59 Corvette project getting started

[extralight]

Would like to introduce my project. Ebay Purchase 18 months ago. Downs body with modified Art Morrison chassis. C6 345mm and 330mm brakes from Kore3/Tobin with initial help from Frank to figure out the Ford Spindles. Drawings done last year from Jason Rushforth. Car will have Ls3/T56 Magnum from Street Rod Engines. Worked on the car slowly over the last 18 months and decided at Thanksgiving to hand it over to the very capable hands of Kurt and Paul at Autokraft. Car will be painted the Blue/Grey from the Aston Martin One-77 concept car if we can get the paint code. Cove will be laid in carbon fiber. Windshield is cut down about 1/2 inch in front and 2 inches in the corners so it will be laid back with only the bottom trim and part of the side a-pillars being used. Small body mods will be done throughout the car.

Forgeline wheels ordered from Frank with 19x11.5 Rears with 325/30 tires and 18x10 fronts with 285's.

Interior will be done by the Tracy at Recovery Room Rod Interiors.

Thanks to the Lateral-G community I went down the C1 vette route after having a check and driving 4 hours to buy a 68 Camaro Convertible

Car will not be a trailer queen and will be driven hard. Looking forward to the feedback and input as we build the car.
First set of pictures.

[XcYZ]

Awesome, I'm really looking forward to seeing it come together at Autokraft. Kurt and Paul are as good as they come. :thumbsup:

[Romulus]

Awesome to see another early Corvette in the works.

Can't wait to see it come together.

[Musclerodz]

Welcome, looks like a cool build!

[RECOVERY ROOM]

Looking forward to being part of it.

[waynieZ]

Welcome thats a sweet body style, and an awesome project. It will be very interesting to see it come together.

[Bowtieracing]

Awesome!!!

Cant wait to see more!!!!:hail:

[T_Raven]

Oh baby I love that style Corvette!! Can't wait to see the build.

[GHOSTDANCER]

Welcome 2 :lateral: Subscribed :thumbsup:

[GregWeld]

Love it.... Subscribed

[Young Gun]

favorite year corvette... cant wait to see this thing done!

[extralight]

Thanks everyone for the great comments. It's funny how cars you saw when you were a kid and now can "afford" are never forgotten. I wasn't even born when this model year car was on the showroom floor but in the small town of 3,800 I lived there was a 4 headlight C1 vette that was a classmates dad as well as a 69 camaro. I have a feeling both will end up in the stable when all is done and said. The corvette got to be a big focus for me 4 years ago when I tore by achilles and in was spring/summer. I was bored out my mind with the short Minnesota summers and not being able to move around so I got very focused on getting the C1 vette. I literal test drove a C1 the week after sugery with a big cast on. Needless to say, "handling" left something to be desired. I actually had check in hand and drove 4 hours to buy a 68 camaro and it also was "not what I expected". The Downs body was an Ebay impulse buy but one where Jamie Downs was trying to get rid of it and didn't even have an Ebay rating. Let's just say, I have a good/cheap base to build a pro-touring C1 vette without buying all the stuff that I didn't want. I'm not a very patient person but this website and the economy really help me do the research and put together a combo of parts and great partners with Kurt/Autokraft, Jason Rushforth, Tracy at RecoveryRoom and Frank at Prodigy.

[XcYZ]

What's Kurt doing to it first?

[extralight]

Great question Scott. First is to mount the body better on the frame. It has 4 mounting pts in the center of the car and we want to add 4 more at the front and back of the frame. Then I think he's mocking up the drivetrain and stance. The trans is there and he will be using one of his LS blocks. Then we want to mock up the rest of the drivetrain and get the stance right. The Forgeline should show up in early January. Shortly after that or while he's working on the drivetrain, I think the body mods, straightening the gaps etc will get started. We have a "spring" appointment for Interior with Tracy so I think it's going to be quite the push once he finishes up a few projects.

[Romulus]

<cough> rendering?? <cough> :_paranoid

[ProdigyCustoms]

This thing is going to be sick. I will be watching closely

[syborg tt]

Subscribed and looking forward to watching the build.

[awr68]

Very cool! I will be watching!! :thumbsup:

[customcam]

Wow get ready for some G forces
Arts Corvette is a beauty!

["Swoosh"]

nice project :thumbsup:

[Restovette63]

Very nice. Glad to see another Vette in the works.

:cheers:

[extralight]

Hopefully this link works. Here's a rendering from Jason that was done 9 months ago. It's just a rough sketch focused on the hump and color. The actual hump will be smaller and the windshield will be tilted down but it doesn't go past the door hinges. http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/Alverosideview1.jpg

[syborg tt]

Looks really nice - I like the color combo

[nvr2fst]

[QUOTE=extralight;252978]Would like to introduce my project. Ebay Purchase 18 months ago. Downs body with modified Art Morrison chassis. C6 345mm and 330mm brakes from Kore3/Tobin with initial help from Frank to figure out the Ford Spindles. Drawings done last year from Jason Rushforth. Car will have Ls3/T56 Magnum from Street Rod Engines. Worked on the car slowly over the last 18 months and decided at Thanksgiving to hand it over to the very capable hands of Kurt and Paul at Autokraft. Car will be painted the Blue/Grey from the Aston Martin One-77 concept car if we can get the paint code. Cove will be laid in carbon fiber.

You definitely nailed the color choice, hope you have some time on your hands, getting that code is going to be like pulling teeth. I would say the color your talking about is the SANDSTONE BLUE. The Aston Martin 1-77 will basically have five default colors and future owners (only 77 to be built, hence the name) can custom mix hues from that pallet. The owner then gets to name that paint code. The first AM 1-77 owner chose a shade of Sandstone Blue calling it Blue Gibbo. As you can see the possibilities off the Sandstone Blue are endless.

Do you plan on refining the rear wheel well openings and the back end of the car on the body mods. to better enhance the body lines?
I bought my dad a 61 project (a neglected roller) 7 yrs ago when he retired. He recently sold his Austin healey and is now finally doing something with the project and has been checking out frame options. Im looking forward seeing what Kurt does with your car they are not to far north of me.
Dave
Subscribed!

[extralight]

[QUOTE=extralight;252978]Would like to introduce my project. Ebay Purchase 18 months ago. Downs body with modified Art Morrison chassis. C6 345mm and 330mm brakes from Kore3/Tobin with initial help from Frank to figure out the Ford Spindles. Drawings done last year from Jason Rushforth. Car will have Ls3/T56 Magnum from Street Rod Engines. Worked on the car slowly over the last 18 months and decided at Thanksgiving to hand it over to the very capable hands of Kurt and Paul at Autokraft. Car will be painted the Blue/Grey from the Aston Martin One-77 concept car if we can get the paint code. Cove will be laid in carbon fiber.

You definitely nailed the color choice, hope you have some time on your hands, getting that code is going to be like pulling teeth. I would say the color your talking about is the SANDSTONE BLUE. The Aston Martin 1-77 will basically have five default colors and future owners (only 77 to be built, hence the name) can custom mix hues from that pallet. The owner then gets to name that paint code. The first AM 1-77 owner chose a shade of Sandstone Blue calling it Blue Gibbo. As you can see the possibilities off the Sandstone Blue are endless.

Do you plan on refining the rear wheel well openings and the back end of the car on the body mods. to better enhance the body lines?
I bought my dad a 61 project (a neglected roller) 7 yrs ago when he retired. He recently sold his Austin healey and is now finally doing something with the project and has been checking out frame options. Im looking forward seeing what Kurt does with your car they are not to far north of me.
Dave
Subscribed!

You're very right on the paint code. I asked a Aston Martin dealer for the paint code this summer. I talked to him last week and he did check with Aston Martin and they won't give it out. He suggested starting with a Jaguar paint code. I'm not too worried about it thought because I think the "style blue" is what I'm looking for and want it a bit grayer anyways so I think we'll just end up mixing it until we like it. I want enough grey to work with the Grey centers on the Forgeline as well as the Carbon cowl.

[extralight]

Last week we received the T56 Magnum Transmission and Bell Housing. I haven't seen a T56 Magnum posted in the box but it's quite "purposely" built. It's thick cardboard designed to be very tight around the transmission and the UPS guy said 1 more pound and it would have to be shipped by "crate". I can't say enough about Ron at Street Rod Engines/Regal Performance in Texas. Great deal on the the complete engine/electronics/clutch/tranny package and even better yet he was willing to take the "package" price and let me pay for just the tranny now. Kurt has a mock-up LS block and we won't need the engine for many months so it couldn't of worked out better. We're just waiting for the Morrison Headers and then the Engine will be mocked up with the engine mounts fabricated in. The goal is to push the engine back as far as possible to try and get 50/50 weight distribution.

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/T56Magnum-Box.jpg

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/T56MagnumOpen.jpg

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/BellHousing.jpg

[nvr2fst]

A M has used some paint codes for the Lambo including 1-77 model.
There may be a hue of blue there for you.
Are you in the WI. area

http://www.lambocars.com/pnt/ppg.htm

[extralight]

A M has used some paint codes for the Lambo including 1-77 model.
There may be a hue of blue there for you.
Are you in the WI. area

http://www.lambocars.com/pnt/ppg.htm

Thanks for the link. Great colors, too bad it's hard to actually find one to look at. I've never seen a Blue Lambo but I travel for work quite a bit so maybe I'll drop by a dealership. I live in Minneapolis. How far from Kurt's are you?

[customcam]

That Render is cool, Jasons' good :thumbsup:

[syborg tt]

Thanks for the link. Great colors, too bad it's hard to actually find one to look at. I've never seen a Blue Lambo but I travel for work quite a bit so maybe I'll drop by a dealership. I live in Minneapolis. How far from Kurt's are you?

call me the next time you fly through Ohare and I run you to the Lambo dealer.

[mfain]

Reference your comment -- 'The goal is to push the engine back as far as possible to try and get 50/50 weight distribution", I was able to push a Big Block back just under 12 inches, which required building a fake, removable cowl vent to get the distributor out. That puts the distributor (back of the block) just in front of the windshield frame. By moving only the center section of the firewall, I was able to keep all of the original foot and leg room. Rotating the Tremec shifter 180 degrees (to a more forward position) gives a reasonable shifter location. I ended up with just over 51% rear weight, and a little more with the driver seated. There are a couple of pictures of the firewall construction and the driver's side foot well at the link below. Good luck with a great looking project.

Pappy

http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php4?t=21031

[nvr2fst]

Thanks for the link. Great colors, too bad it's hard to actually find one to look at. I've never seen a Blue Lambo but I travel for work quite a bit so maybe I'll drop by a dealership. I live in Minneapolis. How far from Kurt's are you?

Im about 3 1/2 hrs NE of Kurts place.
Take Marty's idea in consideration you could spend hours starring at rides.

Fox Country and Gold Coast are the 2 lambo dealers that I know of in Chicago Area. There are no authorized dealers in WI. that I know of.

[70rs]

There is a Lambo dealer near me, if you want me to snap some pics next time I am over that way just send me a PM with what you are looking for.
:cheers:

[extralight]

Lots of work done on the car this week. Kurt mocked up the engine setback and transmission setup and fabricated all the special mounts after numerous double checking of all the measurements. We wanted the engine setup as back as possible (towards the rear of the car), the Magnum transmission is better because the distance from bell housing to shifter location is shorter than a normal T56. Headers were a real problem because the Downs fabricated chassis using Art Morrison Rails is real narrow with 24" between the rails. Here's all the engine mount fabrication and end results. For the headers we ordered the Art Morrison headers and they were too wide. After working with Jamie Downs, Street and Performance....we figured the only prefabricated headers were "shorty" headers. Kurt and I decided that we would go down the route and we'd work with the Morrison headers and "narrow" them.

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/EngineMount-Fabricated.jpg

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/EngineMount-Mounted.jpg

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/EngineSetback.jpg

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/EngineMount-Closeup.jpg

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/TransmissionCutout.jpg

[extralight]

Love look of the headers. They ended up being much closer than we thought. Driver side needed no modification and passenger side had to be narrowed less than an inch. I'm so happy these worked out and only took an hour to redo. I spent way more time on the phone trying to find another option than Kurt did fixing it. It was weird that the 2 headers were shaped exactly the same but one header was "wider" than other.

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/ARTHeaders.jpg

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/PassengerHeaderClearance.jpg

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/DriverHeaderClearance.jpg

[radrambler]

NICE

DOESNT THIS GET YOUR BLOOD FLOWING ???
when you get to see something like the engine mounted and headers get fitted.SOMETHING about getting past the first big hurdle really get the blood flowing..Gonna be a great project to see come together :thumbsup:

Tom

[extralight]

Here's all the work that went into the transmission mount....looks great, clean,and functional. Nothing fancy but love how clean it looks. If you do it yourself or pay for someone do it, hopefully the number of pics give you an appreciation of how something so important and made clean yet simple will still take a bunch of time to do it right. Even the welded ends of the tab are angled to get the best weld. Notice Kurt's surgeon gloves, he has them on all the time....great way to not thrash your hands, easy cleanup and still maintain the feel....haze him anyways though: you :lol: , Kurt :willy:

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/TransmissionMountPieces.jpg
http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/TransmissionMountPiecesMounted.jpg
http://i895.p
[IMG]http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/TransmissionMountIn2.jpg
http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac159/gumercorvette/Transmissionmountin.jpg

[Kendall Burleson]

Good job on the setup.:hail:

[extralight]

NICE

DOESNT THIS GET YOUR BLOOD FLOWING ???
when you get to see something like the engine mounted and headers get fitted.SOMETHING about getting past the first big hurdle really get the blood flowing..Gonna be a great project to see come together :thumbsup:

Tom

You're absolutely right. Told Kurt when it's late at night and I'm still working that I bring the pictures of his work up on my blackberry so it feels "worth it".

[extralight]

Kurt has been sending me picks almost every day but I haven't had a chance to update the thread for a month. Sorry about that. Here's the exhaust tips, mocked-up in the body. Kurt finished the fiberglass edge this week but I don't have updated pics. Anyone have a guess on where the exhaust tips came from? It an OEM piece from a current model car. It fits absolutely perfect. I'm thrilled....didn't want round tips and wanted a long oval tip that looks right with the body.

[extralight]

We didn't want to use the OEM tailight housing....it has a chrome edge and kinda sticks out. Kurt installed LED lights and then closed up the opening. We plan on taking the center chrome edge off and buffing the lip out then blacking out the lights...pretty common mod on these vettes but surely makes a big difference.

[extralight]

Closed out the eyebrows which also is a common mod. I love the LED "eyes" of the current model Audi's and wanted to do the same thing underneath the front bumpers before we closed out the eyebrows. We shaped some Q7 driving lights and were about to fiberglass them in when a friend found some already manufactured LED lights from Germany....they are about perfect. Only problem is the lights are so bright you can't really see the "eyes".

[GregWeld]

Kurt has been sending me picks almost every day but I haven't had a chance to update the thread for a month. Sorry about that. Here's the exhaust tips, mocked-up in the body. Kurt finished the fiberglass edge this week but I don't have updated pics. Anyone have a guess on where the exhaust tips came from? It an OEM piece from a current model car. It fits absolutely perfect. I'm thrilled....didn't want round tips and wanted a long oval tip that looks right with the body.

Very nice of you to use Jason's logo for the exhaust tip design!!! :rofl: :rofl: He'll have to like that....

[extralight]

Here's the somewhat finished pieces.

[Restovette63]

Here's the somewhat finished pieces.

Can you give us the specs/manufacturer of the LED lights...I have some ideas for my project...
:cheers:

[extralight]

Can you give us the specs/manufacturer of the LED lights...I have some ideas for my project...
:cheers:

PM sent with link!

[waynieZ]

Nice progress I like the mods.