1967 Body Lift for Chassis & Frame Restoration

[Leif A.]

Re: Update

Phenomenal accomplishment, Rich. Congratulations on a job well done. Your sharing this process with so many detailed pictures and descriptions will most certainly help many others down the road as they go thru their own restoration. Best of luck with the final results...something tells me you're going to score very well. Again, congratulations!!

[Richard M.]

Re: Headlight Motors, Bushing Repair and Rallye Wheels now with Tires

Thanks Jim and Leif,

Due to scheduling circumstances and some inclement weather we never got the car over to the lift. Then I got tied up directing traffic later in the morning through the afternoon. The weather was cold and windy and kept the activities at bay. Just the way it goes sometimes. Oh well.

Heading to the Banquet in a little while after a celebratory adult beverage, because.....

I found out earlier today that Bob's car achieved TOP FLIGHT !!!

I am truly honored to be a factor in this coveted award.

Humbled and appreciative,
Rich

===

[Richard M.]

Done

We all had to exit the hanger at the end of the event around 3PM, so I told Cathie it's time for a short first test drive. I felt confident in this restoration. It's only movement under it's own power system prior to this was a short hop from my driveway into the trailer, then a short hop from the trailer to the judging hanger on Thursday, then a little back and forth during Operations Tests.

Cathie got in the car, seatbelts fastened around both of our waists, and I started the engine. Nice cold start idle. Gave it about 30 seconds warm up and we left the building. We tooled around the show grounds and I decided to go out on the road. We took the right on Dolittle Road and got to the main gate. I briefly reminisced the gate area where I was directing traffic in the early morning cold right there, then again in the afternoon while watching all of the Corvettes coming in and leaving the event.

Okay, now it's our turn. Midnite was running flawlessly. Oil pressure about 80psi.....Check. Temperature about 150......Check. Tach movement....Check. Fuel Gauge apx 1/4 tank....Check. Not a vehicle nearby....Check

I took a left onto Medulla road. 1st gear, then 2nd, then I punched it a little and into 3rd. Nice. Those side exhausts were talking to us. Awesome. Then I gave it a nice abrupt pedal. I heard the secondaries kick in. Nice. Midnite was happy again. Then I gave him a good punch for a good jump before fourth. Then a final shift into 4th and Midnite was exhilarated. "WOW! What a Beast!".

I was smiling. I heard Midnite say Thank you for making me whole again. This car is breathtaking. I looked over at Cathie and she was smiling. I figured this would be a perfect time for sharing my thoughts. I said "I WANT ONE!" She looked over and chuckled. We got to the end of Medulla Rd and stopped, took a right. Went through the gears, made a U-turn then back to Medulla, cruising back to Sun-N-Fun, and got back to the hanger for the nights rest. Disconnected the battery, locked him up and took off for the banquet for the festivities. I was done.

We had a great time at the banquet. I accepted the Top Flight Blue Ribbon for my good friend Bob. I said a quick few words that Bob asked me to express. I said Bob wanted to thank all of the people during this judging process. His best judging experience in all of his adventures with cars and antique boats. He said thank you to all of the NCRS.

My task was complete. As mentioned, I am honored to be part of this accomplishment. I too thank all of you for helping me with my passion. I had a great time with this restoration. Through the good and bad, through the fun and the problems. It was all worth it.

Rich

[Richard M.]

Re: Done

In between a relaxing Sunday on the couch watching football games, I got a video clip uploaded that we took Sunday morning before loading the '67 into the trailer for the ride home. Got back safely.

At around 30 seconds to 50 seconds there was a glitch in the upload. Sit tight until it gets past that or just click the bar to get to 50.

https://youtu.be/UU8zVWOdARA

Cathie and were thinking of taking it for a long test drive down to the Key West but we had to get back to take care of our Cocker Spaniel instead.

Then this morning I called my friend who owns a repair and alignment shop who does all of my C1 and C2 alignments. I trailered it over around 10AM and after a little wait it went up on the rack to be checked out. Everything needed some adjusting except the right rear toe which was fine.

The left rear needed a shim moved from one side to the other. We used the trolley jack and took the load off of the leaf spring, then we removed the lower shock and loosened the strut rod. This takes the strain off of the arm at the front bolt. I removed the nut and bolt, and with a nice easy swap of the shim we were done in about 10 minutes. Bolted it back in and tightened the nut, cotter pinned it, reconnected the strut and set it back to where it was. Toe came right in and reconnected the shock and the rear was then checked for camber, adjusted the struts and all set.

Then we set the front Caster and Camber by re-setting shims, then set the Toe with the steering wheel precisely centered. All came together fine.

My friend took a few pictures for me as I forgot my camera this morning.
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Then we went for a test cruise after adding some fuel. The car felt and drove like a brand new 1967 Corvette.
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I'll reinstall the Trim Rings after a few clip adjustments.

Rich

[Richard M.]

Reflections

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Well, here it is a few days after the Lakeland Winter Regional. I have my good friend Bob's '67 back from it's first ever Flight Judging event and I'm still so very excited. It finally hit me. Midnite = Top Flight. Wow! Bob and I spent 3+ hours on the phone Sunday night recapturing the weekend and the entire reincarnation of his beautiful car. During our discussions we both had to switch portable phones due to weak batteries.

Within the conversation we discussed the Friday Judging Arena. I told Bob on December 17th when he asked me to get it Judged instead of putting it in Sportsman Display, I had to really think about the feasibility of getting the car properly configured. A year prior, when I took the body off that New Years' Eve and decided to do a Resto-Thread here on the TDB, little did I think it would be in Hanger A the following January. That was NOT the plan a year earlier. Bob had driven the car for 3 years up in the NH Lakes Region and had asked me if I could help him freshen up the ugly frame. Bob is like me. He like things looking nice and new and fresh. Pride of ownership. Bob wanted to drive this car often but we both felt it needed a complete and thorough re-do underneath the hood and cabin and rear deck, particularly for safety and security.

The very nice original body being lifted off the rattle can blackened rusty old frame on December 31st, 2014.
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The original partially paint freshened body got reattached to the restored chassis on January 8th, 2016.
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A side-note...... In the 60's and 70's, Bob ran a Chevy Dealership in Concord NH where he grew up. He was the guy who placed the orders to St Louis for Corvettes. In 1967 he dreamed of owning a Black on Black on Black 2 Top 435HP convertible. He couldn't afford it then. He had owned several Corvettes over time, a '67 convertible, a '58, and recently a C6 Z06, and a '67 L79. Three and a half years ago his dream came true when he got a call from a friend in PA that he spotted a 3xBlack '67 435HP Corvette at a local Dealership which Bob knew well. It was in the Owner's Private Collection now up for sale. Bob got his '67 L79 from the same collection a year or so earlier.

Bob and I spent hours and hours on the phone that week. He asked me to go up to inspect it but I had hurt my back and couldn't travel. I told Bob I could make a call to my Inspector locator Jim Gessner to get a expert locally up there, but Bob didn't have much time. So we had Bob's friend do a 3rd party picture taking session and would email pics to me to review. This went on for several days and all worked out. Bob bought the car and the rest is history.

To summarize the Judging experience, both Bob and I had a great time. Neither of us were nervous, we had fun and smiled and were just plain happy to have his car there for the event. We got it there just in time and are very thankful to the entire staff for helping us attend. Bill Herron was awesome and helped us get inside in time and helped with some last minute tasks we had to do to. Thanks Bill !!
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We were not sure what the outcome would be, but both of us felt good about the event. I had to do some scrambling to get the car done. Yes some long hours, plenty of coffee, and some extra help, but it was all worth it. Bob has been in the Judging world before with other classes of items like antique boats and other car shows, show-n-shines, etc, but not a Judging experience like this. It was his first time. He was so impressed with our NCRS Judges, Team Leader Nick Culkowski, and others helping with the event. I also had the sincere pleasure to meet Al Grenning for the first time. Thanks to Al and his Roy Sinor co-published Trim Tag Book, several months before, I was able to Authenticate the car's signatures for confidence to move forward with this step. Al and I had a nice post-judging discussion about the restoration. He made some very nice comments to both Bob and I about the car and the restoration. Did that ever make me feel good hearing that from him. Al is another on my Hero-List.

Some of the activity....
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(Don't tell Nick but Ara was actually taking a nap while checking for chipped paint)
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Everyone acted professionally and polite and so very knowledgeable. Again, I learned more with this experience. Bob learned much too about his car. Bob had expressed to me to express to the entire NCRS Membership that it was one of the best Judged events he has ever attended. I am very proud to be a member of nearly 28 years for reasons like this.

It was such a great time for all of us. Thank you NCRS, for doing what you do.

Rich