We've all heard tales of musclecars tucked in the corner of a farmer's barn or left out to rot somewhere on the back 40. Most hotrodders have witnessed this horror firsthand and many have made valiant attempts to rescue these diamonds in the rough before they become too far gone. In many cases a stubborn farmer or eternal procrastinator will dismiss such offers, only to let the car deteriorate for another 10-20 years. Eventually these cars reach the point of no return and one would hope the owner has sense enough to take action and save the car either by restoring it themselves or selling it to a willing party. When Kurt Sikora came across this 1969 Corvette Stingray, it had reached that critical juncture and immediate action was needed.
The Vette's previous owner began restoring the car several years earlier, but the project stalled and the car sat for many years before being offered for sale. When Kurt found the car, it was a total mess. "The car was just a shell and a frame. Everything else had been removed from the car and placed in five-gallon buckets. The buckets were stored in a leaky shed and were all filled with water that had ruined the parts," Sikora said. Kurt had previously completed a frame-off restoration of a '70 LT1-powered Vette and knew what would be needed to turn this car around. He obviously has a preference for the body style of '68-'72 Vettes, but Kurt considers 1969 the optimum year, due to the Owens Corning body and reinforced frame. The absence of a motor and transmission was viewed as a plus, allowing Sikora to flex his creative muscles without worrying about matching numbers. In a worst-case scenario, the $1,300 purchase price made it easy to walk away from the project if things didn't work out.
The deal was struck and Kurt spent the next three and a half years working on the car and searching for parts at swap meets from Bloomington to Carlisle. "There wasn't anything particularly difficult to find, it was more a matter of finding the nicest quality parts available," Sikora said. The only exception may have been the t-top gaskets, which were the last of the original units GM produced. "I did have some aftermarket gaskets, but they never fit right, so I had to pay a little extra to get the GM originals," Sikora admitted. He also picked up most of the interior pieces at swap meets, including the carpeting, dash, door panels and a somewhat unique set of seats sporting velour inserts.
The Vette's body needed some work before paint could be applied and Kurt turned to Paul Van Buskirk to handle those duties while he contemplated color choices. Sikora briefly considered the Torch Red hue found on C5s, but ended up going with a custom mixture based on the Jeep Grand Cherokee Sierra Pearlcoat, sprayed by Ed Lee.
Paint and bodywork may not be Kurt's forte, but engine and fabrication work is his bread and butter. His choice for the Vette's engine was easy, as he selected a block synonymous with Chevrolet Performance in 1969--the ZL1. GM Performance Parts-based this block off the original tooling, but made several improvements, including four-bolt splayed steel main caps, with dowel pins to locate and hold the caps in place. As impressive as the 427ci aluminum block is out of the box, Kurt sent it straight to Step Up Performance to have it bored out to 496 cubes. Once the machining was done, Kurt installed a crankshaft and rods from Callies, mated to 10.5:1 pistons from Wiseco. Comp pushrods, lifters and a cam machined to .652 inches of lift and 262 degrees of duration makes the ZL1 scream at the high end and rumble with authority at idle. JE rings and Federal-Mogul bearings round out the list of internal components.
Kurt topped off the block with a set of GMPP rectangular port aluminum heads, which come with 2.25-inch stainless steel valves on the intake and 1.88-inch on the exhaust. As he did with the block, Kurt insisted on tweaking GM's product by match-porting the heads. The valve covers also came from the GMPP catalog, topped by breathers from Moroso.
Sikora's handiwork also showed up in the modified Weiand tunnel ram intake manifold. As ordered, the body was cast with an area for injectors, but was undrilled and unmounted. Kurt installed 55lb. Siemens injectors and a 1300-cfm throttle body from Arizona Speed & Marine. The tunnel ram was too tall to fit under the hood, so Sikora cut it down approximately 1-1/2 inches. Kurt also custom-fabricated billet aluminum engine pulleys, so he could have the offsets he needed to mount the alternator lower. The distributor, coil and wires are all from MSD, while engine management is handled by Speed-Pro. Anyone can throw sidepipes on a car, but few look as good as those found on Corvettes. Kurt couldn't imagine his Vette any other way and installed a set of Hooker sidepipes to go along with the Hooker headers.
Sikora had assembled an incredible powerplant, but a poorly selected transmission could make the car nearly undriveable. Kurt could have gone with a bulletproof slushbox, but he instead opted for a stout Richmond 6-speed. "I chose the six-speed because I was running 26-inch tires and I didn't want the car revving out of its mind. In theory, the car is geared to go 212 mph at 6,600 rpm in 6th gear, but we haven't verified that yet," claims Sikora. The overdrive tranny does allow the Vette to cruise along comfortably at 60 mph, while only turning 2,000 rpm. When Kurt wants to get aggressive, the Centerforce clutch and pressure plate have no trouble transferring power back to a set of 3.73 gears, which make even the stickiest tires beg for mercy.
Sikora opted to stick with most of the Vette's stock F41 suspension components, but he did mount the rear suspension using offset trailing arms. This made increased back spacing on the rear wheels possible, keeping the 315/35R17 Kumhos tucked inside the body. He also fabricated different spring mounts and chopped two inches off the transverse spring mounts in the back. Kurt didn't want the excessive torque of the ZL1 twisting the fiberglass body like a pretzel, so he beefed up the frame by boxing in and encapsulating the side rails from just in front of the door to just in front of the rear wheel. The Vette would look great with virtually any wheel out there, but the 17-inch Billet Specialties Streamline hoops really stand out.
Every aspect of Kurt's Corvette showcases his attention to detail and he wouldn't think of putting so much effort into building the car without making sure he had plenty of stopping power. Sikora went with stock calipers, but mated them with beefy GT rotors and outfitted the car with stainless steel lines.
The three and a half year process culminated with a first in class award at the 2001 Chicago World of Wheels, but Kurt isn't content to just collect car show awards. His brother Chris recently built a 9-second Camaro and has inspired him to swap his Kumhos for a set of Hoosier slicks and skinnies. Kurt will soon be taking the Vette to one of Chicagoland's local tracks and is hoping to run a number that starts with a 10. Based on his ability to turn a shell into a show winner, we're sure Kurt will have no trouble meeting his expectations on the track. For more on Kurt's Vette and his shop, you can log onto his web site at www.ssracing.net.