69 Corvette Resto Mod from Ukraine

[vettua]

Hello
Corvette is 69 years old.
Arrived in Ukraine 10 years ago
They promised a full recovery.
But the car turned out to be garbage.
The owner of the car gave it to a very wealthy workshop for repairs, but he was again deceived.
in 2017, the car came to me
Everything was very bad
Complete disassembly has begun ...

 

[vettua]

To qualitatively sand the frame inside and out, I made holes.
Holes have two tasks:
1. clean thoroughly
2. insert tubes into them to increase torsional rigidity of the frame

 

[vettua]

after sandblasting, many problem areas appeared










the result is obtained - the frame was well cleaned inside

 

[vettua]

tube into the frame






welding tig welded them into place

 

[mfain]

I admire your ambition. That is a lot of work!

Pappy

 

[BBShark]

Nice work!

 

[vettua]

Thank you guys
Corvette is a legendary car. Stingray 69 , moreover, very beautiful car.
I want to do it for a long time and well.
There is a question for you:
Do all corvettes have such terrible welding seams from the factory?
or depends on the year of manufacture?

 

[69427]

Thank you guys
Corvette is a legendary car. Stingray 69 , moreover, very beautiful car.
I want to do it for a long time and well.
There is a question for you:
Do all corvettes have such terrible welding seams from the factory?
or depends on the year of manufacture?

I don't know about most model year Corvette frames, but the welds on both my original '69 frame and my current modified '69 frame had pretty poor weld quality. I ended up doing a lot of grinding and rewelding of the seams.

I'm enjoying your pictures here. Keep up the good work. :thumbs:

 

[phantomjock]

AWESOME effort! Very nice work and, YES! Please do continue to share your progress. What is the plan when finished? Show car to display your skills? Daily Driver?

Beautiful.

Cheers - Jim

 

[vettua]

... What is the plan when finished? Show car to display your skills? Daily Driver?

Beautiful.

Cheers - Jim

The basic plan is a car for everyday driving.
This is not a pure restoration, but a modification of a classic car.
Therefore i am here
You have a lot of experience in corvettes
In Ukraine there are few such cars and there is no experience of deep restoration.
I have some ideas, and I wanted to discuss them with you, ask for advice.
I like automotive and motorcycle engineering, and I especially like hot rods and muscl cars.

 

[vettua]

A major problem with the frame is its low torsional rigidity.
I chose this option of amplification.
Seamless steel pipe 100x50x4 mm (if in inches - 4 "x2" x1 / 6 ")
Yes, 50 kg (110 lbs) was added to the mass of the frame, but stiffness increased.

 

[phantomjock]

At least that steel is down low - better for CG too! One area that is always bad - up front ahead of the suspension needs to be tied together. Many folks add a crossmember on top between the suspension arms. Lots of examples here as I recall.

Cheers - Jim

 

[vette427sbc]

I really like allthe bracing... Very nice job!

 

[mrvette]

I bought my old show car in '95 and some years ago I got a VERY pleasant surprise and actually looked/compared my frame welding up front to some pix of stock shit, and I"m happy as a clam......my car accumulates maybe 5000 miles in 2 years, if that much.....car hits the freeway maybe once every other month for about 20 miles, and that is recent.....

There is NOTHING stock about my car, wheels through roof, stem to stern, except the rear bumpers.....it was born as a '72 but has VETTE parts from '65 through '94 on it, then we go aftermarket......

here is link on another forum to pix of my car......https://www.corvetteforum.com/g/user/2027/photos

 

[vettua]

One area that is always bad - up front ahead of the suspension needs to be tied together.

Cheers - Jim

are you talking about this craving?
I found this photo in the BBShark album




https://www.classicaircraftautoinc.com/apps/webstore/products/show/3577649

 

[vettua]

The beam under the motor was failed.
I think because often they put a jack under it and lifted the car
I put ribs inside the beam





fastening of the lower levers were in cracks
I welded all the cracks and strengthened the bottom brackets

 

[mfain]

Very nice work!

Pappy

 

[mrvette]

Looks like you making something grenade proof......:drink:

 

[vettua]

the rear cross-member on the frame was cracked, bent and very rusty.
Made a new




fastening of the rear levers rotted in the gap between the plates
cut everything and did so













this detail also had to be done

 

[vettua]

The main problem of all frames is that they undergo corrosion from the inside, in the places of welding and high loads.
After sandblasting the frame, there are places where it is impossible to lay the primer
The solution is only to completely immerse the frame in the primer bathroom
but this event is very expensive.
I found a way out:
wrap the frame tightly with elastic film, make 10 holes with covers to fill with primer, air outlet and drain
Prepare a special container with a capacity of 100 liters (25-26 gallons) with very liquid soil.
fill it all in a frame and twist for a week with a period of 4-5 hours
very liquid primer penetrates all cracks
over time, the solvent from the primer evaporates and the density of the coating increases