I purchased this car in May of 1996 after knowing the car for ten years. Over the last 18 months I've driven thecar during the summer to learn the quirks of the car, and did major overhauls during the winter months.
Body: The body came with an assortment of cracks and modifications to be repaired. I've already removed the tacky hood scoop and closed the hole in the hood. There are also an assortment of accidental wheel well modifications created by using oversized tires. The left front fender was composed more of bondo than fiberglass, and the lower valance under the front bumper has been banged one too many times. The body has been painted at least 7 times (Factory white, yellow, blue metallic, yellow, green metallic, brown metallic, and white). For the 96-97 rainy season, I got the car blasted to strip the paint, and replaced the fender and valance, and made about a hundred fiberglass repairs. The car was driven with fresh gel coat and primer for the summer of 97, but paint won't come until the mechanicals are done during a frame off job this winter.
Interior: I've learned how good the industry is at remanufacturing a 1961 Corvette. Nearly everything that could have been removed and discarded was, including door panels, kick panels, seat covers, dash pad, dash pad trim, carpet, etc. etc.. So far I've rebuilt and repainted the center console, repainted and installed the instrument cluster, installed the dash pad, installed the carpeting and the seats. I painted and repaired the seat frames, and attempted to install the seat covers, but decided professional help was in order here. I took it to a shop, and they underestimated the work by 75%, bidding 2 hours for an 8 hour job. Even the professionals struggled with that job, but in the car they look great. The door panels, kick panels and arm rests took a mere 3 months to receive.
Expensive Valve Cover Gaskets: I attempted to tune the engine over the 4th of July weekend last year, and went to replace the leaking valve cover gaskets. I was horrified to find big chunks of a valve spring anti-lash cup in the head, and find that even bigger chunks were lost elsewhere in the engine. Given that I found the heads and block were numbers matching parts in the process, I decided pulling the engine and having a machine shop rebuild it before I had non-repairable damage was the best course of action. Unfortunately, the block needs to be sleeved to be rebuilt, so currently the car has a new 300hp 350 crate motor.
Chassis: I've searched the country looking for the best option to improve the handling of the car. As a recent magazine article stated, if there was a Corvette Olympics, the early Corvettes would get a 10 for style and a 2 for technical execution. I've found replacement bolt on front suspensions, entire tube chassis, and a rework of the original chassis to use late model (C4) Corvette suspension. This last option is done by a chassis builder in Scotts Valley, Paul Newman, and seems the most maintainable option for the long haul. Paul's had my deposit since last spring, and the chassis was delivered to Paul on December 10th, and due back December 23rd.
Final Goal: The interior and body will be as near as stock as possible, with 3 exceptions - 16" steel wheels to clear the 12" rotors; 15" steering wheel to clear me, and a CD player to clear my head. The drive line is where the fun begins. I've got an LT1, 700R4 tranny, and Dana 36 from a formerly beautiful 93 Corvette someone hit a guardrail with. The Dana 36 will have a set of 3.73 gears when I drop it under the chassis. The motor is staying stock for now, with EGR and AIR removed, a K&N filter up front, and 2 1/2" exhaust to a set of 3 chamber flowmasters. Up front, the suspension was donated by a 91 Corvette. I plan to have the body painted Artic White, with Torch Red coves. The body was lifted on November 27th, with a goal of a finished car by May 1st, 1998.
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