Ok, so this is my first post but I have been spending a lot of time here over the last 2 mnths. I bought a 77 in late May and have been getting it ready for paint ever since. When I got the car, I only paid $1500. It needed quite a bit of TLC. To start, The guy I bought it from got it as a project car for he and his dad to have some fun with. When they bought it, it was a white car. They took it to a paint shop to have it changed to black, but the car wasn´t prepped right and the white checkerboarded throught the black. They decided to stip the paint off and start again, but right after the paint was stripped his dad died and the car sat (uncovered and outside under a tree) for a little less than a year. SOOOO the resin started to burn out of the glass and the car became "furry" as the glass strands really started to show bad.

The red interior was complete but the carpet and top dash pad need to be replaced...no big deal. The seats look great and I am not trying to show the car, just have fun driving it. So I tore out every single piece of interior and got ready to attack the furry body. I also removed the rear and door windows as well as the headlight assemblies/doors, bumper covers, and all the removable body parts.

I started by suiting up in coveralls, a mask, taping gloves with packing tape at my wrists with latex under them, and wearing boots with a long shirt and pants...all in 80 to 90 degree weather. Why you ask? Well anyone who has EVER sanded fiberglass is now laughing at me. Some of the car required an 80 grit paper to remove the fur and get to a manageable surface, but most of the car took a 110 grit. I had to get through some mold/moss that had formed on the car as well...great fun. After a month and a half of nothing but glass in my skin, the car actually looked ready for resealing, primer, and paint.

Before I took the car to the body shop though, I wanted to put new rotors, brakes, and lines on it. Once the rotors were off and the calipers were removed, I decided, what better time than now to wire brush the exposed frame and surface rusted parts, so to my drill and wirebrush I turned and went to town on everything from the front to the rear under the car. After I got the old paint and rust off I primed and painted it all. At least now the over spray wont be a problem after the body is painted! What a difference, and it was worth every minute spent and every piece of metal/paint in my eye to get it looking the way it does!

So three days ago, I put the t-tops back on and loaded the 77 up on a u-haul auto transporter and took her for paint! I came to Mexico (where I am now) for vacation and let me tell you, this is going to be a LONG month while the 77 is in paint! Hence my sitting on the internet in the lobby of the resort while my wife sits by the pool all day! Anyway, the interior is red and I was going to go with black paint, but The more I think about it, the more black is going to be a pain. So now I´m thinking white (original color) or silver. Not a fan of the red on red so thats not an option.

I guess I should go sit with my wife by the pool now, since I am in Mexico...but I just thought I´d post here (finally) and share my experience so far. When I get back home (Pennsylvania) I´ll post some progress pics from what has been done so far. Talk to everyone soon I guess. -Neal

 

What ever you do don't let anyone down there re-cover your seats, I heard they will put dog $^%# in your seats!





Kidding, just an 80's movie ref.

Good luck!

 

Sounds like you are making good progress. Post up some pictures.

 

Hi Neal,
The sun made the body 'furry'. I learned something new today!
I really like silver with red interior!!!
Regards,
Alan

 

Yeah, it is a very strange occurance. Everyone I have talked to has said, "I have never seen a vette down to the glass like that." When they stripped it they stripped the paint AND sealer all in one shot so it just left the glass all exposed. My task was to remove the fibers that were now causing the body to be furry. I´ll be home tomorrow and I´ll post pictures of exactly what I mean when I get there. It was pretty wild, but now everything in my garage is covered with VERY TINY pieces of glass fibers. I can go within 10 feet of my garage without starting to itch!

 

I agree with Alan. While I'm not a fan of silver, it really does look great with red. Probably the only way I would own a silver car (goes back to the late sixties when my farther had a Coupe De Ville that was silver pearl with red interior and a creme top. Sounds wierd but looked great). Good luck with your project and post updates.

 

White & red int is a classic combo, but I vote for silver & red. Just a bit classier in MHO.
My first car, a 66 Buick Special vert, was white w/red int.
Ultimately you need to be happy with the color, not the general public.
Glenn

 

Just came accross this discussion on the boards here...i have officially found my color!

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...ette-gray.html

 

Real nice choice! I think it will look great with the red interior.

 

I thought it was horse????

 

Here is the first view of the Vette...
http://www.enroberts.com/images/Vette/first.JPG


Here is what I found when I opened the door...
http://enroberts.com/images/Vette/interior.JPG

Here is the 77 making her way into her new home...
http://enroberts.com/images/Vette/intogarage.JPG


Home sweet home...
http://enroberts.com/images/Vette/ingarage.JPG

A good look at the "Fuzzy" T Tops...
http://enroberts.com/images/Vette/fuzzyttops.JPG

After 2 weeks with no interior...
http://enroberts.com/images/Vette/nointerior.JPG


I have a TON more pictures, but this is it for tonight. I'll post more tomorrow. -Neal

 

Ooh, complete with rare SS horn button.


Y'know, sometimes right after you paint the black, it doesn't seem like such a problem...

 

Right, but then that "problem" always seems to rear its ugly head again when it comes time to wash it and all I see is streaks and lines...grrr I love black but HATE to keep it clean!

 

Fuzzy glass?
I know fuzzy glass.
My soda blaster took things right down to the bare glass, so now I have that very same project in front of me on the '73 resto I'm working on.
Don't Mess with the Zohan.
Get some degreaser and and lots of clean rags and go over everything very carefully.
Use lots of degreaser. Its cheap in the long run.
Even hand prints will show thru the paint if you're not careful.
Ask Big Mike from NASA about his black and silver Pace Car.
Shoot the body with good quality polyester sealing primer first and lock down all those little fiberglass needles.
I'd do a couple of very wet coats waiting a day or so between coats.
Then use a good filler primer and break out the sanding blocks.
Use different color layers of primer so you can see where you're going.
Use only a good polyester filler too.
When you start the sanding and blocking, take your time. Use your bare hand rubbing and feeling long wise on the body to check for imperfections.
Your hand can "see" what your eyes can't.
I'd figure a good 100 hours if you are a fair to good body man before you take it to the body shop to let the professionals finish.
A very wise and talented Mexican body man in our shop told me that body work was just the art of making big scratches into very small ones.
Keep that in mind and take your time,and make very small scratches.
Hope this helps.
Skip in Houston
Oh yeah, no rattle can primer.............

 

Thanks Skip. I actually am letting the pro's do all that prep work. I know the guy who owns the body shop. He primarily does full restos on porsches and ferraris so I'm confident he can make my 77 look great. He did say he's going to use a polyester sealer. The only thing I did before taking the car to him was DA'ing the glass down to a smooth surface. Needless to say, he was happy to see I did that much! Thanks for your input and good luck with your project! -Neal

 

I have finally posted the rest of my build (or demo) pictures here....
http://s926.photobucket.com/albums/ad104/enroberts/ Let me know what you all think! -Neal

 

why use a polyester sealer and not an epoxy sealer?

 

first of all, i'm super happy with your color choice. before i got to that point in the thread i was thinking "if this guy doesn't paint the car charcoal i'm gonna be pretty dissapointed"... and then i see that this is what you have chosen. awesome!!!! i can't think of a combo i like more than charcoal and red, and i LOVE the 80 body style. i can't wait to see the final result. second, i agree with you about black. hey, i love black on a nice clean car. nothing looks as nice as a nice clean black car who's paint is in good shape, but there is no doubt in my mind that black is by far the biggest pain in the a$$, not only to keep clean, but then by trying to keep it clean you inevitable will end up giving it some wear and tear, which on black, will show as SOON as it appears! my wife insisted we get a black mercedes as her car. "there's just something about a big, black, mercedes s class" she insisted. and i couldn't agree more. but I'M the one who takes care of it, and it's a constant pain in my rear end. yeah it looks great for those 2 hours after washing and waxing, and then the other 99% of the time it just looks, DIRTY. especially if you're planning on making this thing a driver, good call avoiding black.

 

I'd like to suggest going with white (especially if that's the color the car was born with) & that red interior....it's a pure classic corvette color combo.

 

I have heard reference to this ss horn button before.

Here is a pic of my very early horn button. Cast pot metal flash chromed to simulate a brushed finish.
Don't know if there was a stainless one.