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2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
C7 of Year Winner (appearance mods) 2019
2017 C7 of Year Finalist
2015 C7 of the Year
St. Jude Donor '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19
NOT the way I wanted to reveal the new mods on my 2014 Stingray
Well, after several months of my 2014 Stingray being in the shop for some special modifications that were to be revealed when the entire project was completed, the experience took an unexpected turn today when somewhere between 8 and 10 inches of rain fell in a matter of hours resulting in about 3 feet of flood water inside the shop where my Stingray is sitting on jack stands. Even on jack stands, the water was over the seat bottoms.
Some may wonder why the shop has had her for so long in the first place. It's not the shop's fault. Lets just say that if certain aftermarket vendors would have kept their word regarding parts availability and timetables for delivery, my car would have likely been finished weeks ago and not still in the shop today. I think that is what frustrates me most, actually.
Of course, the car is insured...and it's only a car and this is definitely not the end of the world...but it's also a very special car to me that I have put a lot of personal time and energy into. Sometimes in life, when it rains, it pours.
I'll let you all know how things go with the insurance company...and I'm grateful I'm insured with American Modern through the National Corvette Museum.
Monday, June 13 Update...
An adjuster from the insurance company contacted me today. Based on the water level shown in the photos that he received, they normally adjust the claim as a total loss. The next step is for a field adjuster to verify the water level and water intrusion. It is gut-wrenching to think about losing three years of work customizing my Stingray.
Wednesday, June 15 Update...
The grieving process has officially begun.
My 2014 Stingray is a total loss and the insurance company has set a salvage value at $30,000. Since the policy provides an agreed value, the only way to keep all of the modified parts is to buy the entire car back. I've also spent $5,000 at the shop already for the wide body conversion and still owe them for labor. All of this is money down the drain. In addition to this, I have a set of special ordered ADV1 wheels painted in carbon flash and velocity yellow sitting in my office ready to go on the wide body once it was completed. Three years of hard work to get the car to this point is all gone and to consider any kind of rebuild and restoration seems to be financially out of the question.
This Stingray was the first car I ever bought and customized to show car level from new. Countless personal hours spent removing and replacing components like the front grill, fender air scoops, interior painted dash components, the WeaponX diffuser, the skirts and splitter, the custom steering wheel, Steve Ray's custom airbrushed hood liner and hood (including a special trip to Kentucky for him to do the hood work), the Corsa Extreme Exhaust and X Pipe, and all of the time that it took to personally hand-dye all of the interior stitching yellow...it's all for absolutely nothing now.
It's hitting me that I've given far more emotionally to this Corvette than I had even realized. Buying her in October of 2013, the plant taking her back to be repainted over a two month period at the end of 2013, and then going through the process of dreaming the dream of what I wanted to do to make her even more of a special and unique Corvette, equates to quite the emotional investment.
I have until Friday to make a decision about whether I would want to buy her back for $30,000, but my initial thoughts are that it would cost far more to properly repair and restore than what I can afford.
It's not the end of the world, and there are still countless blessings in my life that I am thankful for, but this is still a difficult moment. Thanks, friends, for the encouraging words over the last few days. You are all greatly appreciated!
Monday, Jun 20 Update...
I've decided to let her go and order a Grand Sport. Someone is going to get an interesting project. Besides the need to replace the seats, seat electronic components, carpet, etc., all of the electronic dash components appear to be operating somewhere in the twilight zone. And even crazier than that, the M7 has morphed into a clutchless manual transmission. All you need to do is shift from gear to gear...no clutch required.
Thanks, again, for all of the encouragement over the last week.
Last edited by jagamajajaran; 06-21-2016 at 12:49 AM.
Very sorry to hear of the damage to your vette. I'm guessing it would be better to total the car rather than attempted repair/restoration based on the water line depicted in the pics
Last edited by runner61627; 06-12-2016 at 11:15 PM.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
C7 of Year Winner (appearance mods) 2019
2017 C7 of Year Finalist
2015 C7 of the Year
St. Jude Donor '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19
Originally Posted by runner61627
Very sorry to hear of the damage to your vette. I'm guessing it would be better to total the car rather than attempted repair/restoration based on the water line depicted in the pics
Thank you. I really don't know, but almost wish it hadn't been on jack stands. There would be no question then.
Oh man, I'm so sorry to hear about your gorgeous 'work of art' I call it.
Yes, it's 'just' a car (), but your remarkable outlook is so inspiring.
Keep us posted, we wish you the best always.
Really sorry to see what happened to your car. Especially a beautiful yellow Vette that has inspired some of the mods I'll do to my yellow GS when I get it.
Having had first hand experience of flood damage (we lost 2 cars owned by Dad in a major flood, had a really bad time dealing with insurance), it's a very unpleasant thing to go through especially when one has put as much work into a car as you have - it's more than just a 'monetary' value to be replaced.
I remember when my 2014 Cyber Gray was hit. I was devastated as I had ordered that car and wanted it specifically because it was a one year color. Fate had other plans.
I know it is not easy, especially with how much time and dedication we have all seen you pour into this car.
I wish you the best of luck and hope to hear good news out of all of this. Hang in there.
Jeremy, that sucks pond water! Really sorry to see this happen to you , or any body, for that matter. I hope that all works out well for you and that you will be able to get a new" project" car to replace Dual Velocity.
Of course you will get to start a new build thread and keep us all entertained....
06-12-2016, 11:06 PM
NOT the way I wanted to reveal the new mods on my 2014 Stingray
), but your remarkable outlook is so inspiring.
