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Projects Scratch built "Gasser" 57 Vette

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Utahvette, Jun 11, 2018.

  1. Utahvette
    Joined: Sep 4, 2012
    Posts: 310

    Utahvette
    Member

    The Ladder bars were built by a friend of mine. They were made out of the same 2x4 material the frame was. They are pie cut from the front edge about 3/4 the way back and rewelded. Decreasing size holes were then drilled along the side. I went to the local parts store and dug through their bushing supply and found some bushings for an early 70's Camaro lower control arm that were wide enough to fit through the front of the bars. The front lower portion of the rear wheel wells needed to be trimmed for tire clearance. I was already planning ahead for the exhaust system because I wanted it to run inboard of the frame rails so they didn't block the side view of what would soon be my bitchin chrome ladder bars. That was the main reason for the narrow mounting of the rear coilovers. The exhaust is going to pass through between the coils and tires and I wanted plenty of room. r20008.JPG
     
  2. DFH-GMC
    Joined: Dec 24, 2011
    Posts: 123

    DFH-GMC
    Member
    from Texas

    It’s hard to look at a Vette lying on it’s back


    Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
     
  3. Utahvette
    Joined: Sep 4, 2012
    Posts: 310

    Utahvette
    Member

    The tires and wheels of any build are crucial to the final look. These wheels came from a swap meet a year prior to the build. I was walking through the meet with a friend when we came across the two 15x8 rears. I stopped to look at them. You just don't see 15x8's very often , mostly 14x6's. They were very corroded(looked like they were made of concrete) with the most severely dry rotted snow tires(you could see the cords down inside the cracks on the rubber) I've ever seen mounted on them. I asked if they were Chevy pattern and was told yes. "How much?" $200 was the reply. Well at the time you could buy new ones for about $300 and these needed a lot of work. I told him I'd think about it and come back latter. We walked around the meet and bought a few little things and returned to the wheels on the way out. I had decided to get them, even though I thought they were a little high priced. But they are the old school ones with the deep lip on them and the new ones don't have that. I ask again "how much?" he replys again $200. I said OK and to my shock he says"Great, I'll get the other two". I glance at my buddy and he gives me this "What did he just say?" look. He comes back with two more 15x7's. I pay the guy and we laugh all the way back to the car. They didn't seem like such a bad deal any more . That made the trip worth while. DSCN2140[1].JPG DSCN2141[1].JPG
     
  4. glrbird
    Joined: Dec 20, 2010
    Posts: 601

    glrbird
    Member

    If you have any pictures of how you flipped it back, I would love to see them
     
  5. Smokin' deal on those wheels! Are they Americans?
     
  6. Just looked closer, the rears have a beautiful point on the spokes. Fronts look like TTs.
     
  7. 63Compact
    Joined: Feb 14, 2007
    Posts: 1,178

    63Compact
    Member

    Great job so far
     
    Bowtie Coupe likes this.
  8. Utahvette
    Joined: Sep 4, 2012
    Posts: 310

    Utahvette
    Member

    When building the chassis, each component was put in place by me. Now it's together it's really heavy! In order to get it everything upright again the solution is disassemble it. This needed to be done anyway for paint and chroming. With the frame bare and back on the ground, I finish welded all the joints and an idea came to me. I always thought the 1963 "Swiss Cheese" Super Duty Pontiac's were cool because of their frames with all the holes cut in them for weight savings. Why couldn't I do that? I've got a plasma cutter. I made a pattern out of a piece of 3/8 inch plywood with a 2 and 3 inch hole cut in it. The thickness held the tip at just the right distance from the metal and the cutter wouldn't stick to the wood. I just held it in place and traced the circle. It worked great. I cut 120 holes in about and hour. The disappointing part was it only saved 12 pounds, the good part was it looks bitchen! When people look under the car they are always impressed. r20010.JPG r20011.JPG
     
  9. Utahvette
    Joined: Sep 4, 2012
    Posts: 310

    Utahvette
    Member

    With the frame painted I reassembled the chassis with the now chromed front axle and ladder bars. img123.jpg
     
  10. Utahvette
    Joined: Sep 4, 2012
    Posts: 310

    Utahvette
    Member

    Time for the final body drop. img124.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2018
  11. Nice layout for the holes. Size & spacing looks proportionate.
     
  12. following....
     
    loudbang likes this.
  13. mkebaird
    Joined: Jan 21, 2014
    Posts: 340

    mkebaird
    Member

    Another one back from the dead! My avatar was similar condition, $3200 back in the early 90's
     
  14. Utahvette
    Joined: Sep 4, 2012
    Posts: 310

    Utahvette
    Member

    Doors on and pushed out into the sun it's starting to look like something. A dummy engine and transmission are already installed to weigh the chassis down a little to check ride height. I built fenderwell headers for it with a kit from Speedway Motors. The first side took 8 hours, the other side took 3. I did this now because I didn't want to be welding and grinding on them after the car was painted. I started by clamping the collector to a jack stand and positioned it in the wheelwell opening where I wanted it and built the forward tube over to meet it. Then made the others from front to rear. I was very particular about how I wanted them to look from the side view. Just peeking out the front and bottom of the opening and inline with the fender edge . DSCN2151[1].JPG DSCN2152[1].JPG
     
  15. Utahvette
    Joined: Sep 4, 2012
    Posts: 310

    Utahvette
    Member

    Color choices can be so difficult. I wanted something that screamed 1960's . I'm not artistic enough to do a custom psychedelic or some other wild paint job, but I do have a little experience shooting Metal-Flake so Metal-Flake it is. It has the advantage of being retro looking and is fairly simple to do. Right up my alley. I had in mind a bright Tangerine-Orange flake . I bought some Orange flake off the internet and went to the paint store to pick out a base color. Looking through the color samples I would take a pinch of flake and sprinkle some on a paint chip to see what it looked like. I was disappointed to find out it didn't look very good over a true orange. I ended up choosing Ford Escape "Orange crush", which is really more of a copper color. Looking back on it I think the way to get the color I had in mind would be to use silver flake and base and then put orange candy over it to get the right look. To late now, I'm not changing it just because the color is a shade off. Don't get me wrong, it still looks good, It's just not what I had envisioned. Shown here fresh out of the paint room and with some trim on it I'm getting stoked about how it's turning out. As with my other builds, most of the chrome is from E-Bay. I've found that by lowering my standards a little I can save big money by getting stuff that isn't perfect. A scratch here or a small dent there and the value plummets as far as Corvette trim goes. The restorers are so hung up on perfection that second rate parts have very little value to them. Once installed on the car they're barely noticeable. DSCN2153[1].JPG
     
  16. Steve Norton
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 59

    Steve Norton

    Have a few 56-57 parts available if you are missing anything
     
  17. Utahvette
    Joined: Sep 4, 2012
    Posts: 310

    Utahvette
    Member

    Most of the exterior trim is on now. Waiting for the tail lights to return from the chrome shop. Still need to run the exhaust out the rear. The pipes will run inboard of the frame rails so as to not block the ladder bars from view. The hood scoop is from a 1970 Cougar Eliminator. I had a 57 Corvette in the 1970s that ran one of these and I always thought it looked like it belonged. It fits perfectly between the power bulges and curves to match the surface of the hood. No interior yet. Really starting to look like something now. 570002.JPG 570003.JPG CIMG0118.JPG
     
  18. Dooley
    Joined: May 29, 2002
    Posts: 2,956

    Dooley
    Member
    from Buffalo NY

  19. Thor1
    Joined: Jun 6, 2005
    Posts: 1,664

    Thor1
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Wow! That thing looks awesome!
     
  20. mkebaird
    Joined: Jan 21, 2014
    Posts: 340

    mkebaird
    Member

  21. loudbang
    Joined: Jul 23, 2013
    Posts: 40,276

    loudbang
    Member

    Now that is a CORVETTE!!!
     
    Thor1, kidcampbell71, Deuces and 2 others like this.
  22. 31hotrodguy
    Joined: Oct 29, 2013
    Posts: 2,698

    31hotrodguy
    Member

  23. jammer
    Joined: Oct 18, 2003
    Posts: 73

    jammer
    Member

    Another one Saved !! Well done !!
     
  24. Wow- you nailed the stance and wheel/tire combo.
    The drilled & chromed ladder bars are perfect jewelry- they're a highlight, but not so gaudy as to be a distraction. :cool:
     
  25. jimdillon
    Joined: Dec 6, 2005
    Posts: 3,291

    jimdillon
    Member

    The color and stance (and wheels) are spot on. Good to see another old derelict saved.
     
  26. Steve Norton
    Joined: Sep 16, 2014
    Posts: 59

    Steve Norton

    Great looking Vette. How long of build drone start to finish. My gasser a 56 Vette took 2 years
     
    Deuces, Bowtie Coupe and loudbang like this.
  27. Utahvette
    Joined: Sep 4, 2012
    Posts: 310

    Utahvette
    Member

    I started in December of 06 and I was driving it the end of May 07, Just under 6 months. Pretty much full time build.
     
  28. jimdillon
    Joined: Dec 6, 2005
    Posts: 3,291

    jimdillon
    Member

    Steve your build came out excellent. I wish you would do a build on your car as well.
     
    Deuces, Bowtie Coupe and loudbang like this.
  29. Utahvette
    Joined: Sep 4, 2012
    Posts: 310

    Utahvette
    Member

    The exhaust system was one of the important considerations when building this car. I wanted the aggressive fenderwell header look but to be legal it had to exit towards the rear. But the ladder bars were an important visual aspect also, so in order for the exhaust to get past the bars and not distract from them it needed to run inboard the frame rails. Side pipes would be easy but would block out at least part of the bars. The cross-member I built for the transmission was directly in the path and if the exhaust pipes went below it they would hang way down and look like an afterthought. The simple solution was to go through the cross-member like was done on the mid 60s Vettes. I cut holes out of the member and welded some pieces of round tubing in large enough for the pipes to pass through. I centered the pipes in the tubes and pumped silicone in around them to keep them from rattling. Once that was done it was easy to run the exhaust back up and over the axle through the spaces I had left out board of the rear shocks. This gives a clean appearance for the low angle side shot. The header collectors have caps bolted on their ends and it's a simple matter to uncap them when the occasion requires it.(which occurs more often than you would think) The finished side shot at the bottom shows the simple uncluttered look I wanted. DSCN2163[1].JPG DSCN2164[1].JPG DSCN2165[1].JPG DSCN2170[1].JPG salt 07023.jpg
     

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