Purchased in 1994 by Mel, with the sole intention of building a resto-mod Corvette. It had no engine and needed frame work.
That didn't matter, the old school 55 Corvette frame was going bye-bye and one from a 91 Corvette was getting shortened and tucked into place. This was easy work for Mel as he was a lifetime machinist and welder by trade, so making parts and cutting and welding frame rails, suspension bits, etc. was just routine. In his work and his life he was a perfectionist and it carried over into his hobby time.
As time kept slipping by and work progressed at a slow pace, his wife nudged him to finish that car. He was known locally for building beautiful street rods and she wasn't the only one who was waiting to see this work of art.
Unfortunately no one got to see the finished product as Mel passed away just within the last couple years. Unable to find anyone to fulfill Mel's vision, his widow has decided it's time to sell.
What we have is in essence a full-scale model kit that you can build up almost anyway you want.
Starting up front and moving back, the bumpers and grill were rechromed, the headlight buckets cleaned up and the hood has been changed up a little including the hole for the Hilborn injectors to come up through. Those Hilborn pipes sit atop a Hilborn injection system being powered by a FAST module (not installed yet). A Chevy 454 was bored and stroked up to 524 CI and dropped into place. It still needs final assembly and paint. The front of the engine is aglow with tons of chrome and billet aluminum. An Evans aluminum radiator is set to do the cooling along with a set of Jegs electric fans.
Beneath the engine is the front end of a 91 Corvette, set in place with RideTech air bags and Bilstein shocks. Some of the copper fittings and lines are in place awaiting the Wilwood master cylinder and calipers.
Behind the engine sits a rebuilt 700R4 automatic transmission.
That's routed to the stock 91 Corvette rear end that is IRS and waiting for the air bag set up to be installed.
Custom exhaust and custom billet aluminum 59 Caddy tail lights finish off the tail end of the car.
The fiberglass work is reportedly 90% complete, Mel added flares to the rear wheel arches to fit Sumitomo HZR 315/35ZR17. Up front the tire size is staggered down to 275/40ZR17. These are wrapped around what the family believes are Boyd Coddington billet aluminum wheels.
The interior is currently the original white leather wrapped seats but his plan was to rework those to fit in with the custom center console he was building and wrapping in carbon fiber. Mel also machined and polished the custom electric gauges that will sit in the dash panel.
All the parts on the shelves in front of the car in these photos, come with the car, plus some not on the shelves. The windshield is tucked away and wrapped, not in the photos but is included in the purchase.
This resto-mod model is ready to be rolled onto your trailer and brought home and melded into whatever monster you'd like it to be.
Considering the amount of quality work already poured into it, the amount of high quality parts that are included with this car and what these type of Corvette Resto Mod cars are fetching when done, the family is asking $45,000
It is being sold with a transferable NY registration/title.
Any questions, for many more photos, to schedule a time to inspect her, or to make an offer, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for the interest!
