Quote:
Originally Posted by RodKnock
Often times, at least the gazillions of mid-year Vettes that I've seen, looked like mosh pits underneath. Twisted metal, bad fiberglass repairs, etc.
Restoring the gauge cluster, IRS, rear wheel t-arms, interior, K-H brakes, PS, PW, PB, TI, gas tank, and all the little itty bitty parts all over the car. To me, it's seems like a nightmare now, that I did all that to my Vette over my long ownership.
Nope, I'd rather start with a nice pristine clean brand new whatever-mobile.
Just about every classic car is down in price with the possible exception of the early 911's. I would love to have a nice clean 1973 911 Targa T, E or S. Of course, having a modern 3.6 L installed it would make me every happy, since I'm not purist.  |
I agree! I have performed 5 frame off restorations on midyear corvettes and i will never do another due to the amount of time and frustration that is involved with restoring some of the 45-50 year old parts. You could win big by buying an already restored vette currently, but unless you crawl all over the car, you will not know what you are getting. You must watch out for rotten frames as well. One out of the 5 cars that i have, did not have significant fiberglass repair and that was because it was taken off the road from 1974-2009. If panels have been replaced with new press molded units instead of patched, then it should not be a problem. However, most older repairs were done with patches since the press molded repro panels were not available at the time. One out of the 5 cars i have restored had a fiberglass tub that had been beat on the underside due to the u joints failing. When they failed, it allowed the half shafts to swing freely into the jack well and gas tank cross member support. If you are in the market, look for cars that do not have a painted tub. The underside of midyears came bare from the factory and should look like this
Like i said above, my days of restorations are over. I love being able to pull new parts out of a box for the Kirkham and simply bolt them on. Less tools, less mess, 1/10th the time. And you dont have to worry about not reusing a 50 year old part because if you dont, it might lower the value of the car. Choosing your own adventure is nice and a lot more fun.