82 body conversions on a 74 frame

rebel · February 25, 2003, 10:41:52 PM

Brutus and all,

Here's the pics I promised on the conversion of the car. I wanted to organise them in a proper pesentation but time is a bit of a factor at the moment. This is version 1 of the car and was pretty much focused on the body mods, the engine was basically a stock small block except the fulie heads.

If interested in techincal details and "how to's", I'd be happy to interview the body builder who put it together and get proper report.

1) http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore2.jpg
The original rear end as the General intended.
2) http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore1.jpg
The '82 nose piece. You'll notice subtle mods like the front section between the lights to adapt to the '82 bumper, and not so subtle like the prep of the guard.

3) http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore6.jpg
http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore16.jpg
The surgery!!

4) http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore5.jpg
The '82 rear, prep'd and ready to fit.

5) http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore7.jpg
The rear fitted to the vehicle.

6) http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore3.jpg
http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore4.jpg
http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore8.jpg
To me this very scary!! In there somewhere is the original 350 and notice the original fan and shroud. Also, notice the original support arm for the alternator. Because the heads were fulie and there was no where to bolt the bracket, it really looked out of place and had to go. The motor currently has a modified bracket which holds the alternator much closer to the engine.

7) http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore13.jpg
http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore14.jpg
http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore15.jpg
http://www.ement.com/Photo/Restore19.jpg
These are shots of the final product painted Corsa Red with original Oyster interior. It took some effort to get the paint finish looking like that again as it was covered in swirl marks and light scratches. Luckily the paint was very thick and I was able to remove these with a number of treatments that included a clay rub and various layers of polish. Notice the wheels and the impact they make when they are new. These currently let the car down a little as they are worn in places and in need of re chrome but finding someone to do spoke wheels is extremely difficult. For comparison, here's the latest shots from last year's AutoSalon. (http://www.ement.com/Rebel_Projects/AutoSalon02-Page3.htm)

On purchase, after restoring the paint, I focussed inside the motor. This included the cam, push rods, springs and valve work. On the outside, some chrome, electric fans, Koni shocks and many hours (and band aids) in braided hoses to name a few.

Version 3, interior overhaul, aluminium in place of chrome in the motor, and I've currently got the car off road ceramic coating the extractors.

Apologies for the long post.

Cheers ...

77CVT · February 26, 2003, 10:07:03 AM

WOW!! ;35;27;35;27

77CVT · February 26, 2003, 03:03:02 PM

Can I ask a dumb question though?.......how come you just didn't buy an '82? :ado

rebel · February 26, 2003, 09:48:31 PM

LOL, not a dumb question, I get it alot ..... I didn't convert it but I'm glad someone else did 15 years ago. Could you imagine the cost of doing something like this if you didn't have your own autoshop ??

I sarted out looking for a pre '75 as I wanted a `raw' engine with no computer management. However, I really loved the 82 body. I looked around at many vettes including a 78 and a few more from the NSW club. When I saw this car in a private sale just sitting in someone's garage, I could immediately hear the thing screamin' "Take me home and save me from the wrath of this man's garage!!" After some negotiating the price was a steal and home she came.

It was perfect, the pre 75 I wanted in an 82 body, was it fate or not?!?

But fate doesn't end there .... whilst at the Sydney MotorEx that July, I met a guy who claimed this used to be his car. After some gruelling questions i was convinced he knew intimate enough details about the car to be telling the truth. It was Mick Schumak from Maroubra Auto Refinishes and turned out to be a very nice bloke and who filled me into the rest of the history. He introduced me to the guy who restored the interior 15 yrs ago and as I was already reseaching interior experts, I was blown away by the quality of hois work. So Clifford Powell was given the job and the family was re united ....

Ain't fate a wonderful thing ... ?

Brutus · February 26, 2003, 10:50:56 PM

Nice documentation of the conversion there Rebel. I sure as hell ain't nowhere near up to that stage of my fibreglassing career.
I am interested in your aluminium bits and pieces for the engine too.

Adam · February 26, 2003, 11:05:33 PM

Simply amazing, and I know why YOU bought it, but why would anyone really go to all that trouble just to get somthing that was... pretty much available. I guess he really wasnt a cat person!!!:22

The interior u have now is BRILLIANT, but I see nothing wrong at all with your old one! Howcome you didn't like it?

Adam

rebel · February 27, 2003, 12:06:53 AM

Brutus, the rocker covers are rare chevrolet originals as they're now discontinued. They're aluminium with the word "Chevrolet" cast into them. Ideally what I'd like to do is have the words milled to shave off about 1mm and give it that metallic look of steel whilst contrasting and preserving the rough texture of aluminium on the rest of the piece. I'm not sure how to do that though so I wait until I get an answer. I've tried to get the same effect by sandpaper but it's not quite my vision.

The alternator is also aluminium as is the fan pulley and ofcourse the Edelbrock manifold, which some fool had painted red by the way. It really needed to be sand blastered and returned to it's aluminium glory but it was easier to paint it. Having said that though, it took me half a day to mask properly. I like the look of aluminium but it's hard to keep clean so I'm searching for a clear paint that's tough, heat tolerant and won't yellow or dis-color the beauty of the grey. PPG have one but I'm cautious as you only get one crack at it and those are expensive rocker covers.

Adam, Mick picked up the car very cheap and wanted to build it as a hot rod as that's what they do and enter them in shows. Actually it was his son Robbie who did most of the work (Robbie's known in the industry as a bit of a freak and has been winning awards since he was 13. He's well respected). I'm not really sure of the motivation except that Robbie wanted to demonstrate his body building and spray skills. They have a collection of award winning rods and I guess this was going to be another but didn't make it. It was sold to a guy on Sydney's northern beaches who did more damage to the car instead of good. For example, the rear adjustment arms were bent to accomodate the after market exhausts (can you believe that Midas did that). The next owner lived in Rossmore out west and basically locked the car up for 5 yrs. This was good for the paint but not good for a number of seals and rubbers - or the chrome wheels which rusted! The interior shot you see in this post was Oyster and not in that condition when I bought the car. It was the same color as it is now, (Ferrari Cream) but it was painted and very sloppy at that! The door panles were re skinned by vacuum forming which made it thick and you couldn't make out most of the detail. The dash top looked like Bondi beach and the wood grain was faded and inconsistent. Maybe I'm too picky, too much of a perfectionist or whatever but I thought the car was screaming for it. As it now is for the wheels to be re done. That's next year's budget though as this one's KAPUT!!

Adam · February 27, 2003, 09:12:36 AM

Interior spraying, I know what thats about:b2
Some foo decided that the original beige interior was not right on my vette, so everything was sprayed black, even the carpet!

Anyway Rebel, money well spent! Although I can't imagine having a car like yours and not using it for 5 years!;eek

As for your rocker covers, try getting one of those rotating wire brushes for your drill, and it'll smooth our the edges at the same time.

77CVT · February 27, 2003, 10:05:07 AM

That would make a good story board for displays and the like!

Sure puts my vinyl sprayed interior to shame! ;laugh

Brutus · February 27, 2003, 03:29:21 PM

Rebel...I've got a very nifty attatchment to one of my bench grinders. It's fitted with a scotch brite buffing belt (you can get various grades) and it works a treat with alloy parts. I have buffing wheels on another grinder next to it which gives me better finishes with each grade of cloth and rouge I use.
I might be giving my interior a complete rethink this year (time permitting) with the help of my son who is in his 3rd year as an apprentice motor trimmer. His teacher is Steve Busitill actually. I might start a thread on interiors and see what sort of ideas we can all come up with. I already have a nice pair of Recaros that we picked up for $50.00 so we'll start there and work around them.

77CVT · February 27, 2003, 03:41:41 PM

[quote I already have a nice pair of Recaros that we picked up for $50.00 ...[/quote]

;eek;eek I just got some C4 seats for my '77 for around $400 and I thought that was pretty good!

You alway got one up on me haven't ya! ;laugh

Brutus · February 27, 2003, 05:16:56 PM

Nah....Just fortunate to have been able to get over to the States a few times and spend my money on nice bits and pieces for my Vette instead of paying for hotels.
A big thanks to my good mate Scott81 as always. One of nature's gentlemen....damn I nearly choked then.;laugh

johnny86convert · February 27, 2003, 07:10:04 PM

BIG BIG congrats to rebel job well done, I did a body off resto on my 71 big block, took five years and lots of help from lottsa mates, your resto bought back alot of late nights in a crappy garage, looking for bloody parts that got lost or need ed a clean

rebel · February 27, 2003, 10:44:09 PM

Brutus, thanx for the tip. I actually tried a wire brush but that didn't quite get the right look either. You know what I mean, that milled look where you can see fine lines running parrallel and neatly across the metal .... I'll find a solution somewhere.

Also, your idea on your interior is pretty good. I can help by creating some computer generated images for you to give you an idea of the look and color.

Thanx for all your feedback too, I built it for me of course but it's always good when the work's appreciated by your peers.

Whe nI have some time I'll put the whole story together and present it on a nice looking web page, kind of EMag style. I'll interview the guys in my team too so you get their professional technical how to's ...