Let me begin by stating the obvious... I'm completely clueless compared to just about everyone on this site. Before posting, I've spent the past week reading just about every post written in the past 6 months to try and prevent asking you all any stupid questions. At this point I'm certin I'll be asking questions that many of you have read a dozen times so I'll apologize in advance.

To make a very long story short... I followed one of those urban myth stories about a car sitting somewhere in a barn thinking all along it was a bunch of BS. Beleive it or not I have uncovered a 1969 chevelle SS 396 convertible 4 speed that was intended for restoration 10 years ago. Thru a string of events the restoration never happend and the car has been sitting along with boxes of part (including complete interior, trim and convertible top) I've seen the car with my own eyes and I am picking up the car on wednesday evening. (I'll post photos on Thursday). I really dont want to go into much detail however I will tell you the amazing story when the car is sitting in my garage wednesday night.

At this point I don't have all of the numbers but I have been told by the owner (10 years ago) that where it sits also sits the original drivetrain from the engine back and that all numbers match. Once I have the numbers I will use the resources on this page to find out what I have. Whatever I have, it far exceeds what I am paying for the car. My question is this... I dont intend to sell the car, however I want to make sure to maximize the value of this vehicle. If in fact the car is numbers matching and has good value does it makes sense to have a professional company do a complete ground up restoration vs. fixing it up as a driver as I did with my clone 69 z28. As I said... I'm no expert but I did a nice job on the z using a local body shops and mechanic. However if the car justifies the expense I want to have it done the right way. Any advice from this group would be greatly appreciated.

If you pay a shop to do a zillion point resto, it will likely cost a king's ransom, even if they are giving a good deal. Shop time is expensive and resto's take a lot of time because everything has to be disassembled , cleaned and then restored. I would do what you have done in the past. Just make sure that what you do is not doing any damage to the car. Benign neglect is less harmful than unskilled modification or repairs. Keep in touch with us and, as you know, there is a lot of help available to you here. Welcome to the site.

There are many things on this project that you can do yourself fairly easily such as interior replacement, replacing front end parts, trim, etc. that can save you big over having a professional shop do a turn key job. I would spend the money on the paint and body work and do as much of the rest as i could do myself.

There are many things on this project that you can do yourself fairly easily such as interior replacement, replacing front end parts, trim, etc. that can save you big over having a professional shop do a turn key job. I would spend the money on the paint and body work and do as much of the rest as i could do myself.

I totally agree here. With such a wide range of help out there (this website being the main one) is so much easier to do a resto yourself. You have to ask yourself, do I want a true driver or some auction trailer queen. A shop will fix it up concors for you and you can turn around and sell it for a minor profit. Or you can do all you can like engine, interior, and chassis and be able to drive it and have fun and get your money back out of it. My suggestion...only take it to the shop for speciality stuff like body work.

Good advice so far. Remember, there are NO stupid questions, except for the one(s) you don't ask! We ALL have gotten help from this site in one way or another.

Don't be in a hurry to decide what to do w. the car. Get it home, inventory what you have, maybe even try to get it runing again. Drive it for a while and enjoy it. Then, as time goes by, you will begin to figure out what and where to go. Visit here often and please post some pics! Hey, it's another '69 that has been saved!

Where are those pics ?? Did you get the deal done?? Inquiring minds NEED to know :D :waving:

Thanks for all of the great advise... My preference is to enjoy the car once it is done.... I'm not real big on trailer queens. My thought was if it is a 396/375 car with a rare color and options, I should let a pro handle the complete restoration. If its not a very rare car to do it myself with a lot of help!!

I should have added in my 1st post that the car is a gutted rolling chassic with all parts (original and reproduction) in storage. I've seen and touched both the car and been in the storage and its all there. My plan, if I was to do it myself was to bring it to a local body shop that does alot of muscle cars for the body and paint and the drivetrain would be done by a good friend that is a GM dealership mechanic who helped me with my camaro. I did the complete interior including dash and glass and the suspension on the camaro and would do the same on this car with as much help as you could all give me. I've not yet worked on a convertible so I'll need advice on that as well.

I'm picking the car up on Wednesday afternoon and will inventory and photograpy everything.... Once I have the car in my hands, I'll tell you a story that will blow your mind!

:beers:

[QUOTE=Gobow69;1036635]Thanks for all of the great advise... My preference is to enjoy the car once it is done.... I'm not real big on trailer queens.
QUOTE]

Based on that statement I would go with doing as much of the work yourself. Then the paint becomes a decision on how bad you are going to feel when you get the inevitable scratches and rock chips when you drive it. I have always been a advocate of the daily driver school. I have never had a trailer queen, but have driven "old" cars as my primary rig since 1968.

I believe that if you have a shop do it, and spend 60-100K you will view the car differently than if you do the work and spend say 20-30K. I remember a member here that did the big bucks resto intending to use the car but got so paralzed and worried about damaging the "perfect" car and significantly decreasing the value he just sold it and got a nice one he could drive and enjoy with worrying about spends 10's of hours detailing the undercarriage every time he drove it.

Do the mechanicals right, give it a decent interior and paint job, but enjoy it. Keep it close to original if it is indeed numbers matching (I've kept all the original stuff off of mine as I have upgraded) so the next guy can do the full boat 998 point restro if they want.

And remember "stupid" questions are easier to deal with than redoing work that is installed when a simple question could have changed the outcome. Patrick

right after painting that perfect paint job.... instead of the proper S.S. stripe's ..... just have a bulleye painted on the side !! after the first drive or two around town you'll understand ........ :( I'm not trying to put you off your project ... just warring you up front !!!

:thumbsup: Gobow, I don't know what you paid, but it sounds just short of a gift.

I've had this rusty 68 in my garage for the last 2 years, and every time I take out the garbage or the recylcling, I run my hands over the dirty ol' girl, and I still love her. To recant the others, take your time. Chevy is not making any new ones. If all you are after is a Barret Jackson home run, then yes, send it out. If this ride is an extension of you, and your love of the American muscle car, then slow down, crack a beer, sit back and admire the prize you have scored.

Pieces of art don't happen overnite. You will love and cherish your ride all the more if it's you breaking a sweat, or busting a blister working on it.

I don't know if you are some rich man, but the real joy in hotrodding is being the man who put the "wax on, wax off".

Spend the dough if you have it.

Break a sweat if you don't.

Either way, it's in your driveway, not mine. When the paperboy rides by on his bike and goes "oooohh aaahhh', you'll feel even prouder if it's your blood, sweat and tears.

What do I know, I'm just an OutCast in a world moving too fast.

Cheers.
OC

Keep us posted.

Thanks.... I completely agree... Getting your hands dirty makes the pride in ownership so much better.. I just want to make sure I get the big stuff done right...

I'm up for a good car story...waiting for wednesday!

A nut and bolt professional resto will easily eat up $75+++. Funny thing is that you can go spend that kind of money on an interesting new car, like a Corvette Z06, and not be shy about driving that car everywhere - but as noted, most pro resto cars really do not get driven for "fear" that some paint will chip etc.

Thomas

I'm recieving the car tomorrow however I was able to get some numbers today and wondering if you guys could help me out. Ive posted on the trim team thread but thought I'd pass the info back here as well.

from the trim tag I've been able to find that the car was built in Baltimore the 1st week of April. Its an Azul Turquoise car with black interior.. Im not sure if that is a common color or not? I also dont know the convertible top color as I've been told that the interior and top may differ. I pulled the vin number and the numbers off the rear end and wanted to know where I might be able to find more information regarding the original equipment.... Once again, I'm a real novice so I must apologize for any dumb questions I may be asking...


Numbers off the rear end

left of differencial (top) 484
left of differencial (bottom) 97990

right of differencial (at an angle) B148

trim tag: ST69 13667 BAL232774 BDY
TR 756 55 PNT
04A L15863

VIn 136679B36xxxx

1969 2 door convertible built in Baltimore MD
Black bucket seats
Azure turquoise

built the 1st week of April 1969

Rear diff date code is probably B 14 9 for Feb 14, 1969

If it's B 14 8 it's from a 1968

I believe the code 13667 is a convertible not a 2 door hardtop... man I hope I'm right!

It is
I had a brain fart
13637 is the hdtp

Get the dates and casting numbers off the engine components and post them here. We'll help decode them for you.

Nate

Ive read and been told that the only way to be sure you have a 69 SS is by matching the block (396) with the body number as the SS option was not indicated by any coding on the car. However I have also read that if your (Baltimore) trim tag has an "L" after the build date that you almost certainly have an "SS".... any thoughts?

see below:


BAL ~ Baltimore, Maryland
Assembly month padded with leading zero where applicable.
Various machine stamped 1 and 2 digit numbers; meaning unknown but speculation is the body assembly jig number.
Some have two letters machine stamped after the body date; "B M", "B L"; some have one letter, some have no letter: meaning unknown but many suspect the "L" is indicative of a SS optioned Chevelle. To date, all verified SS optioned cars have the letter "L" and those known to NOT be SS optioned do not have it.

Six-digit data processing code on last line. First three digits meaning is unknown but second three digits are trim inspection sequence number found on trim card.

Have you ever put on a pair of pants that have been in you closet for a couple of years only to find $100 bill in the front pocket? This is kinda like that x 1000!


I just recieved the car tonight and a few of the parts in boxes that could fit in the trunk... This has been like finding a hidden treasure. This car was disassembled in 1986 and all of the original parts and literally 100s of new parts have been in a time capsule for 20 years. The rolling chassic has been indoors for 20 years... the last six in a high school auto shop as a teaching tool.. The students have changed brakes, taken off and reattached the fenders, brakes, wheel bearings and so on... and then put about the worst paint job ive ever seen on a car. Thank god the never cut into the car.... The shell is in great condition with one rust hole the size of a dime in the driver floor. The quarters, doors and fenders are in awesome condition. All of the replacement parts and new parts have been stored in a shipping container all the while. I opened a box of brand new parts, most is sealed boxes and blister packages. The box was packed with crumpled news paper dated 1985. I found brand new SS emblems in a GM box that I'm sure is 20 years old.

Over the next several days I will be picking up and inventorying all of the parts. I am also picking up a binder with every reciept that was kept from the original restoration attempt. The seats are in great condition and have never been recovered.... took a look for the build sheet with no luck but hoping to find some information in the binder.

Ive taken a few photos of the car that I will post tomorrow including the original smog pump (california car) and a 20 year old.... brand new convertible top in pretty good conditon.

This is going to be awesome!

:beers:

Sounds like everyone's "dream car"!! Look forward to pics and progress reports as you move along.

Here is a link to the 1st few photos I took last night. Over the next few days I will be collecting all of the parts from the storage and will post more photos then. I'm sure I'm going to need help decoding casting numbers...

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/gobowsragtop/1969_chevelle_ss_396_convertible/

Congrats, looks like an excellent find!

Great find!
The interesting part would be the story about why the restoration was stopped.

rearend date is a 9.
See how the circle on top is quite a bit bigger than what looks like a circle below. 8's are not this way. In fact they are just the opposite. This is a 9.

Looks like an excellent restoration candidate.

Are you still going to call me?
Nate

Hey Nate... I just called you an hour ago.... your machine is not working...

Hey Nate... I just called you an hour ago.... your machine is not working...

My caller ID shows no record of your call.
Maybe you dialed the wrong number.
I don't have an answering machine
Nate

This just shows that they are still out there waiting for someone to find them. Nice start for a restoration too.:)

Looks like a lot of fun - where are you located in NorCal?

Still waiting on those pics!

Started disassembly today... front clip and brakes. I was able to locate the stamp on the rearend housing (CI0319B) 373 Posi built 3/19/69 in Buffalo. Still looking for the "holy grail" build sheet... not holding my breath however I found several other numbers on the dif, drive shaft side.. GM58 on the right side and 3959088NF on the left? What do these numbers tell me... Thanks in advance again!

Finally picked up most of the parts that were in storage. It unreal what was in there and untouched for so many years. I am able to confirm that the transmission is numbers matching but dont know how to tell what type of 4 speed it is. I also photoed the transmission and one of the two motors that came with the car. One of the motors is susposed to be the original and the other is a moter he built that was not stock.. I have put photos of this motor (I believe) on the site below. I also have picked up the original gage cluster with the 7k tach... Any help you all can give me is greatly appreciated.

Dave
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/gobowsragtop/1969_chevelle_ss_396_convertible/

Dave,
I sent you a PM.
Please call me.
Nate

Just finished cataloging most of the items I was able to pick up today.. This just keeps getting more and more interesting... I opened box after box on new parts that are 20 years old. Everything from lifters to cams to rubber and chrome. All of the wheel caps and trim in plastic bags. I even opend a sealed box with four Gabriel Hijackers sealed in plastic! Brand new wiring harness and all interior panels, cranks and handles. When I get everything laid out I'll take more photos and post them.

Both blocks I have (3955272) and (3969854) appear to be correct 69 396 blocks the 1st one is stamped Hi performance passenger or Truck and the 2nd just Hi performance passenger. I'm trying to figure out if either is the correct block for the car.

Any help you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated.. I will also post on the Tag Team thread.

Dave

Do either blocks have a vin stamped on them?

Yes one has a partial stamp that I have posted on the site listed in this thread. I can only get a couple of numbers from it and they dont seem to match my vin... but I really cant tell.

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/gobowsragtop/1969_chevelle_ss_396_convertible/

P.S. I just read that the P9C26A on my trans stand for P (muncie) 9 (1969) C26 (march 26) and A (M20).

B would be (M21) and C would be (M22)
source: http://www.5speeds.com/muncie2.htm

Dave

It appears that neither of the blocks are the original... correct me if Im wrong but.... T1025JL would be a L78 with T400 from a camaro and CE158802 would be a 1971 date warranty block that could be from my car.

No matter... I'm still building it to be as close to original while still enjoying the drive... I cant find a vin # on either block but will keep looking.

Dave

Looks like it will be a very nice car when finished. :cool: Man what a find to get one in that condition and vert no less :thumbsup: Keep us posted on the progress and welcome to the ultimate in Chevelleness! :beers: