congrats Glenn, you are doing the right thing for your family, hopefully in a few years you can get another corvette. Keep checking in on us and thanks for all your informative posts throughout the last few years.
Regards
Roy

 

Sorry Glenn, but I gotta ask..

so the buyer has not truly bought the car yet?

Looks like your buyer is spending well into at least 5k and probably more for vintage Air and a total rear rebuild, including labor. that is a significant subset of the price of the car and he is going to be massively upside down on the car.

He is doing this repair and upgrade and paying for it before actually buying the car from you? Aren't you taking a pretty big risk here? Isn't he taking a pretty big risk also spending money on a car he does not own?

 

He is dealing directly with COW and authorized the work. They would not start the work unless he has sent partial payment. The buyer will fly up to pick up the Vette from me when the work is done and drive back to Atlanta. This is the arrangement we have.

 

I love it !

Kitchen cabinets are for car parts ! Ask my first wife.....!

 

Chuck used an air tool with steel rods that beat against the metal to strip paint and reveal any potential rust issues. Well, to my surprise, some was found on the left TA pocket & right TA pocket, kick up area. The tool is in the pic of the TA's, sitting between them.
Some frame patch parts were ordered. He will be cutting out the bad areas and welding in patches, then repainting everything before reassembly. I'll post some pics of the surgery when he starts it.

The rear suspension parts are ready for reassembly.

The rear diff is apart, and the carrier & rear covers blasted & painted. At some point in it's past, parts broke inside and kicked around in there. The pic showing the inside of the carrier shows score marks. Who ever rebuilt the diff after this did a lousy job setting it up correctly. Chuck had to order a new Eaton Posi unit, and new gears. It had 3.08, and now will have 3.55 gears. The original posi was shot. The center pin boss at one end had become out of round, causing the pin to be able to move around which caused more wear on the yoke shaft ends.

Here's some pics of the frame, and other various parts being refurbished.

Also the #4 body mount on the drivers side was shot and is being replaced.

There was a 78 Pace Car there that was originally owned by one of the members of KISS!. The drivers door has his signature on it. Pretty cool.
Glenn

 

Good thing the buyer is paying for the repairs? I have to agree with a previous poster, the buyer seems to be putting a lot more in than market value at this time. Upside is the buyer will know the rear suspension and drive train are 100%, no surprises waiting? I doubt any other seller would allow a potential buyer to use that tool on their car.

The rust areas appear to be rather common. Not that bad compared to many of this vintage which have lived in the NorthEast. The rust on the bottom of the rail suggests it's rusting from the inside out. There may be some more work needed inside once the box is opened?

I'd imagine the body will need to be lifted slightly to gain access to the top side for welding?

The #4 mount isn't expensive to replace but can be a PITA if the buyer wants to use rivets as original. The topside is a tough area to work in. I changed mine, had to set the rivets blindly, no way to see down in the pocket behind the wheel well. I did mine by feel.

The marks in the casing don't look that bad to my eye. I've seen worse when the rear end has been blown.

Sounds like it should be a solid car when it's done. Best of luck.

 

Ace Freleigh is the signature

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=140512269838

 

To be fair, we're splitting the cost of parts & work required outside of the normal rebuild costs. I'd ask the same if unexpected repairs & replacement parts were required. The new owner has had many different trailer queens and he wanted something to just have fun with and to work & tinker with.
Glenn

 

Hey there....Saw this earlier...

Actually, we're not re building it... It's for sale on e-bay and this forum.

It has NOT been decked.. It's an over the counter 1970's LS7 crate motor from GM.... Block was cast in the 1980's and production on these amazing motors ended shortly there after.

Again, it's for sale on e-bay....

CLICK HERE FOR THE E-BAY AUCTION

We'll try to take some pics as the trail arms, diff, and chassis are assembled....

The welding repairs are gonna be FUN!

Chuck CoW

 

Hey Glenn,

Looks like a beautiful car to have for tinkering, at least a very nice driver.

Love to see more pictures as the repairs are completed. Maybe some of what's found when the frame rail is opened up? I think there's a plate inside, a reinforcement. Curious as to how it looks on the inside.

Again, best of luck to you and the new owner.

 

It is great to see the progress on this Glenn! So far it appears my "new" 72 driver is in similar shape and I will be working on the rear end next year. It will be going to the Vette Doctor in Melbourne for a tune up and a good "once through" so I can at least enjoy it a bit before I start the "recondition".

One comment I saw on here was about the owner being upside down once all of this work is done... I think at least 95% of us do this for the love of these cars and consider a hobby that overall will not yield a financial return in the end. But the fun we have is something that we can't put a price on.

 

Thanks!
I'll post progress pics as often as possible. Chuck will also be taking pics to photo document the project.
I'm also curious to see inside the frame. The area requiring the work seems to be just this area. Again, Steve the new owner will be at a very good starting point when he takes possession of the vette.
By being upfront with Steve, I feel I'm doing the right thing for both of us.
Glenn

 

Thanks and I agree.
Glenn

 

Hi Glenn,
Nice pictures detailing the work-in-progress. Thanks for sharing; always interesting to see one getting cleaned up and reassembled to spec.

You've got the right attitude about finding another car when the timing is better. As difficult as it can be, keeping the family unit intact and comfortable is as subjective as many things in life. You gotta do whatcha gotta do.

I had a good friend who owned a red C2; a '67 convertible, 327 and 4-speed. On occasion, he used to tell me that the car was one element of his retirement package so I can see how your car may have been considered along that same philosophy.

My buddy did sell his car a few years back to help fund a portion of the purchase on a particular house. He plans to get back in the game too, after other life priorities settle down.

Good luck and look forward to more of your posts.

 

Thanks Dustup!

 

"First Wife"; So are dishwashers. I used to pop the AC dash vents out of my C4 and throw them in the dishwasher. It beat cleaning them with a brush or q-tips.

 

Gentlemen,

I appreciate all of your posts and feedback. I am absolutely delighted with this car, with buying the car from Glen and working with Chuck to the repairs done.

Yes, I am a car guy. I have owned three Vettes - a C4 and two C5's purchased new and have restored several classic cars, the most notable being a 61 Porsche 356 cabriolet and a 68 Shelby GT 500 KR. I owned the 356 for 10 years. It was a 4 year restoration project and spent its first 1 1/2 years in the body shop. I paid $12,000 for the car and wrote a check for $24,000 to the body shop. I had about $62,000 in the car when it was finishished and ulitmately sold it for $42,000 to buy my Shelby. $2,000/year is not a lot of money to spend considering all of the fun I had with that car. I think I put a little over 6,000 miles on it. Just like everybody else that ever sold a car like that (including Glen selling his Vette) I wish I still had that car!

The Shelby was a whole different story. Paid $30,000 in 1996, put another $35,000 into it including a beautiful $12,000 paint job, and sold it in 2006 on eBay (yes on eBay) for $190,000! Jackpot!

I was very happy with the price Glen and I agreed on for the car. I have to have an air conditioned car if I want to drive it in Atlanta in the summer and I knew going in that the rear end needed to be rebuilt and that it needed front suspension work.

When I get done I will have a very solid car that I will be able to drive whenever I want for the next 5 to 10 years or so for less money than it would have cost me to buy a Mini convertible with a few options.

As I said I am very happy with this car and with doing this deal with Glen. He is a great guy and I really appreciate his willingness to split the cost of the unexpected parts of this project - new gears, positraction and frame repairs.In my opinion, the Forum is one of the only places to buy a car like this. One car guy to another - honest transaction, full disclosure. Have you looked on eBay lately for what you can get for this amount of money? None of the cars on eBay are from owners anymore and you are dealing with some kid on a telephone who doesn't know a thing about the car.

Sorry for the long post. I just found out about this post from Chuck today. I look forward to some interesting responses.

Steve

 

Hi Glenn,
Besides the stars for the number of posts we need a symbol (maybe a hand-shake) for the member's display of character.
You'd have more than just a few under your name!!!!
WELL DONE!
Regards,
Alan

 

Hi Steve,
Things are moving, albiet slowly. In a way that's ok, with all the snow and crappy weather we've been having. I plan to stop by on my way home tonight and see how things are progressing. I saw Chuck last week and he thought he might get the diff back together on Sunday. I wanted to watch the process but was unable to get there over the weekend.
I'll post more pics when possible.
Glenn

 

Hi Alan,
I appreciate that!
I would expect the same with a vette I purchased from someone here on the forum.
Glenn