Rookie's First Restoration Attempt...

[tracdogg2]

What's up with that leaf spring? That'll surely cause probs hanging that low, not to mention it looks kinda goofy. Is that a TRW spring ot the hyperco beavertails that are like the stock 80-82 springs?? looks like a beavertail to me

The car is just a bare shell sitting on the frame. It has all-thread in place of the spring bolts to set the car at ride height while working on the flares. Since there is no engine in it the front shocks have been replaced with all-thread also to pull it down to ride height.
Mike

 

[mrvette]

What's up with that leaf spring? That'll surely cause probs hanging that low, not to mention it looks kinda goofy. Is that a TRW spring ot the hyperco beavertails that are like the stock 80-82 springs?? looks like a beavertail to me

The car is just a bare shell sitting on the frame. It has all-thread in place of the spring bolts to set the car at ride height while working on the flares. Since there is no engine in it the front shocks have been replaced with all-thread also to pull it down to ride height.
Mike

UMM, isn't the diffy/suspension in place? isn't that about 80% of the weight in the rear??

I agree with TT, it does look awful lo on the spring...even with the reasoning....

from the looks of it maybe another 200 lbs is added when operational, but that aint' but a inch on that spring....

 

[MYBAD79]

UMM, isn't the diffy/suspension in place? isn't that about 80% of the weight in the rear??

I agree with TT, it does look awful lo on the spring...even with the reasoning....

from the looks of it maybe another 200 lbs is added when operational, but that aint' but a inch on that spring....

I think I mentioned this before, I hope I'm wrong but I doubt the missing weight is going to make that much difference in the rear. I expect you need at least 12" bolts to get the ride height to where it should be... again, I wish you all the best and I hope I'm wrong but what you have installed there looks like 14" allthread and IMO there's no way it's going to sit correct with the stock lentgh 8" bolts.....

 

[Twin_Turbo]

I have done this quite a few times in the past and I can assure you, even without an engine, most of the weight is already on the rear. Maybe fill up the tank but that's it It will not come down more than maybe 3/4 of an inch even with a 502 ramjet in there. All the stuff like bumpers and all is installed right?

I would contact the spring manufacturer. What brand is it? Would like to know in case of maybe a future purchase. Looks like a beavertail, so is it a hyperco?? An original 80-82 spring doesn't even arch that much with no load on it. I know because I shipped one not long ago and it didn't need a wide box.

Here, unloaded WITH longer bolts than stock

 

[stinger12]

Mike said to set the halfshafts up so that when the car is on the ground, the u-joints closest to the trailing arms are about 1/2'' lower than the u-joints bolted to the side yokes. This is the way the rear of the car is supposed to sit from the factory. So, in essence, the spring is the problem...which is easily fixable - get a different fiberglass spring, or go back to stock.

 

[stinger12]

Mike had me pull the lip tighter to the tire on the right quarter panel. Its almost identical to the left quarter panel now.. I'm in the filler stage again with the right quarter, because I had to grind and glass a bunch of areas, so I decided to just start fresh.

It wasn't easy bringing myself to blocking all that filler work off, then moving the lip down 3/8" with glass, but he said it needed to be done. I should be back to where I was before in about two days...its almost done.

 

[stinger12]

I have been extremely busy the past week. We setup Rick's car this past weekend at World of Wheels, and it kicked some serious butt. Rick worked really hard reassembling his baby once it left our shop, and he finished it two days before the show. I bugged you a lot about it Rick, but you truly did an outstanding job.

We won best paint in the entire show, as well as a bunch of other awards. I'm pretty excited about the outcome, and so is Byron, Trevor and Rick. There were about 80 other vehicles in the show.

The best part about all of this is that this is an actual race car. Yes, Rick does beat this thing up on the strip...it is not a trailer queen. It ran low 7 seconds in the 1/4 mile with his old setup. He's added about a 1000 HP with his new setup, so it should run low 6 seconds now. Its all motor, no nitrous. 3000 HP, zero fiberglass, and a steel body!

Enjoy the pics.

















The Six Shooter nomination was incredible. For those of you down south, here in Alberta, the "Jim Leslie Six Shooter Award" is equivalent to the Ridler award. We didn't win it, but were damn close!

 

[00fxd]

First pics I've seen of this years show. Congrats on the great outing. What a great car. ""Best Paint" won by a full on race car.
Wandering thru Calgarys world of wheels show durring the afternoon/evening of set up is one of my favorite things. Visiting friends and seeing what new was cooked up over the winter [then you can't wait to get out of there after the long show weekend]. I haven't been able to do that since I moved away ....

 

[stinger12]

Sorry for the lack of updates guys. I haven't been working on the vette much. I just started my second year apprenticeship course at SAIT, so school has been taking up a lot of my time. I finished the everglass work on the flare after school today though...

 

[stinger12]

Getting closer.

 

[stinger12]

Here they are, finished...finally!

Here they are, finished...finally!

 

[00fxd]

Better get some primer on that rig, springs a comin'. You'll wanna run that car a bit this year....

 

[stinger12]

I talked to Mike about the bonding seams underneath the halo. Apparently they aren't actual bonding seams - it is just one panel glued on top of another panel, and the gap is just filled with some adhesive for cosmetics. So, this area does not need to be glassed like the quarter seams and fender seams. He just said to "v" out all the old bonding adhesive, and fill it with everglass.







Another thing he pointed out was to make sure the lip was consistent across the halo. That took some work.







Good night!

 

[stinger12]

Finished the halo...









Glassed the sail corner on the other side...



A few loose ends underneath the splash shields from when I flared the quarters...



Good night...again!

 

[stinger12]

After weeks of work, I finally finished updating Alternative Restoration's website. Check it out!

www.alternativerestoration.ca

 

[stinger12]

Sh*t is happening, thanks to Byron!!!

 

[stinger12]

I have some pretty exciting news. I received the Dean's award at SAIT Polytechnic this term, which is awarded to the student with the highest marks, both in theory and shop. There is only one award for the whole class, and I was the recipient! I prepped and painted a 2003 Mustang in three weeks. Each of those days we had about 4 hours of shop time. The best part about all of this is that I have never painted a car before, and there were students which had years more of experience than me. I'm happy. I write my final exam today, then its back to work at Alternative.



















Byron epoxied the insides of my doors the other day. The only thing left on the insides of the doors before color is a quick scotchbriting. Now to finish fitting and finish the bodywork on the outsides of them.

 

[Bad Bird]

You're on the downhill slope now!

Those flares look so good...

 

[stinger12]

Here it is. Our latest creation at Alternative Restoration. This hasn't been wetsanded/polished yet.
Shelby Daytona!

 

[00fxd]

Cobra's are good. I much perfer the roadster tho.... Nice car