New Project - 69 Vette for my wife

[badbu68]

Sounds great! That should be a very fun ride.

[WSSix]

Sounds awesome! great job, Chris.

[69MyWay]

We wanted to test the waters and put our house up for sale. I was going to wait a bit, but the agent talked me into doing it sooner than later. Well...it sold in FOUR DAYS. We have to be out by Oct 31 and looks like we will be renting in a small place for a bit until we figure out what to do.

So...in trying to clear the shop I've listed stuff on the classifieds (more to come) and am going wide open to get this Corvette at least all in one piece so we can figure out what to do.

The front runner stuff goes on this weekend - and I'm down to putting lights and trim on the body. Will get the front glass installed soon...and seat bolted down so we can go for a spin.

Hate to do it - but may need to let it go as I really don't have anywhere to work on it/store it during this transition.

Last big items...wheels/tires - carpet/door panels - gauges - weatherstrip - wire harness. Then...it will be pounding the asphalt.

[Because Racecar]

Gorgeous car, awesome build. A C3 is on the very short list that I'm looking around for my next project. I've been project-less for about 5 years, so the itch is bad...

You modified a hard top birdcage into a convertible? Interesting...

[Jay Hilliard]

Nice job Chris. Sounds awesome..

[69MyWay]

Originally Posted by Because Racecar

Gorgeous car, awesome build. A C3 is on the very short list that I'm looking around for my next project. I've been project-less for about 5 years, so the itch is bad...

You modified a hard top birdcage into a convertible? Interesting...

Sort of...

The base bird cage - vert or t top is the same. GM spot welded on the T bar and roll hoop right into the upper b pillars.

All one has to do is use a nice sharp spot weld drill and pop those out, then the roll bar and t bar lift out. I had the convertible cage, so I drilled out the spot welds and slid the convertible top nut plate and transferred it over. I've done this a few times now - usually easier to find donor T top bird cages than verts. In fact, I have a 1975 cage stripped and sitting by my shop that I have to do something with ASAP.

Once the parts are moved over, reassembly isn't that bad. Just takes time to get everything prepared, clean...and ready to bond and rivet.

I used a Lord Fusor product and feel really good about added rigidity in this structure thanks to better adhesion technology. Now, one thing I did do a bit radical is I kept the 1978 STEEL floor and ditched the fiberglass floor. I feel way better about this for being more rigid and better support for seat mounts, seat belts...etc. It is clearly NOT a numbers matching machine!

[Because Racecar]

I think we can forgive the numbers not matching situation.

[69MyWay]

This thing is an animal...TURN UP YOUR SOUND...and if you have a subwoofer...crank it up

https://youtu.be/FE_1GqKUrlU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE1vTwD6U60

Needs wheels and tires...BADLY - but you get the idea.

[Neil B]

Looks and sounds great!