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Old Sep 7, 2013 | 10:14 AM
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Hey y'all, I am new to vettes and found a lot of help here with my project. So a little about it, it's not a purists car for sure. It was a 72 convertible but had an 80 back half and front clip molded on. The molding job was done well and not hacked. It's a 4 speed and the numbers on the block come back as a 300hp 350 from a 69 corvette and it runs great! When I picked it up it was painted with a brush, and over the pinstripes as well! I grabbed it and a 74 parts car middle of August. Ill let the pics talk for a little while.












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Old Sep 7, 2013 | 10:54 AM
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Wow..it looks like you have been busy. Nice work
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Old Sep 7, 2013 | 12:33 PM
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Thanks! Yeah, I haven't wasted much time getting it together. I put a set of new trailing arms built by penn Ohio corvette in it. They came with the parts car as well as the receipt! Nice to know I don't need to worry about the RWB. I put in adjustable rear control arms and all new bushings too. I am hoping to get the wiring wrapped up this weekend and if I am lucky put the new power steering setup on it as this one leaks pretty bad. After that I need to get it aligned and inspected and it should be a driver!

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Old Sep 7, 2013 | 03:07 PM
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Hi Cj,
I'm a 'purist' but I can recognize a nice piece of work when I see it!
That's some BIG improvement.
Not only was it painted with a brush..... IT WAS A BAD! BRUSH PAINT JOB!!!!!!
Well Done!
Regards,
Alan

My guess for the material used is TAR thinned with kerosene!!!!!

Last edited by Alan 71; Sep 7, 2013 at 03:09 PM.
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Old Sep 7, 2013 | 04:40 PM
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what are the holes in the mufflers for???
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Old Sep 7, 2013 | 06:35 PM
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Originally Posted by lvmyvt76
what are the holes in the mufflers for???
LMAO! I haven't figured that out yet... Speed holes? Another thing that needs changed, I kinda want to do headers with a 2.5" exh and flowmasters.

I just finished up the dash wiring and installed the rest of the dash parts. i took it for its first actual "cruise" I put about 30 miles on it and its pretty sweet to drive!
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Old Sep 8, 2013 | 08:50 AM
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BTW ....what state are you in, that car looks familiar to me?
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Old Sep 8, 2013 | 11:27 AM
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I am in PA. where did you see the car?
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Old Sep 8, 2013 | 11:37 AM
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Originally Posted by Cjustin
I am in PA. where did you see the car?
in vinton , va ....... i checked out a corvette that looked like that , maybe 10 years ago, I was totally baffled as to what year it was , it was a hodgepodge of several distinct C3 eras , mixed body panels and interior . The owner finally came out while I was puzzling over his car and blew me away saying it was vin a 72 . it had a motor , frame , body and interior all different years , with several years body panels cobbled together.

Just figured couldn't be too,many around like it.

Last edited by LS4 PILOT; Sep 8, 2013 at 11:40 AM.
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Old Sep 8, 2013 | 11:54 AM
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Originally Posted by LS4 PILOT
in vinton , va ....... i checked out a corvette that looked like that , maybe 10 years ago, I was totally baffled as to what year it was , it was a hodgepodge of several distinct C3 eras , mixed body panels and interior . The owner finally came out while I was puzzling over his car and blew me away saying it was vin a 72 . it had a motor , frame , body and interior all different years , with several years body panels cobbled together.

Just figured couldn't be too,many around like it.
I picked it up in Ohio. it was silver under the black brush paint with lots of pinstriping... everywhere.
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Old Sep 8, 2013 | 12:31 PM
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I love it! Nice job bringing it back.
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Old Sep 8, 2013 | 12:43 PM
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Originally Posted by F22
I love it! Nice job bringing it back.
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Old Sep 8, 2013 | 09:37 PM
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Nice but hard work. I thought the black late model was painted to look like alligator skin. You took care of that though and now have a nice C3 you did on your own.Good luck and keep us posted.
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Old Sep 10, 2013 | 06:02 AM
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Thanks for the thread.....being a rookie at Corvettes-it's just what I needed to read....

I don't want to jack your thread...just need a few suggestions to get started.......

I'm new to corvettes and want to buy/"rescue" a '68 convertible with early '80s front & rear clips (did I say that right?)....

I'm not trying to "restore" it since I have no bodywork experience.....just get the body back to 1968-73 looks....

and have a D/D keeper just for me.....

Thanks for any input....I'll start my own thread "doorgunners project"
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Old Sep 10, 2013 | 09:24 AM
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No worries on hijacking! Ill offer whatever help I can.

Bodywork on these cars is considerably easy in some cases (no exterior rust) and completely unforgiving in other areas. Fiberglass can be really tough to work with especially if you sand too deep and go through the gel coat, it can also react poorly to different primer types if you don't check with your local paint supplier first. the way these cars are put together requires a lot of fiberglass bonding, so to change out a front clip and keep the body gaps tight and right is not an easy thing to do. I personally don't think I have the experience and skill set to tackle a front clip molding job yet, but I will do metalwork of any difficulty all day long without fear.

So the car you're looking at, is it a convertible as it sits or did someone turn it into a coupe like the one I am working on?
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Old Sep 10, 2013 | 10:16 AM
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Good job on bringing this one back. Keep up the good work.
Just so you know there is no gel coat on corvette bodies.
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Old Sep 10, 2013 | 10:23 AM
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Great stuff, looks like you are able to most of this yourself, which will be a huge plus down the road.
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Old Sep 10, 2013 | 02:35 PM
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Originally Posted by 929nitro
Good job on bringing this one back. Keep up the good work.
Just so you know there is no gel coat on corvette bodies.
good to know, thanks! I have played with jeeps most of my life and assumed all fiberglass had a gel coat, but you know what happens when we assume

Originally Posted by Grumpy 427
Great stuff, looks like you are able to most of this yourself, which will be a huge plus down the road.
I have been building mainly jeeps for the last 16 years and do all of my own work. roll cages, drivelines, axles, even some custom machining. I lost interest in the jeeps and started playing with cars lately as I have always liked hotrods and muscle cars. its been a blast so far.
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Old Sep 10, 2013 | 02:56 PM
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Looks like you are handling the transition from Jeep to vette quite well!
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Old Sep 10, 2013 | 03:46 PM
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I need to learn how to weld, that would be a big plus for me.
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