Tim G's 65 Corvette.....WOW !

[Belair62]

In March of 2005 I was looking for a mid year roadster as a driver car. I didn’t have real tough criteria, just a clean 327 roadster from ’65, ’66 or ’67 with no AC and a four speed.
I was searching various websites and saw this ’65 for sale in California. It just sounded too good to be true. Very original, great paperwork, nice options, and 29,000 miles.
The owner emailed pictures and I thought about how to go about moving forward with an unknown car in California. Another car came available locally and I was interested, but it sure didn’t sound as attractive as the California red/red car.
I visited with Jim Gessner as the owner told me Jim was familiar with the car. I’ve gotten to know Jim in the past few years and respect what he has to say about a vehicle. Jim confirmed that the car was as represented with low miles and great paperwork. He stated that the car needed to be in the hands of an enthusiast that would bring it to Top Flight or Bloomington status. With the information from Jim I figured that it was worth a trip to Burbank. Upon looking at the vehicle I could see a car that had certainly been in the hands of three great owners over the years, but there was much that needed to be done to bring it up to Top Flight status. Over the years the entire chassis and under hood area had been sprayed with semi gloss black paint and the valve covers, intake, and alternator had been painted with aluminum paint.
The car had been converted to a factory sidepipe setup and power steering had been added along with reproduction knock off wheels, radial tires and a lift kit to allow for clearance of the wider front tires. A trailer hitch came with the car and this required replacement of the leaf spring mounting plate with a modified one that would support the hitch. The spare tire carrier was cut to allow clearance for the trailer hitch bar mounted to the spring plate. The paint looked a bit weak and most interested parties felt the car would require a partial if not total repaint. The interior was strong with a fair amount of dirt and grime. Little things like stains on the carpet and torn shifter boot caught my eye, but all in all, it was a very nice interior. The red hardtop was gorgeous as was the original window sticker, warranty plate and the “Big Harvey Chevrolet” newspaper add from November 1965 featuring Charles Pierce picking up his new red ’66 Corvette. The car still has the “Harvey’s/Radford VA” metal plate mounted on the rear and this must stay as it has been there nearly 40 years. Pretty cool.
The owner and I struck a deal, he had the car for sale for about a year and mine was the first real offer anyone had made. I’ll never understand why this car sat unsold for 12 months except that it desperately needed cleaning and buffing, didn’t sit very well with a front lift kit and poor rear alignment and was priced a bit higher than it should have been. The owner was flexible on his price since there had been little if any interest in the car and he knew I was a real buyer with money in hand.
When the car arrived in Austin, I immediately tore into it. I’ve done hundreds of little things to straighten the car out. After about two days of working the paint and performing minor hand touch ups, it is apparent that no one in their right mind would perform any paintwork on this car. The original “dog legs” (rocker molding tabs) were saved with the car and reattached by a local Motorola engineer that does some of the best fiberglass work you’ve ever seen. The original Julian dated shocks came with the car and were cleaned and reinstalled. The original drag link will go on next weekend along with the original pulleys as these were saved when power steering was added.
After over 100 hours of cleaning the chassis and engine compartment I can say that this is one of most well preserved Corvette chassis I’ve ever seen. I feel that the chassis is better on this car than on my 18,000 mile ’67 tri-power car. The spring mounting plate was changed out with an original without removing the trailing arm bolts, quite a trick. Along with the chassis, the spare tire tub was completely cleaned and in amazing shape so I figured that it was worth repairing the notch that had been cut for the trailer hitch. It turned out great. The interior carpet was shampooed, seats were removed, disassembled and cleaned, door panels and jambs were cleaned, shifter boot was replaced, soft top components were cleaned, and on and on.
The original wheels came with the car and were remounted with reproduction gold lines, not on the car originally, but they look good. The hubcaps were stolen over the years and NOS ones came with the car in boxes dated 1982. The original Uniroyal whitewall spare is in excellent shape and still in the tub.
The front bumper brackets were removed, cleaned and straightened out, various bolts were in the wrong place and were put in their original locations, original inspection marks and tags were uncovered while cleaning the chassis.
I’ve probably put over 200 hours in cleaning and correcting items on this amazing low mile, completely original paint and interior Corvette. This is one of those cars that gets better and better the more you dig into it.
The window sticker is original, but has the ID number completely typed in. Generally, the sequence number is ink stamped, as this was not available when the window sticker was prepared. Through research on the NCRS website, I’ve been able to document that GM often times would not release window stickers with very early production cars because dealers could not sell them until a certain date. The window stickers were forwarded at or near the time the car could be sold. It is not unusual to find window stickers up to around car number 2000 with the sequence number typed in as they knew the complete ID number of the car when it was prepared. I’ve been collecting window stickers with this characteristic and have a number of them in my files.
I’ll present this car for Flight Judging at the Waco, TX NCRS Regional at the end of October. This is one of the toughest NCRS events in the country as it attracts an abundance of qualified judges and an amazing array of Corvettes. If a car is able to receive a Top Flight award at Waco, the owner should feel comfortable presenting the car for judging at the NCRS National event or at Bloomington Gold. I feel comfortable that this car will be Top Flight material at Waco. That’s a pretty high honor for a Corvette with its original paint and interior.

[MosportGreen66]

Tim, I have said it once and I'll say it again. Beautiful Corvette you have there. I remember you mentioning to me you got this car a little while back! I have some questions for you. I'll send you a PM.

Punch that L79!

[olredalert]

-----But Tim,

-----You know they are going to get you for that non-matching spare. Gee, arent you loosing sleep over that. I know I would be beside myself.......Oh ya!,,,,NICE CAR!!!!!!even if the judges dock you for that huge infraction........Bill S

[Xplantdad]

Tim,

Awesome Corvette! Thanks for sharing the history on the car...and the work and the man hours that you put into the car really show...thanks for the cool pictures, too!

[Seattle Sam]

Tim,
Great car! It looks nearly brand new!



Do you think it's ironic that you were looking for a "driver" and once you found it, you have turned it into Top Flight material? Such is the disease...

No offense intended, great job bring back a real beauty!
-Sam

[hvychev]

Cool ride Tim!

[markjohnson]

I love the red interior and have always thought 1966 had the best looking gas cap of all 'vettes. Those L-79's are real thumpers. They sound and run great.

[Stefano]

Cool

[Steve Shauger]

I really appreciate the approach your taking, by preserving as much originality as possible. Its been a long road but the outcome is awesome.

[Charley Lillard]

Can I have it ?