Project creep is in full swing. After the shackles were flipped i pushed down on the car. It was horrible the shocks are junk. I looked at the front shocks and found the drivers side not even connected. They had to be cut out. Removing the rears gave me extra room to split and remove the remains of the tail pipes. The drivers side rear lower shock stud snapped off. It looks like it was repaired at some point in the past as it didnt match the passenger side. I can make a new one on the lathe. The gas tank is back in with a new hose connecting the fill pipe to the tank. The original was rotted out. Im just waiting on the straps to arrive. When i got the car nothing was holding the tank in place. I was so dirty after the shock job i had to take a shower. Now that im clean again i can get after the carpet without getting it messed up.
I can't wait to see you with the ear to ear once it's finalized @racer-x...with your drive to succeed that certainly will be sooner than later...
Corvettes at Carlisle last day is Sat tomorrow..everything Corvette everything you wanted to know about a 57
The year I was in Arizona the actual daytime temp was 110F. That "dry heat" was impressive! So many old cars with complete 1/4 panels was even more so.
I guess I must have confused how my own project creep (three actually) differs from Brians, he actually makes major progress when he starts a project. I obviously owe @alchemy an apology!
Thanks for rubbing salt in the wound's of us Rustbelt Dweller's... Wise-Ass! Lol! We still think you're cool, though!
Jones St. I am trying your magic potion, day 2. So far I am real impressed. Thanks for the suggestion.
Cool & yer welcome. Now, really give it time. I did a K'mare'a (Camaro) 44 year old lacquer. 2 coats a day for 6 straight days. There will be a day you walk in the garage & SWEAR it was buffed. Keep going. BAM!
The one I am testing it for is 107 years old this Dec. Still has original paint which is very good but has a coating that was brushed on in 1970. It saved the paint but is a bitch to get off. Only thing I have found is Berkebile carb cleaner.
This is an incredible thread, and the progress is amazing ! " Everything old, is new again " "Perfection cannot be rushed "
I tried to get the shift lever lower by unbolting it from the trans. I didnt get much out of that but its better than before. The carpet goes in saturday if i can stay clean enough to do it. I dont want to mess up that cool daytona red carpet with grease smudges. I greased the chassis tonight. I had to find all the zerks under the dirt and grease. The areas needed to be scraped clean. You cant imagine how much caked on grease was on everything. In some areas it was a true inch thick. The smell of that old grease stunk up the shop all day. As i pumped in new grease old rusty grease came out. Its really sad that this car was so neglected. I talked to the previous owner tonight. He confirmed the car came from the dealership in Rockford Illinois. It then went to pittsville Wisconsin. From there it went to Franksville Wisconsin when he moved down here. I asked him if he had any old pics and he said he had a few. He will be bringing them over along with another load of parts. There are two grilles a windshield; door posts; spare short block and heads; trans; rearend and a bunch of small parts. The other vette under all the junk was last driven three years ago. The guy will be 76 on October 11th. I found a cool painting of a 57 my friend made. Im getting him a print made for his birthday. Its the correct colors so it will be perfect.
The early Vettes such as the one that @racer-x is dealing with now, have always been my favorite as far as Vettes go, I really like the single headlight version. Saw this one at the Good-Guys show in Puyallup a few weeks ago, magnificent styling from back then !
Brian Don't know if you've seen this but thought you would like it, sounds like you have a busy week in the ER coming up, you might have to read it when your eating lunch. Dig this shot! 1957 Corvette Barn Find https://www.motortrend.com/features/1710-1957-corvette-really-found-in-a-barn/
I can relate to that pic. I haven't mentioned it yet but the vette came with a 34 plymouth five window coupe. It was bought by the guys girlfriends grandmother brand new.i just have to go get it. I have been after one of those for some time.
Though I'm not a big fan of 'Vettes, I do like the ones with trunks... and the '57 is my favorite. Just can't argue with that body style... absolute art.
The carpet was put in today for the most part. With the hot and humid conditions the glue was taking a long time to dry. A few edges need to get glued down. I think it turned out pretty good. The place were i get paint messed up. The color was so off i brought the samples home to match it up. It looks like the wimbleton white matches best. It matches so good its hard to tell were the sample is. The flash was on so its the shiny spot. This is for the panel on the top of the doors. I will have paint monday.
Seriously? Trying to use a Ford color to match the paint on your Corvette? Why wouldn't you get the original GM color?
Because it matched the 64 years old paint the best. Its not the same color it was originally. I had reservations about it at first thinking the car would start leaking and go slower.
Don't feel bad, the one I am working on is Rangoon Red because the guy didn't like orange. It was painted about 1965.
The Jalopy Journal
