Daytona Rick

Looking for some advice? Picked up a 64 ragtop Black with Red int. non matching 350 motor, alum, radiator, and stinger hood, but everything else original, with M22 trans. No PS. P Window, or AC. Due to recent market, thinking of going Resto Mod.


Now without breaking the bank, what should be done. Thinking of stroking motor and adding new fuel injection with stacks versis an LS motor swap. Go to new four wheel disc brakes (rec brake kits)with new updated wheels and wider tires. Add PS and vintage air? Seats, maybe upgrade to C3 or C5 seats. Comments? Suggestions? Trying to keep budget to around $10k. thanks

sbaba

I appreciate resto-mods with a stock look.

Are you doing the work yourself? If not, that's about 1/2 the budget. I like the idea of a stroker, an LS will take a big chunk out of your budget.

Disc brakes for sure but make sure that the wheels and tires will fit underneath. A/C, depends on where you live. Because it is a roadster, I wouldn't bother.

Side pipes?

Wish I had p/s on my 67.

Does it need any body/paint work?

Daytona Rick

Plan to do as much of the work as possible. Thought opening the hood and seeing velocity stacks would be cool. I'm in Chicago, so air is nice but hey it's a ragtop. Like side pipes but have new SS full exhaust already, damn! PS with a slightly smaller steering wheel is needed. Only painting the red on the stinger hood to match int.

Sky65

If you are building a car to sell, be careful how much you put in it. A $10K investment will not bring a BJ resto-mod money. Plus it will probably take more than $10K to do what you are considering. If you are building it to keep and drive, go for it! Build what you want to drive and your budget will allow. I would suggest driving te car and do your mods as you can. It's not unusual for someone to take a car completely apart with grand plans, lose interest over time and never completing it.

As far as the mods you are considering I like it! Only thing I personally don't care for is high back seats in a convertible. They work great in a coupe but I don't lie them sticking up higher than the deck lid. But that's just me.

Good luck!
Tom

dcaggiani

Do yourself a favor and put a new wire harness into the build budget - it will be worth it in the end.
I do like the focus on the safety areas by incorporating disk brakes on all fours. You should also consider 3-point seat belts.

Good luck - the $10K budget is tight......

BADBIRDCAGE

And that's doing all the labor yourself.

ptjsk

The "Resto-Mod" term can have several different meanings, and/or levels of alteration.

Anymore, the exotic resto-mod looks to be a complete different frame, drive-train, interior ect, which can run into several of the 10K allotments.

I like your idea of the fuel injection with the old school stacks, and the addition of 4 wheel disc brakes. I never have been a fan of C3, or C5 seats in a C1, but again, it's up to the individual who owns the car.

Unfortunately, when you begin to implement a few of these modifications, 10K doesn't seem to go too far. It's crazy how the money doesn't seem to have much buying power when dealing with Corvettes!

Good luck with your car, and post some pictures.

Pat

ChattanoogaJSB

Do your mods, enjoy the car. Realize most people won't conside it a restomod with stock frame, suspension, and without an LS engine and full power amenities. Not to mention laser straight panels, better than new body gaps and a minty fresh interior.

No one is likely spill restomod money for it when you sell. That's not my saying you should proceed, just be realistic about the value you are creating.

SDVette

Only you can answer that question.. I'll just add some food for thought:

Short term, a resto-mod is going to create a more sought-after car.. turn more heads.. worth more money (if you sell).. However, in 10 years or so, after LS motors are history, you may wish you had returned it to stock-ish as that will have more value, and be a more sought-after car than a 10 year-old restomod.

65 Pro Vette

not a restomod, what it sounds like you want to build is a semi-custom, which there is nothing wrong with that, I love them all, but when you here $250,000 for a restomod, that is no where near the money for a semi-custom, they are a lot less money to buy, so putting in 10K doing the work yourself is still a little light. But to build a true restomod of high caliber the cost is more like $150,000.

tbarb

What horsepower was the car originally.

My thoughts are to drive and enjoy the car, go find yourself a correctly dated/correctly cast 870 block and build a 327 of the original hp. When you get it done swap in the engine, sell the 350 and enjoy your car without it being a perpetual hole that you throw $$$ into.

IMO, when you go to sell you will get the best return for your investment than a modified car on a $10,000. budget. You can't do much with that money these days when you are talking resto mod. These cars you see on TV must cost a fortune to do.

Daytona Rick

I agree with you guys. I don't expect to get BJ prices, but looking to update a non matching number car with some nice upgrades. More performance (engine) better brakes, tires/wheels, and maybe upgraded seats.

BADBIRDCAGE

[QUOTE=tbarb;1591569702

enjoy your car without it being a perpetual hole that you throw $$$ into.

HAHAHAHAHA. It's a midyear and you will continue to spend on it. Nothing wrong with that.

These cars you see on TV must cost a fortune to do.[/QUOTE]

Depends on your ability, or lack of. If you have to pay someone else to do all the work it will be costly. If you have tools, time, fabricating skills, and work area available you can save thousands of dollars in the building process.

R66

I hate to say this, but it depends on your age (in mind only) and your budget. In the first four and a half decades of my life, it was faster cars and women. I enjoyed the modified faster cars (V8 vega, HYPO Camaros, etc.), but no longer want to draw the attention of and pay the man in blue. The faster woman has been hanging around for 48 years. No complaints. Enjoy life the way you want to with the toys you want YOUR WAY. The only opinion that matters is the one you chose to share your life with.
DON'T BLINK! LIFE goes faster than you think!

ironheadvette

I'm seven years into a 61 Restomod - doing all my own work, with tools (have had to buy more), fabricating skills (the Art Morrison Frame had no provision for the core support or bumper brackets), and work area. (at least three car garage with storage space, and another building for paint.
While I've saved thousands on the building process, and purchased the Vette as a project with the aftermarket frame.... I've kept track of every dollar, and am just below 60k at this point. Your 10K budget is pretty light for seats, AC, wheels, tires, brakes and ???

That said, I have no regrets, and enjoy the daily trip to the basement to concur the days problems. The key here is that the LS6 engine hasn't run for at least 5 years, the new 4L60E trans is now 3 years old, and has yet to have any ATF poured into it. I enjoy the work - but don't get to enjoy the car - yet. The mods you talk about - could be added a little at a time, and wouldn't require you to tear down the car.
You can budget your time (and money) - and spread out the project over time.
Good luck

Poorhousenext

First, understand what your talking about is not Restomoding your C2. What your talking about doing is Oldschool modifing we did back in my day. For your $10,000.00, get a basic GM carbed crate engine that will run on today's 84 octane gas and oil without having to use additives, yet provide enough decent HP/TQ to have a little fun, nothing to brag that will require a host of upgrades. Check and see what the condition of main wire harness is by unplugging the engine harness at firewall and checking the condition of wiring (brittleness/corrosion) and its male and female connectors, and that should give you a good idea about need to replace it. Steering and brake upgrades. New tires and shocks, maybe wheels if there is enough money left of the 10 Grand.

Just make in a reliable driver that you can enjoy.

As for as LS engines being outdated, as long as GM follows their present train of thought about backwards interchangeability, we modifiers will find away to adapt newer engines if need be.

The problem with to many C2 owners is they think about their cars as to "What in the Hell their worth will be later, stock or modified".

I feel sorry for them. How do they enjoy them, worrying about what their values are day to day if they have to dispose of it/them. I could give a **** about that! I own old cars for the love of driving them, not worrying about values. I never think about about them as an investment, only that they are toys to have fun playing with.

dugsgms74

I completely agree. Alot of people wont agree with this but I truly believe resto-mod is a fad and will die away in the next few years. I think that most people who want a restomod will buy/build one and then be over it and the market will be saturated.

Take it from someone who has gone down the resto mod route in the past, right now everyone wants one but after getting one they will realize 2 things. 1. no matter what you do it'll never equal the refinement of a new car. 2. Alot of the enjoyment of old cars is the fact that they drive like old cars.

dcaggiani

The RestoMod movement has only been growing in the last 16 years and gaining popularity because of an aging demographic wanting/needing the comforts of a more modern ride as well as the attraction of the next generation of enthusiasts to the Corvette hobby.
The nay-sayers have been stating the end of the RestoMod for the last decade or more to no avail. It has not happened and will only grow. Regardless of any of it because it is like predicting the stock market, you build/customize/modify YOUR Corvette to suite YOUR taste.

Just remember - you can always change out engines/suspensions/transmissions/wheels & tires; the "value" of your Corvette will really depend on the craftsmanship of the build - regardless of whether you restore or Restomod it. Body/paint, gaps, quality of materials, interior finish are much more expensive to address than the bolt-on stuff.

OHSIXX

Frankie the Fink

1. No, it won't have lane change collision avoidance, azz heaters and air bags; it will have styling unlike anything else on the road available new and a drivetrain like a new car. I can no longer tell a Lincoln from a Lexus from a Taurus from an Altima.

2. True, but the nostalgia crowd is getting decrepit and dying off. Knee replacements, hip replacements, death and decimated 401ks are thinning the herd. The restomod owners are the younger, well-heeled crowd and don't have a clue about the muscle car era other than what they see on TV.

For $10K you are doing 'upgrades', not restomodding anything...not that that is bad at all....its your car.