I’m going to be doing a body off restoration on a 75’ Coupe that has been sitting in my garage for 26 years and since I see several body off resto’s in the past as well as on going would there be any interest in me starting a new thread of my own so I can get advice as well as help other in the future?

In reality I started repairing the car about 10 years ago but didn’t get too far so I decided last year that I wasn’t going to be happy unless I did a body off. If there are enough people showing interest, than I’ll start a thread come summer?

I know some will say, why not, but I’ll only start one if it’s of real value, otherwise I’ll probably just start threads when I run into problems.

 

I have a soft spot for '75s and enjoy the finds, progress, trials and tribulations of body off threads. Can you tell us any more about the car? Colors, options, type of restoration? I tend to follow more of the factory correct threads.

 

Absolutely Pete;

I'm the original owner, of the Blue 75' Coupe with silver leather deluxe interior, with other options such as power windows, tilt telescopic, rear window defogger, Auto 400 trans, am/fm stereo, map light, dual horns, 308 diff gears. I don't have a/c but will add vintage a/c to the build.

I'm located in Brampton, Ontario, Canada and the car has around 56k original miles. My budget will be between 30-35k including paint and time frame will be less than one year.

The only work I won't do is the paint.

 

Hi maymyvetteliveforevr, I started my 69 restore over a year ago. When I joined the forum it was to get help whenever I wanted to fix something. Well on thing lead to another and I decided to do a body off restore . Why because in my opinion the car was not safe. I had no idea that I would have as many views (81K) of my post and people following and making friends and above all learning the art of creating an original build. Now I have a long way to go and it remains to see what I will end up with. In closing if you want to make this car the a new original model year then the off body restore is the correct way. I would think that I would be a follower just because I enjoy helping others and also seeing and learning. I honestly believe there are many of us that want these cars to live on the way GM intended them and would follow your posts.
Good luck in your poll and decision
r

 

We see lots of these threads started but very few finished. Good luck with your project.

 

My 75 is identical to yours except i have air, yes you need to to do a body-off. Would be interesting.

 

FYI............I'm doing a "reverse restomod"....that way I can drive my first and only Vette while I'm doing the repairs on the car and budget my money monthly. When the time comes I will lift the body/repair & paint the frame/bolt the body back onto the frame and go on a month roadtrip!

It sounds like you have the plan AND the funds to stick with it.

Go for it!

 

i say do it if you want to....every car and every rebuild is unique, and there are things people will learn from you taking the time to chronicle your journey...good luck!

Here is mine, and I'm just about finished...need to do an update.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-any-tips.html

 

One of the reasons I ask is I don't know whether the information would be repetitive, but then I guess each problem can be unique and tackled in different ways.
Once I take it apart, I have no choice but to finish, also I'm sure most can do the math to know I'm not getting any younger so it's now or never.
Once complete, this will a/c also we we'll have something in common.
I'm going to takle this full time during the summer and yes, I have the funds to purchase all the material, now it's just a matter of finding the motivation and devote the time.
Thanks for the link, I'll take a look once I finish this post.

Just to be clear, this thread isn't about whether to do the resto or not, it's about whether to start a thread about it or not. If I get less then a 60% "absolutely" then there is not need to.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

"taking some time to take pictures and post on a regular basis which will take away from the build".
I believe the opposite, A picture history of your build is beneficial to you, the next owner, and other members on here.
As far as the time, really how long does it take, to take the pictures and post?
Feedback, and questions from fellow members will keep you directed and motivated.
You can't work on it 24/7, taking time away from the actual build allows you to regroup/focus, and possibly to notice something you may have over looked.
I will follow along if you do a build thread.
Good luck on your build, whether we can witness it, or not.

 

Hi M,
While the restoration threads are interesting to read and sometimes valuable for their information I think the greater benefit is for the restorer.
The taking of pictures and posting of information forces the person to step back and to a look at what he has going on.
I believe a successful restoration or resto-modification requires several things.
First, a PLAN….. what will the result be.
Second, SEQUENCE….there needs to be a schedule, not of time, but of the order in which things will be done.
Third, MOMENTUM…. things will not move at a steady pace and don't need to, but even tiny steps are continuing to be made.
Fourth, QUALITY CONTROL…..what will be acceptable and what won't.
There are and have been threads that demonstrate all of these things and threads that demonstrate none of them.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

 

I could not have said it better Alan. Boy I hope my thread is in the demonstrating things.
r

 

tokim

Reading your comments put it in a different perspective and I now feel it's wasn't fair for me to make those comments therefore I'll delete it. I guess I wasn't looking at it clearly.

Thanks

Alan 71

Thank you, and you're correct.

rvzio

Thanks for starting your resto thread as it will help me.

 

FWIW: restoration threads tend to get drawn out and lengthy. Folks can lose interest in large threads.

 

The biggest things you will need are Money and Time. I have been into my resto since 2006. For the first few years money was always my issue. I have to rebuild and replace a lot of parts and it costs a lot. Now that I finally have money to spend, I find time hard to find.

 

The thing to remember is "one bolt at a time".

I have a REALLY good understanding of why/how someone can lose interest in a project. As with a kit car, there isn't really an assembly manual where you can count your progress one page at a time. After a bunch of stuff is apart, you start to think to yourself "WOW...what the hell do I do now?"

This started happening to me when I replaced my engine and refreshed the under-hood wiring. Prepping the wires and the engine bay seemed to take FOREVER. And even after the engine was in, there were SOOOOO many little things to take care of. It seemed hopeless, even on a project that 'small'. One bolt at a time, and one hour at a time. It was easy once I saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm reassembling the entire rear end of my car now. It's been out for about 2 months. There's ALWAYS one more thing to do. One more line to replace. One more bolt to tighten. One more thing to paint. Last night, I FINALLY got around to stripping/prepping my gas tank...45 years of gunk and goo...2+ constant hours with a wire wheel. I Finally have it done, though, and it feels GREAT. It's just a matter of bolting things together and sitting the car down. Felt like a BIG mountain not that long ago, but one bolt at a time...and I can see that glimmer of light.

If I was being 100% honest, I would try to DISCOURAGE you from taking the entire car apart at once. That's my feeling, though, knowing how many of these projects end up being passed along in boxes.

Good luck on whatever your decision is. I'm sure it will be the right choice for you.

 

try to understand what your definition of 'body off restoration' is. there is great disparity in each person's definition. are you talking every nut and bolt restoration? do you require exact paint finishes? the nickel and dime stuff will turn into thousands of $$. are you rebuilding to exact factory look alike?
some people pay big bucks for that exact air cleaner wing nut whereas others buy the entire air cleaner from autozone.

prepare to spend 25% of your time shopping, researching.. ebay etc...
prepare for bad parts, very expensive parts, shoddy work from services that you might contract out.
watch out for the time away from your friends and family and what it does to your relationships.. got Kids in soccer? prepare for that to take priority.
got a budget? prepare to add 50% to it.
got a 3 car garage? you will need it all.

for a 75, be prepared to be massively upside down financially on your project. you may say it doesn't matter, but it will eat at you the entire project.

rusty frame or a bad bird cage? add months and many $$ to your project.

all these issues and more caused me to stop with my restoration.. sold it all off and bought one mostly done. it only needed about a 100 hours to make it the way I wanted it.

 

My 75 started as a simple add engine and tranny, do some interior work paint and body work and enjoy the drive...that was 4 years ago, now mucho dollars later the body is still off the frame and every part underneath is changed out. Brake and fuel lines were rusted through, trailing arms rebuilt, front and rear end all rebuilt, my fingerprints are on every part of that car. It was however a great learning experience...is it going to be worth it? Financially NO ! self fulling He** Yes! Since you have owned it for so long it must be part of the family, keep records and post pics every so often , Enjoy the Adventure!

 

Interesting question, a "should you do it" but this time it's not about some mod that some will say it's your car go for it and a few will diss it just because it's a mod but rather this time the inquiry is should you post a build thread,

I read through the replies the positive ones have so much merit where the less than encouraging replies are pretty lame reasons not to post your build.

Start with this is YOUR build, do you feel like taking the extra time to jot down what is going on and include pictures lots of pictures and letting people into your world?
Can you blow off pointless replies made that just want to be negative? ( you know the ones that live for that )

Personally since every c3 even of the same year is different, had different history and so on I find something interesting in every build posted on here, look at doors build, it's goes into fellows talking like they would at a cruise and I love it...

I posted my build thread which is rather stagnant right now due to my car still at the shop I posted that build thread for me and for others to get ideas how to do things and how not to do things,

If a person gets bored in any thread they simply do not have to read it...move on to something they do have interest in.

In my way of thinking posting your build is just what a forum like this is made for.

 

My objective is to have it road worth by end of September, paint and other minor details will come next year. I know that my objective may not become reality, but the glass is half full.
I have put money aside for this project and I figure it will take approximately 800 hours from start to finish. Since I started already, I can cut the hours down somewhat. I also intend on doing this full time during the summer.
I hope I didn't take your post out of context when editing it but I do understand and feel I don't have a choice but to take on this project since I have no intentions of selling the car as it will be handed down to my kids.
My body off resto will be defined as separating the body from the frame and any parts that are broken, badly weathered, or simply worn out are listed for replacement. This will included interior, suspension, drive-train etc. Finally a new paint job will be added. I'm not interested in NCRS even though I'm the original owner.

I feel my budget of $30,000.00 for parts is reasonable, if more are needed then I'll deal with it in the end. The fact that it's been sitting for 26 years has added much to the budget.

I've excepted the fact that it would have been better financially to purchase one in better shape, but this isn't about resale valve, it's about my forum name, which is keeping the dream alive.
I know this is something I have to do based on recent personal events. several friends and family have passed away and it made me rethink my priorities as I now want to complete all my projects before my time comes.

The only saving grace financially is my labour will be free.
That's a good and positive way of looking at it, thanks for posting.



Thanks for the replies everyone.