Value of 69 garage find?

[udoittwo]

Hello - newbie,
This morning, my friend said he needed someone to go with him to look at a car. Apparently the owner had died and his brother wants to get the house in order. I was surprised to find a 69 Corvette. The inspection is 1986. It looks to be complete but fairly rough. The person that inherited the house looked all over for the title but couldn't find it. I don't even know where to look for the VIN plate. There is a plate on the door jamb but that appears to list a paint code #986.

I bought the car for $1500. I found the block # as 3956618. It is a 4 spd. car with t-tops. Where do I find the vin #? IF it turns out to be a parts car, what are these parts worth and how do I sell them? Is it even worth $1500 for parts? How do I ID the motor. Just googling the block # I found it could be one of several small block Chevys from 60s to 80s.

I'm starting here at this forum by asking for any info that might help and I have had Corvettes before. In the 70s, I had a black 1967 2 top and a silver 69 427/L88. Unfortunately, the L88 had a carb issue with the middle carb and IF I can figure out how to add a picture, I'll show you the results.

Thanks for your time and any suggestions/help.
STAY WELL!
Karl.

 

[Toms007]

Well, Welcome aboard Karl! I think you did OK at $1500. If I remember correctly, the VIN is under the dash on the passenger side .... One of our other members will be along shortly to let you know for sure.

Pictures of the car would be helpful as well.

 

[bill81vette]

Welcome to CAC!!!!
Enjoy!!!
Wow! a 69!the plate in the drivers door jamb should be the trim plate.
I'm not sure where the Vin# is located.I always thought it was located in front dash at the rt corner of the windshield.
if the numbers on the block,are the same as the last 6(?) on the VIN it could be a matching numbers car.
how rough of a shape is it???will a good cleaning help???
good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions.

 

[udoittwo]

Thanks, that makes me feel a little better.
Sorry but a quick explanation of the pictures. This is Old Man talk but when I was 20[1973], I had a 69 4 spd 427, a 67 327 spd, and a real nice chocolate brown 327 4 spd. 57 Chevy hardtop. All were inspected and insured. I was making $2.40 and hour and could go out and drive any of them when ever I wanted. I had already totaled a 57 Chevy yet I only paid $500 yearly for insurance.
Try that today and with all the gas stations in town, there was always gas station wars so paying $.27 a gallon was not uncommon.

I really liked my 57 and the 67 Vette. Wasn't as fond of the 69. I had it up to 135 and it felt like there was a lot more there but I got scared. I didn't know a lot about cars then but my friend researched it and found the 25,000 mile 69 was an L88 with, what he said was weird, a high rear[I believe it was a 323?]. The 67 had a 456. Bit of a pain around town. The 69 was fast but the 67 was quick and i preferred to be quick.

With people everywhere, a beautiful spring day in Valley Forge park in the 69. Weak battery sometime meant a kickstart. Went to leave and it wouldn't start. Apparently the center carb froze open and just dumped gas all over the motor. I'd never experienced anything like that and panicked. I threw a blanket over the motor and that was it. You can see the results. I paid $2500 and got $3800 so I was very happy.

 

[udoittwo]

It is sitting on all flats so I wasn't able to get under even a little or pull it out of the garage. I did feel the frame up over the axles and I didn't feel any rust. Again, It's been well over 40 years since I was into Vettes even a little so my knowledge is very rough and when going to look a a car, I didn't even know it was a Vette, let alone, a 69 so I didn't do any research ahead of time. He says it's 100% mine but we can't get it out until he moves 3 old BMWs and a 78 Porsche Turbo also sitting on flats. He seems like he will give these cars away to get into his garage.

No nose damage that I could see. There was a covered bike there also. He says it is a Suzuki CS1000E or something like that. He says I can have it if I take the Vette. I have to look at it and see if it has any value. It has, at quick glance a nice set of rallys wheels and caps.

The body is green now[doubt it's original color] with a lite coat of grey primer on most of it but not totally covering the paint. It was dark in the garage but as best we could tell, the body looked good. No obvious damage. It has what I call LS5 or L88 hood? Don't know if they were even used on small block 69s? IF the VIN plate is only visible through the windshield as someone suggested, the windshield had primer all over it and I didn't think of looking there. The hood had hood pins. Were they offered as an option? The console looked rough and the 4 spd. shifter was rusty.

This car looks like what we wanted back in the 70s. A low optioned car. Every one called my 427 69 and"Doctor's car" as it was loaded with options. Another reason it wasn't my favorite. Today, everyone wants those options. They added weight and used HP. Dash looked good except it looks like they may have chopped in the aftermarket radio. There was a 4 dr 64 Nova next to it that he said I could have for an offer. Probably VERY little but not interested.

It has 95,000 on it. Didn't look at the seats as they were covered. The door panels looked OK. The steering column was missing the ign. switch. The glove box was torn out so maybe someone else was looking for the VIN. The car has a ton of dust so no one had tried opening the doors for a long time. It had headers and sidepipes but I don't think there were factory. Did GM use tube headers in 69? I know my 67 GTO had heavy cast iron headers. Some knobs were missing. At least the carpet wasn't all mildewed like it water had gotten in.

So, what might any of this be worth for parts, if I can't find a title or if the frames shot or something? I didn't try to see if the motor was free or not. I sort of played it down and best i could. He just wants it out so I didn't want to say "oh wow, the motors free, that helps a lot" or anything to show my real interest.

 

[udoittwo]

Just curious to see if my picture comes up as my signature or not. IF it does, this is my current car.

 

[udoittwo]

See if this works. It is not even GM. Where have I been these past few years?

 

[udoittwo]

Guess my pictures size is too big to use in my profile?
Here is my 67. This is the style hood the 69 has on it. Was this a factory style hood for a small block?
This is my current car and hope to keep it until they take my licence away. I fell in love with it because it is soooo ugly!

 

[Midnight 99]

If you haven't figures it out yet, the VIN on a 69 is on the Left A Pillar. You can see it through the windshield. If it isn't there then all you have is a pile of parts.

 

[udoittwo]

Sorry, like I said, it's been a while. I meant LT1 not LS5 as far as the hood goes.
Also sorry that I tend to ramble but if no one else is talking....

 

[udoittwo]

Another ?. I have Chevy 5 x 4.75 wheels on my old wagon and I have spares with tires. I need to put something on the Vette to move it. What is the bolt pattern? Did it have disc brakes on the rear, if so, can I use stock Chevy wheels?

 

[Toms007]

Those should work fine. Corvettes had four wheel disk brakes since 65, so unless someone did some changing, it should have disks on the back.......

 

[Midnight 99]

The hood on your 67 is an L88 style. That hood was either aftermarket or someone molded the L88 onto the 67 hood. The L88 hood was only available from the factory on the 68 (80 produced) and 69 (116 produced) L88's. There were plenty of aftermarket hoods available. I had one on my 69 L46 because at city speeds it helped extract hot air from the engine compartment especially when the dual cooling fans kicked in.

 

[udoittwo]

I thought disc brakes require a deeper offset wheel then drums?
I was just asking about the style. I know the 67 was added. My fired up 69 was an L88 with that style hood until my FRIEND backed over the nose with his backhoe. What I'm wondering is if the 69 used that L88 style hood on a small block. Might it be a factory hood on the garage car? Wonder if they were stamped it anywhere with a GM part #.

 

[udoittwo]

As someone stated, the VIN # is on the windshield post. It was a little tough to read but I'm fairly sure if I decoded this correctly[6 # is an 8], it is a towards the end of the run, 1968 not a 69? Did Corvettes use a VIN plate with all the codes. Where is the likely place to look for a build sheet? I thought 68s don't have the "STINGRAY" script on the front fenders? If not, then obviously somethings been changed or might they have use the script in the later cars? The taillights are 68 also.

 

[douglasamariani]

The build sheet usually can be found on top or the side of the gas tank. Sometimes even under the back rug. The

"STINGRAY" script started on the 69.​

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[udoittwo]

The build sheet usually can be found on top or the side of the gas tank. Sometimes even under the back rug. The

"STINGRAY" script started on the 69.

That's right. I remember some one saying it might be on the tank. My memories of my Vettes are from 40 years ago. I haven't been able to get it out of his garage until the 3 BMWs are moved.
Hopefully I can get it home this weekend I'll be able to see it in the light.​

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