Did an engine swap on my Vette yesterday.
TL;DR--It was my father in laws car for 30 years and I inherited it, didn't pay a dime for it.
A little back story about this car. It was bought by my father-in-law in 1972 or 73 when he was in law school at the University of Illinois. He drove it as his daily driver for about 6-7 years, while dating who would become his wife and my mother-in-law. Once he had kids, it became his "toy" driving it less and less each year. He was a big fan of Corvettes, even had a '63 Split Window in the 80's alongside this car. He kept this one because he had dated his wife in it, and eventually only drove it a few times a year for parades and such. He would get it out every year and have his mechanic get it up and running, and repeat that every spring essentially.
It was restored at some point in the 80's (I was told around '86, but based on some pics I've seen it may have been anywhere from '86-'88.) and engine was rebuilt, paint, pretty much complete tear down. My FIL didn't really have time to do much with it, as he did everything--he was the Circuit Court judge, did oil and gas law stuff on the side, farmed a little, was a Mason, head of the Fire Dept., Rotary Club, you get the idea. EVERYBODY knew him and his family and they know his car. I could drove it around and got a few ppl asking me who I was and why I was in his car. Most of the above info I got from his good friend who also did most the work on the car.
Unfortunately, cancer took him in 2002, before I even knew him. The car sat in a barn from then, only getting started once in a while and moved to a few different resting places, no one really wanting to put the work into it that it needed. That's where I came in.
I started dating my wife my senior year of college in 2005. When I took my first trip to meet her family, she told me about the Corvette in the garage. Gorgeous blonde, and a Corvette in the family no one wants to claim? Win-win! We got married in 2008 and I hinted I would like to restore the car, and her mom hinted that she wanted it out of her sight because it only served as a reminder of her late husband. She started getting more serious about selling it, word getting out in her small town that it might be for sale, and a few family friends offered to buy it. It was finally offered to us by my MIL and SIL and I had to say yes. I have been gradually restoring things as I drive it.
Last year I was doing some maintenance and broke a bolt off in the block. While trying to drill it out, I accidentally drilled a hole in the cylinder wall. It is a very expensive mistake, and now the engine needs major surgery (a pin in the hole and cylinder bored and sleeved). Since originality is very much prized in the classic Corvette community right now, and so the original numbers matching engine typically adds about $10k of value to the car, so I am going to get it rebuilt right, so the new engine is going in for the meantime, and I may leave it in the car for a while. I will feel a lot more at ease beating on it.
TL;DR--It was my father in laws car for 30 years and I inherited it, didn't pay a dime for it.
A little back story about this car. It was bought by my father-in-law in 1972 or 73 when he was in law school at the University of Illinois. He drove it as his daily driver for about 6-7 years, while dating who would become his wife and my mother-in-law. Once he had kids, it became his "toy" driving it less and less each year. He was a big fan of Corvettes, even had a '63 Split Window in the 80's alongside this car. He kept this one because he had dated his wife in it, and eventually only drove it a few times a year for parades and such. He would get it out every year and have his mechanic get it up and running, and repeat that every spring essentially.
It was restored at some point in the 80's (I was told around '86, but based on some pics I've seen it may have been anywhere from '86-'88.) and engine was rebuilt, paint, pretty much complete tear down. My FIL didn't really have time to do much with it, as he did everything--he was the Circuit Court judge, did oil and gas law stuff on the side, farmed a little, was a Mason, head of the Fire Dept., Rotary Club, you get the idea. EVERYBODY knew him and his family and they know his car. I could drove it around and got a few ppl asking me who I was and why I was in his car. Most of the above info I got from his good friend who also did most the work on the car.
Unfortunately, cancer took him in 2002, before I even knew him. The car sat in a barn from then, only getting started once in a while and moved to a few different resting places, no one really wanting to put the work into it that it needed. That's where I came in.
I started dating my wife my senior year of college in 2005. When I took my first trip to meet her family, she told me about the Corvette in the garage. Gorgeous blonde, and a Corvette in the family no one wants to claim? Win-win! We got married in 2008 and I hinted I would like to restore the car, and her mom hinted that she wanted it out of her sight because it only served as a reminder of her late husband. She started getting more serious about selling it, word getting out in her small town that it might be for sale, and a few family friends offered to buy it. It was finally offered to us by my MIL and SIL and I had to say yes. I have been gradually restoring things as I drive it.
Last year I was doing some maintenance and broke a bolt off in the block. While trying to drill it out, I accidentally drilled a hole in the cylinder wall. It is a very expensive mistake, and now the engine needs major surgery (a pin in the hole and cylinder bored and sleeved). Since originality is very much prized in the classic Corvette community right now, and so the original numbers matching engine typically adds about $10k of value to the car, so I am going to get it rebuilt right, so the new engine is going in for the meantime, and I may leave it in the car for a while. I will feel a lot more at ease beating on it.