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My Wifes 69 coupe.

7K views 36 replies 19 participants last post by  Sly Vette 
#1 ·
This is my Brides 69 454 4 speed, more pics to come later.
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Started the strip down for inside clean up or change.

And the back, the rest of the pics are crap is they were taken in the shed with to much light outside, but here is the back, not to keen on the tail lights :?
 
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#2 ·
This might seam quick, but i am copy and pasting till i get up to recent. I try to do about 4hours a week on it once i get the kids to bed and the bride is still at work 3 nights.

When we got the car the bloke told us the motor was rebuilt :shock:
And he and the machanic both could not get it running correct, he said he thinks the timing was out by a tooth on the timing gear :cry:
It would run but popping badly out the passenger side exaust. On the weekend I took the plugs out and the tops of the pistons were still clean EG no carbon build up on top, the passenger side plugs were old and black so 4 new plugs as the drivers side were new. He told me he changed the drivers side. So changed them and it still did not run correct. Checked the points and they forgot to tighten up the dizzy, runs like a charm :<> :<> :)

Picked up a set of brand new polished S/S side pipes, payed for the today and should be here bye the end of the week.
Got the chassis paint kit for it last Friday, going with http://www.kbs-coatings.com.au/kbs-chassis-coater-kit
it is supposed to be as good as POR-15 but made in Australia. There is one clip on youtube of the bloke putting 1 coat of the KBS then a piece of fibreglass cloth then 1 more coat :shock: " apperently" it works great on steel floors :shock: :?
this weekends job is to clean under neath (chassis) and give it a coat before i put the pipes on.
Then pull the steering ram of and send it away to someone in Brisvagas somewhere to get rebuilt.
 
#3 ·
Well I started to get the chassis ready to paint, then thought i would only be painting half the chassis? So the body is nearly ready to lift
.

After about an hour today, my mate ,my 7yearold son and myself had the body sitting on the box trailer and a good looking chassis with NO rust


Chassis with the body just taken of and a pressure clean.





Not so rusty corners :)
 
#4 ·
After Sat morning, 1 wire wheel and 1 grinder the chassis is stripped (even the new paint in the pic above) and ready for step 1 of the KBS coatings system.

Step 1. marine clean, this is a industrail strength degreaser. had to keep it wet for 20min just a light spray then work it then mist spray it.

Step 2. Rust blast
keep this out of your lungs (hey steve it might help loosen all that nicotine in the lungs
) with this i just sprayed this on and wiped it over with a scourer and hosed it all of.

it is now back in the shed and will take the A arms and rear end out and paint it all hopfully this week.
i will post some pics later.

After the body was of it was time for the chasis strip down.
Engine out.



 
#9 ·
"Well I started to get the chassis ready to paint, then thought i would only be painting half the chassis? So the body is nearly ready to lift
."

And these are the last words many of us have said prior to a full blown restoration!
I think mine were something like.....
"I can't wait to finish these front brakes so I start to drive this thing"
4 years later and I was driving. Now it's been 5 years since I finished and couldn't be happier. Well I could have been if the body work and paint would have been done properly the first time but those imperfections will be corrected this Winter.
The one thing you may want to consider is the installation of a 5 speed. There will never be a better time to do it than now and it was the best upgrade,by far,that I have done to my '69.
Just something to ponder as you restore...I mean re-paint the chassis! LOL!
Good luck!
Sly
 
#15 ·
Your certainly not mucking around, you have definitely been bitten by the corvette bug !
You know there is no turning back now and you will need a matching one for yourself....in time
I don't think the surfboard in the garage is going to get much use this summer !
looking forward to your progress.
 
#19 ·
Nice looking '68, appears you got the fever pretty bad. :D

From looking at the rear valance one could conclude this was an original side pipe car. I saw a new set of reproduction side pipe covers yesterday at the local Corvette Shop. Really nice looking repop, I was tempted but they wanted $2K for them and that is out of reach right now.

After looking at the photo a little more I see differences in the paint color where it looks like the pipe exists have been closed?

I also notice the shift plate plaque looks like an L-88 plaque.

So tell us the details of the '68?
 
#24 ·
Looks GREAT!!

Someone suggested replacing the fuel and brake lines while the body is off- excellent idea.

I have another one- Cut the center out of the crossmember and make it bolt in. Down the road, changing the clutch, you will appreciate the little effort now. The gearbox will come out with the fixed crossmember, but it takes a lot of effort. A removable one makes life so much better.
 
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