Has this 59 been hit?

[Greg L.]

I know it might be hard to tell from the pic but the hood gap looks a little off. It might be the camera, lighting, this is the way they were or....it's been hit.

So what do you guys think?

Thanks

[Stewart A.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

Greg, just because the hood might be sitting a little out it doesn't mean it's had a whack.
The first place you should be looking is under the car for obvious signs of fiber repairs, they stand out a mile away. Hoods, doors, trunks are a problem fit on all vettes and if the patience is not taken under a body resto it could be out a mile. Hanging doors, hoods and trunks with gaps like like a benz or a lexus takes years of practice and skill. I would be looking under the car for tell tale signs of accident repairs and in the engine bay along the chassis and the front valance is another good spot you will need a flash light to see in there with the hood half opened. Stewy

[Joe M.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

Angled photo of a white car...yikes!

Hard to tell, most do have some damage but it is the quality of the repair that should be more of a concern.

Agree completely with Stewart, however, the thickness of the hood and how it sets on the right side looks a poor repair. Hood appears to sit high all across the front. Again this is based on looking at the photo and may not be valid in person. The natural lines of unhit front hood opening does dip a little at the corners.

Should be easy to see any repairs in person.

Look carefully where the wheel well opening bonding strips join up. Poor design that causes bulges. Look at a 62 fender bonding strip to understand the problem and how to fix it. This area seems to always react to any front end damage.

The right headlight edge also seems thickened.

The top center chrome surround looks a bit short on the right where it approaches the top of the right bumperette.

Otherwise things do look symetrical...from the photo.

[Paul J.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

Stewy and Joe are right. Its impossible to tell unless you see it in person. You need to look under it, not just at the fiberglass but the bumper brackets/braces and the frame. If the body shows evidence of past damage, you need to know how far into the car the damage went. Check all of the parts for uniformity and straightness. Take a tape measure and go diagonally from different points on the frame. If you can see the body mounts, see if there's an excess number of shims.

Paul

[Dennis A.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

As Paul stated... Check the bumper backets and frame....I have seen fiberglass repairs so thick with bondo under good paint jobs its hard to tell from photo's...look under the body...

[Greg L.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

Thanks guys.

I've only actually looked a 3 "potential" cars to date but I think I'm starting to get a handle for where to look for detecting previous repairs. One was a no hit car, one was slightly hit on one corner and one had a complete el-cheapo one piece front clip so I've seen both ends of the spectrum!

I guess what I'm really curious about is...how well did the hood really line up on these 58-60 car when they were new? I don't think the front of the hood on this car is too high because I think it's the sun doing that. The passenger side front corner of the hood surround does look a little low to me though and as someone mentioned I now see that the area around the headlight bezel looks thick.

Why don't I just go and look at it? ....well it's about a 5 hr flight away!

I've asked for more pics so I'll wait until then...

[Bill I.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

The vent looks a little high on the drivers side and there are no wipers. Bill

[E S.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

Probably won't help, but here's an unhit (original paint) 62--E.J.

[Stewart A.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

Greg is this car for sale. If it is what type of money they chasing

[Greg L.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

E J that pic helps me a lot! I didn't realize that the hoods on the C1s fit that well. Maybe it's the early C1s with the issues? That makes me wonder now...if the 58-60 hoods should fit as good as your 62 or someplace between it and the early C1s.

Stewart, yes that car is for sale and I'm waiting for a price. I have an ad running on Kijiji here in Canada looking for a 58-60 in the low to mid 50s CDN (about 45k US). I'll also have an ad in the Driveline when ever it comes out. I asked some very specific questions about it including the price and I'm still waiting....

Maybe I touched a nerve with the owner.

[Donald S.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

E J that pic helps me a lot! I didn't realize that the hoods on the C1s fit that well. Maybe it's the early C1s with the issues? That makes me wonder now...if the 58-60 hoods should fit as good as your 62 or someplace between it and the early C1s

Greg,

My unhit '58's hood fits as well as E.J.'s 62 in my opinion, so I'm not sure how early you need to go before they got it right .

Don

[Patrick H.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

E J that pic helps me a lot! I didn't realize that the hoods on the C1s fit that well. Maybe it's the early C1s with the issues? That makes me wonder now...if the 58-60 hoods should fit as good as your 62 or someplace between it and the early C1s.

Stewart, yes that car is for sale and I'm waiting for a price. I have an ad running on Kijiji here in Canada looking for a 58-60 in the low to mid 50s CDN (about 45k US). I'll also have an ad in the Driveline when ever it comes out. I asked some very specific questions about it including the price and I'm still waiting....

Maybe I touched a nerve with the owner.

Greg,

One of my local Corvette friends is into C1s, specifically 60 and 62.
He at one time had 2 cars, both with ill-fitting hoods. For the heck of it he swapped hoods between the two cars and they each fit great. Go figure. One of the cars had its original hood, the other a replacement before the swap.

Just be aware that there is some variability from car to car.

Patrick

[Roger W.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

I have seen pictures of a few nice c1's in magazines and the hoods seemed to be slightly raised in the front. I have two hoods for my 59. One is a 59 and the other is a 60. The 59 fits pretty good, slightly raised in the front. The 60 fits terrible. I am still playing with the adjustments for that hood.

[Stewart A.]

Re: Has this 59 been hit?

A hood on a Corvette gets punished more than any other body panel. The heat in summer gets baked on top as well as underneath from a hot motor. Body shops tell me most of the glass cars they do they have to re- do the hoods after a couple of years. That makes sense because I just spent 150 hours on a massive resto on my hood and it was so over restored it was a joke. Now only 6 months later the hood is showing highs and lows all over it, with only going through One summer. The first 120 degree day out of the shed and engine heat moved the hood all over the place. Now I can lightly sand it flat again and top coat it back to perfection with no fillers, it should out last me after that. But I must admit the hood shape has never changed just the shrinkage over the repairs. Stewy