A Rear Face Lift...
July 26, - August 9, 2001:
Well hidden from my deceptive picture taking is damage the vette sustained from a rear collision. Well, I could have waited until winter but I just couldn't stand it anymore, so off she went to Falchetta's Restoration shop in Caldwell, NJ. So far, the rear bumpers, lower valance, exhaust tips, spare tire and support brackets have been removed. The cracked fiberglass is in the process of being fixed (as I type this). Here are some pics of the work-in-progress:
The damaged fiberglass area is being sanded down by Joe at Falchetta's Restoration Shop. It was cracked at the bumper support bracket.
As you can see, the work is coming out nice (despite the lack of beautiful orange paint - don't worry, she'll be back).
If you think this is hard to look at, how do you think I feel! Actually, I feel pretty good despite the car being apart. Peter at Falchetta's restoration went over each step before and during the work. We spoke extensively about the work so there have been no surprises (except for hidden surface rust on the frame above the mufflers - not a big deal at this point & will be treated with POR 15).
This is the lower rear valance. It has been cracked in the licsence plate bezel area. Since the piece is original to the car, she will be repaired, repainted & remounted.
August 9, - August 22, 2001:
The Corvette body work is done and primed. She is now in the final stages of minor sanding before applying paint.
Rear clip ready for paint!
Compared with severall pics above - the rear, right bumper support bracket area has been nicely repaired - smooth as a baby's...
A body expert at Falchetta's begins to smooth down the layers of fiberglass applied to the rear valance which was nearly cracked into 2 pieces.
September 13, 2001: The baby is almost done!
Well, the rear damage has been fixed, the car has been primed and painted. The paintmatch is great (luckily I had the paint codes from the previous paint!). Now, the hood is being worked on.
The body work looks great! Compare with the above pics!
Nice shiney rear! While at Carlisle, I bought NOS chrome "CORVETTE" letters between the rear lights.
Peter Falchetta, the owner of the shop, attends to the hood. When I bought the car, the underside of the hood was painted a glossy black (not factory correct!) and the paint was cracking. Peter sanded hood down to discover that it appears to have had work done. Apparently the area near the hood stand had been damaged so the previous worker fixed it (re-glassed the area) and added an excessive amount of filler throughut the hood. This caused the material on the hood (and under the paint) to be too thick and prone to cracking.
As you can see above, the green area depicts the previous patching with fiberglass and filler. After Peter is done sanding and removing the excess filler, he will prime and paint the hood the correct factory black.
THE CORVETTE ARRIVED HOME: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2001.
Well, if you know me, then you already know why this is a big deal. Truthfully, as unbiased as I can be - I think she looks great. Falchetta's did a great job matching the paint (it also helped that I had precise paint codes...and a bit of Peter's magic). I have had several Corvette friends (who will tell me the real-deal) tell me it was a quality job.
I didn't have much time to prep her for any show but just hours after getting her back, 5 members of AACC drove 60 miles to the Express Corvette Show in Eatontown, NJ. The car did well considering the lack of prep time: 266/280 points (just missed a tie for 3rd place by 1 point) - but who cares - I was just happy to have her back! Needless to say, Jon, Alex & I had a great time drivng back - we drove a little above 55 mph.
Well, that's all for this project. Go back to the Corvette page for the next one!
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