body work is finally started

[bill81vette]

After 6 months of waiting,the body is finally started,after all the old paint was removed,(with a razor blade lousy job!!)we found several spots that someone had tried to repair with body fill,they did such a lousy job that they left ridges around the edges,and when the paint was removed the primer was still tacky! Further,we sanded down into the primer and found the original paint color(Dark blue metallic) under the primer coat.
Apparently the it had had some previous damage to the back end,(there is damage to both rear quarter panels,the left rear quarter had popped away from its original position,an the steel bumper that the rear honeycomb attaches to is twisted,the left front quarter panel was replaced not even properly lined up so the body line are rightwith the door,and one of the original mufflers is split wide open!!!) Gail was telling the fellow I bought the vette off of last year ( he works with her) and he said one of the previous owners had slammed it into a guard rail!!! SO,now we'll take her down to original fiber glass fix whatever needs to be fixed,reseal the fiberglass and paint her the original color!! and she'll be as good as new!!!
I'll post some more pics next week of the progress on the webshots website!!!

[craig32]

I feel for ya Bill, I'm about half afraid to strip mine! It has a bang on the nose, and a crack on the top of the left fender where the previous owner said a tree branch fell on it during 'Ivan' (ever heard of a 'garage'!!) there's also a crack inside the door jamb, wonder if it got hit sometime. Carfax is no help, they show warnings about mileage (did it after I bought it) and that was because I bought it out of state with a different engine than original, they put a 'not actual mileage' on it. So now it shows up at Carfax with tampered mileage, what a scam!! I'm sure I'm in for a treat doing body work on this, as all the 'corvette painters' are grossly overpriced. If it's gonna cost more than I paid for the car, it can stay scratched! I'm also thinking about leaving the nose emblem off when I get it done, I hear how they like to disappear - it doesn't look that good on black anyway. I'm also thinking of repainting it navy, instead of black again, althought it was originally two toned red. Any thoughts?

Craig

[bill81vette]

I'm not so sure I would trust carfax to begin with(just a gut feeling),I know on a NYS car title,after 10 years they don't put mileages on the vehicle as they become exempt for that. Then I guess you have to trust your gut feeling if the mileage is accurate,most if the time you can tell by the way the vehicle lokks and runs As for the cracks perhaps it could have been done from the same incident???if they are on the same side.

As far as the body work.. If I didn't trust this fellow IMPECABLY,he would NOT go near my vette ,but I've known him for 17 years,He's been in buisness for 25+ years as a body and repair shop,so over time i've had the chance to see some of his work,and what he is capable of doing especially on vehicles that the are peoples pride and joys.I will say however,that the shop that did this work on the vette b4 I got it,ROYALLY SCREWED somebody, the workmanship at BEST is of a POOR QUALITY..so yes there are "corvette painters" out there who don't know what they are doing, and are'nt afraid to chare you for it!!!

[bill81vette]

Iwas up to the body shop today to check on the progress,spent 2 days removing the primer and original paint form the car and started to fit the front and rear bumpers!!! it was over an eight of an inch thick!!! now he is filling in the body to the bumpers and vice versa as well as making sure all the lines are correct and was also starting to put the headlamp assemblies back together..I am very pleased with the progress and am starting to belive this maybe ready for spring as I have been hoping!! I've put some more pics to show thats been done.





http://community.webshots.com/user/billh501

[craig32]

Hey Bill,
My car is officially started too! I started stripping the T-tops I bought in the basement, what a job. After it warmed up a bit, I went to the garage and the stripper didn't even faze the paint. However, once I used a razor blade, the paint all but comes off in sheets. Is it supposed to come off that easy? There is red under the black, and it is stripping right off to a light gray primer, I'm assuming factory primer? The T-tops and the spare door were like charcoal gray after I stripped them, the actual fiberglass is yellowish, right? There is no red on the hood, just black on gray primer with yellow peeking through. Apparently the front bumper is fiberglass instead of urethane, and I just got a new rear bumper from Wilcox yesterday. After I get it stripped and it goes next door to be painted, I'm gonna stay the hell out of the way until it's done! I'm hoping to be done by the end of next month, I hope that isn't too optimistic. . .
Craig

[bill81vette]

good luck with it ...mine is only a few weeks away from being done,both front and rear bumpers are on as well as the headlite doors( first time I've seen it like this) the body shop has been trying all week to get it edged around the doors windows,so we can get the doors back on and get the rest of the car painted and back home.as I still have about a weeks worth things to do to it to get it ready to run!!


bill