garyguinn

pm sent

chazde3

Great post. Sorry for the loss you went through. Thankfully I haven't had to deal with any additional loss for over a year and the wife's grandma(our last grandparent) is doing quite well. It's really hard to believe that new years will mark 2 years since dad passed away.

I've been thinking more and more about your advice to just clear coat over the surviving paint. That would be quite an interesting look and not something seen very often outside of the ratrod crowd. It would also save quite a bit of money lol.

In other news, we finally sold the flat bed car hauler that has been blocking our use of the large garage so I'm going over later to start clearing a spot in the garage for the old 68 to work on finally. Should be pulling it up there this Friday after work. Also, Scott at Detroit Vintage Wheels has begun work restoring the American Racing Vectors that were on Charlie's Toy. He's been an awesome person to work with and talk to in person. He's quite excited for this project to get going. Seriously you guys should buy his restored wheels in confidence. He's a true car guy that really cares about all of us other car guys.

chazde3

Got a good spot of the garage quickly cleaned out. I will do a better job starting to clean out stuff after the 68 is put up finally. But for now my nephew parked his stingray until we get mine moved.

doorgunner

Your nephew said..............


"YOU SNOOZE/YOU LOSE/OLD MAN!"

chazde3

Haha no kidding. At least there's a corvette there. Wouldn't have it any other way.

chazde3

Well the nephew had to find a different spot to park his whip. I braved the cold and with the help of my best friend and my lifted F-150 we dragged the old girl as far as we could up front. Unfortunately it appears the rear wheels are seized up but luckily there was a coating of ice on the ground so the corvette slid pretty well. Once on the concrete pad we put the '68 on rollers, and with the additional help from my sister, we pushed her the last 50' into the garage. Up first is pulling out the nasty carpet and seats and prepping the engine to be pulled.

doorgunner

Give it about two days to warm up to room temperature!

chazde3

Haha yeah, room temperature of about 45 degrees in the unheated and barely insulated garage lol. Did you notice the thin sheet of ice coating the entire car? That made for a slippery drive into work this morning. Hopefully it's melted off by the next time I'm out there.

chazde3

So I've been thinking about the hood on this car since a couple l-88 hood threads are floating around. With all the l-88 hoods sitting over non l-88 engines, am I the only guy out there with a non l-88 hood sitting over an l-88 engine?

What hood is this exactly? Anyone out there know. Or is this something my dad fabbed up and added an l-88 airbox to?

greendot

Looks like fabbed up from a 73 or newer hood that extends all the way to the windshield, removing the wiper door cover that the 68-72 had.

keithinspace

If you were buying that car, you'd get a bunch of "run, don't walk, RUN away" sort of comments.

But the car being what it is and you're starting with no cash investment, I think this is quite possibly the coolest thing ever. I LOVE the vintage nature of the car. Vintage flares, period parts. Absolutely awesome.

That's going to be one heck of a project, though. VERY exciting. It is almost a good thing that it doesn't run/drive...that's my trick is how to get the things done I want to get done but not take it off the road for more than a few months at a time. Without that restriction, you can just tear into it and make it AWESOME.

Good luck!!!! Looks like a great time!!!

chazde3

That definitely seems like something my dad would have done. Thanks.

I know many people wouldn't want to take on a project like this, but I don't necessarily agree with the run don't walk comment. I think anyone that was looking for the real vintage racer look would have the perfect project car in this old girl. Many people have spent a lot of money emulating what I have sitting in the garage. In fact I've had people over to buy this car because of the history, but I wouldn't part with this connection to my dad. I do agree that anyone looking to build an ncrs restored car would hate this basket case lol. This would be a restoration nightmare haha.

I'm not going for ncrs status. I'm going to get her in good running order, replace the carpet/swap out the seats to some we have in better condition(maybe change interior color to black), probably redo the paint job in the garage, show her off at local shows and enjoy her. I actually think this won't be a horribly expensive endeavor considering we have pretty much any replacement part I might need minus carpet and wiring harnesses, which we probably do have but I wouldn't know the difference between them.

Edit: Figured I should add this in. I do understand this won't be an inexpensive project, just less expensive than having to acquire a car first and track down all needed parts. I still expect to be several thousand into this by the time she's up and running.

greendot

I do like the idea of clear coating the existing paint job. If you don;'t like that down the road you can always redo it, but you could never come back to this if you change it. Or just let is as is for a while and drive it when the mechanical is done.

all us old timers will remember your Dad when we see it like this

keithinspace

I TOTALLY agree with you. The car is absolutely awesome. And I'd be lucky for my "vintage racer look" that I'm going for in my car will have half the authenticity of your car.

My point was that there are many threads on this forum that have a car like this with a $14k price tag and the poster asks our (the forum's) opinion.

Once you get into all the little things that need to get done...the rebuilding of the stupid little levers in the console...getting the door pulls right...getting the frame preserved...completely rebuilding the trailing arm assemblies...wiper door...rust here and there...a non-Oldsmobile steering wheel...you'll start to see the money that will be consumed by the task.

My point was that you're able to start with a zero-basis. I bought my car for $7k and have put $10k into it in 3 years of ownership. I have a solid $15k in projects and I haven't even THOUGHT about the body, paint, or interior.

If I could have started off with $0 in the car, it would have made justifying the later expenses that much easier. And my car isn't even REMOTELY as cool as yours.

I can't wait to see you continue to update us on this car. I really like it a lot.

chazde3

Very true Bruce. If I do paint it, it would be way down the line of course. My big issue with the paint is the degradation on the rear deck. I will be pulling the car out in the spring to wash her down and clay bar the paint to see what condition it is in. At the very least I would like to fix the missing spots before clear coating over the entire car.



By the way, not sure how well you knew my parents but my mom, usually remembered by her red hair, is in the background of this picture talking to my best friend.

doorgunner

Very true what the other member said about making the car safe and reliable......
then drive it for a while.....
You MAY decide after putting some miles on it that a clearcoat is the best answer.

chazde3

Oh I agree completely on seeing threads asking for advice on overpriced project cars. Starting at the $0 price point really does help with this project. I couldn't imagine being $10-15k in at this point. Unfortunately sometimes that's where people have to start out at.

Like I said, with concern to this project I have no interest in having it restored to factory original, that should save quite a bit on the restoration alone. I understand people wanting to take on a project like that, but I'm like my dad, get it working and get it on the road.

With the wiper door you mentioned, I'm assuming it was removed because of clearance issues with the long hood. If this frame ends up being in poor condition I will be pulling the new game we have upstairs and incorporating it into the project. Thankfully dad believed in hoarding parts and calling them money in the bank. Good luck with your project and I look forward to talking through this thread as I work on the car.

Samason

Quite possibly the coolest thread I have found. Good luck on getting her straightened out. I am about 3 hrs south of you and also have a 68 drop top I am playing with.

When you eventually get to the point of selling off parts, I will try to keep an eye out. I know I saw a couple things that mine needs already!

keithinspace

Absolutely on both counts.

I got a frame this past July. I knew that money would not allow me to do anything with it immediately, but I also knew that frames aren't getting any cheaper. I found one for $500 from a fellow forum member and knew it was the one for me. Made it a 17th Anniversary trip with my wife. In the end, I didn't want to get 'stuck' with my car and no frame available under $5k.

Your Dad was pretty darn smart. With all the parts at your disposal, I'm sure you'll be saying that over, and over, and over, and over, and over...

chazde3

Thank you!

I'm guessing you might be eying that '68 yellow removable hardtop from the beginning of the thread . Shoot me a pm of what you are looking for, worst I can say is nope. Most body components won't be needed and will be sold off at some point.

I feel my dad thought the same way about frames as you did. We have a stack of used ones in the basement and the one brand new one up in the parts attic . Also, you seem to have an understanding wife haha.