Season
David Cole
Morris, AL
My Hot Rod project is customizing a 1984 Corvette. This car was bought new by my late 2nd cousin, Ronnie Smith, when he worked for GM in North Alabama. Ronnie was a serious car collector, enthusiast, and NASCAR fan throughout his life. He got all the ‘goody’ out of this Corvette, 165K miles, numerous tickets, and a few body repairs. I even found a pair of Gargoyles under the seat with old Bristol Speedway ticket stubs. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago after a long struggle with various illnesses for over 10 years. The upside was my opportunity to acquire the car and begin its transformation. It’s definitely a weekend project and long term one at that. I’ve been at it now for almost 2 years; that’s my time - time to forget all the rat race and just focus on the art of making something cool in my own way. My goal is to have a cool customized Corvette that I can drive to car shows or picnics and probably make the Corvette purists gag. I’m sticking with the original Gen I 350. I ditched the heads and intake, installed some FloTek heads, Fitech RAM fuel injection, Comp cam and roller rockers, and ditched the auto transmission. I found a 6 speed from a ‘93 C4 along with the matching Dana 44 rear end. The body work is still coming together as I go along. It’s still a somewhat blank canvas, but I have ideas in the works. I included some photos of some powder coating that I’ve been experimenting with. The wife got a little pissed when I left traces of red powder coat on the sides of the oven; she’s been very supportive and purchased an old used oven for me to use in the garage. For body color I’m leaning toward a tactical gray to mimic the F14 / F/A 18’s color from when I worked on them in the NAVY onboard the USS America CV-66 as an AT back in the early ‘90s.
