[VIDEO] Chip Foose Shows Off a ’63 Split Window Corvette Fuelie as His Next Project Car

By
Keith Cornett
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6
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[VIDEO] Chip Foose Shows Off a '63 Split Window Corvette Fuelie as His Next Project Car


When it to comes the 1963 Corvette Split Window, there is not a hotter vintage car on the market. Just looking at the auction results from both Mecum Kissimmee and Barrett-Jackson shows just how much collectors appreciate the iconic one-year design, either as original examples or those that have been beautifully restomodded.

Automotive designer and car builder Chip Foose recently got his hands on a 1963 Corvette Sting Ray Sport Coupe for his next project, and from the start of the video, it wasn’t apparent from the get-go which type of restoration that Chip was looking at doing.

[VIDEO] Chip Foose Shows Off a '63 Split Window Corvette Fuelie as His Next Project Car


After introducing the 63 Corvette Split window, we learn that it is still wearing the original paint. Might we be getting a period-correct rebuild instead of a wild restomod? To help determine the numbers on the car, he drives across the street to see his resident Corvette expert Steve from Automotive Expertise, who has restored upwards of 300 Corvettes according to Chip.

Steve looks like a guy that has restored hundreds of Corvettes and Chip asks for him to take a look at the project car. The fact that Chip says “make a list so I can make it original again” was music to our ears. Unfortunately, that list started growing after the light was shined on the various numbers and components under the hood, starting with a decked engine pad and an incorrect engine block.

Other inconsistences include a wrong exhaust manifold cover and one of the valve covers features a well-known casting seam that only appeared later in the midyear’s production.

[VIDEO] Chip Foose Shows Off a '63 Split Window Corvette Fuelie as His Next Project Car


Soon, Chip is having a hard time keep up with the list…”The water pump’s incorrect. The alternator’s incorrect. The coil’s incorrect. I don’t see Delco patent pending on the [distributor cap],” says the Corvette expert who is finding all these inconsistencies with the car without even consulting a book or manual.

The list keeps going. “The heater hoses need to be replaced. The overflow tank is from 1966, and the radiator cap is incorrect,” says Steve.

As the attention turns to the interior, it’s clear that the car has been disassembled and then wasn’t put back together very well. Where the dash was riveted to the firewall, now it’s showing a majority of the holes being drilled out. It has a Hurst shifter in the car, but some good news was that the seats appear to be original, along with the small storage areas underneath them.

Despite all these wrongs on the car, Chip believes its worth making right, especially since he got it as a killer deal. The selling price of the Sting Ray was undisclosed.

This is one project I am looking forward to. Let’s just hope that content comes a little more regularly than some of his previous episodes featuring the custom 1962. Will you be watching?

[VIDEO] Chip Foose Shows Off a '63 Split Window Corvette Fuelie as His Next Project Car


From Foose Design via YouTube:

Today we take a deep dive into my newest purchase, the ’63 Split-Window Corvette.

If you’re a Corvette guru, I want you to tell me how rare this car really is!

Here’s the VIN #: 30837S112813


Source:
Foose Design / YouTube

Related:
[VIDEO] Watch Chip Foose Design a Set of Custom Wheels for a C1 Restomod
[VIDEO] Chip Foose and Crew Paints the Custom 1962 Corvette Widebody
[VIDEO] Chip Foose Draws a 1963 Corvette Split-Window Coupe

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6 COMMENTS

  2. I can’t wait to follow this project, hit’s home for me while I work on the 63 Dad left me…

  3. I met Chip at an American Muscle car show at maple grove dragway a couple of years ago. I’m following his advice and continuing to build my dream. He is a really nice person and a highly talented builder.

  4. I’m not giving.280k for a restamped. motor for this car..that’s crap..chip got the car for a steal.to trying to make 200k off a suckered and run it thru.a car auction to a buyer that has no idea what car numbers are about..it’s a nice car..but real impt.

  5. I’d rather have a mechanically restored ’63 with a nice up-to-date paint job, hot crate motor, wheels/tires that looks good, sounds good, and is dependable as a ’63 model can be. Restored back to factory correct down to the most minute detail automatically means it will be priced out of reach for all but the most well-heeled buyers who will stick it in a garage or warehouse and never enjoy the car.

  6. When i first met my future husband back in Feb, 1972, he had a 1963 split windows Oliver green corvette. He bought it in Louisiana after coming back from Vietnam. He started having trouble with th transmission. He sold it and he regretted that decision until he passed away in2019. It was an awesome vette

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