A Friend’s 1972 Corvette LT1

[Kmb0319]

On Memorial weekend, we went by some good friends of ours’ house one evening.  This was our first time going to their place. Jeff, the husband, is a big car guy, and I knew he had a couple Vettes, so I was looking forward to seeing them.  One of them is a 1976, and will be a complete restoration project.  The other is a “little nicer.”  He has an all-original 1972 LT1 with 49,000 miles on it.  I actually helped him buff it out some, as while the engine and chassis are perfect show quality, the paint is faded on the top surfaces from years in the sun before he got it.  He took our 10-year old for a ride first, and it’s all he’s talked about since.  Then he and I took it for a spin, stopping at the auto parts store for some compound and polish.  All in all, a great evening.  I got one photo as he was starting to back out of the driveway with our son:

Right after that night, I went and bought the AMT 70 Vette LT1/ZR1.  It’s pretty identical to a 72, so it was a good subject to use and build him a replica.  

Paint was a small challenge... Hugger Orange was too light/bright and didn’t have any metallic in it, which his does, but Fiery Orange was too metallic.  The best match ended up being Hemi Orange.  Everything else is pretty standard... lots of wires and hoses according to research pictures.  I also ended up using Revell wheels and tires, as Jeff’s Vette has Radial T/As on it, so I wanted to duplicate that.

This past weekend was his birthday, so I’ll deliver it to him in the next day or so.  His wife said he’ll be really excited... she expects that he’ll keep it on his desk in his home office and take it to car shows with him and set it on the 1:1 Vette while there.

It was a fun little project.  Thanks for looking and I hope you like it.

Interior:

Engine:

And all done:

[Dragonhawk1066]

Well done replica of the real ride! Nice engine detail!

[Dave Darby]

Nice job! He's gonna love it.

[Snake45]

Great story and a very nice model to go with it. Well done and model on! 

[dragmodels44]

Looks beautiful. What a good friend!

[LouO]

Nice! I'm sure he will love it!

[WizPorsche944]

Awesome work , I love the color.

Edited August 1, 2019 by WizPorsche944

[RAMBENNA]

great job , nice color

[larman]

Look's great!

[zakdoggi]

That's a really nice looking Vette.

I did similar for a friend and work colleague many years ago with the Revell 69 427 Coupe. I replicated the all white exterior and black interior, including her custom plates. Mounted it in a display case with a small plaque.

She was over the moon when I presented it to her.

It gave me great pleasure to see her response.

Doesn't it feel good doing something nice for our friends.

Cheers..... Geoff

[Gramps46]

I think you really captured the look and feel of the Corvette.

[oldscool]

Nice model and a nice gesture to your friend. It's ironic that you used Hemi orange on a Chevy as I am a big Mopar fan.

[JJ Deuce]

great work!  Ontario Orange is one of my favorite colors on those early sharks. 

[espo]

Great looking replica. The OEM paint had a very light gold flake in the orange as I recall. I had a new '72 Nova SS that was very close to this color or may have even been the same color. Sometimes GM would share the Corvette colors with the lower line cars, but usually they were unique to the Corvette. 

[Classicgas]

Very well done.

[vintagercr]

Nice looking Vette

[Tom99]

Very nice.

[ChrisR]

Looking good!