1967 Corvette Sting Ray: barn find, parked since 1971

The story

The badge on the hood says 427. The engine underneath is a 283 small block, not original to the car and seized solid. That was my starting point with this 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray, which I brought home from Wisconsin on a 36-hour round trip.

The find

The registration tag reads 1971, which puts its last time on the road about 50 years ago. After that long, a seized engine was no surprise.

Freeing the 283

I filled every cylinder with Marvel Mystery Oil and let it soak. When it came time to turn the engine by hand, I found the crank pulley had no center bolt. The only way to turn it was on the pulley bolts, and those just kept tightening. Next I tried a crankshaft rotation adapter that bolts to the pulley, but even with a cheater bar on the breaker bar the engine stayed stuck. What finally moved it was a regular ratchet, an extension and the cheater bar. Marvel Mystery Oil ran out, a sign the pistons were moving.

Full write-up: How to free a seized engine

First start in 50 years

The mechanical fuel pump still worked, though the fuel it was pumping was not fit for an engine. I gave the 283 a full tune-up: plugs, points, coil, wires, oil and filter, plus a carburetor borrowed from another of my cars. With no key, I hot-wired it. Once I fixed the plug wires, it fired for the first time in 50 years. Running on a boat tank and an electric fuel pump, it smoked heavily enough to make my eyes burn.

Brakes and the first drive

Pulling a wheel showed one corner had no caliper and no brake line. A rounded half-shaft bolt and a missing U-bolt added to the list. I installed a new caliper, new hoses and a brake line kit, then bled all four corners the old-fashioned way. With the boat tank zip-tied in place, the Corvette made its first drive since 1971, a lap around the block.

Pulled the wheel: no caliper and no brake lines, so the brakes came first. Watch the Short: Pulled the Wheel on a '67 Corvette: Spot What's Missing? ↗

Where it stands

The plan has changed since then. I attempted a Hellcat swap and dropped it; that video stays up as a record of what happened. For an earlier restomod plan, I bought a Rothspeed chassis, and the custom Wilwood big brakes from that package went on all four corners of it. I've since sold that frame, and the Corvette sits on its stock frame. The goal now is a street-drivable '67 with the 283. Work on the car so far includes a DeWitts aluminum radiator with electric fans, a new water pump (the engine had no thermostat at all) and Holley LED headlights. It's still a work in progress.

What every barn find taught me: Getting a car running after it sat for years

From earlier in the build: three weeks of fighting upside-down motor mounts and offset frame mounts to fit a Hellcat in the C2 frame. I've since dropped the Hellcat plan. Watch the Short: 3 Weeks to Fit a Hellcat in a 1967 Corvette ↗

Change of plans: why I dropped the Hellcat, sold the frame and went for a '67 I can actually drive. Watch the Short: No More Hellcat in My 1967 Corvette: Here's Why ↗

Heater box

Stuck Blower Fan on My C2 Corvette: Will It Budge? Watch the Short: Stuck Blower Fan on My C2 Corvette: Will It Budge? ↗

What's Hiding in My C2 Corvette's Heater Box? Watch the Short: What's Hiding in My C2 Corvette's Heater Box? ↗

The full story, from barn find to first drive, is in the video below.