AMT 1970 Corvette LT-1

[mustang1989]

Thanks for the encouraging comments fellas. 

Gil: I'm going to be using that on this build here and hopefully that'll take care of the spider webbing effect I've been getting while using this paint.

Alright guys,
Got the dash primed and then shot with a coat of semi gloss black. After that I painted, detailed and installed the CORVETTE emblem in the middle of the dash. Then I went to work on cutting the decals from the sheet and put those on some black Evergreen stock I cut out. The speedometer is installed and I've got the backing for the tachometer in the foreground. Frickin' "macro" mode makes the center gauge pack look like a hack job but it's not like this when looking at it in person.

 

Here's the results of cutting each gauge out and adhering it to the backing. The backing was then adhered to the backside of the dash. Completed gauges.....now installed.
 

[atomicholiday]

Dash looks great man!  ?

[mustang1989]

I managed to get the radio/ CD player (anybody remember those?) installed and put a CD left ready to fully insert into the player in there as well. I didn't like the usage of a 2D decal for an OEM radio so I went with a PE offering from my PE stash.

[afx]

What CD is it Joe?  Nice work.

[mustang1989]

On 8/19/2023 at 12:27 PM, afx said:

What CD is it Joe?  Nice work.

Thanks JC. Could be a Joe Satriani CD?? lol

I've gotta thank a good friend of mine for helping me out on the battery compartment cover. At first I thought it was removable but he provided me pictures of his car showing that the access cover is actually hinged. I used a strip of thin paper for the hinge plate and used some screw heads from The Model Car Garage to replicate the hinge to panel retaining screws as well as the nut and screw at and near the latch assembly (which was fabricated from a leftover PE fret) and PRESTO....a hinged access panel.

I also fabricated that park brake handle with a needle that I cut to length and slide some small gauge black wire insulation over.

[camaro69]

You do a great job on this one, Joe. All the details are very nice.

[Curt]

I’m loving all the added interior detail.  I was already impressed with the engine work.

[customline]

Nice clean detailing work. Very inspirational! 

[Whosurdaddy209]

That engine and interior look amazing, I’ve got one of these on my list to tackle in the next couple months 

[slusher]

Very sharp detailed interior, Joe!

[Dann Tier]

Man i love this!

[dragcarz]

I think in 1970 it would have had an 8 track player……

[mustang1989]

Thanks fellas. I’m having a pretty fun time with this interior. At first I didn’t think I was gonna be able to do much with it but opportunities kept presenting themselves. 
 

1 hour ago, dragcarz said:

I think in 1970 it would have had an 8 track player……

Lol. I hear ya Roger. Just couldn’t go with a decal for a radio and couldn’t find an 8 track player so I modernized it a little bit.

[ModelcarJR]

Detail is fantastic, Joe! You're really going "all out" on this one! ??

[tim boyd]

On 8/22/2023 at 12:50 PM, mustang1989 said:

Thanks JC. Could be a Joe Satriani CD?? lol

I've gotta thank a good friend of mine for helping me out on the battery compartment cover. At first I thought it was removable but he provided me pictures of his car showing that the access cover is actually hinged. I used a strip of thin paper for the hinge plate and used some screw heads from The Model Car Garage to replicate the hinge to panel retaining screws as well as the nut and screw at and near the latch assembly (which was fabricated from a leftover PE fret) and PRESTO....a hinged access panel.

I also fabricated that park brake handle with a needle that I cut to length and slide some small gauge black wire insulation over.

Joe...that is a gorgeous interior job and your engine detailing rocks too!!  TIM

[dragcarz]

Hey Joe, do you attend the ACME show in Georgia? 

[mustang1989]

Thanks fellas!

 

On 8/28/2023 at 6:07 AM, dragcarz said:

Hey Joe, do you attend the ACME show in Georgia? 

I'm in Texas Roger so that's a bit out of reach for me. I do plan on being at the Austin show in October though. 

Got the dash pretty much finished up folks. I'm gonna have to order a set of floor mats to top everything off for the interior but aside from that......we'll be moving on to the chassis as far as build up and proper set up goes now.....

 

[atomicholiday]

That looks great Joe!  Is the steering wheel pe? 

[Steve H]

Hi Joe, I’m way late to the party here. Beautiful work as always sir. The engine looks fantastic, and the UPC idea for air filter is brilliant. Your interiors are some of the best I’ve seen. Black interiors are difficult, (for me) to pick up the subtle shades and details. You do it very well!! Love all the details, and that dash is wicked.

[David G.]

Fabulous upgrade work on this! The interior looks great, I love the battery access door.

David G.

[mustang1989]

On 9/3/2023 at 8:22 AM, atomicholiday said:

That looks great Joe!  Is the steering wheel pe? 

Thanks Jeremy and yes sir, the steering wheel is PE.

On 9/4/2023 at 10:22 PM, Steve H said:

Hi Joe, I’m way late to the party here. Beautiful work as always sir. The engine looks fantastic, and the UPC idea for air filter is brilliant. Your interiors are some of the best I’ve seen. Black interiors are difficult, (for me) to pick up the subtle shades and details. You do it very well!! Love all the details, and that dash is wicked.

'Preciate it Steve. I've learned along the way that tonal variations of the same color go a loooooooooong way in replicating more realistic interiors and engine bays. 

On 9/5/2023 at 6:55 AM, David G. said:

Fabulous upgrade work on this! The interior looks great, I love the battery access door.

David G.

Thanks Dave. Great to have you along buddy.

Almost forgot one of the most important things in this interior and something that I was preparing for when I first started this part of the build........the foot pedals. I fabbed up a swing pedal base and drilled three holes through the base to insert the three needles necessary for the pedal levers. Then I painted the levers a semi gloss black and installed the painted and detailed foot pedals to the levers.

The results turned out A LOT better than the pedals that were molded into the floor to start with.

[TransAmMike]

Your killing it Joe (in a good way?)  ?

[mustang1989]

Thanks Mike.

Been out of the loop for the last week or so. My wife has had a kidney stone that she cannot pass so we're waiting on an appointment now to get it removed after all the Xrays and urology appointments. 

 

I worked on the suspension yesterday and today and sanded all of the molded in wiring off of the inner fender liners/ engine sidewalls. I'll be going back with actual wire harnesses from scratch on this one.

I had the front suspension all painted up and ready for the application of tonal variations between parts when I noticed something off. One thing I learned at the Nats was not to "let certain things go" and I almost did it here.

See the mold lines going chordwise on the leading edges of the control arms?

 

I sanded them off and re-applied the paint. There.....much better!

[mustang1989]

A little progress while I'm commenting here and there. This is around two weeks work and believe me.....what you're seeing here is anything but a boring black suspension. There are 3 different shades of black along with some other similar but slightly different colors splashed here and there. Still gotta put the brakes and wheel backs on, install the crossmember and exhaust system and apply black BMF to the fuel tank retaining straps.

 

[atomicholiday]

Looking good Joe.?