New FL member restoring a 64' Roadster, piece by piece.

[ShawnBeau]

Okay after a few months recess from garage projects to travel and spend money on an old Triumph Bonneville motorcycle (that I absolutely had to have) I am back, and my 1st priority of spare attention (and money) is the vette.

Spent the last month getting educated on parts... numbers, how to decode the dates etc. Fun stuff!

Good news: I have the correct original 3844461 original intake for it (borrowed off the original block and apparently bolted onto the non original motor in the car).

Bad news: the heads that are 492's that are bolted onto the motor... are obviously not correct for the car, which means I will have fun and expense getting the original rusty dirty 491's cleaned up and refreshed.

Bonus good news: Also have a spare 3794129 aluminum intake for a 63' vette in the parts pile. Where that came from who knows.

Now as for the mystery block in the car at present...(the non-original one that was put in the car as a performance motor, not the original 327/365 that needs to be rebuilt currently in storage) The 'sprint car block' unfortunately isn't exactly a Z28 block as I was told. It is a 3970010 block (which from what I have researched is a very popular 350 block for hot rodders back in the day.) Date stamp is 1971 (which matches the 492 heads, dated 1971) but the pad stamp on the block is CEB138367 :confused

Yes, I am sure it is CEB. Not CE8. From research in the last week, the best I can tell is that it was a prefix for a crate motor / chevy engine replacement block, that you could buy over the counter or was given out as a warranty replacement. Also there are a few fellows on the Z28 forums that seem to have these in their Z28's instead of the original motors which leads them to believe that they were warranty blocks for blown z28 motors as well.

So, all this jives with the story about the car being rebuilt into a hot rod in the early 1970's. But also has made me decide to persue having the original block rebuilt. If I have to pay to have the motor rebuilt, it might as well get to be rebuilt numbers matching.

More info and better photos coming in the next week or so as I am spending all my spare time at home cleaning the car up.

Shawn: Where in Florida are you located? I live in Tampa and we have lots of local talent and parts sources here. Good luck with the project. Jerry

Hi Jerry,

I am in Tampa as well. Shoot me a pm! Would love to chat.

 

[ShawnBeau]

Nice find, Having done a 67, I personally would lift the body off this car and do a frame off. Not hard to do and it makes getting to everything so much easier and nicer when your done. Also the gas tank is a piece of cake with the body out of the way. I was going to do mine with the body on, never been sorry I pulled it off. Great car.

I am seriously considering doing this, and at present I have a 3 car garage (renting). I found some info online from some guys that built a wood dolly frame for the body and used some simple tools (home made) to get the body off the frame. Since I have never done something of that nature (and level) before I would be enlisting some help etc.

 

[vettefinderjim]

Check the trim tag under the dash

Shawn, We can all help better if you can post more pictures and details. What is the info on the trim tag under the dash? That and the vin number will give you some "birth certificate" info which will aid you in the restoration.