72 Corvette - Restoration Updates

[Mad4slalom]

Thanks! the front bumper that came with the car was full of holes and what steel was left was thinner than the chrome that was plated on it so if you do have a front bumper available and for sale that would be terrific. T-tops will need some therapy but basically ok.

where are you based Tim? The bumper came with the car and was ok but the previous owner had rechromed the rears which just showed up that the front one had greyed and lacked the lustre of the rears, I looked at price of re plating and had some crazy quotes so fitted a pattern one. These pics show the old and the new one. [

Give me a call on 07812, 571262.

 

[Mad4slalom]

Thanks! the front bumper that came with the car was full of holes and what steel was left was thinner than the chrome that was plated on it so if you do have a front bumper available and for sale that would be terrific. T-tops will need some therapy but basically ok.

Thanks! the front bumper that came with the car was full of holes and what steel was left was thinner than the chrome that was plated on it so if you do have a front bumper available and for sale that would be terrific. T-tops will need some therapy but basically ok.

i fitted a pattern front bumper as it had greyed and lacked the lustre of the re plated rears. Pics of the old and new. Give me a call on 07812 571262

 

[CaptainK]

I still like the fact your numberplate is "AWW"

Car looks good though. I need to do something with my front bumper too - replaced the rears as they were awful. The front isn't too bad, but ideally needs something doing. I'll try metal polishing at some point.

 

[Mad4slalom]

I still like the fact your numberplate is "AWW"

Car looks good though. I need to do something with my front bumper too - replaced the rears as they were awful. The front isn't too bad, but ideally needs something doing. I'll try metal polishing at some point.
[/QUOTE quotes to re chrome of the front one ranged from 600 to 1000] our local one plater wanted it for 13 weeks and wouldnt book it in so I was only without it for a week or two, then I read some reviews which were shocking , several had bits get lost. Somehow I wasnt surprised with their system

 

[Mad4slalom]

Heads up ,! Been at the stafford autumn classic bike show with bonhams for four days. Had a sneaky look in the trade hall and came across a chrome plater. Turns out it was a friend of a friend of mine who had recommended him. He had some great samples of his work and really looked top quality. If i had seen him before I went down the paragon replacement rout I would have had the original re plated. I showed him a pic of the vette bumper and he though 350 to 400 ( subject to seeing it) which was almost half the prices I had been quoted by other companies. I would have no concerns leaving my bits with Kim as I have seen the quality of his work and can see he knows what he is doing . I think some on here have mentioned a plater in yate , bristol .

 

[antijam]

I've used S&T several times, they're just down the road from me - they repaired the radiator shell and rechromed it and headlamp bowls on my MG....


Excellent work and reasonably priced. As soon as I can get the front bumper off the 'Vette, it's off to them.

 

[CaptainK]

That's handy to know thanks chaps - I'm not that far away from Bristol either, and my front bumper needs doing ideally. I resisted as its not that bad, but the cost of re-chroming previously was putting me off, and pattern parts from USA were cheaper. I went that route with my rear bumpers as they were really bad. The quote I got to re-chrome ONE of the rear bumpers from my C3 was more than the quote you got above for the front bumper, which is much bigger. The quote I got for my front bumper before was over £1k.

 

[TimP]

i fitted a pattern front bumper as it had greyed and lacked the lustre of the re plated rears. Pics of the old and new. Give me a call on 07812 571262View attachment 19575View attachment 19576

I really like the blue (Targa Blue?). Fantastic - seeing pictures of a a finished car, particularly one of the same year that is this good, really motivates me to continue with my build.

 

[TimP]

I shall keep the chrome plater recommendation for my rear bumpers as they definitely need to be redone. Thanks!

There were a few items to be refurbished before I could say that I had a finished set of wiper parts. The first was the badly corroded wiper mounting reinforcement on the external side of the wiper well....


.... and the two brackets that are located on each side of the wiper cover which were very pitted and have a few unwanted holes..


So a little bit of welding and finishing later .... three serviceable parts which can join the rest and be set aside for assembly once the engine is back in the chassis.


Speaking of which, the first of the cylinder heads came off today. Glad to say that the cylinders are in really good condition and with very little wear. Here is the 1,3, 5, 7 head on the bench in the early stages of being cleaned.


More on this in a week or two when hopefully both heads should be back on the block.

 

[TimP]

Whilst waiting for a few engine parts to arrive I thought I would continue preparing a few sub-assemblies to put back on the firewall.

Here's the pedal box before (back in October 2020) and after... The area that joins to the wiper well was very rusty and needed some new metal to be let in.



Otherwise it was mainly surface rust and a lot of grime to be cleaned up....




I had made a new reinforcement a year or so ago.....


... and with some paint, new bushes, rubber bumpers, suitable amounts of grease and a new brake return spring it's now ready to be installed. You'll notice that, although my car is now a manual, the kickdown switch is still fitted to the accelerator pedal. I'm not sure how the kickdown wiring has been adapted for the conversion so I have put it back on for the time being. It can easily be removed if not required later on. I have another brake pedal bumper to fit and some new pedal covers - but I can't find them at the moment - they'll turn up some time....

The brass coloured switch is to detect when the clutch is pressed down, presumably for the starter circuit ... but again not sure how this has been worked in to the existing auto based loom. Seems like a good idea so it's going in and will be wired up if not already done.

 

[TimP]

Spent a very wet weekend fitting bits to the interior and firewall.... It's really good to start putting things back on the car and as an additional benefit, starting to get some space back in my garage.

Drivers footwell and....


.... hood fittings.


Engine work still in progress but will probably start fitting the wiper and wiper hood mechanisms next, and possibly the HVAC bits on the passenger side if it makes sense.

Need to start thinking about wiring looms, sound proofing/insulation and when the best time will be to get the front glass fibre moulding bonded back on. There's probably a compromise of when it's easier to get most of the engine bay equipment back in versus that same equipment making it more difficult to get the moulding back on.

 

[Mad4slalom]

Spent a very wet weekend fitting bits to the interior and firewall.... It's really good to start putting things back on the car and as an additional benefit, starting to get some space back in my garage.

Drivers footwell and....
View attachment 19819

.... hood fittings.
View attachment 19820 View attachment 19821

Engine work still in progress but will probably start fitting the wiper and wiper hood mechanisms next, and possibly the HVAC bits on the passenger side if it makes sense.

Need to start thinking about wiring looms, sound proofing/insulation and when the best time will be to get the front glass fibre moulding bonded back on. There's probably a compromise of when it's easier to get most of the engine bay equipment back in versus that same equipment making it more difficult to get the moulding back on.

 

[johng]

I'd think you would want to refit the HVAC stuff, the wiper motor, engine and gearbox, the brake lines and proportioning valve before putting the front clip on. Maybe the exhaust as well. Not sure if the radiator surround would be a help or a hindrance.

 

[TimP]

I'd think you would want to refit the HVAC stuff, the wiper motor, engine and gearbox, the brake lines and proportioning valve before putting the front clip on. Maybe the exhaust as well. Not sure if the radiator surround would be a help or a hindrance.

Hi John,
Thanks for the suggestion - this sounds good. The brake and petrol lines will go back on when I get the body off (probably next year now...). The radiator surround is still in the front moulding helping to help keep that in shape whilst its sitting under a tarpaulin in the garden. My original thought was to get some weight back on the firewall to balance up some of the loss of the front moulding so that when the body is lifted under the sills it doesn't want to tip backwards. There again it might be better to put the front clip back on before I take the body off. Actually that might be the better sequence as the body is still in the same exact position as when I took the front clip off, might be easier to put it back on if nothing has been removed and refitted. Needs a bit more thought......

 

[johng]

I think you'd have to put a load of weight on the firewall to balance things up, your idea of refitting the front clip first sounds best to me.

 

[Oneball]

I just had the brake m/c on mine.

 

[TimP]

I just had the brake m/c on mine. View attachment 19827

That's looking fantastic! I can see it's going to look terrific when it's finished. It's also a really useful picture for me as it shows very clearly the bonding areas for the front clip forward of the lower door hinge - mine need a little work in that area. Thanks for posting.

 

[Oneball]

That's looking fantastic! I can see it's going to look terrific when it's finished. It's also a really useful picture for me as it shows very clearly the bonding areas for the front clip forward of the lower door hinge - mine need a little work in that area. Thanks for posting.

Been finished a while, if you want anymore pics let me know.

 

[TimP]

I think you'd have to put a load of weight on the firewall to balance things up, your idea of refitting the front clip first sounds best to me.

The more I think about it the more sense it makes to put the front clip back on before lifting the body - so that's the new plan....

 

[johng]

Lots of pics then please.