Nicola

I have heard from a number of sources...
If you have a relatively clean original car corvette or otherwise it is NOT a good idea to disturb the factory build as the tightness of the car will be sacrificed to varying degrees.
Opinion?

62Jeff

In my opinion, those words were spoken by people who either never did a restoration, or did a poor quality, incomplete one.

Nowhere Man

Depends how much space you have along money and skill.

A-Snake

+1, Incomplete can mean time was not spent sorting the car after restoration.

Al T

I've done a frame off on a '68 442 convertible and am currently replacing the frame under my restored '64 GTO convertible.....don't ask.
I would bet the care an owner takes in reassembly far exceeds a factory employee's work on a Friday afternoon! My opinion would be the car would probably be far better.

Allan

IGO200

I am in the closing months of a 5 year project on my 66. I can't imagine ending up with anything other than "lipstick on a pig" without having had that bare frame on the garage floor when I started putting it back together.
Having said that, you will spend A LOT more money, not because you have to, but because you will want to.

1snake

Body off is the only way to do a complete resto. correctly. I've done several and wouldn't do it any other way. Anything less is just a "Bubba job" IMHO.

Jim

dplotkin

I have perfomed frame off restorations, I've bought cars others restored, I own never restored low-mileage originals, and I have rehabs. Been there.

It's all about skill-sets of those involved & the available capital. The rest is extranious.

Some car types and models are harder to do than others and are therefore more sensitive in variations to available skills and money. The results of a C or C- restoration on a Corvette might not be so apparent or intolerable as they would on say, a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham or Lincoln Mk II.

Beautifly restored Corvettes are, notwithstanding the NCRS imperative to avoid it, better cars than when new. Higher quality paints and materials is only half of it.

So long as you are willing to perform your due diligence, and are certain you want a brand new old Corvette as opposed to a used one; you can expect a beautiful end result.

Dan

62Jeff

Allow me to offer some examples of shortcuts people might take that can result in a less solid restoration.

I'm currently restoring (slowly) a 1956 Oldsmobile 98 Holiday Coupe.

All through the dash, little fiber o-rings, like those lick-and-stick things you put on 3 hole paper in order to repair a torn hole, are used. These fiber rings are in place between any 2 pieces of metal, at each mounting stud or bolt. The purpose is to reduce rattles. A less attentive restorer may omit these rings on re-assembly, and then wonder why the dash rattles.

The doors, which are huge, had sheets of tar-impregnated sound deadening material glued to the backside of the door skin, to reduce sound and eliminate any tinny noises you may get from shutting such a large door. Over the years that sound deadener acted like a sponge and caused surface rust on the backside of the door skin. At first blush this would appear to be a design flaw because the deadener promoted rust and consequently I'm sure many Oldsmobile restorers leave this out of their cars when they reassemble. This would result in a hollow sounding door when it is closed.

Details like this separates nice cars from outstanding cars, the former more prone to rattles than the latter.

mikem350

What you also will hear is "ITS ONLY ORIGINAL ONCE"

And, how "tight" can a car be after 40+ years of driving and rotting rubber bushings, etc etc

65tripleblack

Do you intend to take the car on long road trips? This will determine how to approach a possible restoration, or simply a refurbishment.

If a "rough looking", tired old car bothers you, then the question becomes moot.............

If the cliche': "It's only original once." bothers you, then the question becomes moot............

If a full restoration is what suits you, then remember that an improper job can make the final product less reliable and more prone to annoyances than before the process began. Attention to the important details is key to a beautiful as well as functional product. A "job well done" means one in which a cross country road trip with the vehicle can be enjoyed with absence of worry and trouble!

Pop Chevy

When people tell me they are going to do this I tell them this : You can tear a car apart in a week or so, BUT it takes years to put them back together ! The right way. It's fun to tear em apart.
Be sure you have the time, resources and are good at following through. There are unfinished project cars all over the US. Think about it is all I'm asking..

Mike Geary

Taking the body off is intimidating until you do one. Then it's no big deal. Really, the only way you'll be happy with the end result.

BUT... you will be amazed at how one little car, taken apart, can fill up a 3-car garage.

Only a 2-car garage?? A four-post lift is your best friend! Rolling chassis on top -- body on dolly below.

1snake

That's a good point. The way to avoid getting into that situation is to restore them the way I do it. As I dis-assemble the car, each piece that is removed is rebuilt/restored/repainted etc. and ready to be re-installed before I remove the next part. That way, when the car is completely dis-assembled, you have nothing but nice new/perfect parts to put it back together. I can't imagine just jumping in and tearing the whole car apart and starting with a pile of dirty/used parts that need rebuilt. Doing it my way, if you decide not to go further, you can quickly put those nice parts back on the car.

Jim

our60

It's all in what you want. Is it original and nice enough to be considered a "survivor" by the NCRS? Just askin'.

Old Blazer

I like your method. Would keep you from being overwhelmed and feeling like there is no end to the project.

alexandervdr

well, I am wondering what level of 'tightness' would survive 45 years of (ab)use from probably 5 different owners or more anyway Provided that tightness was there in the first place, something that is questioned by those who can know.

I took the plunge and started the body off a couple of months ago. It takes a deep breath to jump, but since then I discovered so many hidden faults that I can hardly imagine how to restore a C2 and NOT take the body off.

This is my second car project, and it's tempting to believe it can be done with less time, less money, less skills than what most of us experience who have gone through it before. The reality is that you need all three. How much of each is difficult to qualify, but usually more of each than what you would hope for!

66DCJR

I am currently removing motor to paint,along with firewall etc.My frame looks pretty good with no visual problems but sure could use some paint. The body paint is driver quality and right now no plans of wanting to paint. It is preety good . But wondering about removing body to paint frame and new body mounts etc. . I want to do it with everything intact such as doors/glass.

cv67

Me too. I tore everything apart the first one let me tell you its a miracle that 10 yrs later its running. Talk about burnout.....Keep it running and enjoy it. Got to the point it was so many yrs I hadnt driven it I kind of forgot what it did for me and lost interetst-out of sight out of mind. Im glad I stuck it out. Hard.

OP if you car is a clean original if it were me. Put all new bushings/mounts in it, steering box etc clean/paint parts and enjoy it. I LOVE Original looking early vettes not overrestored they are the coolest. Even a half decent original interior Ill take over all new. Something about seeing them like that dont know what it is...dig it.

On tightness no comparison on new mounts/front end parts it will truly feel like a compltetly different car youll love it.

SeeYah

I'll weigh in here....I had the same dilemma earlier this year. Almost a year ago I was looking for a driver 65-67 convert. I found a numbers matching 67 L79 that was pretty original but had a few issues such as an engine that needed to be resealed due to sitting for 6 years without much use, worn transmission syncros, clutch almost out, a few wrong parts and some poor body repairs on the left front fender above the wheel along with a color change that was done in the mid to late 80s when much of the car was redone. At first I was just going to fix the engine and transmission and clean up the engine bay while it was out but decided I wouldn't be happy unless the body was fixed and then if you are going to fix the body you will have a challenge trying to match up 25 year old paint so you might as well repaint it the original goodwood green. And if you are going to repaint the whole car well then it would be easier to pull the engine/transmission and clean up the frame if the body was off. So if you are going to go that far... well, you might as well do the rest of the frame and replace all the suspension bushings, brake and fuel lines, undercar exhaust, etc, etc, etc. It just snowballs. I hope to have a nice looking car early next year but what I had originally planned to spend vs what I will have into it is a huge gap. Had I known up front what it would entail both effort and moneywise, I probably would have decided to just do the engine and transmission, called it good and driven the wheels off of it..