corvettesander

Hi thought i start my own restoration thread

bought my 56 1 .1/2 year ago just a month after i sold my restored 1960 that i had owned for 12 years so what do you do ? buy a new project

the car looks real nice but it was an older restoration (35+ year)
paint cracks etc. a full resto was the plan anyway sooner or later

below some pictures of the pickup at the previous owner august 2015









arrival and pickup across the pond (in the Netherlands) in september




random pics








RDW (dutch Dmv) Title registration and technical inspection (may 2016)



additional frame stamping required

bluestreak63

Black over red 56...

Good luck, update often!!!

corvettesander

then enjoyed driving the car last summer and started stripping the paint
last november for the next 10 weeks or so
and butt loads of extra layers of fiberglass added during previous resto

think i have removed +/-150 pounds of fiberglass/paint/bondo

corvettesander

lots of fiberglass repairs and plated all reinforcements,
the rear end was hurt the most, the contour and shape was not within specs, the exhaust chrome pieces didnt fit well
so i made a mold from a 58 and replaced the previous repaired sections

Beggers

Wow, a ton of work. What did you use to strip the body with all those shavings? looking good, you have already came a long way. Thanks for sharing, Brian

Mike Terry

WOW, it is looking great. Keep up the good work and posting the pic and it will be finished before you know it.

Easy Rhino

Wow. Just Wow.

It looked nice before, but I cannot imagine how great it will look once you're done returning it to its former glory. Stunning, I suspect.

I've always thought that the 56-57's looked more European than any other Corvette, in that they at least looked lighter and cleaner than all the others. No disrespect to that silver blue '58 lurking in the background in the pics.

I seem to recall reading that the Mercedes-Benz 300SL was the styling inspiration for the 56-57 Corvettes.

You do nice work.

jrm5657

Sander,
I already know you are an amazing craftsman, now others will get to see your work too!! The fiberglass work you are doing is very nice. You have got to show off the early 56 shielding that you fabricated.

I am curious, what is the slant bed tow vehicle you hauled the car on, that is a cool looking piece, lets see some more pictures of it too!!

Keep up the great work,
Jim

Panama 58

Ditto on the car hauler. Tell and show us more of that beauty please!

BTW- incredible fiberglass work. Cant's wait to see more of your progress. Thanks for sharing.

Panama58

ptjsk

Looks like there's no shortcuts in your work!

Congrads, and thanks for letting us follow along.

Pat

Dr L-88

Looks great to me too. Definitely some craftsmanship there. Count me in for interest in the hauler. Keep up the good work.

Rex

corvettesander

Ok here ya go this is the hauler i build this 3 years ago it formaly was a fire ladder all its life in a small town in the netherlands .
actualy the only Ford piece is the cab underneath its 03 silverado 3500 dualy with the engine moved behind the cab

Revfan

Holy Cow!

Nice work... and thanks for sharing!

corvettesander

I just used a simple trangle paint scraper and a heatgun and lots of patience carefully heat it up just enought to soften the upper layer of fiberglass.

morly1963

Nice job-thnks for sharing.

Panama 58

That hauler is awesome. Nice job!!

Panama58

ohiovet

Very nice work.
I would have put a cast master cylinder cap on the 56 and drove the wheels off it.
Bruce B

csherman

Looks great
It is in better shape than the 56 I am doing.....

jrm5657

That is an understatement Chris!!

corvettesander

Had some little repairs to radiator support the bottom was rusted out
made the lower part new

the chassis was in good shape some small dents and the rear crossbar was poorly welded and fixed that .
scraped the paint off and added a fresh coat of primer and semi flat black


















clear vin stamp 2 times close together