Ken's old Vette

A few have been asking about the old Vette Ken has. He sent me some pics and some info on it.


The ‘63 was originally Tuxedo Black and when I got it it had a white skunk stripe on the hood and rear. The car sits as I left it probably 20 or more years ago except it has nicks and scrapes and scratches in the paint from sitting in the garage and all of the chrome has rusted and needs to be restored. The seats in the car now are out of a 1965 I bought and stripped as is the dash pod . Those are factory head rest seats that I think were fairly rare. I do have the original ‘63 seats and other interior parts along with new carpeting and a new convertible top. I also have a factory hard top but it’s missing a few very hard to find stainless trim pieces. I can’t remember which gear I have in the rear but it has a Borg Warner T10 tranny. The engine is a 4 bolt ‘70 vintage block with fuelie heads and a ‘OEM ‘69 Z28 intake. As I recall it is 333 CID. Engine has a factory electronic ignition system for a ‘65 Vette I think and it has a distributor with a cable drive for the tach. The car needs a bunch of TLC and $$$ but it’s doable when I have the time.

MAN! I really like this!

NICE!!!!!!!!!

It would make a great gasser.

John B wrote:It would make a great gasser.

lol
After I seen it I'm not sure I could straight axle it either..

Those vettes are always in style. One of my dream cars for sure!

Looks good Ken. With the other two cars you have, I wouldn't worry about a/c. I think you said you'd want to do power steering and a/c. Add the power steering, forget the a/c with it being a drop top! Drive the other two in the miserable heat. Leave the old school vet for the cooler days and night runs!

Seeing that reminds me of going to church as a kid, we had to take two cars to get us all there cause all we had where mid-year coupe's...lol I remember my dad buying up mid 60's coupes and convertables for less than 3000 back in the 70's oh the good old days.. We once skipped a Red's play off game in 76 (OK it was a big deal to a 7 year old knothole player back then, BIG RED MACHINE ) Cause he found a Numbers matching 65 396 425 horse 4 speed car, goodwood green, in Mt. ADAMS that he just had to have, he bought it for $2900 my mom was pissed cause she had to borrow cash from her sister to make the house payment.. He sold the car in the mid 80's to a buyer for Reggie Jackson for $14,500 as a good driver never restored car. That car went to auction in the mid 90's for $78,000 restored... OK sing it CHER "IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME" Great Car Ken if you need a guy to get you parts, or put it back together, pm me I got a guy....And he is here in NORTHERN KY, you may already know him.....

Thanks for the compliments guys.

After I bought the Z06 I really decided to sell the '63 because people are paying crazy prices for them. I just never got around to listing it. I had really lost interest in it because I let it sit and get all rusted after I had all of the chrome redone. And from sitting in the garage with all of the other crap stacked around it the paint got nicked and scratched.

Lately, I've been buying little parts here and there. Ordered a new gas tank the other day because the one on the car is full of rust from sitting. I've been through the process of cleaning gas tanks and putting the coating in them & it's cheaper and far less time consuming to just replace it. That's all it needs to run. Well, the Holley may need a few parts to freshen it up, we'll see.

The bumpers were rechromed way back when I had the body restored and painted but they need it done again and all of the chrome on the knock-off wheels needs to be redone or replaced. Those darn spinners are about $120 each, the cones are about $30 each and the centers are about $20 each. I see a guy on Craigslist says he has a complete set in excellent condition & he's asking $900 for wheels and all. I should probably go look at them. Or maybe they'd look ok with the chrome knocked off and painted or powder-coated for a lot less money.

Only guy I know around here that does Vette work almost exclusively is John Garrard. Jimmy is the one that shot the paint on mine when he was still alive and John did the glass work. I saw John a couple of years ago at his shop in Crescent Springs.

There is also a guy across the river that sells a lot of nos & repro stuff for Vettes - Keene's. I don't know of anyone else around here with a line on parts and such. If there's someone else I'd appreciate the contact info.

Anyhow, thanks a bunch.

IF u fix it no one will tell u to park it in the back lot....

I don't know if I could go back there or not. It gave me the creeps being around 100 Jessee James look-a-likes.

Yhea John and My Dad and where patners there for a good long while, thats who I was gonna send you to..Tom Keene is a good guy to deal with if you catch him on a good day lol... If you are interested in selling let me know, my dad is looking for one,. He is a serious buyer, not a chain puller that's for sure...

Cratethis wrote:Looks good Ken. With the other two cars you have, I wouldn't worry about a/c. I think you said you'd want to do power steering and a/c. Add the power steering, forget the a/c with it being a drop top! Drive the other two in the miserable heat. Leave the old school vet for the cooler days and night runs!

You're right. To get it rolling I'm not going to dump a bunch of money at it buying those things, but I'm not so sure the Camaro is staying. I'll see if I can get the '63 back on the road next summer & then decide what goes and what stays. I just got the license renewal notices on everything & I'm not happy about the tax bill.

On the bright side, the new gas tank arrived yesterday.

Z-YOU wrote:

Cratethis wrote:Looks good Ken. With the other two cars you have, I wouldn't worry about a/c. I think you said you'd want to do power steering and a/c. Add the power steering, forget the a/c with it being a drop top! Drive the other two in the miserable heat. Leave the old school vet for the cooler days and night runs!

You're right. To get it rolling I'm not going to dump a bunch of money at it buying those things, but I'm not so sure the Camaro is staying. I'll see if I can get the '63 back on the road next summer & then decide what goes and what stays. I just got the license renewal notices on everything & I'm not happy about the tax bill.

On the bright side, the new gas tank arrived yesterday.

i would be proud to own any of the 3 cars ... but if i had to choose 2 it would be the 63 and the Z06

we just picked up the gas tank for our 72 last weekend ... keen had the stuff in stock so it was awesome