'53 Corvette Full Custom

[Toner283]

I am entered in the TRaK Autorama and I figured I would post the build up over here as well. For those of you who are members on the TRaK board you will likely recognize this car from the build thread over there. For those of you who are not members of TRaK, the theme for the Autorama is 60s vehicles. Four different categories. Custom, street, competition and hot rod. Maximum of one car per builder, per category. The build off for the Autorama started January 6th this year and goes until the end of December. If you like traditional hot rods and custom cars then you should check out TRaK if you haven't already.

I have always liked the early Vettes when they were customized even though it was not done very often. Maybe I like them because you don't see them done very often. No matter.  For my Autorama custom entry I'm building a 53 Vette full custom.

When I went looking for the 53 Vette that I knew I had in my stash I found it. What I didn't remember was stuffing a second complete kit into the box. I also went digging through some other kits looking for donors for some of the parts I was going to need for what I had in mind. The kits in the background of the shot are the ones that will be donating parts and pieces to this build so far. Might be two or three more along the line that give up some pieces for this Vette. I will be sure to mention those if and when it happens.

Also posting a couple of shots of some of the cars that I'm using for inspiration. It is not going to be a direct build of any of these however these will be definitely influencing the design. I also very much like the later iterations of the X Sonic custom Vette. I also just switched to Fotki after being a Photobucket user that got screwed in the great debacle so bear with me. I'm just learning how to use the Fotki software. Anyway hang on, this ride is probably going to get a little bumpy.


 Hosted on Fotki

 Hosted on Fotki

 Hosted on Fotki

 Hosted on Fotki

 

Edited January 27, 2018 by Toner283

[LDO]

I am also a fan of early Corvette customs. Check out Eric Rickman's vette.  A very mild custom, but very nicely done. 

Edited January 27, 2018 by LDO
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[Toner283]

Ok, the pictures for this update were actually taken about 2 weeks after the pics in the first post. I have been picking away at this thing as I can. Working 50 hours a week and with an 11 year old daughter and a six-month-old daughter it makes my free time kind of slim so there may be a bit of a time gap in between updates. Good thing this is a year-long contest.

I have gotten the dual headlight pods from the 57 Ford aligned and attached. Getting the second matched up evenly with the first one was a three handed job for sure. Once they were firmly attached I blended them in with two part Tamiya putty. Man is that stuff tough to file and sand. I am pretty happy with how the profile of the front fenders has turned out so far. Don't worry lots more modifications coming. I'm not going to leave much of the body on this poor Corvette alone.

 

 

 

Also snagged more parts from a few donor kits. The four boxed kits pictured. The bagged kit is one I picked up at a swap meet it is a monogram 56 T Bird. Brand new or vintage doesn't matter to me.  If it has a part I need, it is in danger of being a parts donor kit.
 

 Also working on getting the parts for the next major body modification ready to go. Just mocked up here, when installed they will sit lower into the quarter panel. The original Corvette quarters have not been cut at all at this point. I will be also be maintaining the original Corvette wheelbase. The new quarter panel pieces will be blended in above and around the wheel opening from the Corvette. Stay tuned, plenty more surprises coming.

 

 

 
 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Bob McNulty was a prolific builder of custom early Corvettes. At least 5 different full-custom 'Vettes of his were featured in the old mags. This one has a somewhat similar tail treatment..

   

Edited January 27, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[LDO]

That roof looks like it came off a VW Bug.