
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