1963 Corvette Convertible Restomod

[black88coupe]

Looks good.

 

[Christopher]

Looks good.

THanks!


I think I have officially done as much as I can possibly do before the lower channel shows up.
I spent 5 hours today repairing the top of the pillar where it was rotten and lining up the metal with the windshield in place. It finally looks like everything is in the right place.

Pictures of the rotten portions of the top hat on the passenger hinge pillar. I cut out a section from the top of the donor driver's pillar and spliced it into the passenger pillar. It is very solid now!

Top of passenger pillar repaired. The gray on the parts is weld through primer. I've been using an assortment of wire wheels and grinding blades to remove the rust from the metal before making repairs. However, Im not stripping anything else because i plan to take the cage to the blasters as soon as all repairs are completed.

 

[Christopher]

Last piece of metal came in! I ran out of welding gas, so the repair will have to wait till this weekend, but everything is at least temporarily clamped in place.

 

[Christopher]

I finished up the cage over the weekend and then dropped it off to be soda blasted on Monday. I'm going to paint over the black epoxy with green zinc oxide paint(ordered 4 cans today) so the cage will have the factory look.

I had one very old can of green oxide paint, so I sprayed a little bit of the cage.

 

[Christopher]

Cage is now in Zinc Chromate Primer and ready for the bonding strips to go back in place. I found the brand I used, called Moeller, did not spray well at all. Two cans were ok, but the other two splattered all over the place regardless of how much i shook them or how many times i cleaned the nozzle. Not super impressed with the Moeller brand due to the way the cans sprayed, but the color is very close to the original.

 

[flynams]

Excellent precise work here....one of the things that makes that green hard to match is the factory hardly put any on...your job is way better than it ever was

 

[Christopher]

Excellent precise work here....one of the things that makes that green hard to match is the factory hardly put any on...your job is way better than it ever was

Thanks! yeah, it really seems the amount of coverage varies from one portion of the cage to the other, or at least that is the case on the cars I have worked on. On this one, the rear pillars were coated heavily and have drips of the green oxide primer running down them. Hard to say how the rest of the cage was sprayed since it has either been replaced or was rotten, but the remaining upper portion of the driver's pillar appeared to have been coated much lighter than the rear pillars.

 

[Christopher]

She has a floor and part of an arse again.

I sanded all the garbage and paint off the tub and rear this past weekend.

The original driveshaft tunnel was cut out at some point and replaced with a later piece of fiberglass to utilize a 67 style e brake.

 

[Christopher]

Not much to show, but I did recondition the reinforcement plate that goes behind the hinge pillar fiberglass on the passenger side. This little piece is what the rivets for the sides of the dash go into.

I also stripped the passenger door. The driver's door had a very large crack that had a poor repair and it might just be cheaper to replace it than to try to fix it. This door is definitely from a 65 and so is the hinge pillar and sill fiberglass. Every part is different, some from a 63, some from a 64, some from a 65, and I found one piece from a 67. This poor car must have been in some sort of bad accident and then pieced together from a pile of fiberglass leftovers. Or, it was parted out long ago, then rusted, then pieced back together with random parts. Who knows...

 

[crashtech]

Really impressed by the level of care and detail. Great job and a fine example of how it's done!

 

[Christopher]

Really impressed by the level of care and detail. Great job and a fine example of how it's done!

Thanks, it's a learning process for me as I have never had to take a car down to this level.

I dry fit her new fat hips. lots of work still to do before bonding them in place, but making some progress.

 

[Christopher]

More dry fitting. It's slowly starting to resemble a car again. Im now waiting on the taillamp panel, inner skirts, and 67 side panels to arrive.

 

[Christopher]

I've been informed that the front end i purchased at a discount from another Corvette enthusiast is a Corvette Image piece. Apparently these front ends had a habit, in the past, of off-gassing after cars were painted. So, here is my question... If I sand the front clip with 80 grit, then let it bake in the summer sun for a month, do you think all of the trapped gasses in the fiberglass will escape or should I let it sit longer?

Thanks

 

[shine]

all glass does it. very few mfg have stock. most of the time the parts shipped are days old. best to cook all of them .

 

[flynams]

I've been informed that the front end i purchased at a discount from another Corvette enthusiast is a Corvette Image piece. Apparently these front ends had a habit, in the past, of off-gassing after cars were painted. So, here is my question... If I sand the front clip with 80 grit, then let it bake in the summer sun for a month, do you think all of the trapped gasses in the fiberglass will escape or should I let it sit longer?

Thanks

Corvette Image had a problem a few years ago with their draw/wetout system and put out lots of bad parts. I wonder if they will ever live it down. I think the problem was resolved about 3 years ago...if it is older than that, I wouldn't use it at all. If it is a newer piece, wrap it loosely in black plastic and let it sit in the sun. I would wait until you have a 100 degree day or more, then hang it and use it...

 

[Christopher]

Thanks for the replies! I don't think it is that old and as you all said, i would think it would cure over time in the sun, but was informed by a painter that it could sit outside for 7 years in the weather and still have issues. However, i remember this apparently being an issue with the first car I ever built as well, a factory five cobra replica in 2005, so I took the advise of others and let it sit outside all summer and fall and certainly did not have any issues after it was painted. The front clip for the 63 Vette has been sitting outside in 90 degree weather for 5 days already and after i bond all the panels together, I will probably let it sit outside for at least a month in the summer sun to let all the adhesive cure as well. Im in no hurry on this car, so the August sun should bake it really well! Thanks!

 

[Christopher]

After sanding some more I decided that the rear deck needs to be replaced as well. There are just too many bad repairs that will take too long for me to repair properly, so a new deck will be ordered. That means that everything except the firewall and floor tub will be new. If anybody is interested in this rear deck, it is for sale.

is bonded back to cage and floor pan. One step forward this time.

I put the rivets in backwards on the passenger side panel, but since this is a restomod, I am not going to worry about it. I know that will drive some OCD people crazy, but if I go OCD on this project, it will never get finished!

I had to tack weld the studs in place since they broke loose while I was riveting the brackets in place. I used an extra outer heater box that I had sitting around to make sure everything lined up properly.

I know it doesn't look like much, but it certainly feels good to have a few pieces of the car repaired, replaced, and bonded back together!

Body mount reinforcements installed on plenum panels and panels bonded in place.

 

[shine]

looking good. ton of work there. been many years since i torn one down that far. dont really remember going that far. in those days one would be totaled . i think the worse i got into was replacing the cage .

 

[Christopher]

looking good. ton of work there. been many years since i torn one down that far. dont really remember going that far. in those days one would be totaled . i think the worse i got into was replacing the cage .

This will be the only one I ever do like this! Would be much further ahead if I had just spent the money up front on a nice driver...oops! Again though, it was suppose to have a solid cage, great body, and only one little place of rust in the driver's rocker channel....obviously all lies!

4 hours spent today cleaning old adhesive off of all bonding areas, prepping the driver's side hinge and latch pillar for installation, pulling the body, and cutting out the rear tub to prepare for the SRIII Chassis.
The project will pretty much be put on hold until the new chassis arrives.

 

[Christopher]

4 more hours today to clean up rear the convertible top/rear deck reinforcement/bonding strip. This thing was really rusty! I sanded it, then sprayed it with rust converter. The nut plates will need some attention. I really wonder where this car was? How in the world did the nut plates that are enclosed in the rear deck reinforcement crossmember get so rusted(see picture below). Must have been salt air, that is all i can figure.

Driver's hinge pillar reinstalled. Here you can see the traces of the original silver-blue paint.

New latch pillar temporarily installed for fitting.

Before sanding and paint

Rear deck/latch reinforcement crossmember prepared for bonding.

Nut plate referred to in initial statement.