post you before and after projects.

[topless82vette]

with all your suspension rebuilt especially the steering how does it drive and steer? and would you feel steeroids is a waste of money verses a completely rebuilt stock vette steering and suspension setup?

I think mine has right about 130k miles last time it was driven was about 10 years ago. It was my first corvette so I've never driven one that well, suspension wise is tight. Mechanically I'de love to improve everything about the car because I do plan on using it as my everyday driver when "and if" I complete it LOL.

in the next few weeks before I plan on doing anything more to the car I am going to post a bunch of pictures of it and let you guys decide if this car shows any signs whatsoever of rust. I know it was wacked real hard at some point in the right rear but aside from stress cracks in the wheel wells and rear truck panel (this stuff was replaced when it was converted into a convertible) the car seems to always sit normal and always seem to drive nice so I am hoping no frame damage occured. Although the passenger door has always had a large gap at the back so maybe the birdcage was damaged too. But I am not overly concerned about that issue since the door still shuts good.

provided my car isn't a rust bucket all it needs is thorough painting from bare glass up, minor engine work, complete interior, telescopic stuff rebuilt since it's missing it all, and minor body work, and hopefull rebuild all the suspension.

The CFI seems to run okay except for the fact its got like 8 year old gas in it but it still fires right up believe it or not but chokes you out of the garage reallllllllll quik. Mechanically speaking though it's all there so I guess thats a good thing LOL.

 

[howard]

with all your suspension rebuilt especially the steering how does it drive and steer?

Much better now!
When I bought the car it had 131,000 miles on it with many of the original ball joints , tie rods etc..the thing had about a 1/2 turn play in the steering. I only drove the car 4 miles before the frame off but it was long enough to know it was shot. The car is a no option car with manual brakes, steering and 4 speed. I like the way it feels and handles now but only use it for cruising around so I haven't really pushed it except for a few hiway on ramps(stays flat and glued to the road)

 

[Evolution1980]

Kinda losing incentive on my vette real fast and have no will .... so let me see how bad your were to begin with.

Well, when you find yourself lacking "will", if you have money, your problem can be solved. Pay someone else to finish the car! :L

I'll never get back the money that I've spent on my car because at least 50% of the money I've spent has been in labor costs. But at least the car gets done correctly and I get back to driving it faster. That's how I justify the extra 50%. It also took about 10 years for the car to get that way, so it wasn't like it was a fast project. Plus, my car never had any major mods done like turning it into a convertible or something like that.

 

[Curby]

I agree, took me about 2 years for mine to get to driver stage, just have to do a small project each night or 2...I still need to do paint & interior one day..for now i'm enjoying the ride

all of the pictures....
http://coopersgarage.piczo.com/1973corvetterestoration?cr=4&linkvar=000044

WOW! You have done a lot of work.

I think my '73 is about in the same shape as yours was. The seatbelt brackets look the same.

Unfortunately, I am doing just the opposite of you. My car sustained some damage, and the insurance company is re-painting it, so I am doing the paint first, then the body-off.

 

[78Vette-SA]

Some incredible before, during and after work.

 

[topless82vette]

Swtato

what were the steps for paint build up from where your car was down to bare glass? I thought about making a in garage both to start my body work and prepping it for paint.

 

[locks]

Well if you want to see how bad mine was to begin with you can check out my progress thread.

I'm not finished though so I don't know how much it will motivate you. :]]

Holy crap. Mine is bad but not that bad. I hope.

 

[locks]

Factory AC COPO car. Sweet. That one was worth it. My 4 speed 80:L

 

[topless82vette]

Crowvet

Did you buy that car at corvette carlisle?

 

[topless82vette]

when a vette is down to its bare fiberglass is it a major hassle to repaint it or because it's press molded does it just require a thick filler/sealer primer. I don't see loose strands of glass and only minor body work is needed on my car. taking it down to bare glass should give me a better quality paint job right? When I bought this mechanical a$$hole the guy or body shop just quik sprayed it and doesn't look like they ever sanded the car down so it looked nice for a few weeks then all kinds of imperfections started showing and the paint then started to blister and fall off.

my car is currently stripped to like this 78 pace car in this thread. I am not looking for a show quality job just a it looks nice from 25 feet away since it will be driven daily and is bound to get its share on nicks and so on.

 

[fine69]

when a vette is down to its bare fiberglass is it a major hassle to repaint it or because it's press molded does it just require a thick filler/sealer primer. I don't see loose strands of glass and only minor body work is needed on my car. taking it down to bare glass should give me a better quality paint job right? When I bought this mechanical a$$hole the guy or body shop just quik sprayed it and doesn't look like they ever sanded the car down so it looked nice for a few weeks then all kinds of imperfections started showing and the paint then started to blister and fall off.

my car is currently stripped to like this 78 pace car in this thread. I am not looking for a show quality job just a it looks nice from 25 feet away since it will be driven daily and is bound to get its share on nicks and so on.

A quality paint job is largely dependent upon the body/surface preparation.

I have most of mine sanded down to bare glass. After you complete the bodywork, look into using Evercoat Slick Sand... it's a thick primer/filler that should cover any rough spots. You'll need to use a 2.0 - 2.1 tip on your gun.

 

[topless82vette]

Have any of you made a makeshift paint booth and painted your cars yourself? I've decided on painting my car white on top and silver on the bottom. I figure white as they say is the easiest color to do.

So this evercoat is a good builder and sealer? I should probably grind into the seam filler and re-do that as well.

 

[Curby]

I helped a friend turn a $650 carport into a positive pressure paint booth with a box fan, some 24 x 24 filters, a roll of heavy duty plastic and some 2x4 wood. We painted his 82 and it turned out great.

 

[topless82vette]

How did you rig the thing up for ventilation? Wouldn't electric fans and paint fumes be a bad thing?

Came out nice though! I have a garage so probably wouln't be hard. Downside is how bad does the paint fumes smell? I really don't want to piss the neighbors off.

 

[Curby]

Terry lives in the woods, so fumes were not a problem. The box fans actually blow in to the room, with filters on the outside. We had to rig up some shrouds, to keep the fans from recirculating the air, and we had to cut some exhaust ports in the opposite wall.

You can see the box fans we used in the paint photos. For the final clear coat, he swapped the cheap fans for a belt drive variable speed attic exhaust fan, and it worked much better. I don't have any pictures of that set-up.

The trick is a good $600 paint gun to put the paint on the car, and not in the air. The cheap gun was horrible on the primer and sealer, but the good Saida gun was a dream on the base coat and clear.

We had some moisture issues with the room, because we sealed it up too well, and had to run a propane heater to warm the room up and dry up the roof so it would not drip on the car.

We used plastic to seal off the engine bay and interior of the car, and had some issues with the air gun blowing the dried paint off the plastic. We had to cover the plastic with paper, so the dried paint would not flake off.

 

[corvette1976]

From this:

To this:

And just yesterday to this:

As you can see I am a young corvette enthusiasts paying and doing everything my self so my project may take a little longer.