Skip to main content

Closed19 replies

MY wrecked speedster (with apologies)

FM Former Member
As I mentioned in the fall (when the accident occurred), I was front-ended by an SUV, causing moderate damage to the front apron of my car. The repair is more than I can handle, so it's going to the body shop as soon as the weather is warm enough to drive it there.

But then I figure, as long as it's at the body shop, what else (besides the obvious repair) would I want done? This is the first opportunity to make modest changes since I built the thing umpteen years ago. Anyhow, I'm thinking I'm going to have the whole thing repainted from the current off-white/ivory to silver metallic. Things I'm struggling with are:

1. The dash. I have a couple of extra dash knobs that don't control anything that I'll pull off and have the holes filled. I'm thinking I may move all of the switches off the dash and into a less conspicuous spot. The real problem is that after 15 years, the dash pad is beginning to look a little ratty. I could either re-finish it, or scrap it all together. I'm leaning towards scrapping all but the "eyebrow" - but I'm afraid this will leave the dash too vacant.

2. Wheels. Right now, the wheels are stock VW wheels, painted to match the car (Ivory). Once the car is silver, having white wheels will undoubtedly look a little goofy. The options here, that I can think of, are: (a) leave them white; (b) have them chromed; (c) buy new knock-off chrome wheels; (d) strip the paint off of them, and leave them bare metal (or clearcoat/powdercoat); (e) have them painted some complementary color, maybe black, maybe seal grey. I'm at a little bit of a loss on this one.

Those are today's big issues. Any recommendations are appreciated.
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

FM Former Member
As I mentioned in the fall (when the accident occurred), I was front-ended by an SUV, causing moderate damage to the front apron of my car. The repair is more than I can handle, so it's going to the body shop as soon as the weather is warm enough to drive it there.

But then I figure, as long as it's at the body shop, what else (besides the obvious repair) would I want done? This is the first opportunity to make modest changes since I built the thing umpteen years ago. Anyhow, I'm thinking I'm going to have the whole thing repainted from the current off-white/ivory to silver metallic. Things I'm struggling with are:

1. The dash. I have a couple of extra dash knobs that don't control anything that I'll pull off and have the holes filled. I'm thinking I may move all of the switches off the dash and into a less conspicuous spot. The real problem is that after 15 years, the dash pad is beginning to look a little ratty. I could either re-finish it, or scrap it all together. I'm leaning towards scrapping all but the "eyebrow" - but I'm afraid this will leave the dash too vacant.

2. Wheels. Right now, the wheels are stock VW wheels, painted to match the car (Ivory). Once the car is silver, having white wheels will undoubtedly look a little goofy. The options here, that I can think of, are: (a) leave them white; (b) have them chromed; (c) buy new knock-off chrome wheels; (d) strip the paint off of them, and leave them bare metal (or clearcoat/powdercoat); (e) have them painted some complementary color, maybe black, maybe seal grey. I'm at a little bit of a loss on this one.

Those are today's big issues. Any recommendations are appreciated.
FM Former Member
Ted; for the wheels you can either go the color of the car, go for the chrome or go for regular silver painted metal; at least those were the options on real 356's. With respect to the dash I recommend you get everything done now that you're repainting the whole car. Repairing and/or modifying a fiberglass dash is not hard even for the uninitiated in fiberglass; it's easy enough to learn. My friend and fellow forum member Jjr fixed up his dash after replacing his existing gauges with the more correct repro 356's. Here are some photos of his CMC being reworked by him.

Attachments

Hide
Images (3)
  • DSC03188
  • DSC03297
  • DSC03316
FM Former Member
I agree that the fiberglass repair is relatively simple. It's a little more complicated than it looks, because of the damage to the lip that the hood sits in - it's not simply patching a big hole, it's actually going to involve some clever work. I would do it myself, except I have no garage/workspace and it really is time to have the whole car repainted anyway.
oldyeleroldyeler
Please!!
Check your front wheel wells around the front tires. If you didn't get any cracks on eather side of the front end I will be a easy fix just as they said

However! If there are more cracks you must grind and reglass any dammad\ge you find or the front will squeak and be prone to vibrate at certain rpms.

Im the one that redid the intire trunk floor to acept a full size spare. Im trying to help you prevent the same mistake I made. and had to re do yeat again.
FM Former Member
I've looked pretty diligently; the damage really is more or less limited to what you see in the picture. Keep in mind, this incident was at <2mph, and my car was in neutral at the time (so I rolled backwards rather than take the brunt of the impact).

Fixing the fiberglass should be pretty straightforward - paint is the big question mark right now.
FM Former Member
That's where a shop specializing in 'Vette work is a plus. Did you see the incredible paint job on the convertible Cutlass on the new Overhaulin' episode last night? Funnily enough it was handled by a shop specializing in Corvettes in California; isn't California the land of plenty for all things automotive?...
FM Former Member
California truely is on a different planet when it comes to all things automotive. I've been in Southern California all winter for work, and it's really a different world from New England. Old cars - in good shape - everywhere. More mechanics/auto body shops/etc. per square mile than I've ever seen. It's really uncanny.

I think I have an autobody shop picked out to do the paint and other repair, and Corvette knowledge was a key contributor.
FM Former Member
The smog laws really couldn't be THAT strict, or all those old Mustangs in San Diego would have no shot. Not to mention the VWs.

There must be exceptions based on date/$$$ spent on upgrades. When I lived in Colorado, you had to TRY to pass the smog test - and their definition was that you had to spend $300 on improvements. My mechanic's approach was basically: you're not going to pass, so what do you want to spend $300 on?
Post Content
Remove This Ad

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×

Access to this requires a premium membership.

Supporting Member

Please help keep us running!

Supporting members have donated about $4.00 a month ($49.00 US per year) paid annually.

  • Priority support
  • Removal of inter-page (between thread) advertisements.
  • Access to Build Manuals
  • Access to Knowledge Base
  • Access to Supporting Members events.
  • Access to Leveraged Group Buying from site Merchants.

AUTO RENEW: You membership will auto-renew after 12 months. If you prefer not to auto-renew, you can cancel your premium membership at any time and it will remain in effect until the end of the 12 months. To cancel, sign in at SpeedsterOwners.com and navigate to: (Your User Name)  > Premium Membership.

PLEASE NOTE: Your credit card will receive a charge from CROWDSTACK PAY, the payment processor, not SpeedsterOwners.com.

$49.00 per 12 Months (plus tax if applicable)
×