1996 CE Restoration

[Psychojr]

Just finished spiffing up a 1996 CE I bought a year ago - Haywood's Automotive actually did the work (certainly not me). The car had 71k miles on it when I got it and Tony's Corvette had done an engine rebuild around 67k miles with a 383 stroker. Dyno showed 396 HP at the time. I have all the receipts so I know the prior owner spent some bucks on it. The body of the car was in good shape, but definitely showing signs of wear. I don't think the car had ever seen a garage. Lots of little things here and there that needed replacing, so I figured with the deal I got I could spend a little money and make it a pretty nice car. Also, I did have a local Corvette mechanic (Corvettes Etc) check it out and he said it was mechanically sound.

FYI - I thought really hard about buying Yoda's car, but with an all original car you take on a certain amount of responsibility. I wanted something I could have fun with and drive as much as I wanted to. My heart was set on a C3, but I ended up with a C4. Oh well...

Here are some pics of when I got the car:

What you can't see easily are the numerous flaws, such as window tinting pealing off, nicks in top, bald tires, road rash on rims, cracked weather stripping, worn carpet, warped sun visors, etc.

 

[Psychojr]

Here is the restoration in progress:

 

[Psychojr]

Pics of the finished project. Engine cleaned up and painted more like an LT4:

The only thing I really added here was the SLP claw, mainly because the original intake was dented by hood misalignment and it looked bad.

New OEM tires (Goodyear) and replaced the rim with road rash. Repowder-coated the other 3 and replaced the CE logos.

Sorry I didn't get a better side shot of that. Also replaced the shocks with Bilsteins and painted the brake calipers.

Other improvements - targa top replaced, windows tinted (all in blue), new windshield, new OEM weatherstripping, new visors, carpet, insulation, front air dams, front bumper (cracked), CE floor mats, new AC. Buffed the sill covers, but they have not yet been installed. Car completely disassembled and painted in the original Sebring Silver, however, we added a bit of pearl to the clearcoat to give it more pop in the sunlight. The original finish was sort of bland in my opinion.

 

[Psychojr]

Maxed out on my pics so here are a few more:


Under body was painted too and I'll post those when I get them from Haywood. This car features a cross brace for added stability and that was painted as well.

Hope these pics come through well because Haywood did an incredible job and I hope the pics do his work justice!

 

[hcbph]

Restore

Looking good, well done. Especially like the paint. If I ever get mine repainted, I plan on having it done in 94 T-Bird red. I like that color.

 

[Toms007]

Wow, that's quite a transformation! Nice save!

 

[Wegone]

Great work. Wish my CE looked that good.

 

[Psychojr]

More pics. Haywood did way more than I expected. Even painted the frame and under body.

 

[dietDrThunder]

Nice! I just bought a 96 CE myself...very cool!