Of the 48,000 Corvettes sold in 1967, only 14,436 were convertibles.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

Mike Mooney of North Providence spent 18 months restoring his convertible.

After 1967, Sting Ray spelled as two words was replaced in the logo by the name as one word.

The 1967 Corvette Sting Ray convertible was sitting in a neighbor’s garage while Mike Mooney searched the country for a Vette.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

Inside the Corvette, everything works, from the clock to the electric windows.

His skills as the purchasing agent for the town of North Providence notwithstanding, Mike Mooney found luck to be the big factor when looking for a classic Corvette.

After a year of searching the Internet and driving to New York state and Carlisle, Pa., for a 1966 or ’67 Sting Ray, a man walked into Town Hall and told him about a white ’67 Vette just a few blocks away. The owner wasn’t trying to sell it, but a deal was done and Mooney took possession in the spring of 2004.

“I knew right away that this was an honest, unchanged low-mileage car,” Mooney said. “Everything was just as it should be. It was pretty original, with 38,000 miles, and it was a numbers-matching car. The paint was done a few years back and looked great, and the chrome was nice.”

But, mechanically, 37 years had taken a toll. Mooney, a self-described tinkerer who can do many automotive chores, decided to bring the car back to factory standards without a full body-off restoration. “What started out as a freshening of the engine turned into a nut-and-bolt restoration,” he said. “Every moving part was disassembled and brought back to factory specifications.”

The 18-month restoration started from an almost clean slate. The chrome, with one small exception, was fine, and the body didn’t need work. But the suspension and exhaust underneath the car and everything in the engine compartment was replaced or redone, and a new interior was installed because Mooney’s wife, Claudette, insisted on it. She pitched in on that chore and others, and supported Mooney’s efforts all the way.

“I did the easy work and I have some very talented and knowledgeable friends who really helped,” Mooney said. “My son [Mike Jr.] helped with the heavy stuff.” Although the Corvette rides on aftermarket rims and redline tires, those items were available from the factory. Mooney had the clock and radio repaired because “if it worked in 1967, it has to work now.

“I took great pains to make sure that everything under the hood was just the way Chevy intended it. The engine had the wrong valve covers, and I replaced the chromed ones with the correct red covers.” Everything under the hood has a number on it, even the hose clamps, so when you say numbers-matching, the Corvette goes one step further. That’s why Mooney had items such as the alternator rebuilt instead of replacing them. About the only nonfactory item is the exhaust. “I went with a MagnaFlow exhaust because it has a little more rumble to it,” he said.

But Mooney, who had owned a 1987 Corvette that he sold when his son was born, didn’t want a high-powered Vette. Performance enthusiasts will probably look down their noses at this base model, but it suits Mooney perfectly. “I didn’t want a big block that throws a lot of heat, or side pipes,” he said. And then there’s the two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission. “There’s desirable, and there’s rare, and the Powerglide is rare,” Mooney said.

“But I don’t mind it. The car runs super, and does 65-70 all day long. It’s a light car so it doesn’t struggle, and the Powerglide runs at 3,000 rpm.” The 327 V8, making 300 hp, is the base engine.

The Corvette is a convertible with a black soft top that was standard. A white top was optional, as was a bolt-on hardtop that Mooney says he wouldn’t use if he had it. Other options are power steering and power windows, tinted windshield and AM-FM radio.

Like most Corvette people, Mooney is big on documentation and has the build sheet showing that the car was made in St. Louis on March 10, 1967. Of the 48,000 Corvettes sold that year, 14,436 were convertibles. “The ’67 has the least amount of chrome,” Mooney says. “It was supposed to be the year of the first mako shark model, but Chevy decided to make this one for another year to refine the new body style.

“The models have a style and an aura about them. They have a sporty but not very fast look. I don’t drive it fast, but I don’t drive it to work, it’s too nice to take to work.” He has a Model A Ford that he does take to Town Hall, a car that his father and his son prefer over Corvettes.

He takes the Corvette to car shows and cruise nights and long rides when he can. He has won several trophies, but the one he really wants is from the National Corvette Restorers Society, and he is hoping to get judged at one of their events.