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Posted
7 hours ago, Bainford said:

Coming along nicely. Looking good all foiled up. 

Thanks Trevor, as long as you ignore the wrinkles on the back side. But then again I’ve got wrinkles too.?

Posted

Corvette has been a weird build as I still seem to be making my way down towards the chassis. This time around I'm working on the firewall. This firewall is from the MPC 1957 Corvette but we will beat it into submission.

 

 For starters it will need a bunch of trimming and some added panels. Fits well on the top side but the bottom leaves an ugly gap.

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Added a "tranny tunnel" to the bottom of the firewall to close up the cavern.

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Getting closer. Next step is to shoehorn the big block into this tiny engine compartment. Stay tuned...

 

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

Nice work on the firewall / tyranny tunnel / toe board joinery, Len. This situation rears it ugly head more often than I would like and is one of my least favorite tasks. ?

 

Edited by customline
Mistaken identity ?
Posted
14 hours ago, customline said:

Nice work on the firewall / tyranny tunnel / toe board joinery, Len. This situation rears it ugly head more often than I would like and is one of my least favorite tasks. ?

 

 

Thanks Jim. I guess it's the struggle we need to deal with when we color outside the lines.

  • Like 1
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Some days you get the bear and some days it gets you. Lately with my projects I feel like the bear is nipping at my heels. Start to make some progress only to get knocked back down a rung or two. Thought I was getting ready to drop the V8 into the chassis on this Vette and that's when the bear bit down. Had a nice engine all ready to go,wired, heater hoses, looking like it might actually run and then wham. The exhaust manifolds don't fit between the frame rails.DSC01049.jpg.fb1e54a3cf215d5c43b451556ce9c707.jpg

 

And the engine won't drop into place. You can see a good quarter inch gap between the block and the frame mounts.

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Ditched the manifolds and found a set of headers that looks like they might work with a bit of modification, but no dice. Still couldn't get things to fit. You know how it goes, measure twice....

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So back to square one, well for the engine at least. Dug into the parts box and pulled out the original 283 that goes along with the '57 Vette chassis we have under this bod, or at least eventually under this bod. Keeping the same theme, dual 4-barrels. This time I painted the engine with the same paint as the body. Chrysler Orange on a Vette, inside and out. Yeah, why not....😈

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OK, so the moment of truth, will it fit. In like flint!!!

DSC01155.jpg.ba97a8873820ff555de45a65cc88277b.jpgDSC01156.jpg.5542c801832f0e1f8d93cab7b7c6566d.jpgCan even get the exhaust routed with plenty of room to spare. Why didn't I do this in the first place??? Because I wanted more horsepower. Well that horsepower don't do you any good if you can't squeeze it in.

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I think we will even be able to close the hood as well.DSC01158.jpg.4189df367376b9896f44939bb562c25a.jpg

 

Hopefully from this point forward, we can move forward.

 

Hey, can any of you Corvette aficionados out there tell me if this engine should have the shield over the distributor? Pics on line seem to show later cars with them but not this era. I don't want any interference messing with my tunes. The 8-tract doesn't work so I have to listen to WABeatleC/  

 

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Been making some progress on the Vette of late. Trying to get the front end put together I started assembling it as MPC had in mind. The chassis if you recall comes from their 1956/1957 Corvette kit. I had several of these kits from different generations so I have a mix of parts. The later gen kits have a lot of flash, I mean a lot.

I glued the A-Frame connector and the front A frames in one night and set it aside to dry. Came back the next night and I'm looking at it and something just doesn't look right. I glued the A frames upside down. Which seems to be par for the course lately. Luckily I was able to sneak them out and flip them over without incident.

 

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The rest of the front end went together OK but it's a really sloppy assembly. Had to do a lot of tweaking to get the front wheels into alignment. Needed to make my own center link to get them pointing straight. Although they don't look straight in the next pic, that's just an illusion.

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I searched long and hard for some wheels I liked but could not find a full set of four I liked in my parts bin. Finally settled for a set that was in the Vette junkyard.

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They had slicks on the rear which I wasn't going to use but something about them struck me. The centers were painted red but I repainted the centers with the Rally Red body paint and found some different tires.

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I had to cheat a bit for the rear wheels. The rear end uses the traditional metal axle but the hole in the rims was a large one. So the hole was filled with some styrene rod and then drilled for the axle. But I found that the rear axle sat a bit too far forward. So instead of moving the axle, I offset drilled the hole in the rims.

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This allowed me to center the wheel properly in the wheel opening. And now we finally have the Vette sitting on all fours.

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I think I want to find a larger diameter tire for the front. While the body has a nice rake, there is a lot of air around the tire.

Bumpers have been cleaned up and sprayed with Revell chrome but won't go on until the very last thing.

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A couple of more shot of the car on all four.

 

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We might actually have this one done before the ball drops. Time will tell.....

 

  • Like 1
Posted

Progress is good, no matter when it happens!  I applaud you and others who can have several builds on the go and keep track of them all - just don't think I could do it.  Look forward to more pics outside, weather permitting! 

Posted

I don't think those front tires look bad, Len. The first shot is looking through the grille opening giving the impression of too much air but when it's all buttoned up it may be just fine. I love those rims. Very sharp.

Posted
15 hours ago, BK9300 said:

Progress is good, no matter when it happens!  I applaud you and others who can have several builds on the go and keep track of them all - just don't think I could do it.  Look forward to more pics outside, weather permitting! 

Brian, you got that right, it's snowing outside right now. And I didn't paint the roof yet for the vette. ❄

13 hours ago, customline said:

I don't think those front tires look bad, Len. The first shot is looking through the grille opening giving the impression of too much air but when it's all buttoned up it may be just fine. I love those rims. Very sharp.

I thought about that. And since I glued the tires to the backing plate I may just have to leave them😏

12 hours ago, slusher said:

man, that’s looking great Lenny!

Thanks Carl, I'll take you for a ride when it's done. Hold onto your hat🎩

Posted
3 hours ago, LennyB said:

 

I thought about that. And since I glued the tires to the backing plate I may just have to leave them😏

 

You've got a nice rubber rake goin' on.  I wouldn't take any chances with it now, after all that front end work.

Posted
3 hours ago, 1930fordpickup said:

This is looking nice Len. The color and wheels fit the bill. 

Thanks for the kind words Andy.

Posted

Finally feel like I'm coming around the final turn. Wonder how the builder who started this would feel about it now. Got a number of details tied up the last couple of days. Radiator hoses, battery cables, rear shocks, exhaust and front and rear bumpers which are painted with the Revell chrome. I'm missing a few bits here and there but we almost got this one in the bag. Hoping to have some sun to get some outside pics but it's been a snowy overcast day.

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  • Like 3
Posted

Did a couple more things to this over the weekend. Added a rear view mirror to the top of the dash that I found in the parts bin. Added side view mirrors that came from the '66 Vette chrome tree. Chrome was dull so they got touched up with Molotow. I could probably keep going and find a few more details to add but I think I'm gonna call it done. Sun is shining at the moment so I captured these few pics.

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Meanwhile I'm taking on another Vette from the scraps left over from this build. Figured this one needed some company.

 

  • Like 2
Posted

Very fine work on this, with all your modifications and add-ons.  The wheels look great and the natural light sure makes your colour choice pop - great looking car!

Posted
23 hours ago, BK9300 said:

Very fine work on this, with all your modifications and add-ons.  The wheels look great and the natural light sure makes your colour choice pop - great looking car!

Brian, I appreciate the kind words.

23 hours ago, mustang1989 said:

I like the way this has shaped up for you Len. Keep fighting the bear brother as she's coming together nicely buddy. 

Thanks Joe, sometimes you win.

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