The advertisement in the Friday morning paper read " For Sale
66 Corvette, large engine, unfinished project, negotiable, please call
after 5:00 o'clock". I called immediately, and within an hour,
after a deposit was given the car was mine. I had been looking for quite
some time for a coupe project, but never did I expect something like
this.
Short History,
The car had originally been sold on March 9th, through a G.M. dealer
in Montreal called Duval Motors. The salesperson who handled the transaction
at that time went by the name of Jean Bellrose. Since then there has
been a succession of six previous owners (I have spoken to all of them)
before I able to purchased it in the spring of 1993. I immediately disassembled
the car and started a full frame off restoration, but as you know, things
do not always work out as planned and it was put aside on quite a few
occasions over the last eight years, in order to finish up half a dozen
other project cars.
The previous owner had decided to repaint the car so with a friend of
his, they set out to completely strip the car of it's numerous paint-jobs.
The only problem was the method that they chose to do it. They set out
with a grinder using a 40 grit wheel, and proceeded to completely grind
down the car to bare fiberglass. In doing so, not only did they completely
ruin the fiberglass body, but they also damaged all the exterior stainless
trim, and they were even able to damage almost all of the different
pieces of glass. After I towed it back to my shop for a closer examination,
I realized that none of the front fiberglass was usable. The hood had
been cut out and was incorrect for the current year. A previous owner
had installed some very aggressive wheel flare's, including a rather
large lower air dam (we get lots of snow around here ya'no). The headlight
openings had also been glassed in, and square headlamp bulbs had been
relocated in the grill area. The work that would have been involved
in trying to repair the front end, would have been more expensive, and
time consuming, then to replace the complete assembly.
The rear section of the car had not fared much better then the front
end. The fenders had also been flared, and the body-man had even went
so far as to glass-in a length of 1" steel rod, that he bent, to
form the new wheel opening. The taillight panel had a total of six holes,
the exhaust panel had been glassed in, and the body was permanently
attached to the frame for the complete length of the rocker channel,
with a 48" section of steel L-beam. (talk about body mounts :o)
The first job at hand was to get rid of the fiberglass sections that
were not to be reused. The rear quarter panels, the complete front end,
and the drivetrain was taken off the car.
 I
then removed the cowl-back section of the body and installed it on a
homemade dolly.
The rolling frame was then inspected very closely for possible rust
damage and also to verify if any repairs were necessary. The frame had
already been repaired by a previous owner, so all that it needed was
a blasting and refinishing. It was then completely disassembled, and
sent out to a professional shop who proceeded to sandblast the frame
and also all the various suspension parts. The bare frame and it's parts
were then washed with a surface etching product, and refinished using
a high solid, two part epoxy finish, in the correct shade of black.
Now to the fun part of any restoration, the rebuild. After hauling
the frame and all it's parts back to the shop I started a very long
and gratifying task, that of rebuilding the new frame. To try and understand
to what extent the rebuild went, here is a short run-down of what was
involved.
Everything that moves on the chassis was restored-rebuilt-or replaced.
All of the brake and fuel lines, the gas tank and sending unit, all
the hoses, ever bearing, every seal, new calipers, rotors, pads, every
piece of the front suspension including the pw/steering, and the steering
box was replaced/restored. The rear end was professionally rebuilt with,
new bearings, seals, and a clutch pack, the transmission was also rebuilt
with all new components, and the engine was completely overhauled. Nothing
on the chassis was overlooked.
 This
photo shows the now completed chassis assembly, ready to mount the wheels
, and to become what is known in the trade, as a rolling chassis
 The
frame was then completely sealed in thick plastic wrap to protect it
from the dust and debris of the coming body work, and then I slowly
lowered the body back down and reattached it to the frame, using all
new bushings and hardware.
 At
that point the interior was completely removed from the car. A few sections
of the floor around the driveshaft tunnel needed to be repaired, but
basically the rest of the interior was extremely sound, for a thirty
five year old car. In the past the interior of the car had gone through
a color change, so in order to bring it back to it's original colors,
I was obliged to replace all the interior components. I purchased new
door panels, headliner, dash pads, and after a total rebuild of the
seat frames, during a trip to Carlisle, they were lovingly recovered
in beautiful dark green leather, by my Mexican friend who works for
big AL Knoch.
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The inner fenders were first bonded in place inside the fenders,
and then the complete front section was pre-fitted to the car
in order to verify it's position. Once that was done, using the
correct bonding adhesive, I then proceeded with great care to
reinstall the new front end back on the car. Once the front was
in place and the adhesive had set properly ( 24 hrs ), the headlight
buckets, the doors, and the hood were fitted to the car. Gelcoat
was then applied to the bare fiberglass body in preparation for
the body work to come.
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the complete body shell then underwent the filling, block-sanding,
and building primer, necessary to be insure that the condition
of the body, the lines, and the gaps, were not only within the
recommended tolerances, but would all be excellent. |
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Next a final coat of finishing primer was applied, and then the
doors, hood, and headlight assemblies were once again removed,
in preparation for the painting of all the various door and hood
jams.
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The next step was to mask the car in order to paint the openings
around the headlights, and hood area, and to paint the door surround
and the door jams. |
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The restored and detailed engine assembly, ready to drop back
in the car I was fortunate to still have the original engine in
the car when it was purchased. It is worth mentioning here, because
if you are skilled in General Motors engine ID's , you would immediately
notice that the original broach marks ( the microscopic lines
on the pad that run lengthwise on the block) are still intact,
indicating that not only is it a virgin, untouched, original pad,
but that it has never had a regrind, and that the numbers confirm
that it is not a replacement block. |
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After the newly painted sections had dried, the doors, the
hood, and the headlight buckets, were reinstalled and properly
adjusted in preparation for the final painting. Here you see a
shot of the car the day it was painted. |
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The next step was to install the complete interior. I waited
a week before attempting to replace the exterior trim. I wanted
to be sure the finish had settled properly in case I brushed up
too close to the freshly painted surface. |
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Close up of the L.H. hinge pillar, showing the detail and the
finish, after the interior was back in the car.
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The job number ( 465 ) was found in three different locations
on the car. It was on the lower section of R.H. bulkhead in the
engine compartment. The same numbers were also on the R.H. outer
rear bulkhead, and finally as you see in this shot, on the metal
brace that spans the dash section, next to the parking brake handle.
This was the first time that I had ever seen the numbers in this
location.
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Close up of the engine, and all it's accessories back in their
proper place.
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The following two shots were taken the first time the car was brought
out of the garage. It hadn't gone through the inspection yet, and that's
why you see a temporary tag in the window, and not the proper license
plate.
The car is now equipped with the following options
A01 Soft Ray tinted glass
A31 Electric windows
C60 Air conditioning
G81 Posi-rear with a 3.08 ratio
J50 Power brakes (original SS master cylinder and booster)
L72 High Per. 427/425 HP engine ( original, balanced and blueprinted)
M20 4 Speed transmission
N14 Side exhausts (NOS GM)
N36 Telescopic steering column
N40 Power Steering
P48 Kelsly Hayes, Repro Knock-off wheels
P92 Whitewall tires
U69 AM/FM radio
U70 Electric Antenna
UU Leather interior
In closing there is one last thing worth mentioning
in the story of this car. I finished the restoration on June 20th of
this year, and the car was then put up for sale. As luck would have
it, the car was purchased by the newest member of the Quebec Chapter
of NCRS. His name is André Goulet, and he lives in Grand-Mere.
By now you might be thinking what does luck have to do with it, well
André just happiness to be one of the previous owners. He owned
the car during six years in the late seventies, and he had not seen
the car, for almost 20 years. He is now a very proud owner, and if you
wish to see his car, I am told he will be attending the regional meet
next summer in St-Sauveur. By the way, André also mentioned to
me that this would be one Corvette, that would never go back on the
block as long as he lives :o)
Hay, talk about a nice car.....
Robert Pelland
Pointe du Lac, Qc.
NCRS# 23405
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