Inherited a 69 with a 427
 

Hi all, newbie here, I just inherited a 1969 Stingray Coupe with a built LS1 427 from my dad who had decided that he can no longer give this car the level of love and attention it needs/deserves. The car has some deficiencies (probably more than I know right now) but at the minimum he hopes that I can get it back on the road so he can enjoy a few nice weekends with it this summer. The car's been garaged since winter of 2017 with carb and exhaust leak problems.

This car was built by a guy named Tod Howarth (you may have heard of him) in 1981 and was raced all through the 80's. Tod told me that it has an LS1 with a Cam pushing at least 475 h.p. (for some reason, my dad seemed to think it was 550 h.p. but he never dyno'd it to my knowledge).

Here's what I know about the car:
-Holley Pro-Jection (analog) 900 cfm 4 bbl throttle-body fuel injection
-Holley Street Dominator Intake
-MSD ignition
-Headers
-4 speed transmission (not sure what though, no reverse light connector, any ideas?)

Here's the issue.
Last winter he figured out that one of the injectors on the TBI seized (due to water getting into the gas tank and the car being outside in freezing temps) so his mechanic removed the Pro-Jection system and put a borrowed Edelbrock 4bbl carb and mechanical fuel pump on it so he could drive it up to my house for winter storage. So now I need to to give this carb BACK to his mechanic but I don't know what to put on there. Should I go back to EFI and spend tons of money on a new self tuning system? Or should I find a decent carb? What though?

Then, to get a sticker I'll also need to:
- Fix an exhaust leak (header gasket)
- Install a reverse light switch
- Install a new e-brake and cables
- It's also leaking (coolant and oil), not sure where yet.

I'm not a professional mechanic but I've rebuilt a few Harley engines (by the book) and have always tried to do my own auto work and I feel like there's a lot I could do myself to get this beast back on the road. I'm a real nerd when it comes to trying to do thins "right the first time"...so I'll also be undoing a lot of the bandaids etc.. that were slapped on over the last 13 years he's had it. He's always been known as "duct tape" kinda guy if you know what I mean..

Any insight and opinions are welcome! I really want to make this car something he can be proud of again.
Thank you in advance!
Bob

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...697ea018c6.jpg
and older pic

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...47a2c23bb7.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...5aac5a0ee0.jpg
It has definitely seen better days.....

69nbig block
 

it takes patience to work on those cars i had a 69 big block that i rrstored. im gonna post a picture of e lsrge poster that i had made and converted it to a clock
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...9de6dc3167.jpg
picked it up in florida back in 89. beautiful to look at but hot as hell during the summer and it was an air car

Bob: Welcome to the forum. Assuming you have a square bore manifold, I would go ahead and put a Holly or other brand four barrel back on it. If the rear rotors still have the rivets holding them on, be sure to mark the rotor position so you can put them back on in the same position. This is because they are machined as an assembly and if you re-index them, the run out will most likely be out of spec. Also highly recommend using a stainless steel parking brake rebuild kit.

Beautiful car! The white top is a nice touch. Yeah this one was an oven too.

Thank you for the information!

Welcome to the forum! Sound like you work on things like I do.
Congrats on the project! Personally, if it was setup by a builder with the EFI I would try to match that. A builder knows more than I. Plus I like to do some playing/learning with tuning.