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The journey from a Grand Splat back to a Grand Sport - another rebuild story
I want to first thank you guys for all the encouragement and kind words on the "Too Hot to Handle" rebuild. That 'vert is on her way to to be pampered at a new home and I am now the proud owner of a 2010 Grand Sport that apparently had a Grand Splat at some point last month.
I took delivery of my new beastie this morning.
This build may not be as rapid as the previous for two reasons. First and primary, they are covered up at the shop and it will be better than a week before a frame machine is clear to get her up and checked out. Second, although I am starting to order parts for her rebuild already, I have some decisions to make before I commit to replacing certain parts with OEM.
Here are the initial pics and I am excited to get started on her. Stay tuned for updates...
I do enjoy the process and I get great satisfaction from saving something worth saving. Heck, even my cat is a rescue. I see so many destroyed vehicles go through the auction that are not able to be saved, but once in awhile you see one and just know there is too much life left in her to let the vultures get ahold of her. Secondly, in my professional life, I work mostly with my mind (I am a Cyber Security Consultant) and I actually need and desire the mindless physical effort required when rebuilding cars.
I had actually planned to keep the 'vert until spring when I could have gotten more for her, but after reading so many threads here and learning as much as I have over the past few months, I had decided I really wanted a GS. I posted the 'vert on Craigslist just to test the waters and immediately got a ton of interest. At the same time this GS popped up on-line here in my local town. The pickup date was 9/8/16 so it was a fairly recent incident. I placed a bid on the GS and waited. Simultaneously a gentleman contacted me from Orange Beach concerning the 'vert. He read through the build thread and after a couple phone conversations he agreed to purchase the 'vert if I would deliver it. A top down trip to Orange Beach? Done deal. I was pleasantly surprised when I won the bid on the GS and the rest is fairly evident in the previous post. I will be delivering the 'vert tomorrow and I have already taken possession of the GS. Now I just have to decide on the direction I want to take this build
I do enjoy the process and I get great satisfaction from saving something worth saving. Heck, even my cat is a rescue. I see so many destroyed vehicles go through the auction that are not able to be saved, but once in awhile you see one and just know there is too much life left in her to let the vultures get ahold of her.
You're a good man Al_Jazz!
Good choice on the GS. I love that color with the chrome GS wheels.
I wish you best luck with the new project. I'm looking forward to watching how she comes along.
Hope there is no frame damage. I had a '06 vert a nice lady turned in front of (I broad sided her BMW), that bent the frame so the top wouldn't latch. IIRC you have to cut and replace pieces of the frame rather than try to straighten it by pulling with a frame straightener.
I have a question are these cars salvage titles? If so does the new owner register it as such or can you get it reinspected for a normal title?
That varies by the state and what they consider enough damage to give it a salvage stamp on the title (some states also use other terms).
It is also possible for an unethical person to take advantage of the different state standards. One can 'wash' a salvage title by titling the vehicle in a state with more lenient rules.
I have owned and sold cars with salvage on the title. These were cars that I bought back after taking the insurance money then fixing them myself. Sometimes the damage is fairly minor and the owner wants to keep the vehicle instead of junking it and buying a new one. Then there are auction and junkyard cars like Al_Jazz buys and repairs.
Selling it can become a hassle sometimes because buyers get suspicious or just don't want a car that ever had any flaws, repaired or not. It's a bit of a stigma on the car for the rest of its life. Obviously even if perfectly repaired, these cars should be sold at somewhat of a discount which can make it a very good deal for the buyer. But of course that buyer will have to sell it for a lower price when they sell it too so there is value lost vs a car with a 'clean' title.
I have a question are these cars salvage titles? If so does the new owner register it as such or can you get it reinspected for a normal title?
We have a rebuilders license and once completed these cars are inspected by the State. The State guy goes through his inspection and applies a permanent REBUILT VEHICLE sticker next to the manufacture VIN plate. Once that is complete the State will send a new title with a new title number that has the word REBUILT in the memo line. Other than that the title is the same as any other, it just denotes it having been previously a salvage title. Most people do not know that a car can be "salvage" with little to no damage, salvage just means an insurance company has paid it off. Some Lemon Law vehicles go through as salvage, many "flood" vehicles have little to no water in them. When a car lot is hit by a natural disaster (hail, flood, etc) the insurance company does not discriminate. They total out every vehicle on the lot. If you know what you are doing, you can buy them with little to no damage. I am very picky with the vehicles I chose to rebuild.
If a vehicle is seriously damaged, it is sold as a scrap or non-rebuildable title. Those can never be inspected and a registrable title can never be assigned to that vehicle VIN.
Once a vehicle has been inspected and has a rebuilt title, it can be bought, sold, tagged, insured, and have a lien against it. With proper documentation I have never had an issue selling a rebuilt vehicle.
Last edited by AL_Jazz; 09-30-2016 at 03:41 PM.
Reason: Grammer
Hope there is no frame damage. I had a '06 vert a nice lady turned in front of (I broad sided her BMW), that bent the frame so the top wouldn't latch. IIRC you have to cut and replace pieces of the frame rather than try to straighten it by pulling with a frame straightener. Good luck!
Couple comments. First, please never cut a frame and replace only a part of it. A frame is a structural component to the vehicle and cutting it can seriously weaken the strength. I have rebuilt many Jeeps and trucks and we usually will either straighten if minor or replace the frames if they are bent. On a unibody chassis where there is no actual frame, one can go to a factory seam and remove the factory welds to install a completely new part including B pillars, quarter panels, and rocker panels. On a standard Vette which has a steel subframe, working one on a frame machine is not a problem if it is a fairly minor adjustment. There are crumple zones built into most modern vehicles. On the Z06 which has an aluminum subframe, I would not recommend pulling those at all...even for a minor adjustment. Aluminum will crack and break and does not recover from being bent, even a little.
As far as your C6 with the top not clasping correctly, no, I would not consider that car rebuildable. If the doors don't close correctly and the top is not lining up, there is too much structural damage for me to consider it a safe vehicle once rebuilt. One of the first things I did with this GS is to pop the top and make sure it was not bound up at all. It functions perfectly, no cracks in the windshield, and is water tight around all the doors and seals up even against a pressure washer. Like I've said previously, I am fairly picky about those that I rebuild. Just my $0.02...
09-29-2016, 05:24 PM
The journey from a Grand Splat back to a Grand Sport - another rebuild story
