Projects "Hot Rods to Hell" Corvette build finale

If you leave the chin on , you might as well paint it blue

 

knowing the studios there was more than one.......I for sure saw the rear half of one at mgm back lot when it was closing...

 

at the beginning u said the car is finished, please post more....thanks

 

It's painted! I know , I know, It's not very shiny, but it's lacquer . Today's lacquers don't seem to dry shiny. Take my word for it, it will buff out and look great . In fact, It's easy to spray, hard to run, quick drying, and simple to touch up. It's also a breeze to color sand and buff out compared to modern urethane paints. I could say the reason I used lacquer is to be historically accurate, but the real reason is I had over 2 gallons of it left over from a previous car. It was included with a 63 Corvette project I bought a few years ago and I guess the previous owner must have thought he was going to need 3 gallons of Riverside Red paint to cover the car. Or maybe there was just a good salesman at the paint store, anyway I only used 3 quarts to paint that car . HVLP spray guns are far superior to the old guns we used to use. And given the cost of paint these days I don't mind saving several hundred dollars by using leftover paint. I did have to tint it a little orange to closer match the movie car color. I watched the movie closely a few times and compared the color of the car to other objects in the show that I'm sure were actually red and determined the car was a red orange color and not just faded in the film.

 

That is flippin' AWESOME!
And the resto-weenies are gonna have a fit. Ha

 

Maybe they parted the car out after the movie? From the looks of the smoke trail it was leaving in the movie, the engine was toast and the car wouldn't have been worth much at the time.
Anyone know thw whereabouts of the Vette, or for that matter, the other cars in the movie?

What a great project.

 

You need the rollbar so your wife has something to hang on to when you go to shows..........

 

Here it is buffed out and I'm beginning to put some trim on it. Kind of exciting , It's starting to look like a car. The dash pad was from a someone else's stalled project. It was an uninstalled new one that had been painted purple to go along with the pretty purple interior the guy had planned to install in his 61 Corvette. The car changed hands and the new owner had plans to restore the car , He considered the dash ruined and gave it to me. I got the purple cleaned off and shot it black. The center console is a decent used one with dummy knobs attached to make it look like it has a heater. The wheel wells and engine compartment are blacked out now. The center upper grill molding is not on yet because it's at the chrome shop. I bought it a swap meet and it looked beautiful until I mounted it next to the outer ones . It had a definite yellow cast to it . The chrome guys said it had been nickel plated but never chromed . The nickel had turned yellow. The windshield frame came bit by bit from E-Bay and the windshield itself had the misfortune to be a non original replacement and had no proper date code or L-O-F marking. Nobody would want that! It was free .

 

That colour is awesome!

 

It is funny, people at shows will say what a waste of a Corvette without knowing what a POS you started with.
Fantastic job.

 

I never ever wanted a corvette ... till Now

 

I stumbled on to this thread while researching the "Hot Rods to Hell" Vette for a model kit rebuild project of mine and I gotta say I'm impressed. Dude, I love your building style and attitude about this project. Pretty much exactly how I build cars as well. Out of stuff you have laying around, leftover parts and material, non-perfect parts, cast off parts from other peoples projects and stuff nobody wants or would use for their mega buck prestine restoration that will never get driven or used as they were intended to be. Awsome on how you didn't hesitate to cut the wheel wells and chin off. I would have done the same. My take is: Just have fun with it while you have it. Let the next guy worry about it and fix it back stock if they want. I look forward to the pics of the car finished.

 

whats wrong with those kids!

 

You sir, are a mad man. After all these years recreating what many of us considered THE baddest 'Vette of all time when that movie came out. And having no reservations about it at all, 'vette crowd be damned, Bravo!

(next, somebody needs to do the "King of the Mountain" badass vette Dennis Hopper drove. hint, hint...)

 

Of all my alleged skills, Painting flames is not one of them. I had my good friend Mike Elmer come over and lay them out and I masked them off. As you can see no expense was spared on masking supply's. Only the finest materials go into the building of one of my cars. I'll admit we did take a little artistic license with the flames. They are a bit more conventional appearing than the movie cars. Actually I think I held up a picture and told Mike "They need to look like these,only better"

 

Dude, Mike needs to pull his shirt collar up over his mouth and nose while spraying. Safety 1st!

 

He just held his breath.

 

I wanna see this thing ripping up I-15 during traffic, instilling terror in the hearts of the workday commuters. When is/was the maiden voyage?

 

Good call on the lacquer paint! Where were you able to find some in quart/gal quanities? Someday I want to use lacquer on my 32.

 

Now It's starting to look like something! Laying the stripe straight on that "Washboard" hood was a bit of a challenge.

 

Got a hot blonde to set on the deck lid?

 

If not, loan me the car & I'll help you find one...

 

Dude, you NEED that rollbar!!! Also, Mimsy looks pretty good from the back!

 

Awesome! You're having way too much fun.

I can't believe someone actually suggested a stock nose, or no roll bar. Sacrilege!

 

Got to find yourself a nice set of "Raiders", and like everyone else said, That flimsy, cheesey roll bar is an absolute must have.
The flames on the original car always looked like cartoon stick-ons to me. I like yours way better.

 

My God man, you nailed it.

 

It is looking great! And, I think I would have had to do the same with the flames.

 

Is there no deck lid chrome on the "Movie Car" or was it painted red? Cant believe I even noticed that, what with Mimsey's "deck lid" in the pic. Man car guys are messed up sometimes.

 

Time for some minor details now. Fuel tank and engine placement. The fuel tank was a reject from another restoration had pin holes in the bottom so I had to use some Eastwood tank sealer . Deviating from the movie car , this is NOT going to sound like an Austin Healey . I went with the 2 1/2 inch Corvette type Rams horn exhaust manifolds on the engine with 2 1/2 inch pipes back to some turbo mufflers and then over the rear axle. A T-5 from an 8O' s Camaro is used with a Corporate 10 bolt rear axle with 4.10 Posi from a 70's Camaro.

 

Being so strict with the exact-ness of the build , I've gotta say that I'm suprised that you didn't perfectly replicate the flames . That being said, I like the ones you DID paint on better , and most people will never pick that out when they see it . Your workmanship & attention to detail is fantastic .