When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My name is Chris. I'm brand new to the forum. My wife and I recently became new custodians of her father's 63 split window. He's the original owner and it's time to give the car a little love. I'm looking for a good mechanic in the Los Angeles area. Any help would be appreciated.
Looking forward to learning and contributing where I can.
Welcome! Watch out for the vultures circling. SWCs are hot right now, if you didn’t know. It’s all dependent on condition, but an OG SWC can command some serious coin. Also make sure you have an insurance policy on it for agreed value. And make sure it’s up to date.
Welcome to the CF. I can't help recommending a shop, I'm on the east coast. But I would suggest before you find a shop, get the Owners Manual out and familiarize yourself with the basics. Next go on line and order an Assembly Instruction manual, commonly referred to as the "AIM". It was the text book used to assemble these cars on the line. These two publications will help in the future when you find a shop. You can take the parts words related to the possible work to be done see the part and understand what is being worked on etc. Here is an example. If I said you need new half shafts, would you know what I'm talking about, or man your birdcage is really bad? These books show the way forward to enjoy the ownership. These cars DO NOT like to sit. Drive it!
We don't know your mechanical capabilities, but basic work is is just that. Tell us about yourself. We are here to help! Dennis
Adding to the good advice posted above by Dennis, I'd recommend you also acquire a copy of the shop manual. It can also do much to help educate you about these antique machines.
Welcome, welcome, welcome. The Forum has some great, knowledgable members who will love to help you in this journey. I own a 63 coupe as well. The more you read about the uniqueness of the car with the so very many one year only parts, your appreciation for this model with grow. Make sure you are able to secure any and all odds and ends parts that were laying around, and keep whatever you replace until you reach a level of knowledge to understand what’s important to the maintaining the originality of the car..,,..as a side note, you are going to have an absolute blast each and every day!!! All the best, Mike. 👍
Welcome! Watch out for the vultures circling. SWCs are hot right now, if you didn’t know. It’s all dependent on condition, but an OG SWC can command some serious coin. Also make sure you have an insurance policy on it for agreed value. And make sure it’s up to date.
and depending what kind of love you want to give it you can hurt the value and history of these cars.
Send me a PM with your contact info. There will be a lot of information I can give which would be too long for this post. There are only a few mechanics left here in LA who you can trust. I can help you make a decision on what needs to get done.
Thank you all for the warm welcome and advice. I will order an "AIM" and try to get a shop manual as well.
I've loved cars since I was a little kid. I learned to drive on a 68 VW bug and by the time I was a senior in high school I owned two cars, including a 69 Camaro. (Wish I still had that one!) These days, I own a Porsche GT3 Touring for fun, but have always loved my father-in-law's 63 Corvette. (my birth year) Unfortunately, the car has been sitting for the last 2-3 years. We tried to start it, and can get it to fire up, but it won't stay running. Our plan is to get it in good mechanical order and probably a paint job. (The paint is pretty bad at this point)
The car doesn't look very good at the moment, but I'll see if I can get a couple of "before" photos and post them.
Chris - not certain where the 'threshold' is but the CF requires new members to post up a particular number of posts before they can use the PM system. Pretty sure the number is fairly low and with this
thread, you're on your way to reaching it.
By the way, have you lived in PVE for very long? Beautiful area, my step son and his family live in San Pedro and we like to drive over to PVE when we can.
Reason I ask how long you've been in PVE is...I know of two other midyear owners in that area. Well, one I met when we got him to join us on this "L72 Count" thread for high horse 66 Bigblocks,
started by a fellow CF member, Darryl (68Hemi) and we have over 50 owners who've joined us on that thread, including CF member 'MikeinBlack' with his Maroon L72 Coupe.
Check out this thread and scroll down to post #195. He might be a neighbor of yours. C2 1966 L72 count - Page 10 - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion
And, late last year, the step son took a pic of a Red L72 at a small car show for the San Pedro Waterfront Project. When I looked him up, I'm sure he also lives in PVE.
Mike T - Prescott AZ
Agree with the above that talking to a well established forum member like Boyan, is a very smart first step. Keep posting up even short replies here and you'll soon reach the threshold to send someone a PM.
Oh, and as others have said, definitely post some pics. Whole car, engine, interior. We don't care about condition or if it needs a wash. Just get some pics up.
04-18-2023, 10:56 PM
1963 Split Window
Dennis
Dennis
