ErikStenger
Registered User
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2008
- Messages
- 5,925
- Age
- 43
What?s better than a barn find? How about, preserved under a Ponderosa Pine tree! The second owner of this early ?54 Vette drove this car to a friend?s house to have the seats reupholstered and took them out, set an old wooden Pepsi pop bottle case in place of the driver?s seat and drove it home and parked it under a Ponderosa Pine tree. That was 1963 in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado at an elevation of 9,000 feet.
Well, 43 years later, I had the good fortune of rescuing this gem. All of the tires were flat and sitting on the ground, one would think there wasn?t much of a frame left. Well, not only is the frame rust free, but the original painted frame stamp from the factory is still on the frame and very much legible. The umbrella of green pine needles above and 6-inches deep on the ground miraculously saved this car, along with the rare hardtop.
After jockeying around a corral full of old Vegas I brought the ?Vette home about as excited as I was when my wife had our first born.
When I first heard about it, there was no way that in the Rockies would this be a restorable ?Vette, so I was focused on (building) a bad ass street rod. Everything is stone original.
After rebuilding the carbs, installing a new fuel pump, changing the oil, the compression checked out fair, I cleaned and adjusted the great looking brakes and cleaned out the fuel tank, I took this gem for a cruise around the block. Think I got any stares?
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2008/10/31/hey-corvette-folks-what-would-you-do/
(My grandfather has the same year vette,orginal owner since new. Looks brand new, came with the rare bubble top.)
Well, 43 years later, I had the good fortune of rescuing this gem. All of the tires were flat and sitting on the ground, one would think there wasn?t much of a frame left. Well, not only is the frame rust free, but the original painted frame stamp from the factory is still on the frame and very much legible. The umbrella of green pine needles above and 6-inches deep on the ground miraculously saved this car, along with the rare hardtop.
After jockeying around a corral full of old Vegas I brought the ?Vette home about as excited as I was when my wife had our first born.
When I first heard about it, there was no way that in the Rockies would this be a restorable ?Vette, so I was focused on (building) a bad ass street rod. Everything is stone original.
After rebuilding the carbs, installing a new fuel pump, changing the oil, the compression checked out fair, I cleaned and adjusted the great looking brakes and cleaned out the fuel tank, I took this gem for a cruise around the block. Think I got any stares?
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2008/10/31/hey-corvette-folks-what-would-you-do/
(My grandfather has the same year vette,orginal owner since new. Looks brand new, came with the rare bubble top.)
