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Having not been up close and personal with anything other than a '80 C3, I'm trying to educate myself as to how the front end bodywork and trim is constructed and assembled, as this appears to be one of the number 1 hot spots for things not be aligned perfectly, whether it be grills, chrome grill trim, gaps, bits missing, etc, etc. Very few cars, (if any) look to me how I imagined they would have looked when they rolled off the production line.
Here is a shot of a car I have looked at which is a good example of all of the above, in terms of misalignment and potentially bits missing or damage.
What are you seeing here, other than a failed head light of course!
How does this all go together and what's involved in straightening it all out so it looks 'correct'?
Is it a 68 or 69? I would check the frame for rust, especially the radiator support and the frame horns. Has the car been in an accident? Do you have any history on the car? Jerry
Is it a 68 or 69? I would check the frame for rust, especially the radiator support and the frame horns. Has the car been in an accident? Do you have any history on the car? Jerry
Got lots of pictures, it's a 68 427 garage find, off the road since 1990, Texas car. Frame looks good from what I can see in the pics, front pass fender has taken a hit at some point. I'm in the UK and the car is in KY and I'm struggling to find a CF member in the area to have look at it for me. I'm just curious as to what is correct and what it not correct with the front end body work and trim assembly, as it looks crooked - like so many. From what I can see, the front lower lip spoiler is missing and the piece it attaches to has two chunks missing either side of the bumper over-riders. At least I think that is the case.
Just gathering thoughts on the front end make up of body work.
Is the camera distorting the front of the car....or....is the front bumper/grill/etc sagging that much?
I think the front bumper is okay, as are the over riders from what I can see, if I ask my eyes to ignore the rest of the chrome and body work. I think the issue is the lower lentre piece of body work is raised up and twisted on the right hand side and there are chunks missing on the vertical flange/spoiler.
How does all this fit together? What does it look like without the bumper, grills and chrome?
Paragon Corvette Reproductions Catalogue, page 105; shows the front end fiberglass assembly for a 1968-1972. The parts I think are broken include part number 7924 Front Lower Valence Panel ($242US); part #14207 Front lower valence panel seal retainer ($84.00US); part #4311 lower valence panel seal ($24.00US); part numbers 10802 and 10803 LH and RH lower valence bonding strips ($84.00US); and maybe part number 7444 front air damn ($45.00US). The metal parts all look complete to me though they need adjusting. The front bumper and both front bumperettes looks like they are in pretty good shape. Always hard to assess from pictures but it doesn't look out of the ordinary to me. So for somewhere close to $500 in parts, some paint, and adjustments I would think you could get the front end to look pretty much as it should.
Just my thoughts on the front.
Looks like a candidate for a good inspection if you can find someone to do it. If I lived closer I would offer to do it myself. Lots of members here on the CF, someone might be close and can offer some assistance.
Gaps in the grill molding aren't that unusual but it sure looks like it took a poke in the nose and it's askew. Also didn't look like the car was sitting level, but that could just be from the bad angle. I piled up an old Fury on a section of guardrail and that's just what the pic reminded me of, maybe less violent.
Paragon Corvette Reproductions Catalogue, page 105; shows the front end fiberglass assembly for a 1968-1972. The parts I think are broken include part number 7924 Front Lower Valence Panel ($242US); part #14207 Front lower valence panel seal retainer ($84.00US); part #4311 lower valence panel seal ($24.00US); part numbers 10802 and 10803 LH and RH lower valence bonding strips ($84.00US); and maybe part number 7444 front air damn ($45.00US). The metal parts all look complete to me though they need adjusting. The front bumper and both front bumperettes looks like they are in pretty good shape. Always hard to assess from pictures but it doesn't look out of the ordinary to me. So for somewhere close to $500 in parts, some paint, and adjustments I would think you could get the front end to look pretty much as it should.
Just my thoughts on the front.
Looks like a candidate for a good inspection if you can find someone to do it. If I lived closer I would offer to do it myself. Lots of members here on the CF, someone might be close and can offer some assistance.
Good luck with your search.
David
Thanks David, I local CF member has offered to go and check it out for me as he lives literally 5 mins away. I know we spoke about this car, but it keeps on nagging at me and I'd like to know for sure, one way or the other.
Originally Posted by pigfarmer
What's the rest of of it look like?
A rough survivor that needs some love and a body work, but is a 427 numbers matching '69..... which gets me all 'emotional'.
Have a look at the photo and videos I have so far here...
In stock form, there's hardly any placement adjustment of the turn signal grilles; the bumperettes have a little bit but not enough to align all of these components.
I'm not sure what's happening here... The right-hand grill is canted clockwise. Even that center recessed grill is crooked in its opening. It looks like whatever is going on is affecting the center and right side because the left looks pretty straight. I think the lower valance panel has been pushed upward just behind and to the right of the right-hand bumperette. This has caused the center grill to look crooked, opened the gap between the left grill and its bumperette, and the right turn signal grill to actually be crooked. Look at the gap between the top outside chrome and where it sits in relation to the main bumper; that's way too large. Because the vertical bumperette looks pretty good, I think it's not affected all that much by what happened.
Last edited by barkingrats; Nov 8, 2020 at 10:24 AM.
It appears to me that the front end has taken a 'hit' and caused some damage, and the owner has tried to piece it together in order to sell it QUICK.
The protruding valence (part of the body) should be intact, and it is not. It is broken in some areas and missing pieces. If you purchase this car, you should expect to do some significant repair work to the underside of the nose area -- before you can even begin to properly position grillwork.
It appears to me that the front end has taken a 'hit' and caused some damage, and the owner has tried to piece it together in order to sell it QUICK.
The protruding valence (part of the body) should be intact, and it is not. It is broken in some areas and missing pieces. If you purchase this car, you should expect to do some significant repair work to the underside of the nose area -- before you can even begin to properly position grillwork.
Thanks - the car has been parked up in a basement/garage since 1990 and has been bought from an estate sale. The seller is just moving it on.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
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my chrome on my 68 was aligned like that. Its not really and issue to straighten it out. The airdam needs attention. Then you need to add a bigger dam to which may be why those 2 pieces are cut out. I have an ecklers air dam adn it had 2 scoops that hit right where those cutouts are. I cut and re fiber glassed the Ecklersair dam, not the car.
I think the front bumper is okay, as are the over riders from what I can see, if I ask my eyes to ignore the rest of the chrome and body work. I think the issue is the lower lentre piece of body work is raised up and twisted on the right hand side and there are chunks missing on the vertical flange/spoiler.
How does all this fit together? What does it look like without the bumper, grills and chrome?
1. The car has been hit in the nose and repaired er-ah poorly. Showing signs of a bodyshop that did not understand Corvettes.
2. It looks MORE LIKE the pass side front spring has given up the ghost.
3. Someone DEFINATELY has to look at the car for frame damage in and around the 's' bends in the frame.
What do you see here?
