Wrecked Vette - Coming Back to Life
Vette IMG_8665.jpgVette IMG_8667.jpgVette IMG_8669.jpgHi Team
I had this listed under "Top Surround Replacement" but this has gone far beyond that.
Basically, I drive my call on the weekends and since I am very busy during the week, my escape is when I take my Vette even to the corner store to get a gallon of milk. I am sure many of you are like that also. Well, Guess what......I needed something from Home Depot and took the Vette. Parked so far away that I felt I was parking at a Disney World parking lot wanting to wait for the tram to take me to the front doors of the store. Not good. I figure that far away is were all the work and construction trucks also park. You know the type of trucks I'm talking about. The ones that are HUGE and probably dont have rear view mirrors or if they did, using them is a remote option.
As I returned to my car with light bulb at hand, I noticed something strange. The nose was slightly up on my vettte. Well to make a long story short, someone has backed into the front of the vette. The bumper was not dented but since it moved up about an inch or less, the fiberglass on the top surround cracked. And so it begins.
I would like to say that I am amazingly impressed with Hagerty's insurance. They were AWESOME all the way. I would highly recommend them to anyone especially with this experience.
After looking at several places that work on Vettes and, of course as many of you, i have friends that say...."oh, I have a friend that works on Fiberglass". You know what that means.....They know how to patch a hole on a boat. In my opinion, the only thing that has really turned me off about this whole process was trying to find someone that works on these cars and knows how to. Since these cars are not around much anymore, it is rare to find someone that can work on a Vette. Bonding Strips? What are those, they would say.
I ended up at the Vette Smith in Miami. The guy there, Craig Priest, is amazing. He is actually even referenced in some of the Corvette books I have because he was the owner of the famous ZL-1 at one point. He has been working in Vettes probably for about 40 years. He and his team are amazingly good. The process of working with him was also very good. He worked directly with the insurance company and then worked with me on what other things I wanted to get done to the car. Zero suprises is what I like. We talk all the time, if not to talk about my vette, I like to hear his stories of all the amazing cars he had or worked on.
What I thought would be a problem is not at all. I see eye to eye with this guy. The first thing he did when I first met him was to ask what I want to do with the car. Makes sense becuse if what I wanted was to make it a show car, then that would take him in one direction. If all I wanted to was to make the basic repair, then I know he whould go the other route. I liked this very much and was a good basis for our mutual understanding.
Overall, besides the top surround I wanted to get some other things done. You know....the AsLongAs factor. Well, As Long As you are painting the front, you might as well ....... (fill in the blank here). Well, what can I tell you. Carb rebuild, new windshield, antenna, get wipers working, paint rest of the car.....
Color - this care was in 1971 Brands Hatch Green. Not very common. I had purchased it with some dark green color. After stripping off the paint and the NUMEROUS layers of rainbow colors, Craig and his top guy there "Chino" painted me a swatch of Brands Hatch Green. WOW - You have to see a swatch to appreciate the color. Amazing.
Well, enough said for now. I will keep posting to this thread to update everyone.
Please send in comments and recommendations. I need them!!!!!!
Thanks
I had this listed under "Top Surround Replacement" but this has gone far beyond that.
Basically, I drive my call on the weekends and since I am very busy during the week, my escape is when I take my Vette even to the corner store to get a gallon of milk. I am sure many of you are like that also. Well, Guess what......I needed something from Home Depot and took the Vette. Parked so far away that I felt I was parking at a Disney World parking lot wanting to wait for the tram to take me to the front doors of the store. Not good. I figure that far away is were all the work and construction trucks also park. You know the type of trucks I'm talking about. The ones that are HUGE and probably dont have rear view mirrors or if they did, using them is a remote option.
As I returned to my car with light bulb at hand, I noticed something strange. The nose was slightly up on my vettte. Well to make a long story short, someone has backed into the front of the vette. The bumper was not dented but since it moved up about an inch or less, the fiberglass on the top surround cracked. And so it begins.
I would like to say that I am amazingly impressed with Hagerty's insurance. They were AWESOME all the way. I would highly recommend them to anyone especially with this experience.
After looking at several places that work on Vettes and, of course as many of you, i have friends that say...."oh, I have a friend that works on Fiberglass". You know what that means.....They know how to patch a hole on a boat. In my opinion, the only thing that has really turned me off about this whole process was trying to find someone that works on these cars and knows how to. Since these cars are not around much anymore, it is rare to find someone that can work on a Vette. Bonding Strips? What are those, they would say.
I ended up at the Vette Smith in Miami. The guy there, Craig Priest, is amazing. He is actually even referenced in some of the Corvette books I have because he was the owner of the famous ZL-1 at one point. He has been working in Vettes probably for about 40 years. He and his team are amazingly good. The process of working with him was also very good. He worked directly with the insurance company and then worked with me on what other things I wanted to get done to the car. Zero suprises is what I like. We talk all the time, if not to talk about my vette, I like to hear his stories of all the amazing cars he had or worked on.
What I thought would be a problem is not at all. I see eye to eye with this guy. The first thing he did when I first met him was to ask what I want to do with the car. Makes sense becuse if what I wanted was to make it a show car, then that would take him in one direction. If all I wanted to was to make the basic repair, then I know he whould go the other route. I liked this very much and was a good basis for our mutual understanding.
Overall, besides the top surround I wanted to get some other things done. You know....the AsLongAs factor. Well, As Long As you are painting the front, you might as well ....... (fill in the blank here). Well, what can I tell you. Carb rebuild, new windshield, antenna, get wipers working, paint rest of the car.....
Color - this care was in 1971 Brands Hatch Green. Not very common. I had purchased it with some dark green color. After stripping off the paint and the NUMEROUS layers of rainbow colors, Craig and his top guy there "Chino" painted me a swatch of Brands Hatch Green. WOW - You have to see a swatch to appreciate the color. Amazing.
Well, enough said for now. I will keep posting to this thread to update everyone.
Please send in comments and recommendations. I need them!!!!!!
Thanks
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