1962 Corvette Resto Mod build

[onanysunday]

My dad is a master woodworker among other things. Found him a cool project. This area in the trunk is wasted space. Originally we thought some kind of ice chest wrapped in leather would be cool but there is not space. My idea was to make a wood box that gets fiber glassed and then wrapped in leather. Have it hinged at the bottom with a latch at the top. Would be a cool little storage box since the car inside hardly has any. Upholstery guy will build custom panels covered in leather for the trunk. We ordered a third hide of leather and Al Knoch in process of wrapping a 15" steering wheel right now. 

 

[onanysunday]

Old pic but I did just get the shifter all adjusted along with the nuetral safety switch. 7 detent positions. Park, Reverse, Neutral, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st.

 

[onanysunday]

Electric tops for these cars are junk so we cut the tabs off the deck lid latch bracket. 

 

[onanysunday]

Got a different compressor so the lines will go straight out the back. We will get some cool guy fittings and lines. 

 

[onanysunday]

 

[onanysunday]

This pic shows the factory cut out in the fiberglass. 

 

[onanysunday]

Well I finally won this battle. Epic project to make the dash fit. Stock dashes are hard enough but this was dumb. Had to walk away a few times and come back with the right mind set. I could do one now in 1/20th the time. On and off I don't know how many times.  Build a hot rod they said. It will be fun.    In sections finally learned that all of the foam had to be removed with a sanding disc. Cluster side and even the center of the dash was the same way. Backing 3 bolt plate worked out great to suck it in. Those two bezels at the grab bar are very hard to get in perfect position. This is about as good as they get. Very happy with it. The bezels fit extremely tight on the thicker leather and have to slide slowly with lots of soap. Leather pattern and foam should hopefully return to normal over time. Glad to have this part of the project done. 

 

[onanysunday]

 

[Richard h]

Build a hot rod they said. It will be fun. 

Not just that but when all is said and done and they see how much the cars value is they get really excited. Just don't realize your down to about $.04 an hour for labor.

 

[onanysunday]

Not just that but when all is said and done and they see how much the cars value is they get really excited. Just don't realize your down to about $.04 an hour for labor.

So true. Labor rate out the window. 

 

[onanysunday]

Stock electric top on these cars does not work well so we cut off the tabs for it.

 

[onanysunday]

Windshield all assemble without breaking the glass. Quite the chore.

 

[onanysunday]

Inside if the glove box now has the huge wire loom running through it. Might need to get creative and build an insert for glove box space. Possibly another project out of wood and fiberglass. Not sure yet. Chrome here all fits pretty decent. 

 

[onanysunday]

The right side of the dash was not laying down real well so We put some weight on it for a few days. With a little contact cement.  Now is 90% better than most of the other cars out there but trying to get it perfect. Hard to see in the second pic but there is a little wave in one spot I want try get out. Might use some .020 to .030 brass shim stock and glue on the back side. That spot is right where the stock defroster vent goes. Those are deleted. 

 

[onanysunday]

Drilling holes if freshly painted fiberglass is fun!

 

[onanysunday]

On many cars out there the chrome upright does not lay nicely into the windshield. We are going for perfection if possible. Not easy. Left side was really good with the stock notch down below and bolting it together. (Windshield is just sitting there right now and not sucked down)

 

[onanysunday]

Right side was a lot more challenging. Had to shim the window channel bracket and also grind the notch for more adjustment. It is now really nice as well. 

 

[onanysunday]

Pre-fitting the convertible top as well. Doors will come back off the car for the rest of the assembly and also weatherstrip. Windshield needs final installation which will be soon. Replacement rubber between the winshield and body never works well so we are trying to decide what to do. Either some dum dum along the channel or some kind of weather stripping.

 

[onanysunday]

Better pic of the bump in the dash.  They glue several layers together and it is just tweaked in that area. Made a shim out of .031 brass and glued on the back side and pinched it all together. 

 

[onanysunday]

Old school door madness. In process of sanding and polishing the strikers by hand.