57 finally goes home!
01-23-2017, 07:51 PM
#1
Safety Car
Thread Starter
57 finally goes home!
I have been restoring a 57 for a buddy for the last year and a half, and it finally went home. The car came to me with the promise that it was a good, complete car that had been media blasted and primed, and just needed blocking and painting. No such luck!
When the car showed up, it was clear that it was more than just a paint job. It has sat at another Corvette shop for years, and had clearly sat outside for a substantial amount of time. The body had been media blasted and primed, but had cracks showing through the primer everywhere. I started by stripping the primer, and what a mess! none of the stress cracks had been repaired and there was some old damage that needed to be re-done. The blaster had actually blasted completely through the body at some corners, and the previous shop had just filled with body filler and did not glass up anything. All of the body mounting points had been broken out, and had been repaired with corrugated cardboard from a box, and glassed over.
We got all the glass massaged out pretty nice and closed the gaps back up to acceptable levels, and got the body blocked and painted with single stage PPG urethane. The engine was complexly frozen, and we had to take the pistons out with an air chisel. After all was said and done, it only took a .030 bore to clean it up. Installed new pistons and cam, lifters and reconditioned the rods. The crank cleaned up a .010 cut. Complete new valve job with bronze guides and a 3 angle valve job, and put it all back together. Bob Kunz restored the carbs, and Jerry MacNiesh restored the original valve covers and intake. The 270 HP engine runs like a Swiss watch now. Starts on the first crank and runs nice.
The car was outfittted with a 4 speed, but it was about 1000 VIN's too early for a 4 speed. The T-10 was from a 59. The car is a no radio car.
The frame had some poorly repaired rust damage, so we cut it all back out and made repairs that are correct and invisible.
The previous shop had robbed the car of most of it's 57 only parts, so I spent a lot of time finding the correct parts. Whoever restored the car in the past had used hardware store bolts, so we replaced with correct fasteners wherever possible. The car will not ever be shown, and tne owner just wanted a really nice Sunday driver that was as correct as possible. He did let me talk him into putting a leather-wrapped 15" wheel on the car, so he could get in and out of the car easily. I tried to get him to put a 58-62 column that I had in the storeroom in the car to give him more room, but he declined to do so. A complete new Shoreline beige interior finished up the car.
All in all the car came out real nice, and he had one giant grin on his face as he drove away!
Regards, John McGraw
When the car showed up, it was clear that it was more than just a paint job. It has sat at another Corvette shop for years, and had clearly sat outside for a substantial amount of time. The body had been media blasted and primed, but had cracks showing through the primer everywhere. I started by stripping the primer, and what a mess! none of the stress cracks had been repaired and there was some old damage that needed to be re-done. The blaster had actually blasted completely through the body at some corners, and the previous shop had just filled with body filler and did not glass up anything. All of the body mounting points had been broken out, and had been repaired with corrugated cardboard from a box, and glassed over.
We got all the glass massaged out pretty nice and closed the gaps back up to acceptable levels, and got the body blocked and painted with single stage PPG urethane. The engine was complexly frozen, and we had to take the pistons out with an air chisel. After all was said and done, it only took a .030 bore to clean it up. Installed new pistons and cam, lifters and reconditioned the rods. The crank cleaned up a .010 cut. Complete new valve job with bronze guides and a 3 angle valve job, and put it all back together. Bob Kunz restored the carbs, and Jerry MacNiesh restored the original valve covers and intake. The 270 HP engine runs like a Swiss watch now. Starts on the first crank and runs nice.
The car was outfittted with a 4 speed, but it was about 1000 VIN's too early for a 4 speed. The T-10 was from a 59. The car is a no radio car.
The frame had some poorly repaired rust damage, so we cut it all back out and made repairs that are correct and invisible.
The previous shop had robbed the car of most of it's 57 only parts, so I spent a lot of time finding the correct parts. Whoever restored the car in the past had used hardware store bolts, so we replaced with correct fasteners wherever possible. The car will not ever be shown, and tne owner just wanted a really nice Sunday driver that was as correct as possible. He did let me talk him into putting a leather-wrapped 15" wheel on the car, so he could get in and out of the car easily. I tried to get him to put a 58-62 column that I had in the storeroom in the car to give him more room, but he declined to do so. A complete new Shoreline beige interior finished up the car.
All in all the car came out real nice, and he had one giant grin on his face as he drove away!
Regards, John McGraw
The following 4 users liked this post by John McGraw:
bigearl56 (01-24-2017),
Frankie the Fink (01-24-2017),
Loren Smith (01-24-2017),
Randy G. (01-24-2017)
01-23-2017, 07:56 PM
#2
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Oct 2007
Location: Richmond Kentucky
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2022 Corvette of the Year Finalist -- Modified
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Beautiful car John. Congratulations of a great job. Who wouldn't have a grin on their face with that car? 
Rex
Rex
01-23-2017, 08:05 PM
#6
Team Owner
Nice job.
Gads....how do you 'blast' through the body ??
Gads....how do you 'blast' through the body ??
01-23-2017, 08:08 PM
#7
Burning Brakes
Very nice, John!
Mike
Mike
01-23-2017, 08:12 PM
#8
Le Mans Master
Beautiful results John. Any possibility of some "before" pictures. You have an amazing talent and, obvious, passion
01-23-2017, 08:29 PM
#12
Race Director
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2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
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Nice job John. It looks like a work of art Looking at the finished product, you wouldn't suspect all the challenges it presented.
Looking at the finished product, you wouldn't suspect all the challenges it presented.
01-23-2017, 08:42 PM
#13
Safety Car
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Location: Northern California CA
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Nice to see you do such a good job John! The car sure does look nice now!
It's a shame you had to go through so much to bring it back, but good for the owner to select you to complete the restoration.
There are so many hacks out there, and unfortunately, the next horror story is just around the corner.
Pat
It's a shame you had to go through so much to bring it back, but good for the owner to select you to complete the restoration.
There are so many hacks out there, and unfortunately, the next horror story is just around the corner.
Pat
01-23-2017, 09:09 PM
#14
Melting Slicks
Beautiful and very cool John, I love 2x4 bbl. cars...And I'm sure it all was up to your impeccable standards. He's a lucky guy...to have a pal like you.
Stan...
Stan...
Nice job, John!
01-23-2017, 09:59 PM
#16
Race Director
Simply stunning! "Really nice Sunday driver" is an understatement. It's so much more.
01-24-2017, 07:28 AM
#18
Race Director
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You'd be surprised at some of the bodies you see that have been media blasted.
Corvette fiberglass has the gel coat blasted off down to the "fuzzies" or through the body.
Metal cars have panels warped from heat and excessive pressure.
Corvette fiberglass has the gel coat blasted off down to the "fuzzies" or through the body.
Metal cars have panels warped from heat and excessive pressure.
01-24-2017, 08:22 AM
#19
Safety Car
Thread Starter
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Loren Smith (01-24-2017)
01-24-2017, 09:16 AM
#20
Safety Car
Very nice! I am just starting the stripping on my car. Long way to go and a long time to get there.