S**ttersFull

I got this car months back in June I believe.. All matching original car but pretty much everything needed to be replaced but the body.

This has been quite an adventure for me. I'm a younger person and I just do not have the patience for such restorations. The original matching engine has been crated and a new Vortec 350 with a mild cam has been added, Th400 has been rebuilt with new stall converter added. New side pipes and new hooker long tube headers added. New AC, New Stereo and an entire new interior(minus the seats and dash which are in good shape.)

The car was completely stripped down to the body and painted in a three stage candy blue. originally I was going with flat black but realized this car deserved better and as much time, effort and money that was going into stripping the 3 layers of paint off the car, I'd do something a bit special.

Like it or hate it, the exhaust slots in the back are now gone. Also a new stinger hood has been added.

Next up on the to do list is replace the interior, POSSIBLY(Still debating it since the current stereo works fine) replace the stereo and speakers with something more modern. Rechrome plating the rear bumpers, fixing the actuators in the front headlights and the passenger side windows regulator is kaput.

The car sounds great, drives great. She's power everything but locks I believe. No major rust. Has new cooper cobra's and centerline wheels that I chose based off of some other Vette members pictures.


Now I'll say I've battled these car.. very recently I had all but thrown in the towel and I even half halfheartedly put it up for sale because it was just sucking my funds dry left and right. Thankfully I calmed myself down over about a week, got the car running right and drove it. She drives like a dream and I fell in love with the car. Now I'm not worrying about selling the car but instead parking it away from everyone else and making sure I have an eye on her at all times lmao.


Here's the pictures. About 75% done with the.. upgrade? Cant really call it a purist restore can I. I do not plan on modifying the car any further, anything else is purely replacing to factory.

The day she arrived.


Shortly after getting everything reliable on the vehicle.


During prep for being painted. She had about 3 layers of paint and the original color was white. Sadly this paint was in terrible shape and I'm sure some of it was not even real auto paint. Rather than sanding and painting of paint of paint the car was completely stripped.


And the exterior done. I forgot to put the Antenna back on.





Thanks to the forum members here who have been extremely helpful and had patience for my sometimes stupid questions. I will post more updates as I continue. Mostly the interior and small things like the window regulator still need to be attended to.

havesometo

Car looks great you did a good job.
I saw that call on Facebook you was trying to sell the original hood.
Everyone kept asking you what other parts you had for sale.

rcread

I like the color. The big rear tires give it some dramatic flair. Is that a Mustalgia gas lid? Have fun driving it and watch out for the idiots on the road!

Paul L

I prefer original cars but what you have done looks fantastic!

Blue73Shark

A fantastic looking 73. That blue paint looks "deep".
Well done.
Enjoy.
Fran

croaker

Can I ask how did you strip the car blade or stripper?

CheezMoe

Looks spectacular...and I do like the color...

S**ttersFull

This job was above my skill to heal. I have painted cars before along with the prep work involved but stripping fiberglass was a bit much. Alll credit goes to the shop that got it done.

With that said I believe they used the razor blade method as there were a million of them laying around when I got there halfway through the process.

If anyone is looking for a great and trustworthy auto painting place in Raleigh area, feel free to PM me.