Hi All,
I've had a strange (and possibly blasphemous) thought running through my mind for the past few weeks. I feel that GM got the '68-69 Corvette right in terms of the 4 gills and fenders without mud flaps. However, I think GM did it better in terms of the rectangular exhaust bezels in '70-72, as well as the beautiful cast metal grille and markers.
The background here is that my car has been positively brutalised by its previous owners - the motor is not matching numbers, there are barely any date coded parts left, tank sticker and POP are long gone and both paint and interior are not the factory colours. At least the body and frame VIN match. The transmission code suggests that the car was a factory big block; currently it is a NOM big block. None of this particularly worries me, as the plan for the car all along was to hot rod it.
What I want to do is cut off the mud flaps from the fenders (to change the shape to the 69 shape) and fibreglass in the 4 gills. Note that I'd put a patch piece in with the 4 gills rather than replace the fenders with earlier unit, so that if someone wanted to return the car to '71 spec one day it just take a dremel and some grinding to allow the egg crates to go back in. I'd leave the factory rectangular exhausts and the '71 grille.
What do you guys think? I've had the suggestion to just buy a '69 Corvette, but then I figure that it's even more blasphemous to fit a '71 grille and exhausts to a '69 than the other way around. Plus I live in Australia - these cars are rare here (you might pay over 50 grand for an okay driver '69). I got my big block '71 for a steal in comparison, as it was owned by a clueless young guy.
Am I crazy for wanting to make the car I want it to be, and the way I wish GM had?
I've had a strange (and possibly blasphemous) thought running through my mind for the past few weeks. I feel that GM got the '68-69 Corvette right in terms of the 4 gills and fenders without mud flaps. However, I think GM did it better in terms of the rectangular exhaust bezels in '70-72, as well as the beautiful cast metal grille and markers.
The background here is that my car has been positively brutalised by its previous owners - the motor is not matching numbers, there are barely any date coded parts left, tank sticker and POP are long gone and both paint and interior are not the factory colours. At least the body and frame VIN match. The transmission code suggests that the car was a factory big block; currently it is a NOM big block. None of this particularly worries me, as the plan for the car all along was to hot rod it.
What I want to do is cut off the mud flaps from the fenders (to change the shape to the 69 shape) and fibreglass in the 4 gills. Note that I'd put a patch piece in with the 4 gills rather than replace the fenders with earlier unit, so that if someone wanted to return the car to '71 spec one day it just take a dremel and some grinding to allow the egg crates to go back in. I'd leave the factory rectangular exhausts and the '71 grille.
What do you guys think? I've had the suggestion to just buy a '69 Corvette, but then I figure that it's even more blasphemous to fit a '71 grille and exhausts to a '69 than the other way around. Plus I live in Australia - these cars are rare here (you might pay over 50 grand for an okay driver '69). I got my big block '71 for a steal in comparison, as it was owned by a clueless young guy.
Am I crazy for wanting to make the car I want it to be, and the way I wish GM had?