I have had my 81 for a few months now, and I am just getting started on the frame-off rebuild. The car was a gift from my girlfriend Nancy, which blew me away...no one has ever bought me a car before. The car is dedicated to her. We are planning to get married, and look forward to many years enjoying this car together.

Its a great starting point, but it needs a lot of work. I'm planning to do everything I can myself, including the paint and bodywork. I'll be working in our 2 car garage for most of the project, including the painting of the smaller parts, but the body will likely be painted in a borrowed/rented booth at a local shop. I'm going to show how its done step by step, so that even those with little or no experience will have a good idea of what is involed in a rebuild of this scope.

I'm building with a Pro-Touring influence...basically, I want the car to be daily driveable, very reliable, get decent mileage, and have the ability to be driven anywhere, while still having the power to do well at the dragstrip ,and the suspension/brakes/tires to hold its own on a road course. I'm not building a racecar, but having had several fast streetcars in the past (including a 377 powered 1963 Nova SS, a 90 LX 5.0 Mustang with a Vortech supecharger, and a 97 Camaro SS with a 383 LT1), I want a minimum of 500fwhp for this car. I don't really care about dyno numbers, but I do know that is the approximate power level that will make me happy...and maybe prevent my going back in and changing stuff later!.

The exact powerplant for the car is still up in the air; I still have the Camaro SS, and it will be up for sale soon. If it doesn't bring what I want with its current engine, I may put a stock LT1 back in it and use the 383 LT1 for this one. I'm hoping it will sell as is. In that case, I will build an LS series motor with a forged bottom end, and some type of unnatural aspiration. I'm leaning towards rear mounted turbos, a la STS, since the removal of the spare tire leaves a lot of open space in the rear. I'd prefer a manual transmission, so a T56 will be my first choice. The Tremec TKOs are nice also, but after years of driving 4th gen F-bodies I think I would miss the extra gear.

I know the stock rearend isn't going to hold the power I want to make, at least not for very long, and I plan to address that. An earlier iron rear, mounted to the stock batwing, would probably do, but even that I think will be pushing it, especially with a manual transmission. I can't afford a Tom's 12 bolt on top of everything else, and I have a few ideas for how to overcome that...none of which involve a solid axle, BTW. More on that later.

The Suspension is going to be upgraded, likely with coilovers, upper a-arms with improved geometry, and the appropriate sway bars and bushings. The body mounts will be solid, and I'm planning a 6 point rollbar to further stiffen the chassis. I'll also do all the Chevy Power manual mods to the frame. I'm also converting to rack and pinion, with a homebrewed conversion.


Wheels and tires will be 18s or a 17/18 mix, something with a more traditional 5 spoke design and a black center with a polished lip. I'm planning to paint the car exclusively with Spies-Hecker products, Porsche Guards Red with a black center stripe, and do a black leather interior with some type of later, more supportive seats. I am considering C5 or Fiero seats, or possibly something aftermarket.

Here are a few pics of the Vette, just after purchase.Overall, the body appears to be in pretty decent shape. The front bumper cover is toast, and I plan to replace the hood anyway (L88 style), but the rest should be usable as is. It appears to have been repainted once. I'll be stripping it to the bare fiberglass (SMC).







The interior is pretty trashed. The seats are decent, but everything else needs work. The dash is cracked, the carpet was removed by one of the previous owners (due to a t-top leak that he didn't fix),and pretty much everything except the trim around the glass and t-tops will need to be replaced. There is quite a bit of surface rust on the floorpan (yes, its steel on the mid 76-82 models), but the birdcage looks good so no worries.




Something I haven't noticed being done here, but that I would like to do with this build thread, is document the cost of everything. This way, not only can a novice see how things are done and in what order, they can also have a more realistic idea of what the whole process is going to cost. I'll try to include all costs of parts (even estimates for ones I already own) and materials. I'll also subtract out the sale of any parts I won't be reusing. This part of the thread will be updated regularly.

Purchase Price- $3500
Citri-Strip- $20
Razor Blades- $5
_________________________________
Total So Far: $3525

 

The engine and transmission appear to be original, and it runs decent but has several oil leaks. Someone did remove the CC Quadrajet and original intake and feedback HEI, replacing it with a Carter AFB, Edelbrock Perfromer RPM, and non-CC HEI. I don't care about originality, particularly in a late rubber bumper Vette, so this is going to be pulled within the next couple of weeks (looking for a buyer, $850 complete with all accessories). Someone has already replaced the alternator, water pump, fan clutch, and starter (the AC compressor is dead, and was lying in the floorboard when I got the car). I'm not a big fan of carburetors on cars I am going to be driving in Atlanta traffic (some of the worst in the country), so an injected motor will be ideal.

 

Since I am waiting on the sale of the engine/trans to pull them out (a buyer will typically pay more for an engine they can hear run), and it hasn't sold yet, I started by stripping paint. This is something my 9 year old son, Jim, could help me with also. At 9, he already knows more about cars than I did at twice his age. Now, I am helping to build the "hands on" knowledge to go with his book knowledge. We are doing as much of the stripping as possible with razor blades, though some of the cuved surfaces I am using Citri Strip stripper from Home Depot.

Jim stripping the door:









Some damage, badly repaired, at the left rear:









Removed the rear bumper cover:

 

While Jim worked on the flatter surfaces with the razor blade, I started using the Citr-Strip on the front clip.











I used a razor blade on some areas:



The front end was so trashed, and the fasteners were rusted badly, so I cut off the majority of it with my sawzall then removed the rest:







Some of the areas I used the stripper on required several applications:

 

I have the same project ahead of me with my '81, but my daughter will probably not be as helpful as Jim there. At three months, she's just now figuring out what to do with her hands, so putting a razor blade in it would not ba a good idea.

Looks like fun, keep us posted on how it goes...

 

I was a little hesitant to let him do that too, even at 9, but he is doing very well with it and hasn't had any accidents...yet. He has seen me bleeding from working on cars plenty of times in the past, though, so he knows to be careful!

As you can see we have lots more to do, and I have made some progress that I haven't uploaded to Photobucket yet. I'm hoping to have the car done by the end of the year, so expect regular updates.

 

The Citri-Strip at work:



Rear deck, completely stripped with razor blades:



After removal of the rear window trim:



The tool used to remove the rear window trim, KD Tools #2038 ($8 at O'Reilley's):

 

Starting to hit Bondo:





Damage at right front, badly repaired with Bondo:



Starting to remove the headlight buckets; this bolt has to come out:



And these, on both sides:





Didin't get picks, but the bolts holding the mechanism to the nose have to be removed as well.

Headlights out:



More on the damage:





More stripped off the passenger side:

 

I'm off work tomorrow, so more to come!

 

Nicework, but a long road ahead. It will all be worth it in the end. Keep the pics coming.

 

Will do!

 

Thats great that your going to let us follow your work. Looking forward to your progress. Thanks.

 

Its making pretty good progress so far. There is lots to do, even without some of the modifications I have in mind (and there are a lot of them). My build style is a little different than usually seen on this forum, and I am going to cover the entire build (I'm doing everything myself, except maybe the glass installation).LOTS of plans for this car!

 

Looks and sounds like a fun project. Should keep you busy at least a few days!!!

Looking good.

 

uhhh-- Can I borrow Jim over the summer?

 

The funny thing is, I don't have to twist his arm to work on the Vette, even doing something most dread, like stripping paint. Wait til we get to the fun stuff...

 

Great work. Thanks for keeping us informed. I definately appreciate you tracking the money aspect of it.

 

Great start on your car, I was always partial to the yellow and white color of that year. Keep us posted on the build, it looks really good so far.

 

Love these type of threads. Keep it coming.

Did you have the 6 way power driver seat? Im converting my 82 over to C5 Z06 seats and may have some good info for you, due to similar body styles and possible floor plan, when I get that thread updated again. I found the info from guys that did this in chrome bumper cars didnt really apply to well, since the floor seems to be different.

Best Regards, Brent...

 

Thanks Brent! Mine had a manual seat, but I'd still be interested to see your results. Not sure if the floorpan is different.I'm starting on the floor pan soon (once the engine and wiring come out)...there is some fairly heavy surface rust, and one hole rusted through in the low spot under the passenger seat. If it will make it easier to raise or lower the floor pan, I may go ahead and do it. I'd really like to raise it a bit, at least in places, to better tuck the exhaust up under the car (i'm going with 3" duals all the way back). I love big pipes, but HATE dragging them on anything (the car is going to be fairly low) and really don't like it when they hang down below the rockers. I'm taking NCRS (Not Correctly Restored Stingray) to the max with this project!