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True about 58 cars except I am of the opinion that GM stopped using them midway through production.
I believe that is correct. The factory reinforcements were made of of steel, and were attached to the underside of the fenders with three flat head bolt / nut combinations. They were not attached with the studs used to hold the stainless trim to the fender top. NCRS says the factory stopped using them about serial number 5000. I know of a couple of later production cars that have these parts, but they were added by the owners after the fact. Sermersheim used to make (and may still make) a fiberglass reproduction of this part.
I have seen them added to a number of 58-62 cars, they seem to work well.
I believe that is correct. The factory reinforcements were made of of steel, and were attached to the underside of the fenders with three flat head bolt / nut combinations. They were not attached with the studs used to hold the stainless trim to the fender top. NCRS says the factory stopped using them about serial number 5000. I know of a couple of later production cars that have these parts, but they were added by the owners after the fact. Sermersheim used to make (and may still make) a fiberglass reproduction of this part.
I have seen them added to a number of 58-62 cars, they seem to work well.
My car has serial number J58S101321 which is an early build (11/26/57) and I don’t see any evidence of these braces.
My car has serial number J58S101321 which is an early build (11/26/57) and I don’t see any evidence of these braces.
NCRS says that the early 58 Corvettes "MAY" have them installed. But, the general consensus is that all 1958 Corvettes until around serial number 5000 had them.
Is your car a known unmolested original car? If the front end has been replaced, they may have disappeared.
Are the Sermersheim reinforcements fiberglass that get bonded to the underside of the fender tops or are they the fastener-attached metal supports?
are Sermersheim fiberglass or metal, I haven't a clue,.I do know that there are metal ones and they are 'fastener attached'. could fiberglass ones be bonded, I guess you could
Bill
Awesome thread. Curious. Was $238 market value for a 2 year old single owner Corvette in 1960?
The car had a fender bender back in 1960. No body shops in our area knew how to repair Corvettes and the owner didn't have insurance so he sold it my friends dad
This '58 of Rob Hester's(Not Red Rob) has to be one of the best looking 58's I've ever seem. Granted it's a resto-mod, but the color, Supersonic Blue looks spectacular with the red interior.
I have a ‘61 painted in a medium blue metallic with pearl white coves. It also has the ‘58 fender reinforcement strips.
I am not a fan of red interiors and my personal opinion is they are even worse on C1s (just my opinion). Painting a car in single stage is fine for a solid, non-metallic or pearl color. Once you go more than one color, the clear not only evens out the paint it flattens the transitions (I realize the trim covers the edges of the coves). Also, both pearl and metallics get a lot of there depth from the clear coat. Here’s a couple pics of my car.
I seem to recall that the under front fender reinforcement fiberglass (which looked sort of like a 'Z; shaped brace) was factory installed on 58 cars. I do not recall them for 59 and later cars.
Someone refresh my memory please.
58 only, but anyone with a double head light C1 should install them in their cars. I would also go with single stage, only because chips are easy to repair. And I would not replace the front clip. IF done right yours can be repaired and not bled through. At any rate, if you are hiring all work out, be prepared to get a second mortgage.
Earlier this year I took my 58 to a show on it's 60th Birthday. The paint is Acrylic Enamel and it was shot just over twenty years ago. The before and after.
Well, our first dive into my fathers treasure trove basement yielded this:
the original soft top on the bows (we’re thinking it might be the actual original black top from the factory in excellent condition); front & rear bumpers as well as the full set of grill teeth on the bar complete with grill opening surrounds (going to re-chrome all this to freshen it up); rear trunk spears that my dad already had re-chromed; and the real coup de grace......all the original exterior trim strips for the coveand fenders......get this......complete with brand new side emblems & cove and fender trim IN THE GM WRAPPERS!!!!! Better pictures to follow as I dust this stuff off.
Last edited by ettev; 07-10-2018 at 07:50 AM.
Reason: Typo
Body lift completed yesterday. Did it the old fashioned way.......8 strong friends. Engine out and getting a good exploratory exam. Bare frame going to the sandblaster this week.
07-09-2018, 10:18 AM
