I love it! got any photos sounds pretty cool

 

Sure right here
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3s-...-for-sale.html

Looks awful right now but I can see my wife smile at the way my eyes glitter and the grin when I look at it.
I had been lurking on the forum getting tips on how to evaluate c-3 vettes when I saw that and joined to comment. Imagine my surprise when the guy was willing to drive 900 miles to deliver it COD!

 

Welcome. Excellent deal for you.

I don't consider this a failed restoration. The original owner did excellent work. But life happens and he needed to move. I feel bad. I can imagine the hundreds of hours to get the car this far. Be sure to finish. If you can, finish his dream. Make it like his photo. Invite him for a drive when done. Enjoy!

 

Yea he did amazing work,I got the gist the thread was mostly about restos that stalled for this kind of reason. Guy did excellent work( and paid to have top notch work done) and was super enthusiastic to talk about it even as he was walking away from it. Life gets in the way of car dreams sometimes.Its going to get done in my hands,might have ended up stripped for parts.

 

Not failed because you are going to finish

 

Failed frame off restoration's, well as already mentioned by many, can be a wide range of personal circumstances.

For many i believe it's not truly understanding what's involved and what kind of commitment it really takes, financially and emotionally to fully complete and rebuild everything.

It all start's with good intention's, they are excited about owning a vette and want their own, to be the best, it can be.

Taking the car apart is the easy task, but you can get lost even overwhelmed if you don't approach the tear down properly. Just taking thing's off and seemingly making progress is no way to approach this.

Before you realize it you can have a pile of part's and your going HOLY CRAP.

Documentation, bagging and tagging, photo's and being organized are key factor's. The more organized one can be with the tear down the better prepared one will be once reassembly begin's. I think this is where many project's get lost.

I don't believe a time line should be set, you need to be open minded, it's really not how long it take's, remembering for most it is a hobby, it can't be about the money, it's really about enjoying the whole process and in the end the reward of self accomplishment and pride.

 

Three kids under 7, my wife and I work opposite shifts, she's a nurse, I'm an air traffic controller. Finding the time is the hardest thing and then after long periods of inactivity it's hard to get back into it. Believe it or not though, logging on to this site usually does the trick and gets me re-motivated. Progress pics below. I'm further along with the frame now than this picture shows. Everything on the frame is now complete (fuel/brake lines, engine accessories etc have been added), waiting to put the body back on but my transmission tunnel insulation is on back order. Yes, a $25 part is holding up a major step

 

Ive had one chevelle completely apart and another chevelle and 2 camaros mostly apart and you are 100% correct. With cheap the digital cameras today Id have taken photos of everything and cross indexed to the labeled parts. Even if you are planning to replace everything documenting how it came apart and where it was is golden when you are trying to put it back together 2 or more years later.

 

I think more C-3 cars are "totaled" by failed restorations than by traffic accidents or any other reason.

People underestimate the amount of work. Many cars don't even need a frame off. It becomes like a drug. The beginning is exciting. Dreaming. Bragging. All the positive feedback from the Forum, friends, and family. Then dismantling the car. Feeling successful. A sense of accomplisment. Actually, what I see is many people ripping cars apart. Being left with a pile of parts and a pathetic carcass of a formerly running car. This is seen as progress. But this step requires no skill. Then the withdraw sets in with "what did I just do?" No focus. No plan. The answer? Rip the car apart some more.

Then too much time on the forum being an "expert" answering questions. You are an expert when you accomplish something. That does not include destroying a car.

Then instead of working on the car, we see the buying parts and tools phase. Feeding the dream. Accumulating parts not yet needed. For example, buying an whole new interior or headers instead of working on the frame. Blaming the lack of tools for delays. Get a lift. Buy a compressor. That will solve the problem? Nope. More time wasted on the internet. The focus changes to the tools. Actually just more time avoiding the "big pile of parts" and uncertainty of what to do next. Delusions.

Then the excuses of not enough time. Maybe spend less time on the Forum? Spend less time on the internet? Instead acutally accomplish something, anything, like welding in a patch panel? Do something. Then the final rationalization. The ultimate excuse to stop the madness. The wife is nagging you. You wonder if friends are laughing at you. For years, you kept saying you would finish. Now you need an escape plan. The answer? Blame the car. The frame is rusty. Duh. What a great feeling. The burden is gone.

There are many "watch as start my body-off restoration" posts. After the first post or two, we can figure out who will succeed or fail. Those who succeed have a plan. They complete one mini project at a time while constantly moving forward. I salute them.

 

Nice job.

 

Hi,
Restoration!
Unless a person has done one, there's no way to understand what's involved, and how long it takes.
I think there's somewhere near a zillion parts.
Happy New Year!
Regards,
Alan

 

All very valid points. Especially of ones that don't need it. I took my current jeep project to frame off, and it really didn't need it at all. I wanted to say I did it, and I can put a jeep together with my eyes closed so its not a big deal.

But now, I wish I hadn't, and just fixed a few things and ran it.

Money plays a big part to me, if my budget was unlimited it wouldn't take long at all, interest would never get lost, nothing would ever come up and get in the way.

I'm thinking my 68 will require a frame off resto, but if I get into it, and it doesn't, I'm not going to go there.

I don't know if I'd say they get totalled, they most likely change hands and get finished by another ambitious owner.

 

took me 2.5 years and tore the 77 down to the frame and left the body on......replaced/rebuilt everything that seemed fit.... rust sealer/paint/chrome/etc....i rebuilt it to drive it, so if i get a chip in the paint, i won't care really....

 

wow. i didnt realize how many of us here are in this boat. got my 79 from a guy who let it sit for 7 years but at least fired it up once in a while. it was complete but im still restoring it but kept it in driveable condition(the key in my opinion). when i blew the trans and decided to rebuild it myself, i almost gave up plenty of times and even went out and got an 84 to drive so i didnt feel depressed over my 79 sitting. well i got the trans rebuild done and i must say now i am more determined never to let my vettes become an expensive garage ornament. Money is always an issue, but i will take it apart when i have the new parts to install, as i do not intend on making ti a trailer queen either. But man are they money pits. spend 20k to make it look good and sell it for 15k if youre lucky LOL.

 

That's an excellent post, Clubby99. I have seen many cars and trucks go this route.

I think that often it's not a lack of money, but that people expend all of their emotional energy too quickly and don't have anything in the tank to complete the restoration. Classic tortoise and the hare scenario.

 

Thank you

 

My dad and I are still worrking on a resto/mod that we started in 2004, almost the whole way there.. have to finish the electrical and interior. Completed a full body-off resto including 12 point roll-cage, steeroids, converting to a big block, side mount headers

A custom rear window, new rear glass, replacing floorpans, modifying/strengthening/rewelding the frame, non-popup headlights. Tom's differential rear end, gear vendor's overdrive, 6 point harness, new sheet aluminum interior, coating the gas tank, VBP brakes, fiberglass front and rear spring, new control arms on the front, double offset trailing arms on the rear, custom transmission and oil cooler mounts, modifying the battery box/back storage for the 12 bolt rear end, custom driveshaft and rear diff safey loops, 700-r4 transmission, etc etc etc..

And I just started on an 81, that won't be a full body off resto though I hope, the frame is perfect and I'm just looking to cruise in it

So the resto isn't abandoned yet is what that wall of text means

 

I started my 72 restoration in June. My goal was to drive it on my birthday in feb. I don't think that's realistic now. Significant progress has been made though. The frame was stripped bare, minor dents pulled, blasted and powder coated I then began the restoration of the sub assembly's. I completely overhauled the differential, rebuilt the trailing arms, installed new brake and fuel lines. And installed a new suspension pkg. and sent the engine out for overhaul. I'm tackleing the Muncie now, then will drop the rebuilt engine and tranny in and begin bodywork.
Someone mentioned lack of visual progress as a reason for failed restorations. I agree, if I look at only what remains to be done, then frustration creeps in.
I'm working on 1 area at a time to completion. I've just about run out of chassis pieces to install so the car is beginning to look whole again. That makes it fun and exciting to see.
Trying to work on the whole car all at once leads to stalled projects as nothing ever gets completed to finish. Hopefully in 6 months I'll have the body on and ready for paint. I think it's do able.

 

Thats why this project was so attractive to me. Mechanically complete car,minus the radiator.Its
body
paint
electrical
interior
exhaust
trim
and done. Alot easier said than done I know. But all areas where I can make visible progress.
Im getting the radiator right away even though its not drivable. Got to hear it run on a regular basis

 

The trick to this is planning. Tearing it apart and piling up pieces is very easy.

Decide how far down the project has to go. Frame offs are usually not needed.

I try to organize my work into sections. Motor, trans, suspension, electrical etc.

For me, drive train is first and most important, then front suspension and all support under the hood. Alternator, ppwer