This is a picture of my ’68 Corvette when I bought it.  It’s a got a numbers matching 427 with a 4 speed.  Sorry, no air.  Looks pretty good from 20 feet, huh?  Well, looks aren’t everything, as this thing was just pulled out of storage after 20+ years.  It was basically kept original, but this car was not babied when it was a driver I can tell you that. The clock shows mileage at about 45K, but it was a hard 45K. The brake rotors were heavily rusted from the years in storage and the calipers leaked like crazy…pretty typical old ‘Vette malady.  I had to have it hauled home on a trailer because it wasn’t driveable in that condition.  I originally just planned to fix the brakes and drive it, but then a momentary lapse of reason set in (or was it a moment of lucidity?)….. I started on the brakes and just kept on going.  Next thing I knew, the body  was off the frame.  I guess I just don’t know when to stop.  Now I’m working feverishly to get the underside detailed so I can put the body back on the chassis before winter sets in.  There’s a lot of underbody reinforcements that needed to be removed, the rust  on them stripped,  re-painted and re-riveted in place.  Whoever said that Corvettes don't rust was misinformed.  Anything will rust here in Michigan. I will strip the paint off soon as well so I don’t mess up the chassis.  It’ll be repainted the same originl color which is Lemans Blue. A fine looking rear end if I do say so myself.  With independent rear suspension and 4 wheel disc brakes, the Corvette was ahead of most of the cars in its era but there's a lot of stuff back here that needed attention. The 60's were all about flower power and horsepower. At the time, I was too young to appreciate either.  NASA was putting rockets into space and Detroit was putting rockets on the road.   I understand all about socially irresponsible levels of horsepower now.  With a 427 under the hood, who needed flower power? Here’s the view that everyone will see when the car’s finished (either driving down the road or following a tow truck—one way or the other, dammit). This is my son, Jonathan.  He can turn a pretty mean wrench for 11 years old.  He says,  "Corvettes are cool!".  Tie your shoes, kid. I love you dearly, but you're not taking it for a spin with your buddies when you turn 16. As you can see, I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me yet.  The paint job will come early next year and the interior shortly after that.  Date of completion will be prior to the Woodward cruise in August 2002 with a lot of luck… But then again, that’s what I said last year. --Eric