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63 Split Window Corvette Restomod
Here is my current Corvette build.
I purchased this car this past January and started disassembling it on May 29th. The previous owner did a nice job building the car and it handled well for a stock frame with upgraded suspension, but when he was building the car the variety of aftermarket frames and ls motors were not available...there is only so much you can do with a stock frame. When purchased...super nice car to start the project with. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse6c5e293.jpg May 29th: Disassembly/wet sanding with 600 http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps93ac68b8.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps05ce7182.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc122fb75.jpg |
32 Man hours total
Body completely naked of all exterior parts and glass(minus tail lamps), the paint has been wet sanded with 600 grit, all interior molding has been removed, rear carpet is out, and the door alignment has been adjusted as best as possible. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psef662c1d.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps1f48b892.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psd1668c47.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps41dbf485.jpg Checking door alignment http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5b62cf15.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps937d0108.jpg |
Also in early June
50 hours deep I was watching overhaulin' the other night and saw how they were using tape to create a form for fiberglass, so i tried it on the firewall where the heater box hole will no longer be necessary thanks to the newer vintage air unit. It worked well, but i ended up needing to still put a layer of glass on the backside for support. Clean slate http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps87736b88.jpg My opponent http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps36c6f62e.jpg Template for fiberglass mat made out of tape, which i then transferred to cardboard. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8f545c57.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps71c27ba4.jpg Firewall glassed in and sanded around area to be filled. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps2f5a4fa2.jpg First skim coat of evercoat filler. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps99bce3db.jpg 6/13/13 54 Hours Total New dolley came in yesterday. I assembled it this evening and mounted it under the car. No big updates for now. I've been busy hustling to get another car ready for paint, so i havent had time to work on the 63 this week. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3960c44e.jpg |
7/17/13 Took a day to work on the dash since the pads arrived.
57 hours I started to work on some of the interior items in anticipation of the SRIII chassis and 63 hood arriving soon. I wet sanded the dash, primed it in areas where i had rubbed through eliminating drips, and then repainted it with SEM hot rod black. Wet Sanding http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps652bffaf.jpg New Black Leather Dash Pads with French stitching option http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc7b9edd3.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psebbd1574.jpg Here (on the left, not the other gauges) you can see what the Autometer American Muscle gauges will look like with the original clock. I sold the cluster shown with the stock chassis. The new one will have the autometer gauges recessed behind the original cast in bezels. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psecd1898c.jpg |
Love C2 coupes. Sounds like a great projects.
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8/21/13 I started working on the car full time and put my other projects aside.
64 hours I removed a large majority of the old paint from the firewall and fender skirts, but still a lot to go before epoxy primer. At this point, i was also in the process of fitting the new components on the firewall and in the engine bay to insure everything fit correctly. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps7993101e.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3bbe79a2.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps7de7aae7.jpg Making sure everything lines up with the new vintage air system. Still a good bit of body work to do on the firewall where i deleted the heater box cut out. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb12bc528.jpg New wiper motor from Detroit Speed. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse0b1b3cc.jpg Seats recovered in new black leather. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse82edb1e.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfddfae68.jpg |
70 hours
I really did not want to get this far into bodywork, but the door gaps on this car were massive at the front and rear and I just couldn't leave them that way. Before http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps83e2cc4c.jpg After, which ended up being too tight. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psbc93a629.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psa77210d4.jpg Smoothing out the firewall took a lot longer than i initially thought it would. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3dad36ca.jpg The hood finally was finished by shermersheim and arrived. Bolting it on made me realize that the hood surround is wavy from previous bodywork. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8b94b0f5.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb68fe141.jpg |
Finished narrowing the gap on the driver's side door and fitting the door to the roof, quarter, and fender. The door stuck out past the roof panel just in front of the indentations previously , but that problem is now resolved.
http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps15d16228.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psa4cc1134.jpg The door had dipped down at the rear corner and sat lower than the body. It wasn't terrible, but it needed to be addressed. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse8872b1e.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4eab7b6a.jpg Front of door Before http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3889880d.jpg Front of door After. I will need to remove the door to finish smoothing things out. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps9ae0fdad.jpg Still a good bit of filling and smoothing to do on the passenger door, but the gap is already nice and tight after building up the jamb with evercoat vette panel filler. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psac0c0a0f.jpg |
Very nice. Split windows are the bomb. :pushbutto Are you going to put an aftermarket frame under it?
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119 hours At this point I started to have a whole new appreciation for people that do body work day in and day out. Miserable!!!
IF you purchase a new hood, order it in two pieces and bond it together yourself with 3m panel bond. This hood fit like crap and it is supposed to be the best on the market This was the worst fitting spot on the hood. Before http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psd11b6f67.jpg After http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps70b72959.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse4d20efc.jpg Before-Zero space on passenger side http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...pseffef9aa.jpg After http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps209939d7.jpg Front Before-No space and sat way too low at front edges. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psaebcd34a.jpg After http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps01e4b8f5.jpg Driver's side before-too wide http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps72b52854.jpg Driver's side after http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6507133e.jpg Had an issue with the headlamp bucket...the casing was too narrow and the bezel was to wide. So, i has to shave the edge of the bezel and build up the casing. Once i had it properly aligned, i had to build up the inboard corner and the front of the casing at the lower nose portion of the surround. Before http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3be1c8df.jpg After http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5f29d5d7.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psdb44d4c7.jpg Both Required attention, but the driver's side was not nearly as bad. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfbcd0914.jpg Front of driver's door is finally finished http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...pscef37445.jpg |
And a few more of the front end and hood fitment.
http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psefea249c.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps07488100.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0c754d16.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps7692e0f6.jpg |
250 Hours
The passenger door stuck up a good bit above the body and no amount of adjustment in the hinges would help. I had to sand the top of the door down to get proper fitment. The gap was wide at the front, so i had to narrow it as well. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps34757804.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfd1a95d5.jpg After testing the effectiveness of the weatherstripping at the top of the door, i decided it was not necessary for this car and smoothed the jambs. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psad66b6e7.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps01ab102d.jpg Front half of the car and engine bay in Epoxy Primer. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps9bcf388e.jpg |
Took delivery of the SRIII Chassis on October 3rd. Im very happy with the quality of the components and my choice to go with the satin finish instead of gloss!!!
http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5603a43e.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps34db6120.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4799593e.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfea6e3e7.jpg |
Back half in SPI epoxy
http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8188ad12.jpg 306 hours total Body work is brutally time consuming! It only took around 2 hours to remove the rear compartment and jackwell and temporarily install the new wheels wells and floor to check fitment. Mike's/SRIII rear floor really simplifies things and was well worth the 350.00. I payed 2300.00 to have the old floor cut out and a new one fabricated for my 66 last year. Total time in this floor will be around 6 hours once all is said and done. Cost is 350.00 for the floor and 40.00 for a tube of 3m panel bond. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps1d4c864d.jpg The official point of no return! http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psbfa6097e.jpg One more thing i dont necessarily want to throw away, but dont have a use for. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps64b6a35b.jpg |
http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps03cd1695.jpg
http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfc581953.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5f0dd1ca.jpg Shot from the underside of passenger wheel well. Im going to smooth out the transition from new to old glass. No reason to cut corners at this point. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3dfa2912.jpg Quote:
Rear floor and wheels wells installed. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psf22f53d5.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psdb36d9af.jpg |
354 hours
I block sanded the entire body again, then applied two more coats of SPI black epoxy. After the SPI black epoxy sat overnight, i applied two coats of Evercoat Slick Sand and then sanded with 180 grit. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps2b6718ab.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse83b430a.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps04f4981e.jpg One of those small details that eats up time. Hinges rebuilt and coated with SPI black epoxy. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psab6099d4.jpg I decided to ditch the fuel injection emblems and go with the early style 63 emblem http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps84293c0d.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps1e253f76.jpg |
11/13/13
434 Hours After seeing a 63 split window without an antenna at SEMA i decided that i would copy that person's car and do the same. Removing the antenna gives the rear of the car a much sleeker look. I used a Hideaway antenna on a custom Mustang i built last year, so i will do the same for this one. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps9e2c2f59.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8a309bc3.jpg Two more coats of slick sand and a whole hell of a lot more sanding. I sure hope this thing is as smooth as glass! Oh, and surprise...I ordered SPI black today for the basecoat. I saw a 63 in cyber gray a few weeks ago and it did not look so hot. I thought about switching to silver, but most every 63 restomod i have seen in the last year has been silver, so black it is...straight black, no metallic. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4eb98ef8.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps15b97866.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps272a96be.jpg |
Those man hours add up rather quickly, don't they. :computer:
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Props man! This is gonna be one bas a$$ car when done.
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Sure do! Now i see why show quality paint jobs are so expensive. Makes me think the 11 grand i paid for a paint job last year was well worth the expense.
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nice work so far,gone to a very fine car when finished and all of that work will pay off,I wish I had just a $1 for every hour put into my project,good luck:thumbsup:
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12/2/13
I dropped the car off two weeks ago at paint. They fit the hood a bit better and adjusted the wiper grilles, but that is about all that has happened so far. Hopefully they can have it in color by January. Apparently my novice skills at blocking werent the best, so they are going to reshoot the car with slick sand and block one more time.
The night before i dropped her off at the painter. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psac31b7bf.jpg Baking in the sun http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps65091d19.jpg Hood after two coats of epoxy, two rounds of slick sand and blocking, and two more coats of epoxy. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps9703ec33.jpg I added 3 rocker tabs back per side to support the rocker panels. I had the tabs leftover from the 66 i built last year, which i added sidepipes to. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps56bacb1f.jpg Both headlamp bucket skins had come unglued, so i bonded them back together with 3m panel bond. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4f7c76c8.jpg And, i decided to switch to the american auto wire afrermarket harness instead of modifying the new 63 harnesses i purchased, so i glassed and filled in the cut out for the fuse box in the firewall. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps512a668b.jpg That's all for now. Hopefully I will have a painted body to show off soon! |
I am loving this build. Great attention to detail and a great Corvette to build. That black paint is going to look awesome! I am subscribed.
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1/31/14 Update
Back in Black I'm really glad i went with the black over the charcoal gray. She's going to be stunning!
http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps2a65f337.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse3573405.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5aeea93d.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5492587d.jpg |
Very Nice!
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Sweet!
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Wow that looks great! Very nice work :thumbsup:
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Thanks! I had a local shop spray it as i was not confident enough to make this my first full car to spray base and clear on. They had to clean up a good bit of novice body work as well. I still have a lot to learn!
I decided to match up the calipers to the paint. I did not want to pay the extra 400-500 to have them powdercoated black,(might as well go for a wilwood upgrade if i was going to spend the extra money), so i ordered them in standard reconditioned color. A simple $8.00 can of dupont caliper paint and about 10 mintues per caliper, and I have black calipers. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps03a6f6e1.jpg Now they match! http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps2a65f337.jpg I also reconditioned the gauge console i purchased recently. i forgot to order the indicator lenses, so i cant fully assemble and wire it yet. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse9c12413.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps1c24d00f.jpg I ran the fuel lines as well. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps52bd1a5d.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb35413f4.jpg |
Looks great! Once paint goes on you're in the home stretch! Always a good feeling!
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2/6/14
Got to see the paint in person for the first time today. To say the paint looks incredible would be an understatement. Wow is all i can say!
Color is Southern Polyurethanes Inc. Black with their universal clear. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psd8dfc230.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps7854418f.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc3d628d8.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfdbb0c03.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb8a79060.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3503162e.jpg |
Looking great. Nice work. :flashie:
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Nice job. Paint looks great and chassis is awesome.
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Looks awesome. I am looking for a 63 split window if you know of any for sale in need of restoration. Please pm me.
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Thanks!
The last one i saw for sale that was nice went for 29,000. It had a great body and tons of nice parts. I did not move quickly enough on it and it was gone in a flash. By the time the new owner sells of the original parts, he will probably only have 15 in it. That was in November. Since then, i have seen nothing but junk at very high prices...cars with completely rotten or crushed bird cages...carved up and modified bodies that would be near impossible to put back to normal, etc. They are still out there, but you might have to wait a year to find one that is decent and not extremely overpriced. If you are going to pay 40,000 for a turd that needs cage work, half its panels replace, and is missing tons of parts, you might as well buy one with a non original motor for 55,000 or 60 |
looking sweet!
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2/11/14
We lowered the body back on the chassis today. Had a good bit of interference on the fender skirts at the rear of the control arms and the lower portion at the bend in the frame rails. A little minor trimming with a saber saw and everything cleared.
Oh, and BTW, if you ever plan on using the original wheels as rollers on a newer chassis, be warned, they will hit the quarter panels. We had to double stack body spacers at the rear for clearance. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps83545168.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps19b87d14.jpg Best to run the wires for the fuel sender and fuel pump before body drop or you will have a hard time connecting them! You can see my wires hanging down in this photo. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps13a610b3.jpg I installed the Vintage AC this afternoon. What a PITA. I dont know how anybody manages to install their new system with the dash still in place. I had to remove all of the electrical components from the box just to gain enough clearance to slide it into place. It will go into place easily without the hoses connected, but once they are installed, it's a battle. If you attempt to install the hoses afterward, well, good luck! http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps54c218b6.jpg Im really glad I decided to go with the base coat/clear coat in the engine bay. It looks fantastic! All that filling and sanding to smooth out the firewall and skirts paid off! http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8fae7146.jpg http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...psea6d8e2c.jpg Detroit Speed Wiper Motor installed http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps086ac1eb.jpg Thin Side Emblems...they look so much better than the fatter emblems, in my opinion. http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6f1308aa.jpg |
super awesome build looking great keep the pics coming, I wasnt a big fan of vetts but anyting 57-63 look awesome
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