americanretrodave

Thanks PW; it's a fun project.

First Gear, your hopes are secure, what you are seeing in back are tack welds, a process used prior to the final weld.

sub006

I LIKE the pop-up trunk emblem gas filler access idea! And the wider rear fenders are not noticeable at first glance, sneaky is cool.

What color(s?) are you planning on or considering for this fine machine?

americanretrodave

Thanks Sub006, I appreciate a question about the car! I'm thinking I'm going to drop the pop-up emblem idea, I figured out a way to do it, but I don't want the hose coming up in the trunk. I think it will be a neater installation just having the fill sput inside the trunk. I do think I'll recess the front and rear emblems so they sit flush like the rear taillights. I'm working on out the tank will fit in the trunk right now. I'm also putting the battery in the old tank compartment, if you can make out the picture below, you'll see the first template for the battery which will fit around the chassis.



I'm not sure on the color yet, I'm kind of leaning for a medium silver with possibly a shade darker in the concave area of the side cone, sort of a ghost shade darker. I also like green, just not sure how it would look on the '59. I may wait until I do the '62.

Dave

americanretrodave

Thanks Jason, I have a long way to go but I like the way it's shaping up. Dave

americanretrodave

Fitting my body to the new chassis;







Making molds for my original gas tank compartment to hold my battery, speakers, etc.;



Note: once I install the gas tank cover, you won't notice any alterations;



First phase in making new molds for the trunk, the cut out area is where the gas tank will be. The cut out area works out to be 3,819.95 cubic inches which should give me a 16.54 gallon fuel tank...



I'm playing with it a little on how it's going to sit, I want it's stance fairly close to original; I'm not a big fan of having a C1 really lowered.



If you look close, you'll see all the extra room I have from the new wider rear quarters, I'll be able to put some really nice tires in the rear.

uxojerry

Very nice build and lots of good ideas. I deleted part of my paragraph because it was not pertinent. You are building a beautiful car, problems be damned!

americanretrodave

Thanks Uxojerry, I appreciate your comments. I've built stock cars, but this build is one that I'm really having fun doing things my way. It's also a build that I'm extremely excited about driving.

Actually, my experience with the chassis has been good, in fact, I'm extremely pleased with it's development and design; I'm excited about the C6 suspension teamed up with the Viper rear end and, as stated, I'm anxious to get behind the wheel of this baby. Jeff has been super easy to work with and has only asked for payments upon completion of pre-agreed stages. Right now, I'm modifying the body to fit the chassis and seeing if anything needs to be altered prior to the final welds and powder coating. Doing this is an interruption to the completion schedule but I felt it was prudent and Jeff couldn't have been more cooperative.

1coolC2

Dave,

Great looking build with lots of thought about both fuction and form in all design phases Keep the pictures and info flowing, I love watching builds during this stage of construction!!

BTW I just test mounted the 65 Coupe to my new SRIII chassis with all C6 Z06 under pinnings. Have the rear compartment cut out and will start making templates for molds to rebuild it all back in...good fun and I enjoy the planning/fabrication. Hope to post some pics soon

R/
Jeff

americanretrodave

Thanks Jeff,

I appreciate the compliments. It wasn’t easy taking this body, especially after I had everything repaired on it - and start cutting on it. I’m sure you have crossed that bridge too. But the positive is what you make out of it. I'm hopeful that when I get done, the body will be stronger and in my eyes, more functionable. It is fun getting creative on a build.

I’ll keep the pictures coming and I’m anxious to see pictures of your build too.

Dave

americanretrodave

No problem Jerry, I appreciate the compliments.

74-Roadster

Just got caught up on your progress! Looking very, very nice! Where are you in CA? North, middle, south? Time to hit google . . .

I'm curious as I have an 11 year old son and we are slowly visiting MLB parks. And I one is near you, I'd like to see your work up close some day.

americanretrodave

Thanks, 74-Roadster, I appreciate the compliment. I live just south of Fresno in Dinuba, CA. If you are in central CA, give me a call, I'd enjoy giving you a tour.

Dave

groovyjay

I like what I see! Keep the updates flowing.

americanretrodave

Thanks Groovyjay, I'll keep the posts coming. Dave

americanretrodave

More pictures:

Having to engineer and fabricate my body to fit this new chassis has been a lemon to lemonade process. I like getting rid of the gas door, moving the battery and utilizing the previous gas tank cavity. The new fiberglass piece that fits into the said compartment actually enhances the strength of the body, same can be said for the trunk. I also like moving the fuel tank to the rear and getting it out of the cockpit area.



Old gas tank compartment, now molded to hold the battery as well as a couple of other items;





The trunk area is coming along; the center area is where the tank will go;





Here's the mold for the center part of the trunk;

americanretrodave

Getting back to my build;

My trunk and old gas tank compartment are coming along;











I'm going to recess the rear bumpers, I need to do that to fit them with the wider quarters;





I changed the original exhaust pipe protector housing from the stock 2" to 3" to handle the larger exhaust, you can catch a glimpse of them through the bumpers...

americanretrodave

My estimate for the new gas tank;

The shape of the spare tire well after the modifications will resemble a rectangle on top 9.75 inches deep, then it rolls down to 7.25 inches deep, this section is seventeen inches wide and seventeen and a half inches long. At the end of this section, the tank can expand into the spare tire well, which is estimated at 15% of the well. The estimated total cubic inches of this tank will be 3,819.95 which will be 16.54 U.S. Gallons.

Please note:

Rectangle areas:

17.0” x 9.75” x 4.0” = 663.00 cubic inches
17.0” x 7.25” x 13.5” = 1,663.88 cubic inches

Rounded area:

17.0” x 2.50” x 6.0” = 229.50 divided by half = 803.91 cubic inches

Cut off circle area:

14.2” x 7.0” = 4,594.43 cubic inches x 15.00% = 689.16 cubic inches

Combined areas:

663.00 + 1,663.88 + 803.91 + 689.16 = 3,819.95 total cubic inches


3,819.95 cubic inches = 16.54 U.S. Gallons

pw2006

Great progress Dave!

Frankie the Fink

Great work...

I'm always left wondering after the happy buyer of a C1 restomod has a problem a few years later in some aspect of the build -- where does he get it fixed (assuming he/she has limited skills themselves)??

He may be a continent away from the builder; the shop could have gone under and I'd think most other places might be reluctant to jump into the middle of someone else's engineering/fabrication work.

americanretrodave

Thanks PW, it's getting to the point that each step is exciting.

Thanks Frankie,

Your question is a good one, I imagine there are buyers that steer away from modified cars for fear of having something that no one knows about. Personally, I can’t imagine any good mechanic having trouble working on a Corvette suspension, or a Viper rear end. All the parts, engine, transmission, drive-train are from current cars and readily identifiable. The chassis that holds everything is basically a structure that holds the parts, again, easily repaired if ever needed, no difference from an original chassis as far as repairs go. As for the body, any body shop experienced with fiberglass should have no problems working on an older Corvette that has been ‘modified’. In fact, if all modifications have been done correctly, most body shops would welcome the work. Modifications on automobiles have been going on since the first one rolled out of the showroom, and shouldn’t be a problem. I would suggest if you are buying one that you get as much information as possible on what parts were used and/or altered, that information would be helpful.

For my car, I’m building it for myself and probably some unknown ‘future’ son-in-law.