'65 Coupe Resto-Mod and '68 Full Custom Restoration

[rbryce1]

It's Thursday AM, and it is pouring down rain outside my hotel window. Weather reports are it will stop soon and the front will have passed us with clear weather all the way to Florida.

Yesterday, they completed spraying 3 coats of black epoxy primer-sealer on the car and the hood. It has had all night to cure and with luck, I will be loading the car into the trailer and starting back home this morning. The car looks great, even though the primer did show a thousand micro-defects that need to be addressed, but next is allowing it to bake in the Florida sun.

And I just looked out the window and all rain has stopped. Here's hoping it is over.

[rbryce1]

That was the last of the rain. Home at last. I really don't think my truck likes visiting Charleston. It always gets there fine, probably because it doesn't know it is going there until it gets there. But going home ...

The last time I trailered my '68 Corvette to Charleston, the transmission blew on the way home. This time, I threw a serpentine belt on I-95 in Georgia. The belt was an easier fix, but extremely frustrating.

On the first trip with my '68 Corvette, I had major issues with AAA when the transmission blew, as they originally said I had coverage for both the truck and a towed vehicle. When it came time to use the service, they claimed I didn't have coverage for the trailer, because I needed to have an add-on feature, which I did not have at the time, and they would only tow the truck, which left the trailer, with the '68 Corvette inside, sitting on RT 301.

Fortunately, the AAMCO shop had a truck and we went back and got the trailer.

This time I ensured I had the added coverage on my AAA card, but again, when I needed to use it, they claimed I did not have the right coverage, since the trailer was "not for human occupancy". I really had it out with their supervisor, and they said they would see what they could do, which turned out to be nothing.

Fortunately, Georgia has a program called "Champ" where they have roadside assistance on the Interstate. It does not cost anything. A Champ truck stopped, took me to the nearest exit where there was an O'Reiley's and I bought a belt and installed it myself.

By the time I had fixed the truck, AAA still had not arrived, which was almost 3 hours. They claimed they were having difficulty finding a service near me that could handle the job. BS. If that is the case, AAA has really gone down hill over the years.

But I made it home fine after getting back on the road, only 4 hours late. Will unload the car this morning and start it's baking in the sun process. Yes, down here, we do have a hot sun, even in the winter.
The car looks like a version of the bat mobile now that it is satin black. Really sort of cool!

Again, I have photos once I can upload them.

[MaineVette]

Kind of a new twist in things though, we have been debating on selling our '95 Corvette for a while now, and it looks like that may happen soon. A friend of ours in our Corvette Club is planning on selling their 2001 Corvette coupe and replacing it soon, and I told him we are interested. Totally gorgeous C5 coupe, show car quality, flawless magnetic red paint, LS engine, automatic overdrive transmission, A/C, black leather interior, new wheels and tires, delux everything, garage kept with only 24k miles, for $15k.

I love the C5's and think that would be a great trade up. No judgements here!

I will post photos as soon as Tim finds out why the forum will not take photos any more.

Working hard to get this resolved, inching closer. Hoping to get it resolved by the end of the weekend. Will keep you posted!

[MaineVette]

The problem I spent all morning trying to overcome was how to unload the car in a controlled manner down the ramp, as there was only the wife and myself. I was afraid it could get away from us going down the ramp and hit something. I felt really stupid when I realized the car was already equipped with something called BRAKES! ..

I feel your pain and have made similar bonehead moves myself. I think our brains become trained to the fact that our cars are simply a heaping pile of non-functioning parts. I've had to remind myself on more than one occasion that my car now has a functioning engine, brakes, steering, etc. After 10+ years of that not being the case it's a nice perk!

[MaineVette]

Hey Bob,

Just got caught up on all of your posts. It sounds like it was the pretty typical mix of ups and downs. Regardless if you had the car fully painted or not, you at least made some forward progress. As I near the point you're at now what makes me the most nervous is having an expert look at the body work I've done. Without the years of experience they have I know that, like you, there are things I'm simply not seeing.

In any case, glad you made it back safely. I'm really looking forward to seeing some photos. Can't wait to see the progress!

[rbryce1]

Sunday I unloaded the Corvette and parked it in my front yard, where it would get the most sun exposure. It's mid to late November here and the temps are in the low to mid 70's, but sunny.

Kerry Jamison said the best thing is to have the car bake in the sun to get any oils or other contaminents that may later come to the surface after the car is painted and cause the paint to either lift, discolor or actually form a bubble under the paint. If we find these problems before paint, we can grind them out and fix them before they can cause any future damage.

He said he would like the see the car at least 150-165 degrees, or even hotter if possible, since the car, which now is in black primer, would more than likely never see these temps after being painted. That seemed like a tall order for this time of year, but after the car sat in the sun for a few hours, I got my handy-dandy Harbor Freight infrared temperature detecting gun and WOW, the hood, roof and drivers side front and rear fenders were at 145 degrees!

The passenger side was only in the mid 90's, but it was also on the shaded side. Looks like we will have around 80 degree weather all Thanksgiving weekend and I will be baking the car by alternating sides facing the sun the whole time. There is a chance of rain Saturday, but I can just pull it back into the garage if that happens. And while the car is out of the garage, I can continue to CLEAN the garage!

Off to a good start, and while the '65 is basking in the sunlight, I can start assembling the 454 engine for the '68!

[rbryce1]

I see the ability to add photos has be fixed, great job Tim, so here are some of the photos from my trip to Charleston. As I said, he had a few cars in his shop when I went there:

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Yes, that is a Lotus behind the Corvette. They are fiberglass also.

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The C1 body in the picture will be going on the custom frame in the picture. Note the 5 speed transmission behind the 350 engine.

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I guess you can only add so many photos to a post. OK, more in the next post!

[rbryce1]

More photos of my trip:

Their front room displaying cars for sale and a sample of their tubular frame.

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Here is my car, all the repair work done, taped and ready for the spray booth. It will be getting 3 coats of an epoxy primer-sealer in black. Epoxy because nothing will penetrate it if a contaminant should happen to get on the car before it is painted, not a high build primer so we can see any and all small defects that need to be addressed before the epoxy high build primer is sprayed, and black so it can bake in the sun and get really hot to evaporate any oils or contaminants that may be under the primer. That is so if there are any oils they will show up as bubbles in the primer and they can be repaired before the paint is sprayed. Much better to find them now than after the paint job.

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After the 3 coats of primer-sealer.

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Tape removed and ready for the trip back to Florida. The wife calls it a "BAT MOBILE"!

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While it is "baking", I can get to work on the engine for the '68 and at the same time, complete the finish work under the tilt noes and install the tilt nose for it's final fit-up.

[rbryce1]

Also, added photos to the post on the windshield leak repair I did.

[vito]

Good work Bob,

Nice pictures.