Numbers matching means that a part (or parts) have a number that matches the VIN or a portion of the VIN. Often it only refers to the engine, in some cases other parts as well.
Watch a Barrett Jackson or Mecum Auction and many of these “Numbers Matching” cars bring higher prices. It is a unique attribute especially muscle and sports cars that were often modified over the years. For example there were just over 46k 1976 Stingray produced and having the original engine adds it to a much smaller number.
Since the L48 for #SR76 is the lower performance of the engine available in 1976, one might guess that they were replaced for more horse power over the years.
For #SR76 my intentions are not to create a contours level restoration, so it really isn’t that much of benefit but would be cool to know.
Welcome back to Average Guy’s Restoration and Mods and Racing.
For this post we are going to give the L48 a once over.
Take a look:
When I mentioned the cam, just to be clear it was an upgraded cam according to the previous owner, however he didn’t put it in the guy he bought it from put the upgraded cam in.
More coming up including IS IT NUMBERS MATCH? and WHERE DO WE START?
I started this blog, many years ago. First it started out as just sharing some car information, like Parking Lot Spotlight, pic of cars I’d see parked and AutoFactoids – usually facts on a specific car and even did a serices that give the development of the different engines. You might still see these pop up from time to time.
But about 15 years ago I started recording some of the work I was doing as I restored my 1970 Mustang. You can still see those here on these pages (some of the videos have disappeared). I kept it going with work I did on my 1984 C4 Corvette and some work I did on my C6 Corvette. Then I went all out with the restoration of my 1973 Mustang – #ProjectSportsRoof (#ProjectSR73). It was tough in the beginning because YouTube was a not really thing yet and storing videos somewhere and retrieving them for display was not as smooth as it is today.
My naming conventions (at least for the last Mustang and now the Stingray) came about based on the car’s sub-model and my work in the USAF with the SR-71 Blackbird. The 1973 Mustang wasn’t a Mach I nor a fastback, it was technically called a SportRoof. The project started out as #ProjectSportsRoof but as I typed it over and over again, I toyed with shortening. I eventually realized that SR73 would be cool as it sounded a bit like SR71. Of course you when think about the SR71 you think of the Mach 3+ at which it could travel (actually it was closer to Mach 5) and everyone wants their muscle car to be fast!
As I was driving the Stingray home, I of course planned to record my work on it and need a name for the project. If you wanted the video for #ProjectSR76 you’ll know I decided just that day. You don’t need me too, but I’ll spell it out – SR is for Stingray and 76 is the year of the car.
That’s a little background.
Coming up next will be quick inspection of the undercarriage of #SR76.
We begin creating the list of thing that need attention on the 1976 Stingray. We start by inspecting the car. This video the interior.
Now you might have go to back ways in the list of posts and videos to find those showing the condition of my last project 1973 Mustang (#ProejctSR73) and the Vette is in much better shape the than the Stang. Vette is 90% better mechanically and 80% better interior wise then the 1973.
I grew up loving the C3 body styles. I share the same birth as the Corvette (although the brand is a bit older than I am) and 1976 was the year I graduated high school.
So take a look at the interior.
Thanks for checking and there’s lot more coming up.
The search goes on for my next project car. I’m searching for a third generation Corvette built between 1967 to 1982. There were a few body changes and some suspension changes between those dates. But mostly stayed the same. In 1981 a engine computer was added.
I came across this 1981 Corvette locally. Still owned by the original owner although he’s no longer able to drive.
I normally try to record as much of the inspection as I can. That’s difficult to do because you don’t want to capture the owners or any family member nor the sales person. So this video is a bit choppy in spots and I had to edited out a 4 year old that really wanted to help.
Normally, I’d like to capture the car running, for no other reason than to refresh my memory after looking at several cars in one day or long delays during between offers. In this case I was pouring gas into the carb and couldn’t.
I’ve made two offers on the car the first was turned down and I yet to get a response on the second.
Check out the video.
I love this car…the stories helped, but I have 1977 Stingray to look at on Saturday.
