Well it seems like one thing after another with this car. When we picked it up, the hood had already been removed to detail the engine compartment. The trunk lid had some damage to one of the hinge mounting bosses, so it sat up in the air. So with both these body panels, there was no advanced warning of things to come. Sprung hinge: Once we started fitting up the body panels, it was noticed rather quickly that the hood and trunk both had deformed over the years by bowing up in the center. When the hinged area was aligned flush across the body, it would be up in the center, and the outer corners were sagging. Trunk (up about 3/16" in center): Hood (up about 3/8" in center): Sagging corner: The idea we had to overcome this was to make relief cuts in the inner frame, spread the body panel to flatten it out, and re-fibergl*** the cuts. Here are the relief cuts we did to the trunk lid today, some "shims" were made of 14 ga steel and .090 aluminum to hold the proper spreads across the relief cuts: Before: After: While the trunk and convertible top cover were fitting better across the surface of the body, the gaps were thrown off terribly. On a positive note, a comp*** to mark the gaps, a vixen file to remove the extra material, and the gaps were looking much better in no time. All prepped and waiting for the f/g spe******t, Dan:
Here's the repair on the trunk lid, gl***ing and finishing. A quick test fit and the trunk lid matches the contour much better! Next to start on the hood.
Moving on to the hood, we cut 5 relief cuts along the back edge so it would sit flush to the cowl, and started the repair process. The metal shims were placed in the cuts to maintain the opening, and taped in place. While Dan (the Corvette guy) started fibergl*** operations, i turned my attention to the poor fit on the lower edge of the doors. I used a #1 radius gauge and checked it first to the rocker just below the door, and then to the lower edge of the door. Quick to see there was a noticeable bulge in the lower center of the door, and this did disappear the farther up on the door it was checked, so it did appear isolated to the lower edge. Also, the rear edge of the door seemed to drop straight down where the rocker rolled under. Not satisfied with the overhang on the center of the rocker, we had to come up with something that would hold the door in place without clamps, so it could be checked to the rocker. So I installed a 2x4 into the door and screwed it snug to the inner panel. Then a slit was cut along the inner door just inside the door skin to allow some movement. Some strategic holes were drilled on the outside, and some 3" screws into the 2x4 would pull the door skin in where it needed to be. This gave a much better, more consistent view of the rocker panel. Then to prep and hand it off to Dan for some more f/g work. And then the process was repeated for the p***enger side.
Well the progress for this past weekend was both good and bad, let's start with the good first. The p***enger door was fitted up and I was very pleased with the results. the rear edge profile: And a good reveal on the rocker: The inside repair: Now for the bad. The hood was fitted up and although much closer, the back edge still needed some attention, more slicing, shimming, and repairs to be made. With these shims in place we are much closer than before: And what's the good and bad without the ugly? Well, I didn't get pictures of it, but I did test fit the headlight buckets and trim rings. This will be another challenge to say the least.
Fibergl***, I usually itch just looking at this stuff, but I think I'm starting to build up my tolerance to it. Well here we go with headlight bucket fitment. Not too pretty from the onset. The buckets are screwed into the front fender using sheetmetal screws into the fibergl***. No adjustment whatsoever, and it really shows when the trim rings are screwed on. P***enger side is down at the top, out at the bottom and inboard side, the drivers side just seems twisted all out of whack, hanging out on the outside. It looks like the first order of business is going to be adding an adjustment feature to be able to move the position of the bucket, and thus the trim ring that fits snug around it. My thoughts were to make rings to act as nut plates, and enlarge the holes in front of the fenders so the buckets will be able to move around for fine tuning the fitment. The rubber gasket was used to make a template out of some flashing material. Then this was transferred onto some 12 ga steel. The mounting holes from the headlight buckets were transferred onto the ring, and 8-32 nuts secured in place for tack welding. The holes in the fender was opened up a bit to allow adjustment, and the bucket was test fit. This fit considerably better, but we'll reserve any body mods until the drivers side is done, in case the trim rings need swapping for a better fit. A quick check of the drivers bucket revealed it had been in a front end altercation, likely why the front clip had been changed! After some hammer and dollie work: Although it fit better, the driver's side still needs fine tuning before sanding down any high spots in the body. .
Well last night saw the driver's door rehung, looks mighty fine, especially for 1954 standards. Repairs on the hood continue, Dan keeps pluggin along, wishing I'd stop cutting things Now for the real challenge, fine tuning the fit of the driver's headlight bucket. Yesterday it was mounted as high as it would go, and still the trim ring was too low to even put the screw in the bottom. Using a drum sander, some material was removed at the top to allow the bucket to go uphill a bit more. This allowed the bucket to go up enough for the trim ring to fit where it belonged, but still there were high an low spots to the body. There are six 8-32 screws holding on the chrome trim ring from the back side, and what I found was if you remove the ring and gently persuade the high spots down and low spots up (bending by hand) it did fit much better. This required filing the holes in the black painted cast piece to allow the holes to line up in the "reformed" chrome ring. But as you can see, much better! It still needs more to go, and some work to get a consistent opening that matches the chrome ring: ........but at least we're on the right track. I think it will take another good day to get the trim rings to fit to the body, then to install the screens and check again. If that goes well, then we can match the recessed opening to the radius contour of the chrome ring in the ***embly. Before: After: I'm starting to think I can mix some primer soon, WooHoo!!
Very nice work. Are you sure that they deformed over the years? I wasn't around then, but I'm willing to bet that the fit and finish was horrible on these early 'gl*** cars by today's standards, even when they first rolled of the ***embly line. Looking great... can't wait to see it done!
Does anyone know good those 53 vette kit cars are in comparison from lone star cl***ics out of Dallas???
Dude, you KNOW everybody's gonna be whispering "that's a kit car" when it's done C1's had the worst fit and finish of about any GM car ever Good on you for making it look GOOD, instead of CORRECT
Note the proudly displayed decal in the windshield. Do you think they'll s****e it off at the first show?
That's looking really great! Now paint it Pearl White instead of the GM Appliance White. ****py body fit was the biggest drawback for me to liking the '53-'54 and '55-'57 Vettes when they were new(er). But don't be surprised when it "loses points" with the "pickle people"(restorers) for being straighter than the factory made them in the first place.
from what my brothers father-in-law says those old vettes were very poorly fitted and became even worse when body panels were switched. the saddest story he ever told me was about cutting up a 57' vette with a skill saw and hauling it to the dump because nobody wanted it!
Some more progress on the Vette, I have all the body gaps about where they're gonna be, and fairly consistent. They are a bit wide, but after about 5 coats of candy apple red, they'll close up a little. Here's some of the gapping of the hood, the excess is removed with a vixen file. The next thought was to paint the dash before the body, so the gauges can all be reinstalled without laying on freshly painted rockers/door sills. Here's the dash painted with Evercoat Slick Sand and guide coat. After some wetsanding, it was sprayed with H/K black sealer, then Shoreline Beige, and finally, three coats of clear. I think tomorrow will call for rolling it out in the sun to see if any of the fibergl*** work wants to move any, and Sunday I'll work on the final stages of fine tuning the fit of the headlight buckets. One step closer to Slick Sand on the entire body.
Excellent approach and workmanship. I did a lot of early Corvette work in the 60's and early 70's. I almost hated to see a 53-55 come in as it was so disheartening how poorly the bodies were constructed. The 56/57's were a lot better. I finished an owner started resto on a '56 about 15 years ago and it sure brought back memories. Nice work. Charlie
Very nice work! These early Vettes have real bad body fit, and I mean real bad, I should know I just finished with the bodywork and paint on mine. My painter had over two years in the project. He skinned the whole body with gl*** and then gel coat. The main reason for taking so long is very labor intensive and the time you have to wait for it to cure. Here are some photo's of my 54 that I am just putting back together.
The Jalopy Journal
