Sorry about the delay. Operation "California Sun-dried Raisin Recovery" is accomplished. I made the trip this weekend (Friday and Saturday) with a mopar collector friend (he has a 1970 Superbird and some other mentionables) and told him to kick me in the shin if the 68 was a pass. My shins are in tact and I am extremely pleased.
I looked back in my email history and I was actually negotiating with the second owner/collector in the summer of 2009 so this has been a three year quest for this car. The person I purchased this piece from (third collector/owner) run's a repair and restoration shop in Ohio and he knew this car should not be restored (it was getting too hard for him to resist) He is a Buick GS guy in the end. I saw the front clip of the 68 in an auction he was running on ebay for another car and was able to connect. Simply amazing that this came to this conclusion.
The 68 FB 400 hasn't been on the road/registered since 1996/97 (+/- 16 years) and the original title "in hand" and 68 black plate #s correlate to tell me that this was the original owner. The title shows 46,404 actual miles in 2005. Based on the previous, I will be the second documented owner in the paper trail. The prior two owners were collectors and never registered the piece and stored it in climate controled shops in the Midwest which have kept it spotless regarding corrosion.
The California sun was not kind this car but it is super tight with regards to shifting and steerage and 100% (no exageration) rust free with perfect sheetmetal all around and beneath the car, its a body mans....we'll say big grin. The engine and drive train do not appear to have been ever removed and are #'s matching from the carb to the rear axle with all the original paperwork (yes original, not PHS reproduction) is pretty cool.
The od shows 48K plus a little and the title shows 46,404 so the last two collectors drove it a little which is actually good for the car IMHO. My intentions are to spend the next 3 to 5 years showing the car "as is" and will assess if it needs to havs some restoration after that time. I'll post some pics of the recovery later this week. BTW and no offence to the ILL folk but Chicago traffic really sucks with a car-in-tow, no matter how you approach it.
Kevin Bugel Brookfield, WI
Restoring and maintaining old cars and old boats....oh what fun we invent for ourselves. Seems to go in stride with ....You don't live it until you own it....Three steps forward....two steps back ....
