[VIDEO] Getting a 1965 Corvette Back on the Road After 45 Years of Storage

By
Mitch Talley
-
5
11593

[VIDEO] Getting a 1965 Corvette Back on the Road After 45 Years of Storage


A YouTuber named John Reynolds picked up this 1965 Corvette barn find about a year ago, after the vintage Sting Ray had spent 45 years doing absolutely nothing.

He hoped simply washing off decades of dirt would magically make the car run like a top again, but alas, no such luck.

Thus, his barn find quickly turned into “a hole” in John’s head, as well as a “black hole” in his wallet.

[VIDEO] Getting a 1965 Corvette Back On the Road After 45 Years of Storage


Naturally, he replaced the battery and fluids and poured in some new gas, but that wasn’t nearly enough to get his new old car trustworthy enough to make it roadworthy. It seems the car’s original 327 engine has been replaced with a road-weary 350 that’s not quite up to the task, so he has to invest in new spark plugs, spark plug wires, distributor cap points, condenser, and a carburetor rebuild.

Once that’s done, he cranks ‘er up, but doesn’t much care for the sound he believes could be the ticking of a lifter. After the removal of a quart of oil and the addition of automatic transmission fluid (for its detergent abilities), he lets the car sit overnight and is pleasantly surprised to find the ticking gone before a quick test drive that ends on the side of the road.

[VIDEO] Getting a 1965 Corvette Back On the Road After 45 Years of Storage


Unfortunately, that leads to a new discovery that the gas tank is full of rust and the pre-filter is clogged, so it’s time to pull out the credit card for replacements.

That misfortune is followed by another miscue – a leaking radiator that forces the purchase of – you guessed it – a new one, along with the discovery of numerous mysterious oil leaks.

[VIDEO] Getting a 1965 Corvette Back On the Road After 45 Years of Storage


By the end of the video, the Sting Ray – which admittedly looks quite nice in its yellow paint and black interior – isn’t completely done, not by a long shot, but at least John is making progress.

We wish him the best on his journey.


Source:
John Reynolds / YouTube

Related:
[VIDEO] Barn Find 1969 Corvette Gets Its First Wash in Decades
[VIDEO] Dennis Collins Breaks Out the Heavy Equipment to Rescue Two Barn Find Corvettes
[VIDEO] Derek at Vice Grip Garage Works on a Long-Neglected 1978 Silver Anniversary Corvette

Subscribe Now:

 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

5 COMMENTS

  1. If that is a 350 then it has the top end of a 327/300 horse motor so that was probably the original motor. Plus, ATF to cure a sticky lifter? I don’t know if I would recommend that.

  2. Although the video shows that this C2 coupe has many ’65 features, including the seat pattern, emblems and wheel covers, I was thinking it might actually be a ’66, given that it has no B pillar vents. Then I saw that someone posted the same observation as a comment to the Youtube video, to which John responded that its B pillar vents had been filled in and that their outline was still slightly visible. I don’t ever recall seeing a ’65 coupe that had its B pillar vents filled in.

  3. I had a similar situation with a 65 coupe that had been sitting for 25 years. I ended up investing 20K more than the purchase price to get it roadworthy. I still don’t trust it 100%. Barn finds have a lot of hidden issues. A lot of the time that is why they were parked. I’ve had 12 Corvettes, sometimes the surprises never stop.

  5. the return on throwing money over a car parts counter after washing off three decades of dirt completely trounces throwing it up the skirt of some barfly you hope is clean after she takes a five minute shower to wash off thirty minutes of last call;

Comments are closed.