1960 Corvette 283-290 F.I. Survivor

[napa68]

I put a teaser in my latest 67 L79 thread about this car. I came to know about this car last June at the 2025 Bloomington Gold show. To know me is to know how much of a sucker I am for survivor cars. This certainly fits the bill.




This car is not as pure of a survivor as some others that have passed through my hands, but still is a stand up piece. The car retains it's born with drivetrain, all original dated secondary components, a wonderful unhit body, and chassis that still retains original inspection marks and frame stencil (albeit very faint).





Delivered to VV Cooke in Lexington, KY and sold on April 2nd, 1960. It original owner Mr. Marvin Henderson maintained ownership from 1960 through 1995. At the time of sale, the car was documented to have 89,601 miles. All subsequent ownership is documented with title copies, as well as cataloging all dates, codes, and stampings in the car.





This car is well equipped with the following options......
-4 speed transmission
-Deluxe heater
-Signal seeking radio
-6.70x15 4 ply W/W tires
-Windshield washer
-Courtesy lights
-Parking brake alarm
-283 / 290hp fuel injection
-Positraction axle 4.11 ratio
-Metallic brake equipment
-Sunvisors
-Hardtop

I bought this from a friend who campaigned the car through 2025. Awards for the car include.....
-1997 Bloomington Gold Survivor Award
-2025 Blooming Gold / Gold Certification
-2025 NCRS Chapter Top Flight
-2025 MCACN Gold Concours
-2025 MCACN Triple Diamond

Not much left from a judging perspective

As one can discern, this car has been a very static piece since 1995 accumulating 994 miles in 36 years. Much of the heavy lifting had been completed by the prior owner to get the car running, driving and stopping. When I picked the car up, I knew it certainly could run better. I no sooner got it out of the trailer and went to work.

The car sounded and acted like the timing was retarded. On these F.I. cars, the distributor housing is 2pc. The lower portion is fixed, as there is an oil supply line that feeds the gear box that drives the injection unit. The top portion which contains the breaker plate and distributor cap then rotates to set ignition timing. The upper and lower portions were seized together. I was so focused on fiddling with the car, I never bothered to take some pics. Anyways, I pulled the distributor, and soaked the joint between the two with penetrant, and got that loosened up. I then loaded it up on the distributor machine to check / adjust the dwell on the both sets of points. Reinstalled, that and set the timing. Good outcome there.

Then I diagnosed the F.I. unit was not getting a vacuum signal to the power enrichment diaphragm. The unit was against the rich stop (which the oil in the engine confirmed)

The vacuum signal comes from the air meter side of the unit



Then that runs under the plenum in a steel line to the enrichment diaphragm on the fuel meter.


The stop on the right is the rich stop. It's engine vacuum that determines engine load and pulls it against the lean stop (on the left). It is those two stops that determine the "tune". This is one of the reasons big camshafts and low vacuum are a hurdle in F.I. engines.


The steel line that runs under the plenum was plugged with some kind of gunk. So I sprayed some carb cleaner in the tube, let it sit overnight, and blew it out with compressed air in the morning. I am impressed with how good the car runs.

The new plug wires should be here today, and a fresh set of tires will be here on Monday!

[dykstra]

Lookin good Tim, I love these threads!

[PeteLeathersac]

‘

Another amazing car Tim, as usual.

~ Pete

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[SupremeDeluxe]

Maroon with the white cove just works SO WELL.

Eventually I need to buy a solid axle from you. It's the only generation of Corvette I haven't owned, yet. I've never even driven one.

[Too Many Projects]

Another VERY nice car, Tim. Somehow, I'm thinking you and your Dad will be trading Corvette's again in the foreseeable future....

[napa68]

Originally Posted by Too Many Projects

Somehow, I'm thinking you and your Dad will be trading Corvette's again in the foreseeable future....

There are already some of his nose prints on the windows

[olredalert]

----To Kentuckian and southern Indianian Chevy gear heads VV Cooke was the epicenter. They sold a huge amount of Hi-Perf stuff and sponsored different racers as well....Bill S

[Z282NV]

Tim, I don't know how these amazing cars find their way to you, but I'm glad they do. Are you looking for an apprentice? I am pretty handy with a broom and dust pan.

[Steve Shauger]

What a feeling you must get from diagnosing and solving the problems. Well done Tim!

[60sStuff]

Tim,

I’m sure you will post a legible photo of this triangle tag as I’m curious of the information.

PS, and the Oil Change sticker ….. when you have a moment …..no rush.

PS, this FI is so cool !!!