Whats easier?Pulling the engine with the body still on or just pulling the body and then dealing with the rest?Also anybody know of the best DIY book out there for restoring '63's.

 

It;s a good idea to introduce yourself by filling in your profile before you start picking our brains. Also, we need complete info as to what your desired end result is. Al W.

 

well, if you are going to pull the body anyway than it's easier to pull the body THAN pull the motor/trans off the frame.

If you are going for a full body off restoration you should have as a minimum the AIM (Assembly Instruction Manual), the 1963 shop manual, and very helpful would be the TIM&JG (Technical Information Manual & Judging Guide).
Noland Adams "The Complete Corvette Restoration & Technical Guide - Vol.2 1963-1967 would also be a great asset but it can be difficult to find at times

you also might find some of the articles on my website's tech articles page handy while you are working on the car:
http://lbfun.com/Corvette/Tech/vettetech.html

 

Well I updated my profile a bit.I don't ever put too much info online.It's nothing personal.There are just some bad people out there.Gotta be careful you know.Anyhow I'm looking to have a daily driver summertime car.I want the end result to be a close to perfect car.I won't be showing it, but I have never been into doing things halfway.So hopefully that gives you an idea.I guess we'll have to see how far the rabbit hole goes,or the money pit if you prefer.My plan is to do this thing right.It's also kinda sentimental because I know my grandpa would have wanted to see this thing back in it's orig. form.By the way thanks Barry k.I asked you the same ? on the other site where we were chatting.As I mentioned there space is an issue for pulling the body.

 

Expect to spend $35 to $45,000 in restoration expenses.

Oh well in that case plan on spending $60-$75,000 or more by the time you restore everything completely and accurately down to the last nut and bolt. Remember that many parts for a 63 are unique to early, mid, or late production and those will be pricey.


I REALLY mean this with the best of intentions - but if you can articulate exactly what you want out of the car, then we can help you figure out a plan of attack. I strongly encourage you to identify your target, and have a solid understanding of the cost of that target, before you begin. Many cars have been torn apart, put partway back together, and sold as projects once the true cost and effort of the project became evident.


And welcome to the forum and corvettes. There's a great group of people here happy to help.

 

Hello, gearhead,

Welcome to the Corvette Forum.

Is the car currently running/driveable?
If not, has it been in storage for a long period of time?
If so, was it dry storage or in a garage?

Perhaps if you share the history of the car we would be better able to make some recommendations...

 

i agree with everything jeff says.
set yourself a REALISTIC target, budget and timeframe.
also think about all the "as long as i'm here already" items you didn't budget for.
will you be doing all your own work?? or farming some/all stuff out to professionals??
get yourself the good books mentioned above BEFORE you even start and study them. the car is pretty simply-straight foreward compared to modern cars but you WILL need those books.
read back into the archives, all the problems you will run into have already been discussed by others.

to answer your origonal question, definately pull the body first not the engine, the high point of the chassis is the gas tank, by the time the body is high enough to clear the tank it'll clear the engine too.
i have a 64 i pulled the body off last augest. presently i'm just finishing the chassis, suspension,frame and driveline restoration. i was lucky, the car was mechanically pretty sound, so far i haven't had to replace a LOT of parts but have disassembled every single component and inspected, repaired or replaced what was needed. i decided to do this because while pretty sound, the car was start to show it's age and was starting to look pretty crusty. i've blasted and painted every single component on the car.

while jeff's budget estimates are probably pretty close if you will be farming stuff out and be paying for labor, they don't necessarily have to be. i am a retired flat rate mechanic and do EVERYHING myself. my only cost of doing this is parts that are unrebuildale and need replacement and supplies/material. i budgeted 8K for the resto and 2K for the "as long as i'm here stuff" an so far it looks like i might be closer to 8K than 10K.

 

Hello John, You sound to be one of us! Still Crazy after all these years! Anyway, with these cars, especially in your case seeing as it was Grandpa's car you will really enjoy your efforts. Labor costs far exceed parts today so you win from the get go. Doing the mechanical work is a major savings. We are here to help! Good Luck and post lots of pictures with your postings. Al W.

 

other site we were chatting on? which one? i'm on a few different Corvette forums but don't recall your car or situation.

Anyway, you say you want to "do it right" and that would be to pull the body for the restoration if you want to be as complete as possible.
If space is that much of a consideration you can do it as a body on restoration but overall it's more difficult. To check and replace things like the fuel line or the body mounts for example you can leave the body on but you need to at least be able to lift it a few inches. You could undo the body mount bolts and lift one side of the body off the frame, replace the body mounts, than do the same on the other side.

By removing the body completely though it allows you to remove everything completely from the frame, sandblast and paint the frame correctly, make any repairs the frame requires including rusted out body mount locations, easier to remove/reinstall suspension componets, remove and reinstall motor/trans, etc.

you could always remove the body, place it on a body dolly and store it outside under a cover while you work on the rolling chassis including the motor, etc than swap the two around as you work on the body. Once the rolling chassis is finished and the bodywork is done they can be reunited to work on the interior.

There are ways to work around your limitations but deciding just how far you want to go in "doing it the right way" is up to you and your limitations on space and budget.

 

I've never done a restoration but I think those figures are high unless one was to hand the car over to a shop and write checks during the restoration.

Gearhead1, there are many shades of restoration and "close to perfect" may have many different meanings.

brian

 

AllCoupedup,

in today's marketplace, $60-$75,000 might even be on the low end for a restoration - you got's to figure YOUR labor costs are the prevailing rate that a restoration shop in your area would charge; then go from there - any parts you need to send out; any parts you need to buy; etc. - they all add up

 

I appreceate everybodys input on the situation.I may pull the body and put it outside.Not a bad idea.Anybody know how much the body weighs?Would 4 guys do it?I'm definetly thinking about all aspects b4 I get too crazy.Lot's to ponder.I am trying to save as much as possible because 80.00 an hour for a shop to do everything is a bit much.

 

No less than 6 or 7 ig guys to lift the body. Be careful leaving the body outside as Thieves in the Night is the rule! Al W.

 

Thanks for the heads up.Lukily I live pretty remote and can surround the body with my snowmobile and travel trailers and then cover it up.But we'll see if I can even get 6 guys out there to help me.I do have a super huge engine hoist, but I cant roll that in the driveway do to the gravel.

 

I agree with all of the above. Just one last thing. Pull the body, and remove the front springs and then pull the engine etc. Use the engine to keep tension on the front springs. Once the engine is out, removing the springs without the proper tools can be dangerous. Check the archives on the best and safest way to remove the suspension components. Good Luck. Jerry