Stored 50 Years: 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Split Window
There are few cars that instantly get a red-blooded American’s heart beating faster than to see a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Split Window Coupe. This car has been sitting since the early 1970s and has just been listed for sale here on eBay. Even though there are 6 days remaining in the auction, the car is already bid to $55,100 after 33 bids. The car is located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and is clearly a project in search of a knight to bring it back to life. The car was originally Ermine white with a red interior.
The seller describes the car as solid and comes with all the glass intact. The frame is said to be good but there is surface rust on some of the undercarriage. The car had new brakes installed when it was parked but that was before most of us were born! A lot of the hard-to-find trim pieces are in place but it is hard to tell their condition based on the pictures.
The red interior looks unmolested but is clearly deteriorated from when it left the factory. The odometer is stated to read 67,966 miles. The knob on the console-mounted shifter that operates the automatic transmission is broken off. I am not sure how that happens but this should have been equipped with a Power Glide transmission from the factory.
The seller states that the original, numbers matching 327 cubic inch V8 engine is still in the car. The engine was also rebuilt in the 1970s like the brakes but was never started or run. This is the 300 horsepower version of the 327 cubic inch V8 engine by GM that was fed by a 4 barrel carburetor. The block was decked with it was rebuilt but is the original bore.
The owner states that he has had this car since the 1970s and has had plans for it but now realizes that he is too old and has run out of time for the restoration. Hopefully, this car finds a good home that will start a restoration and get it back on the road because it will only create more smiles as it cruises the streets.
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Comments
Here is a seller that his patients will finally pay off. It’s a shame they were not driving it during that time.
Nice Garage art
Refreshing to see a car pulled out of a barn (garage) and being sold by the person who has owned it since the 70’s.
I still don’t understand why someone would rebuild an engine and never start it. But, the seller will be able to answer that question.
GLWTA.
Agreed. That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
I bought a 1970 Boss 429 in 1990 from Breedlove. Fresh rebuilt hotrodded Boss 429 engine. It was so special that I did not feel qualified to start it the first time. Now it has never been started, sigh.
What’s up with all the decked blocks? That removes any evidence of originality from the stamp pad, and several thousand off the price.
Nobody cared in the 1970’s, if the machine shop said the block needed to be decked, it got decked. It’s the same reason most of these cars were used up or modified, people drove and enjoyed them without worrying about future value.
Steve R
Yeah, but the owner says the block is “numbers matching” when there are no numbers to match.
The seller says it wasn’t decked and the code is still present. Unfortunately, he didn’t show a picture in ad to prove his claim. If he is telling the truth, he should have been able to provide serious buyers with a photo of the area.
Steve R
The author stated that it was but the ad said that it wasn’t.
I am sorry. What is a “decked block”? I’ve never run into the term.
Just read further. saw posted remark re decked
The stamping is below the deck
Even in this condition, still a thing of beauty. And there has to reach a point where there are simply no more of these left to unearth.
We can only hope this one ends up in the right hands, to be brought back to its former glory as an example of the most iconic American sports car ever made.
I agree but that had to be one of the worst ever 10 year old Corvettes ever parked.
I’m a heretic but as pretty as the split windows are I’ll take function.
65 and later when they had 4 wheel disc brakes
Even VW had a split window when they first came out.
Sometime in the mid-seventies, I was driving through town and noticed that a local car dealer had a ’63 split window on his lot. I looked at it took a test drive in it. It was pretty well thrashed, with bad paint and large parts of the interior either trashed or totally missing (this listing actually looks better than the one I saw). The only thing that was unarguable was that the drivetrain was an absolute King Kong (I think I scared the salesman that went on a test drive with me half to death). Since I was recently out of high school, I talked to my dad about allowing me to keep it in one of the outbuildings on the family ranch while I restored it. His response was “HELL NO!”. And I lost another touch with greatness.
When searching for my first car in the mid 90s I would scour the local Tradin’ Post newspaper every week…The first one I chose was a ’70 Barracuda with a 318. Pretty clean car and only $1000. Dad said “those Muscle Cars are terrible, and Chrysler products are weird”.
Second car I found was a 79 Trans AM, 6.6 litre/4 speed. 3000 bucks and pretty nice for the money. Dad said no again…I ended up with a rusty 81 El Camino with a 229 V6 that smoked at stoplights.
Oh well…
If Dad just let it sit in the garage sine 70’s & he didn’t run it what a ool piee of Garage art! Turn on a radio, sit in it with a beer & riuze looking outside. The Dad thing I went thru also. I had enough $ doing farm/ranch work 2 buy a old ride in High school 4 my 1st ride, but my dear old dad took it all out 2 build himself a ‘Dune buggy’ 4 hunting. Later I found a Black 56 chevrolet step side, chrome all over & a full wrap rear window w/a 348 w/3 deuces, 4 spd 4 [$600]. I wanted a fkn heater & radio so I could take girls out. ‘Hell no, u’ll kill ur self’ he said. Piss on him so I went out & bought a Honda 305 scrambler [$300] behind his back. U know the rest, the war just got bigger
Brice did you get additional info write up?
“Block Not” decked?
Just asking as the automatic already brings value down but decked crashes price.
eBay states “Frame is good, and had new brakes put on when parked. Block was not decked when overhauled, and has original bore. I bought this car in the early 70’s and it has never been offered for sell before.”
A professional shop would not paint the engine that way looks like a home paint job.
Its been sitting since 70’s, orange is the chevy engine color & we all use spray cans. So what, don’t paint it black, u can’t see the oil leaks
NO! Don’t paint it black, white will be just fine.
White was probably the worst color on those
The EBAY listing says,,,, “Block was not decked when overhauled,” this car could be a good deal for the right person if they are handy enough.
The right side shot sure tells you what a magnificent design this car was from day one. Would love to see it when it’s restored.
Sold for 65k which is is all the money for a power glide split window in “good” condition. Unfortunately will take at least 15-20k (plus sweat equity) to reach that state of restoration. With the original engine it I would hope that it will be brought back to stock. The new owner will need to hold on to it for quite a while to break even if ever but if you love the car who cares?
What makes you think that it sold for $65K. That was his Buy It Now price.
The auction “ended by the seller because the item is no longer available”.
AKA: We’ll never know what it sold for.
Wasn’t the auction ended because somebody paid the “Buy it now” price?
No, it would indicate that it was Sold if that were the case.
The “No Longer Available” statement could mean that the seller struck a deal with a buyer on-line and didn’t want to give EBay a cut, they sold it outside of EBay, they changed their mind about selling it, could be a lot of reasons.
Striking a deal with a buyer that E Bay has already procured isn’t a very ethical way of doing business in my book.
If you look closely at the pic, that Vette has a manual transmission.
I stand corrected, it’s a automatic. Had to blow pic up more to see. My bad, lmao
If you put on some glasses, you can CLEARLY see its a powerglide pattern.
Automatic
Easy for me to say since it’s not my money, but I hope it gets a high quality resto back to its OEM configuration including its original colors. I’d like to see it when it’s finished.
Please tell me what it means to “deck” the block. I don’t live in the USA and am unfamiliar with that term. Thanks
To “deck” the block means that the top of the block must have been warped slightly so had to be skimmed back to level, just like cylinder heads are skimmed back to original specs.
Thanks to all who enlightened me. I always just knew this as “skimming”; was unaware that it may impact on the serial numbers. I’ve only really been working with 4 & 6 cylinder heads and never experienced (or realized) the problem.
I enjoy this site tremendously.
…slightly milled.
It means to machine the top of the block to make sure that it is absolutely flat and level. Engine build quality in the 60s was merely average. Also a serious bout of overheating could warp the block. Decking will also increase the compression ratio. One big problem with too much decking is that the intake manifold has to be machined to fit.
Sad to think ( if the story is true) that the owner had it for 50 years with plans on restoring it but now he realizes he has run out of time . 50 years is a long time to keep saying “I’m going to restore it someday” . I wonder how many people over the years asked about buying it but got that same answer from him .
Whats visible of the block casting # seems to indicate a block of that era, 327- small journal.. A bit pricy for the condition, but as they say, price is subjective…
It’s a sacrilege to let a car like that sit and deteriorate. Even small precautions would have preserved it in a better state than this.
Seller changed his add to: “Block was not decked when overhauled”.
Thinking seller is reading our comments here on Barn Finds…
Decking a block means to mill the top of the block to return it to a true and flat surface for the head gasket to seat on. this will remove the engine serial number which in turn is the only way to authenticate the validity of a “numbers matching” car or truck. Purists are out there and have the money to prove it.
Always perplexed by the value given to “numbers matching” I love survivor cars as is my ’64. But what gives me pleasure is the wear and tear that develops over time. The checking in the paint the creases and scuffs in the leather seats the fading and discoloration of the valve covers etc. Never in my 20 years of ownership have I felt even the slightest pleasure from thinking man it’s so cool that the numbers on my block are the ones stamped from the factory, hell without my glasses and a flashlight I can’t even read them anymore. But the fact that it runs amazing well, that’s priceless.
I just had the block decked on my numbers matching 61 Vette.We saved the numbers by CNC’ing the deck stopping just short of the serial number . The machine shop I used knows more about how it’s done but the result is excellent.
Not sure I’m in total agreement with some of the ‘decking’ comments. My experience has been ‘skim-cut’. And, yes, it skims the numbers, but at least on my own engines, the numbers are still quite readable. And, also, with regards to ‘numbers-matching’, which seems to have some importance to some folks, the casting numbers (part number and date-code) will still be clearly visible to substantiate what I would call a ‘correct’ engine. I suppose I’m not quite on board with the ‘purist’ view……
I just had the block decked on my numbers matching 61 Vette.We saved the numbers by CNC’ing the deck stopping just short of the serial number . The machine shop I used knows more about how it’s done but the result is excellent.
ok, an iconic car for sure. But how does something as special as a 63 split window with a Powerglide get in this crappy condition after only 8 years of driving? You gotta ask yourself that question. I doubt anybody was doing burnouts with this car and racing it on Friday nights. First, it is a base engine car with an automatic. Snore, snore, snore. Second, the body looks like crap. You can buy these cars all day long for $75,000 in good, not Top Flight, condition. Some fool has Barrett Jackson syndrome and is going to spend $35,000 to $40,000 to restore this thing after paying more than $55,000 for it. Dumb, dumb and dumber.
The maxhine shop that rebuilt my 66 Mustang 289s block had to deck it as well but he asked me if I wanted the numbers stamped in and of course I said yes please. He did a great job on the machine work and kind of cool he knew how to restamp the numbers
not 55,000. Sold for 35,000.
bids were up to $55K and seller cancelled auction.
“This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available.”
It’s right there in the auction listing, very easy to see.
All everybody needs to look at the interior picture of the shifter, Seems to me it is a 4 speed from the factory. The shift pattern is on the counsel. Nice project car. I have a 64Impala SS I’m doing from the ground up. It’s a lot of work.
DAVID K. When I look at the interior picture in the EBAY listing I see a curved shifter with a half of a knob and a tattered looking boot and on the console the shift pattern is P R N D L. Seriously.
I agree with George Mattar about the story and how some sellers and buyers have Barrett Jackson syndrome and get this pie in the sky phony picture in their mind . A car is only worth the price for the condition it is in when it is for sale . It’s amazing how some of these schmucks can actually ask for prices way over the real value of cars . It’s a stupid test to wait and see who has more money than brains and buy on a impulse instead of facts and value .
Only explanation I’ve heard that makes any sense has to do with the restomod builders. When building a $300k car an extra $20 or 30K for the donor body isn’t the end of the world I guess.
one year only body style, OK if cheap enough.
It’s funny I never heard of “decking” a block. Is that a regional thing? Maybe I’m just not that much of a gearhead. When I worked in a garage as a kid it was called grinding. You had the heads or block ground, if needed after a valve job.
Now that I think about it, we called it machining the heads or block. Grinding referred to just the valve seats. Can a block be machined without pulling it?
It was always called machining or leveling the block and heads as well as the exhaust manifolds when I had any work on engine at the machine shop. Never heard it called blocking or decking, but we all knew what it meant.
Would be interesting to see if it’s a regional term, e.g California machining, East Coast decking. Ideas?
I think the numbers matching idea is just the purists’ way of feeling pretentious. You get basically the same feeling from “all original”. Years ago I sold my “all original” ’69 RS Camaro with the disclaimer that I had replaced the transmission lines with Year One and had an HEI distributor installed. As beautiful and rare as the split window is, I prefer the convertible editions on the mid~late 60’s Vettes.