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The 80 nose is prettier than the 75, but not that much. I think an 80 rear bumper on a 74-75 conv would be close enough without all the cutting, glassing, changing bodies... In fact a 74 nose is nicer than the 75-77. But in truth an 80 front clip and rear bumper installed on a 75 vert is still less effing around than a 75 body on an 80 frame, cuz you are STILL doing the front clip and rear bumper. You are just doing it with the 75 body still on the 75 frame.
Everybody’s different, but I don’t see the point without doing the 80 nose. Otherwise, it just looks like someone took the easy route and stuck a later bumper on a 75. And those 80 kinda sorta looking replacement custom fronts are way off on the wheel wells.
The whole concept is an 80-82 Corvette, in a convertible, as though GM produced one. Bits and pieces can look OK, but it’s not an 80-82 conversion. It’s hard to do the whole thing.
You put a 75 body on an 80 frame. You still have to hang an 80 nose on it. 80 bumper is easy. Have to adapt the 80 seats, dash, wiring to the 75 interior. And then you have an 80 with a 75 Vin tag.
You guys know me know im a modder but i also try not to be short sighted,
It varies person to person but for me as far as c3s go the words " modified" and "customized" are interchangeable because i dont have some weird stigma taboo attached to "custom" but i know a lot of people do to the point of inventing new labels like "resto mod" which i have seen run from mild to wild.
I largely blame corvette summer for ruining the word "custom" no one wants to say their vette is custom for fear the person will think it looks like the csc or that c3c7 in another thread,
And who can blame them, when a person asks what am i building i say "road race themed custom".
It doesnt matter to me whose part you used if it didnt come factory its a modification or customization,
A great example is L88 flares to my knowledge they were never installed at the factory owners bought them over the gm parts counter and installed them in turn modifying and customizing their car albiet with a gm part.
So the 80-82 convertible conversion,
A car gm should have made,
This can be tackled and built many ways but if you want the car gm never built to me you need to find an 80-82 and when its done if you had some NCRS guy look at it he would say something to the effect of "damn, that looks factory, ..."
Then under his breath say you ruined a corvette ( just a fun poke, no malice entended )
The 75 i had interest in was done very well, full 80 front clip, rear was fiberglass 80 bumper, 75 interior but it wasnt what an for lack of better word an elistist wanting an 80 style convertible would want, it was too Frankenstein, but in a way so is any convertible conversion it all depends on the end result and look.
Then of course all convertible conversions are not done well, some or horrid hack jobs going as far as no top at all,
No, if you do this mod do it well or dont do it.
Personal tastes opinions even biases play in,
As much as i do like the 80 convertible my 69 had a 73 74 clip, the 2 year larger better imo grills,
And that pseudo 73 look grew on me but the car mike posted modern wheels aside, i like old school wheels on classics that car is really stunning to me, i believe i like that nose better than the 80 cow catcher underbite style, but thats whats cool here no one answers fits all or is ment to.
ALSO, given GM never built one (80-82) - i would feel free reign to make it whatever i wanted (BB, LS, stroker) as there wasnt "original" to be compared against.
Lowbuck72's did a pretty good roofectomy on his 72. But it was a metric **** ton of doing. And as Batman said, most convert conversions come out less than optimal. I feel doing the same job by taking a 74 or 5 vert and doing the 80 mod is a way better way to go. And since it is illegal to take the VIN tag off a windshield frame and reinstalling it on the SAME windshield frame, putting that tag on a different body is a Really Big no-no. So you would be forced to use the title that came with the vert body anyway.
One of the cars that I discussed in a Vette Vues article entitled "Corvettes That Never Were" was a 1982 Collector Edition 454, 4 speed convertible.
My thinking was to make a car that looked in every way possible like it was a factory original car, including a properly date coded 454 engine and matching 4 speed transmission, plus all of the creature comfort options.
I would start with a 1982 coupe, but not necessarily a collector edition car, since I would want 1982 VIN tag on it.
I figured starting with a 1982 454 truck engine properly dated, along with a properly dated 4 speed transmission.
Induction would be a challenge, as 1982 was the first year for Cross Fire Injection in a Corvette, but 1982 Chevy trucks used a carburetor. Going the carburetor route would be the easy thing, but a "modified but factory looking" cross fire injection system that would support a 454 cubic inch engine would be cool.
Would also need a horsepower bump over the factory 210 from then Chevy truck engine, but not too much. Maybe some minor changes in cam and compression to push it into the 250hp range.
I even went so far as to suggest a "custom" engine suffix code for this combination.
Lowbuck72's did a pretty good roofectomy on his 72. But it was a metric **** ton of doing. And as Batman said, most convert conversions come out less than optimal. I feel doing the same job by taking a 74 or 5 vert and doing the 80 mod is a way better way to go. And since it is illegal to take the VIN tag off a windshield frame and reinstalling it on the SAME windshield frame, putting that tag on a different body is a Really Big no-no. So you would be forced to use the title that came with the vert body anyway.
What attracts me to older c3s is as they progressed, metal and glass got thinner, hp vanished and gm got cheap,
While the look was okay to me i found both my 81s dashes very cheaply made of crap plastic,
I like the older cast metal interior parts,
You guys know me know im a modder but i also try not to be short sighted,
It varies person to person but for me as far as c3s go the words " modified" and "customized" are interchangeable because i dont have some weird stigma taboo attached to "custom" but i know a lot of people do to the point of inventing new labels like "resto mod" which i have seen run from mild to wild.
I largely blame corvette summer for ruining the word "custom" no one wants to say their vette is custom for fear the person will think it looks like the csc or that c3c7 in another thread,
And who can blame them, when a person asks what am i building i say "road race themed custom".
It doesnt matter to me whose part you used if it didnt come factory its a modification or customization,
A great example is L88 flares to my knowledge they were never installed at the factory owners bought them over the gm parts counter and installed them in turn modifying and customizing their car albiet with a gm part.
So the 80-82 convertible conversion,
A car gm should have made,
This can be tackled and built many ways but if you want the car gm never built to me you need to find an 80-82 and when its done if you had some NCRS guy look at it he would say something to the effect of "damn, that looks factory, ..."
Then under his breath say you ruined a corvette ( just a fun poke, no malice entended )
The 75 i had interest in was done very well, full 80 front clip, rear was fiberglass 80 bumper, 75 interior but it wasnt what an for lack of better word an elistist wanting an 80 style convertible would want, it was too Frankenstein, but in a way so is any convertible conversion it all depends on the end result and look.
Then of course all convertible conversions are not done well, some or horrid hack jobs going as far as no top at all,
No, if you do this mod do it well or dont do it.
Personal tastes opinions even biases play in,
As much as i do like the 80 convertible my 69 had a 73 74 clip, the 2 year larger better imo grills,
And that pseudo 73 look grew on me but the car mike posted modern wheels aside, i like old school wheels on classics that car is really stunning to me, i believe i like that nose better than the 80 cow catcher underbite style, but thats whats cool here no one answers fits all or is ment to.
That is a pretty well thought out post Bats.
I generally lean more to the stock look for Corvettes (yes mostly because of freakazoids like the C.S. car) but once in a while a really clean custom comes along that absolutely nails it. I liked the 80-82 verts as soon as I saw my first one.
And I'm still on the look out for a decent/abandoned Mako car!
That is a pretty well thought out post Bats.
I generally lean more to the stock look for Corvettes (yes mostly because of freakazoids like the C.S. car) but once in a while a really clean custom comes along that absolutely nails it. I liked the 80-82 verts as soon as I saw my first one.
And I'm still on the look out for a decent/abandoned Mako car!
Aw thanks,
The csc doesnt flow i do not like any mods that do not flow.
I try, i am still at times rather passinate about my car hobby,
I also had it dawn on me not too long ago, im not a "corvette" guy im a car guy who happens to like corvettes and i think that gives me a very different perspective than some, ie: belivers that just because the factory did it that way its perfect and blasphemy to change it,
If that were true this thread wouldnt be basically 100% positive remarks about 80 convertibles.
i saw real passion in the guy who bought my mako clip,
He wanted one for over 30 years and now has the means to make it happen top end.
You guys know me know im a modder but i also try not to be short sighted,
Then of course all convertible conversions are not done well, some or horrid hack jobs going as far as no top at all,
No, if you do this mod do it well or dont do it.
and that's why mine still isn't completed, the nit picky little pieces that are impossible to find or ridiculously overpriced, "fabricator", the modder's middle name...
and that's why mine still isn't completed, the nit picky little pieces that are impossible to find or ridiculously overpriced, "fabricator", the modder's middle name...
I made a remark that if an ncrs guy looks at a convertible conversion ( done well ) he should admit it looks factory,
However,
Im not short sighted, if a modded makes it happen and its not factory but looks and works as good or better im all for that
I made a remark that if an ncrs guy looks at a convertible conversion ( done well ) he should admit it looks factory,
However,
Im not short sighted, if a modded makes it happen and its not factory but looks and works as good or better im all for that
Dear Triskadeca Bats......The more you write, the more I read, the more I like. Being as it's Thanksgiving EVE.....Thanks! We gotta meet up one day! Very little that you write and advise, I disagree with....and that is sayin' somethin' from a 'older' curmudgeon! LOL
You put a 75 body on an 80 frame. You still have to hang an 80 nose on it. 80 bumper is easy. Have to adapt the 80 seats, dash, wiring to the 75 interior. And then you have an 80 with a 75 Vin tag.
Agree with everything except that I don’t think the VIN tag matters in this case. Whether it’s a ‘75 roadster with an entire new nose, doors and interior and tail cover or an ‘80 with the roof sawed off, the end result should be the same: what an 80-82 would have looked like from GM if it came in convertible form. You can get there in either direction.
Its a full blown radical conversion either way, so who cares what the VIN year is at that point?
I posted these pics in a thread about old Bloomington Gold photos. I think I took these in 1984. Loved the ‘82 CE conversions. I’d still consider buying a nice one.
Isnt that a head scratcher, i do love convertibles and have a sentimental attachment to the 82 ce and its cool thing was hatchback lost with convertible,
But yeah, i would take the convertible, just imagine had gm offered the ce as coupe or convertible.
The 75 i came close to buying the 80 conversion was done well, full 80 front clip, 80 rear bumper,
I believe the seller might have been hiding something, and timing wasnt right for me to fly to it and inspect,
I wish i had of.
09-26-2018, 07:47 PM
well thanks, 
