Sanding, Sanding, Sanding - 320 Grit

The primer coat is a great sealing coat, but leaves a very hard shell that needs to be sanded down.  This will take a few weeks.

Keeping things straight

As we prep for color, keeping lines straight and some small touch ups on the body.

Back to Autobody Dimemsions - sanding and prep next steps

We brought the car back over to Autobody Dimensions in Gaithersburg.  Next steps, sand 320 grit, 420 grit and final 600 grit over the next few weeks.  Targeting painting color on December 22, 2019.

Took a look at some of the completed parts

Many of the parts were sent out earlier this year for reconditioning.  Many still to do.  We're aiming to begin reassembling the car in the February/March 2019 timeframe.

Control arm back from painting.

All the parts are placed on racks before and after restoration.

Dash completed by Karl Burl (Restorations by Karl) and wrapped up to keep clean.

Completed exhaust manifolds and the rear (Bairs restored the rear)

This sticker is in the glove box. Oil change at 26,572 miles.  Reedman Motors is located in Langhorne, PA, and at the time, right across from the Langhorne Race Track.

Brake backing plate

The clutch is balanced with the flywheel

The interior trim is ready to go, protected with blankets and bubble wrap

Car placed on the rolling jig

Now that the frame is off, we placed the car on a rolling jig.  I'm going through the lines and door fit later today and on Saturday will work on the inner wheel wells.

Prepping the car to pull off the frame

Today we're back at Tony's Corvette's shop to pull the body from the frame.  There's a bit more sanding to do, but we're ready to pull off the frame which will be sent off to be sand blasted. Dan Devito (Tony's Corvette's) and I pulled off the frame.  Only 10 bolts.  Once we get it off, we'll look for the VIN stamp(s) on the frame.

Found an unrestored black/red Z06 in Chicago

I met Cary at D&M Restorations at the MCACN event in Chicago this weekend.  They have a couple of 1963 Z06 cars at the shop.  Cary invited me over and one of the cars is an unrestored Black/Red Z06 with 42,000 miles on it and built about 700 cars before mine.  I got a few photos below.

Sanding out the primer coat

The team at Autobody Dimensions spent a few weeks block sanding the primer, getting the lines as straight as possible.  The photos here also show the fit of the doors on the car.  Traditionally, C2 Corvettes could have some large gaps and slight body alignment issues straight out of the factory.  We will tighten these up in the restoration process.

Time for the primer coat

Finally the last prep coat of paint before we put color on the car.  This is all prep for black color, so we're working to get the car totally straight.  We'll let this coat dry for a few weeks and then the team at Autobody Dimensions will start block sanding again.

Gel coat sanding completed - ready for the primer coat

The gel coat is super hard paint, so the block sanding took a long time to get straight.  But, it's finally completed.  Next step is to apply the primer coat and start sanding again.

Apply additional gel coat to a couple of areas

After block sanding, there were still a couple of high spots that rubbed down to fiberglass.  Those areas were gel coated again.  We'll then sand these out and be ready for the primer coat.

Prepped and ready for the last gel coat

Ready for the last gel coat at Autobody Dimensions in Gaithersburg, MD.