I have a 65 Coupe that has a Milano Maroon interior and exterior that I bought in 2007. I was unaware that tank stickers did not exist until 1967. In trying to verify the chassis and components, I ended up deciding to do a ground up restoration. Currently, the chassis is complete and put together per the NCRS Judging guidelines. It has been sitting awaiting the return of the body. The chassis has all the correct stripes and paint dab markings applied in the correct locations. The driveshaft has the correct paint markings, with correct spacing and dimensions. The frame and gas tank have been stenciled with the correct part numbers and the St. Louis identifiers. The frame was pulled on June 29, 1965 and the car rolled off the assembly line on June 30, 1965.
The engine and transmission are not the originals. I got the engine from an executive, in Florida, that had put quite a bit of money into the engine. It's a 66. It also has the correct (rare) 1 year 66 carb on it. I have obtained all of the correct parts for a 65 Vette 396 and put them on the engine. The chassis was stripped, powder coated and reassembled using correct parts. The brake calipers on all four wheels are original. The M21 transmission is from a Corvette, just not this one.
The body, at sometime in the late 60's, had a California conversion done to it. They added and extra taillight on both sides, removed the front turn signals and smoothed the body where the rear bumpers mounted. All of this has been put back to the original factory configuration. Some poor body work had been done to the front passenger quarter panel. We didn't realize it until the paint was stripped and all the bondo showed up. That was corrected by completely removing the fron clip and replacing it with a complete front from Shermersheim's. The body is just about complete with its last coat of epoxy sealer/primer being applied. It then needs the holes put in for mounting the rear bumpers, and then it's ready for paint. My intent was to use the original Milano Maroon formula that I found on the internet.
I built an extra storage shed by my house; just for the Corvette parts I have been buying to complete the restoration. The majority of the parts come from Paragon. I believe that I have spend in the area of $40K on parts for the car. It additional to the cost of the car initially and the money spent on the body, I have a significant amount of money invested in the car.
I have painstakenly taken pictures of the entire process to this point in order to prove what I had done later, when it was completed, because the majority of it can't be verified once the car is together.
I have loads of pictures and an Excel spreadsheet detailing everything I have purchased for the car along with several 3 ring binders containing all of the receipts. I am, unfortunately, in a situation that steers me toward divesting myself of the effort because I may not be able to see it to completion.
If anyone is interesting in taking on the completion of the project and ending up with a super big block coupe, please contact me at
albaseball@cox.net.
Source...
65 Coupe BB Restoration Project for Sale
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