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Hello, While working on the C7R and planning on another C6R and another C5R, somehow, this random thing came up and sneaked into my workbench. Let me explain: Dick Guldstrand was called "Mr. Corvette". The accomplished and very successful multiple championships winner race car driver was also a gifted engineer with a deep understanding of how cars work. A friend to Zora Arkus Duntov, he was a big contributor to the early Corvette racing success. He drove the original Grand Sport for Roger Penske as well as many other winning cars of his own creation throughout several decades . His company, Guldstrand Engineering Inc. built racing Lolas, Corvettes and many other competition vehicles to be raced worldwide. He also helped in the development of early racing C4s. He was a chassis/suspension genius. In 1986 he made his first special edition car, the GS80 Corvette. Then in 1995, he unveiled his Grand Sport 90 or GS90. Using the ZR1 as a starting point, it had a carbon fiber body designed by Steve Winter, a Doug Rippie tuned LT-5 producing 475 HP, and of course Guldstrand worked his magic on the suspension with special coilovers, special anti-roll bars, Brembo brakes and many other goodies. Dick Guldstrand himself drove it to over 190 MPH while retaining everyday driveability. GM supported him at first, with the idea of offering the GS90 as a dealer option, but backed out soon after since the C5 project was well underway. The pricey endeavor costed him a lot of money. At the end only 6 cars were made. There was also a convertible version named Nassau Roadster based on the C4 convertible with a supercharged LT-1. I have always liked the car, ever since seeing it on my May-1995 copy of Corvette Fever magazine. It still looks great even after almost 25 years. Unfortunately, Dick Guldstrand passed away in 2015. Here is a video of the car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPswPoQ9IsA Fortunately, there is a scale model of this car. However, it is from AMT. I don't like AMT at all, but this is the only game in town for this car. The model was released in the late 90's and has never been reissued as far as I know. My plan is to build it as a curbside since I suspect fit will be a problem. Dry fitting the body immediately showed fitting issues and very thick molded body parts, making the curbside idea more appealing. So this has become an exercise in body fitment. My goal: Proper fit of all body panels to pay homage to the original masterpiece. Here are some pictures of the progress so far: Heavy mold lines were addressed Yikes! This will take some serious fitting. Out comes the lumber to stretch the body slightly so the rear bumper can fit a bit better while the glue dries. Much better. Still more work is needed but going in the right direction. Hood fit is lousy to say the least The worst fit is the nose My "body/chassis jig" showed a slight warp in the nose. After careful studying, a precise cut was made so I could wedge some styrene to correct the warp. Disregard the brass tubes in the firewall. It was an unsuccessful attempt to pin the hood down. And nothing happened here! Lots of filler... ...and slowly getting there The model calls for installation of the nose and rear bumper after the chassis is installed. Yeah right. That ain't gonna happen! I modified the chassis for easier installation and made some templates for covering the reworked areas. That is where we are now. Still working on the C7R and starting another C6R (its own thread coming soon) but I suppose this will take center stage after the C7R is done. Of course that is if nothing else randomly lands on the workbench What do you think? Thanks,
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