Visited John Millar's Body Shop

Tony and I visited John to check out the latest on the Z06 progress.  As John bead blasted the interior body and removed the black paint, the original red paint was reviled.

Interior picture, see the original red on the floorboard and in rear area.

Additional shot of the interior.  To protect the Z06 markings, we covered with cardboard.

Another shot of the interior.

Shot towards the rear behind the seats.

Another shot in the rear of the car, noting the original red interior.

More parts, cad plated and black phosphate

Here's the next batch of parts. Cad plated and black phosphate....like new.

More parts, nuts and bolts, media blasted

Here's more component parts that have been media blasted.

Body Shop Work at John Millar's

Some photos of the car at the John Millar's body shop in Pennsylvania.  It's been stripped down and assessed for the body work required.

Beginning on Dec. 12, 2017 to scrape the paint off front. Some yellow primer showing from the 1992 restoration.

Dec 12, 2017, Paint scraped off the rear.

Rear and right side.

Most of the silver blue paint removed, all yellow primer by December 14, 2017.

By Dec 18, most of the paint has been removed and down to the fiberglass.

Received photos of the Z06 from 1972 from Owner #3, Al E.

I received in the mail today a bunch of photos from Alfred Elio.  They show the car when he purchased it in metallic blue, painting it Silver Blue and then painting it Daytona Blue.

Al Elio in 1972, in metallic blue...now, with a closer look, the louvers are 1965. This was common in the 60's, people would update their Vette to make it look newer. Al replaced these with original '63 panels soon after.

After painting to Silver Blue

He thought it would look good in Daytona Blue since it was originally a black car.

Oil Pan - Correct Oil Pan

Here's a picture of the correct '63 oil pan, cleaned and ready to bolt on.

Control Arm and Engine Compartment Parts - painted

Many of the control arms and engine compartment parts have been painted.

Found Owner #4, Alfred E., Succasunna, NJ.

Owned the car from ~1972 - ~1974: Alfred E. Succasunna, NJ. 07876.

Al said his in-laws found the car at the Newark airport and one of the workers at the airport had the car for sale. Al bought it around 1972 for $1,800 cash in a parking lot near the airport. He couldn’t get there fast enough to buy it. He didn't remember the seller’s name. He believes that owner drove it often to work at the Newark Airport.

It was painted metallic blue with a black interior. The master cylinder was dual line and thinks it had a round cap, not positive, it may have had two caps. He didn’t change it. He remembers the brakes were sintered metallic and had 4 or 6 pucks on each shoe. When the car was cold the brakes didn’t work, he had ride the brakes to heat them up, then they would work very well, almost as good as early disc brakes. He needed to be especially careful in the winter. The brakes lasted a long time, probably until he had 90,000 on the car.

He didn’t like the metallic blue color, so he painted it Silver Blue. This is when he discovered the car was originally black exterior and red interior. He could easily see the black and red. For example, when he took off the sill plates, it was painted black underneath. When changing the rugs and reupholstering the seats, he saw that the interior was red everywhere.

Transmission was original. Rear was original 3.70 gears. Had a Hurst shifter, he left it that way. He drove it to work quite often. Since it was once a black car, he thought it would look good in Daytona Blue, so, he repainted it Daytona blue.

He joined the Corvette Natural Glass Club (CNGC) at this time and his friend, Pete Carey who was one of the founders of the CNGC. Pete lived in Denville, NJ. They both had ’63 SWC’s. Al and his wife at the time went to many rallies and picnics with the club. He also remembers going to Nilsen Sunoco on Route 46 to buy high octane gas a few times. Typically would get it in a 5 gallon gas can.

He always had interest in bringing it back to the original black/red. But, in 1974, he had his first son and got out of the hobby. He sold it to his attorney, William L., who had told him he wanted the car.

Sold it with 92,000 miles on it for $5,000. Al did not know it was a Z06 car, he discovered this in the last 2-3 years (2015-2016) when talking with Pete Carey and they heard about the unique brakes and realized it may have been a Z06 car.

In this Youtube video link below (at 15:50 minutes), Peter Carey is talking about the early days of the (CNGC) in 1972/73 and working with Al E. to purchase 1963 corvettes.


Al said he will find his old photos of the car and will send me all of them except 1-2 to keep.

Al E. Owner #4 Called

I received a call from owner #4, Al E.  I was at a Northern California NCRS judging event and couldn't talk to Al.  We arranged to talk tomorrow at 1pm.  He's definitely the owner, was very happy to talk, said it was a "blast from the past".  Looking forward to talking with him tomorrow....on a side note, my Roadster received Top Flight at the NCRS event.

Z06 Disassembled Parts - After Being Media Blasted

Here are some photos of the Z06 control arms, engine compartment parts and headlight buckets after media blasting at Tony's Corvette Shop.

Found contact info for Alfred E., Owner #4

I was searching on the name Al E. in Northern NJ and believe I found the right owner using the name Alfred.  I found a phone number and left a message.

Restoration Begins: Dismantle and Inventory Parts Needed

Dan, Pat, Tony and I spent Friday and Saturday (Dec 1 &2, 2017) dismantling and documenting every part in the car.

We took over 1,700 photos.

We found multiple paint colors on the car. Black paint found under all windows – looked like it was the original paint.
There was also a metallic purple found on the headlight bezels. There was also a metallic, Nassau blue on the headlight bezels which may have been from the 1960's. We know the car was painted dark blue approx. 1972. The car was painted its current color, Silver Blue in 1993.

We found multiple locations with red paint and red vinyl in the interior, providing more evidence that the car was originally red.

The following items will be sent out for rebuilding:
Fuel Injection Unit: John Degregory, 649 Humphrey Road, Greensburg, PA 15601.
Distributor: Don Baker, 1307 Reva Lane Sandwich, IL 60548
Rear: Brian Bairs, 316 Franklin St. Linesville, PA 16424
Transmission: 4speeds by Darrel
Motor: Tony’s Corvette Shop and Air Machine in Maryland
Body: John Millar (Gettysburg, PA)
Gauges, Clock, Headlights, Wiper Motors: Karl Burl of Restorations by Karl, in Westminster MD
Brake Booster: Tony’s Corvette Shop
Interior: We'll likely go with Al Knoch interiors.

The Z06 before dismantling

Clean interior, but need to bring back to red

Chris, Pat and Dan

Dan dismantling away

Z06 writing on rear bulkhead

Pat and Dan

Z06 Brake Backing

Underside of dash pad - originally red

Black/Red Trim Tag - clean welds on VIN

Pat working on the interior

Back side of VIN welds

Car is ready to go to the body shop