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Old 03-11-2018, 12:53 AM
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Canuck Canuck is offline
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Default 1971 W30, the Barry Fowlow years.

As confirmed Barry bought the 442 the day it was traded in at the Stephenville branch of Corner Brook Garage Ltd.
Barry owned the car for two years and drag raced it a lot at the Decomissioned Earnest Harmon AirForce base in Stephenville.
Barry did extensive engine modifications to the engine for more power. Crane cam and Valve springs, bigger oil pan, headers, Holly carb, trans shift kit. He retained the factory 3.73 gears and ran on 60 series tires. He claimed the car ran in the mis 12's but was not the fastest car among his racing buddies. Barry had the car painted Corvette Red in 1976 and painted over the black stripes. The paint job cost $350.00

Barry took a job with Sobey's, the Nova Scotia based Grocery Store chain in 1977 and moved to Stellerton NS with the 442. Not long after he settled in the 442 was stolen one night and the engine was seized.
With little money to do a rebuild he traded the car for a 56 Ford that has been set up a street rod and was running.

The new owner of the 442 was Tim Short. According to Barry ,Short put in a Pontiac 455 (that explains the Pontiac engine in the car when I got it).
Short drove the car around Stellarton for a while and then it disappeared. Barry said Tim Short went blind by the time he was 30 and it may have been his Brother Randy who took it to Alberta. All members of the Short family are now deceased with no way to verify the ownership or story.

So from all this I was able to solve some of the unknown details outlined in my first posting

Majority of body damage done by first owner in Newfounland.
Motor seized in 1977 and replaced in Stellarton NS in 1977 or 1978
There is no record of registration for the car in NS, Barry Fowlow did not do a registration change when he moved there.
Car went to Alberta between 1979 and 1985.
Found Alberta Lic plates circa 1979-80 under drivers side front carpet covering up rust holes and Alberta Yellow Pages (several books) under rear seat as sound dead net.
Merlin Cumming contacted me in May 1987 and described the car as a 1970. He said the car had been purchased out of an Alberta wrecking yard in 1985 by a fellow in Salmon Arm ,BC to use the 455 in a boat. Clearly the motor was no good and Merlin Bought the entire car.
I encouraged Merlin to do a Vintage Vehicle Search through GM Canada in 1999 and that is when I learned it was a 1971 model with the Corner Brook Garage Ltd connection.
When I bought the car in 2013, the Pontiac engine had been partially disassembled and had been seized for years.
The only parts missing from the car from its Alberta Wrecking yard days were the power door locks.
The Dual Gate Shifter was stolen sometime in the 1990's (according to Merlin)
The car was never resistered in Alberta.

It's time to resume posting more restoration work now that the ownership history has been solved and how the car was moved 5000 miles from its original selling location.
__________________
1971 W30 convert, triple green,second owner.
1971 W30 Convert, special order Rally red, under resto.
68 Charger R/T, Bullitt Replica
68 Camaro Z28,Corvette Bronze,Houndstooth
www.vancouverclassiccars.com

Last edited by Canuck; 03-11-2018 at 12:58 AM.
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