New Find - 1969 Corvette L89

[MosportGreen66]

Hi All,

This past weekend Dave (72-SS-L48), our father and I took a flight to Iowa to purchase our latest find, a 1969 Corvette Coupe L89. It is 1 of 390 produced in 1969.

The car is silver on red, and retains its born with original motor, transmission, tags, body/paint, and interior. All mechanical items are born with original like the 842 heads, tri-power intake, carbs, smog, exhaust manifolds, 4:11 rear, 882 alternator, 8400 starter, all 4 F41 shocks, distributor (w tag) and many others. VIN is on the frame in two spots. Documentation includes the original tank sheet, original POP, and all history since day1. We were even able to meet the original owner's son.

Options include L71, L89, M21, 4.11s, TI, F41, white stripe tires, AM/FM, tinted glass. It was originally delivered end of March 1969 to Shafer Motors in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. The original owner had the car for long tenure and took it to a restoration shop about 12 years ago for what would have resulted in significant modification. The original owner passed away before the shop started modification work (blessing for the car!) but the shop did disassemble it removing the body, suspension, and motor from the frame and they also blasted the frame. To the shop's credit, they bagged, labeled, and retained every nut/bolt/part they touched.

The estate sold the car to a long time family friend and it sat in a heated garage for the last 10 years - body on a cart, frame against the wall, parts in boxes. Now is where the fun began. The day before we arrived, the seller and his son assembled the front and rear suspension. We dropped the block on the frame, assembled the motor for transport purposes, installed the bellhousing/transmission, gas tank, dropped the body on the frame, install most interior items, 1 door, the core support/radiator, the hood, and then wrapped up and boxed up all other parts for the car. The only missing items are a front windshield and rocker moldings. The only dated components needed are a center carb, and water pump. The car retains all other original to the car parts!

We're very impressed with the original paint and the original interior. Similarly, the chrome, carpet, and many original under body inspection markings are best left untouched and preserved. The goal is to fix a couple cracks, correct the paint, deep clean the interior, and then reinstall. We'll restore the chassis and engine compartment per original and then campaign nationally. We believe that is a great candidate to leave most original!

The best part of the trip was being able to reconnect and spend time with our good friends Bill Wente (67Since67) and his wife Jani. Our families initially met @ the NCRS National Convention where our ’67 Corvettes achieved the coveted 4-Star Bowtie award. We’ve kept current but due to the virus, have not been able to travel to see eachother. We had a great dinner out and then got to tour Bill’s outstanding collection and world class shop/memorabilia. Bill is keeping the L89 until the transportation service can pick it up and bring it back to NY. It couldn’t be in better company or safer space! Bill – thank you again for your friendship and most kind gesture, we sincerely appreciate your help.

I’ll do my best to keep the thread current. A good first step might be MCACN 2021 (or 2022) as a Garage Find!

Thanks,
Dan

[MosportGreen66]

Pics of what we walked into!

[MosportGreen66]

More detail pics

[MosportGreen66]

Mechanical pics

[MosportGreen66]

Assembly of frame for transport. We got help lifting the body from 5-6 friends of the seller. Great guys! They worked for Rolling Rock.

Dave absolutely kicked ass during this project. The guy was a machine - tactical and careful with a great result.

[MosportGreen66]

Docs... purposely protected but sharing what we felt comfortable with

[RPOLS3]

Wow - congratulations. Looks like a great project. Looking forward to the updates and hopefully seeing it at MCACN.

[MosportGreen66]

We rented a Penske box truck with a uHual trailer. The looks we got all weekend... LOL

These are pics from the trip to Bill's shop. I purposely protected the pic in Bill's garage for privacy.

[Xplantdad]

Very cool Dan!!!

[napa68]

All I can say is WOW!