I'm updating my old post to define the direction I want to take with this build

I've been on the site a very long time, but I'm mostly lurking to find information I need, but I'll add insight if I'm secure with my knowledge. That said, I'm not much of an expert on anything, but I like to learn and I'm not unfamiliar to most skills I need to begin this project. I've wanted a C3 since I was a kid, but as I grew life got in the way and my tastes and curiosity to build have gotten the better of me, this is why I won't just purchase a car outright. I'm very dedicated to this build. To get the first car I drove across the country and trailered it back from Pennsylvania to Colorado. The second one was local. My preface is that I'm not building with the intention of selling or bragging rights. This is a build for me, and something that I hope I can probably build a few memories with my family as they grow. I’m probably going to be long winded with this thread. Any help is appreciated!

Goals:

RestoMOD 1969 – Classic styling with modern features

- Body: I have both convertible and Coupe from my original buy. I’ve always wanted a coupe (I like the lines), so that's the direction I'm going. Once I'm finished I'll have enough parts to also do a convertible. That's going to be quite a while down the road though.

- Frame: The member I purchased from did an absolutely fantastic job with the frame. Reinforcement and seam closing, plus coating and suspension work. I’m going to finish his work and move from there. I’m not going to track the car, so for my kind of riding, stock suspension is perfect. It will also allow me to bring the car in to shops for alignments and brake work when I don’t have the time, if I can find a shop to do it in the future.

- Power train: Lx conversion with a Tremec 56 kit from Silver Sport. My HP goals are around 550 FI or NA, and I have my diff in the shop getting the necessary upgrades to handle the added power.

- Color: Black or silver. I thought about doing silver on the vert if I get around to building it.

- Interior: I’ve been having issues figuring this out. I enjoy the classic look, but I also want modern amenities. Lowing the floor pan a bit has been a consideration to get some head room as I have a 34 inseam, and at 6’2” I might be pushing the long term comfort level some. Tilt telescope wheel, and maybe original gauges. I like good music and sound, I’ve built quite a few automotive systems so the tight spacing is going to be fun.

- Modernization: Trying to use actuators as much as possible. The vacuum system is pretty awesome IMHO, but it’s not reliable. It’s honestly too much. So the fewer breakable lines from the intake the better. A/C I’m on the fence as well, it gets hot here, but it’s typically cooler than not. However, I do have longer trips in mind as well. Seats, I might go with C4 seats and I'll heat them, I loved them on my old 87, more than my 03. They just fit me for some reason. LED lights all around, low power draw and heat is nice. Power steering is a must since my wife will be driving from time to time, and maybe hydraulic boosted brakes as well. Still debating the windshield wiper door contraption. I have an extended L88 hood, but the trapdoor is kind of a cool feature of the 69.

This will be an adventure for me. I have a lot of excitement as well as trepidation around this project. My goal for the forum isn't so much to share, but I'd like to document this process in some way. I feel that I'll need to reference something far into the future. And this is just a good way to do it.

Trailering the car


Almost matching

The first half of my parts


Good rebuildable parts


Amazing work on the frame


Just need to finish up the front and I'll be able to ground it.

Second Donor:





Old Coupe disassembly:
Cutting into the coupe (the first disaster I bought)
Removing the Halo frame (I've never seen this process done, so it's interesting to watch)
Cleaning up Parts
Coupe tear down part 1
Coupe tear down part 2

 

Interesting build thread. Hopefully you'll figure out which direction your going before you get much further.

 

…watching this one

 

I am glad you are going to finish the work I started, and whatever it ends up being it saves another C3……this one was destined to be scrapped…but you and I will have saved it. I think you will do a great job on this. My short time with you I could tell you have what it takes.

 

I'm excited that I can finally start working on it and not leaving you in mystery. I'll definitely be bothering you with questions from time to time.

 

We are in the middle of a move right now, and I put the convertible in a storage since we don’t have a big garage garage. Since then I’ve been able to start break down the coupe over the last two weeks. Overall, I’m not very happy with what I was sold. Perhaps the member I purchased from was unaware or maybe he was, but the condition of this body was less than sub par. I did notice some fiberglass work when I got the clip, but I should have given it a more thorough look. When it’s 30 degrees outside it’s a little difficult to be motivated to start poking around looking for issues.

My first job was to debond the panels so I could separate the Halo from the body. As I was doing so I noticed a few issues and more body filler than I anticipated. If I had more experience with C3s I would have noticed the problem before I purchased it. The amount of filler around the roof support was concerning so I started scraping and digging. The problem gold mine I found completely ruined the good deal I got on the clip. As I started digging I found a lot of poor body work and what looked like multiple collisions over the life of the car.

Discoveries:

- Roof was cut down the back line of the birdcage, creating a separation between the bonded portion on the halo and roof support

- Driver side B pillar was 100% made from body filler

- Entire top was replaced and set on top of old body that lined the fender crowns

- Body was cut along fender crowns rather than being from bonding strips.

- Fiberglass work on top of Bondo

- Rivet repair on Fender

- Overlaping fiberglass from fender to Lock pillar panel

- Single sheet of fiberglass holding top down to old Body

- Single sheet of fiber glass holding top onto the interior center tub

- Rusting sheet metal holding rear quarter covering bumper support holes

- Cracked interior tub from side collision.

- Various holes and minor repairs over time



The initial crack that lead me to investigating



Cut line down fender crown and damaged lid



End of replaced lid, cut along crown of rear wing and overlapped with a few sheets of Fiberglass….not saturated with any resin



Fiber glass repair line



Breaking down the fiber glass line



Lock piller panel fiber glass “repair”



Fiberglass “repair” along rear wing



Crown splits



Fender rivet repair



Where the “repair” for the B pillar started



I separated the repairs from the bonding lines, cut the top, and removed it from the body



I still have a few more bonding lines to split off the car and I’ll probably get the rear separated from the birdcage this weekend. The coupe Halo bar seems to be in decent shape, but I noticed from wavy lines and I’m a little unsure about It’s integrity. Couldn’t have utilized the clip as is because the paint would show cracks in less than a year, probably after the first drive TBH. I’ll post pics once I get a bit further and can progress on the body.



Video of top removal and scraping all the body filler: (It's about 30 min, so not a short view)

 

WOW! I watched your Vid. She's in really tough shape alright!
I'll be watching this build thread!

 

Chris......I can see you have no fear about getting the job done.....very cool. No reason to fear it.

As for transmission, maybe we talked about this....but I would suggest looking into the TKX that Silversport has. If you are going to change to a 5 speed....this TKX comes with several ratios, and fits a C3 Corvette with no mods. With the removeable transmission crossmember you have....this is an easy change. No tunnel mods required. And.....it essentially has been upgraded from the previous Tremec transmissions, for higher RPM shifts, etc. And I think its reasonably priced.

 

This is a strong consideration actually. I think I'd like to find someone who would let me drive one. I know how the t56 feels, but not the 5. I hate always thinking I need another gear, my last bike always had me stomping like I was just gonna create a 6 through willpower alone.

 

My 2006 Corvette has a six speed, and its absolutely useless where I live and drive. You can't be in 6th gear unless you are doing 70 mph. In fact, fifth gear is borderline useless to me, because below 50 mph its bogging the engine at 1500 RPM. But.....people drive differently than I do. The back roads of western Pennyslvania are where I find my peace, at 55 mph.....I have no need for a 5 or 6 speed in my 77.....the 4 speed does just fine, and comes with the perfect character the car was designed around. I would not sacrifice that for a TKX had I finished the 69. But again.....I am different than most here.

 

I did enjoy driving around there. I was telling my wife how nice it was when I got back actually. The roads here are good, but getting to them is all highway and steep grades. Even going to work I see harsh hills that need downshifts. IDK yet, the drop in and play option without tunnel mods is pretty nice and convincing. I think I'm going to makes some posts in the regional forum/clubs and see what locals recommend. I should be piecing together the drive train by summer time...time allowing 🤞

 

Lately I’ve been getting about 1 day a week to really dig into the car. Having a toddler, full time job, and working wife (the real bread winner) makes progress slow and it’s been difficult to accept that. I was able to separate the roof support rail from the car though, and without damaging it...well too much anyway. Drilling out the spot welds became a challenge because I had 2 goals in mind: Remove as little metal as possible and damage the birdcage as little as possible. I was able to do both for the most part. My secondary goal was to save as much of the body as I could. THIS, I was not able to do. The reason isn’t because of inability, but the condition it was in vs time to rework all the fiberglass and chip through the bonding agent wasn’t worth my time. So many might say it was sacrilege, but I cut it up to make my job easier and move on with my life.

I made 2 cuts behind the interior body frame, down each fender. I wanted to retain the back half because I think I can make something to hang up in the garage with it. I also didn’t want the added leverage pulling down on other body panels while I was applying heat and separating them. I was able to save both pillar panels this way, which equates about $400 in new body panels. Every little bit helps.



Panels de-bonded from the body

The steel on the birdcage was surprisingly dense. I killed 3 spot weld bits on just the bracket mount to the pillars. I didn’t want to use normal drill bits because they cut into the birdcage too much with the pilot tip…. that ended up being a waste of my time. But part of this project to learn the assembly of the car and have a platform to make mistakes on. The upper portion on the window lip was exceptionally stubborn. (The “L” that’s spot welded to the top portion of the windshield frame). I ended up cutting it at the bend but didn’t damage the frame so that was a win as well.



Successfully removed

The entire top portion lifted right off, and I have plenty of steel left to reassemble with some fillet welds on the good cage. I think I’m going to pursue the coupe. I also think I might lean towards a light roll cage for safety as well. Nothing insane, but If I have my daughter in the car I’d like insurance. Drivers around here are also bat **** crazy so there’s that as well…



I now have two convertible birdcages

One big issue I am going to run into is the halo support plenums and the astro ventilation plenum. The super spicy body work the previous owner did left a lot of headaches. The cut across the top of the roof was in two places. I know that this car was never driven since that work had been completed. There’s no way it would have stayed together. The lip where the T-Top sits will need to be re built. I have most of the pieces, but they are going to need a lot of TLC and I’m going to have to fabricate the rest. They also trashed the astro vent box and sealed up the vents. Now I’m not sure what to do here because I like the idea of the astro vent, however this is not a competition car and it would be something extra I’d have to engineer. Plus, finding these parts isn’t an option. Should I just delete it and regain the extra cab space? Maybe put a speakerbox in their place for a good hi-fi system? There’s options, but I am a little peeved at the state I found this entire coupe in. But, challenge accepted and I’ll use it as an opportunity.



Damaged roof plenum and reinforcement



Sealed and damaged Astro ventilation plenum

I’m going to see if anybody wants the birdcage. I can’t keep it around because of space and moving, so if I can’t find a taker, I’m going have to haul it to the dump. I’m aggravated on what I paid vs what was given. I trusted a forum member, and perhaps he didn’t realize it, but I paid for a rear clip that needed “some body work” and a “non-rusted-out birdcage”. I won’t get much payback from this but that’s life and I should have looked around more rather than purchasing out of convenience. Best to stay positive and move forward from things like this.



Mounting bracket to the pillars



Base of both pillars look like this



I don’t know why I was so concerned with saving these pillars. Experience points I guess?

I’ll be moving on to reconditioning parts after this. I need a new air compressor since mine broke, and I’ll be getting a blast cabinet as well. I’m also moving in the next few months, so I know I’m going to have a big pause on the project. One reason for me wanting to get rid of the frame and get the parts I wanted off so quickly.

Video of the process:

 

The removed halo and T section should fit very nicely, and easily onto the bird cage I sold you. I would think the line up will be easy, however, you may want to have some T-tops availalble to sit in position to make sure things are close enough. The fit is not perfect, even on factory cars that have never been disassembled, as I have seen may different cars that the panel lines between the T-tops, the halo and windshield are not perfect. There is lots of room for large gaps......but having them sitting in the openings before welding in the Halo sections may get it close enough. Obviously back at the B pillar, it should slide down on nicely, without much concern for misalignment, but there could be a chance of misalignment left to right, and front to back to the windshield. That windshield frame can move easily forward and back.. Bottom line.....having as much of the pieces fit together BEFORE welding is better. You would want the chrome corner pieces in the windshield frame, so the T-top pins can fit down into the sockets....locating the front two corners of the T-tops, as well as the two tabs on each side into the center piece of the T-tops frame. With all that in position, I think it will get everything very close.

By the way....you will need new door glass, because the glass itself is a different shape between convertibles and coupes.

Also......don't toss that birdcage......people could make the repairs where necessary, and is worth at least $1000......these parts are not reproduced, and the birdcage is often what is rotten in many C3 Corvettes. The one I sold you is flawless, and like new. Repair this one, and sell it.....

 

I hear ya on the birdcage, but I'll be in an HOA and not really able to keep a ton of stuff around. I've been tossing the idea around of using it to hang the body on or as a mockup for now. Once I get that firewall re-bonded I won't need to do that. I'll consider options, keeping to sell will just take up space I don't have right now.

Good news is I have all the coupe body parts and windows as well. Your thought process on realignment was spot on with what I was considering as my path forward. My thought was to get every part in hand before I start a single tac. That includes interior panels too since they screw into the halo as well. My concern is that halo reinforcement plenum. It's so chopped up that getting it right is going to be super challenging. Since I got everything apart I can focus on other aspects now. There's still a lot of refurbishing and painting I have to start before I can get to this point. I'd like to have the full weight of the car ready before I begin the skin. I read a lot about how they flex and it's best to build to body around the chassis while it's grounded and sprung on the suspension.

 

I haven’t been able to do much work the last few weeks. I sold a lot of my larger tools a few years ago because I wasn’t using them. So, I’ve had to repurchase and complete my tools again. Mostly my pneumatic stuff. Needless to say, my small garage hasn’t been very conducive to building much of anything. I have been able to work on cleaning and refurbishing.

Since I don’t have a media cabinet, I’ve been using a tumbler for the bolts and hydrolysis for the larger pieces. This is MUCH slower than blasting, it allows me to set either one and leave it while I go to work or work with another part on the wire wheel. I feel like this is the least glamorous work you don’t see on youtube and other influencer shows. I’ve also been tabbing out the AIM and starting to take inventory of what I have, what needs to be repaired, and what needs to be replaced.



All of the smaller parts are tarnished or rusty. It’s hard to tell what can be used or needs replacement



I wire wheeled the larger bolts while the smaller sat in the tumbler



After I finish the bolts I’ll work on organizing them



Most of them are coming out pretty good.

I’m going to need to figure out what bolt goes where. I looked around and haven’t found much information on them. Finding thread pitch will be easy, but figuring out their home is a little more difficult. I’m going to need some help from the forum



The hydrolysis has been very effective. You can set it and forget it for the most part. I have a wider and shallower bin for bigger parts. The anode and cathode are so rudimentary I can just clean and cover the bins when I’m finished removing all the rust. Low cost and being effective is awesome. I also subbed out the rebar and used two flat pieces of cold roll 16ga The added surface area doesn't scuzz up and gives more surface area. My amperage draw went from .8 to 4A, 12A with a few pieces.



A bit of brushing is still required but it only takes seconds to remove the scale vs 10+ min or so of brushing and wire wheel.

I’m currently working with a guy for a good rear coupe clip as well. There’s interest in a coupe/vert body only swap deal. This lowers costs and will just be time on my part. Another long road trip might be in my future. It seems like there’s no corvette shops in Colorado that can help. It’s fine because this just gives me more experience and stories. But this body is non-wrecked and unmolested unlike the nightmare from before.

I also dropped the diff off at my repair shop. It’s a 3.08 but I’m going to be shooting for low to midrange torque engine build. This will make usable power for the car and give me a lot of room to play with the powerplant. I’m tossing around boring my 5.3 to a 5.7 for legacy reasons, or twin turbo for the 5.3 like I had with my old C5. There’s not much more satisfying than displacement and induction. I’d be interested if anybody has experience with building a Lx 5.7.

No Video this time, haven’t had the time for editing.

 

As for bolt identification and where they go, the AIM I gave you will show a part number. With that Part Number, I had some success in Googling it, and finding the sizes that way. But Paragon, who now has been bought out by Corvette Central, used to have a great section at the rear of their catalog showing cross references between part numbers and sizes. I still have that catalog, and can try to get you some pictures. There are only about 5-6 pages.

In many cases, and why I never organize bolts into marked bags, the bolt options are pretty minimal, and figuring out what bolt size you need is basic. Obviously, the thread sizes into captured nuts in the frame is self evident, and most of them are the same. There are only a few size threads. Otherwise, the bolts that fit with enough length through the part will tell you which one you need And, coming from my aviation and Harley background, I use self locking nuts everywhere I can....and I get them from Ace Hardware, Lowes etc. I know you are not going NCRS,....so bolthead markings, types, and all that nonsense is fortunately not an issue for you. I also use Grade 8 bolts in places I think need the extra strength. Bottom line.....use you own mechanical sense to put the right bolts in the right places. There are some specialty bolts, and I think those will be self evident....example...the three bolts that hold the steering box to the frame have a square under the head that locate into the frame.....but oh...right, I just remembered...THAT is already bolted onto the frame. But anyways...thats an example. I will also add that the quality of modern hardware is sometimes not so great.....so I would try to use as much of the 1969 hardware you have. Those were manufactured back when quality mattered.

 

If you can find that Paragon guide that would be amazing! And a big help.

Majority of these bolts are cleaning up nice. I'll try the AIM and start searching. I'm to the last 5% of the bolts now, so I should be able to begin cataloging soon. Might try to make a reference for the forum

 

It’s been a while since I updated, and unfortunately I haven’t gotten a ton complete. There’s a lot of third party influences on the build right now, and I don’t think I’ll settle down until May. The move has had a bunch of hiccups, and my limited space – time = not corvette work. If anybody is attempting a VA Assumption loan, be aware that they are much slower than traditional loans. But we did close, and I should be able to get reoriented in a few months after selling the current home as well.

I believe I have reconditioned just about every loose piece imaginable on this build. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s 100% because there were a few pieces that were just too far gone for restoration. The headlight buckets being one of them. I need to find new covers since the ones I started pulling apart had a few cracks, bad bearings, and the screws were so rusted into their holes a few just decided to call the cover their forever home. I might attempt to drill them out, but I fear for the integrity of the cover. Minus a rebuild kit the other main pieces were all fine since they were aluminum.

I got all the bots and screws that were available zinc coated, along with a bunch of other brackets. Along with zinc I also had a black chromate finish placed on them. They look good, and seem resilient enough for fasteners. The cost was super affordable as well, so a big win with not having to purchase any of the bolt kits offline.

I had all of the bigger brackets powder coated as well. Also a good investment of cost vs new. I did learn that some of my time wasn’t needed with the electrolysis though. Unlike the zinc coating, my local painter just blasts everything anyway. This is good to know for the next few steps I have to take.

The birdcage is completely free now from it’s bondo prison. I was able to learn a lot about the assembly and practice a few techniques on the debonding process. I was able to separate the floor and rocker panels from the cage with relative ease and discovered more backyard engineering with the front. The whole vette was hit all over at some point. I’m not sure why it was trying to be salvaged TBH. There’s a point where you do need to start over with a body, this one was a zombie begging for death. I was able to experiment and beat it guilt free though.

I found another 1969 coupe that’s a fantastic doner with a 350 and Muncie. The body hasn’t been touched, and I also have enough parts from it to complete another build when I’m finished. So, I’m going to debate whether to complete another car after this one is complete.

The next posts will cover a second tear down and LS build. I’ve, been anxious without the ability to get work done on this project lately. Such is life though and it’s an adventure not a race.





Keeping organized and working in batches help keep a sense of accomplishment with this part of the project



A lot of parts were too far gone to recondition



Rebuilt 3 of these, they actually came out good even after looking like this. Forgot to snap a pic for internet points



Hot Vinegar Bath, dropped in Soda to neutralize, cleaned in Acetone to remove residues, Sonic cleaned, and then placed in Alcohol before being cleaned with the wirewheel



All cleaned before Zinc coating



Zinc coated brackets



Zinc coated fastners





Parts cleaned before powder coating (wasn’t necessary)



Powder coated door hinge, bolts for thread protection.







Have almost 3 boxes of reconditioned parts now



Kicker off the front left rocker panel transition, saved 2



Rockers were about 90% ok they’re good enough to take measurements and fix damages if needed



Firewall is trash, window has cracks as well….not salvageable



Not the worst birdcage, but not worth $1500 either


Part 3 of the build videos:

 

Cool,.....looks like you got a nice big two car garage now. Sorry those headlight buckets didn't work out, but I suspected they would have some issues given the years the car sat in the barn. And its not uncommon.

 

I figured I'd run into stuff like the headlights. It's a rebuild and Im not pulling parts off a factory shelf.
​​​​​This is stilly current garage actually, the new one is a 3 car so I'll have room for my bikes as well without storage. I'm going to need it for the last parts car as well.
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