This 1954 is a very "early" 1954. It is the 67th car built and was assembled on January 8th, 1954 in the new Corvette plant in St.Louis Missouri. This car has alot of hand laid cloth body panels, left over from 1953. This car has history back to 1973 and John is graciously turning the final body work over to me to complete and get ready for primer and paint. The car body is a true NO HIT body! I cant find a repair or collision damage anywhere.
John's car will go into process November 12th 2016. Check in for restoration updates !
Here is a link to John's website
Check Johns site above - you can follow along with the repairs !!!
We are moving right along !!!
* July 21, 2018 - The 54 is in primer !
* Jan 1, 2019 - The '54 is in second prime !
* March 4, 2019 - We are blocking Johns second 2k primer with 400 grit - moving along towards paint !
* April 29, 2019 - John's 1954 is READY FOR PAINT !
* May 14, 2019 - John's 1954 heads to paint this weekend. Very excited for John and Lanning family. Real honor for TiN.
* May 19, 2019 - John's 1954 is in for a fresh coat of Polo White on the outside and Sportsmans Red on the interior.
* July 15, 2019 - The Sportsmans Red is done !
* July 25, 2019 - The Polo White is done !
Congrats John !!! Huge thank you for all the trust and patience - now we get to put it together.
* Sept 23, 2019 - We are in process of putting on parts and pieces for John's car. Chrome is done and picked up and we are starting to install it. Next step is to pick up the chassis, start the engine and then drop the body on the chassis !! Check John's site new photos !
* Jan 31, 2020 - We have done alot of assembly work on Johns painted body - We picked up Johns chassis and are in process of working thru a couple kinks - I fully intend to place the body on the frame this Spring !!!!
* April 15, 2020 - Small set back, we found an issue with John's engine and the prior rebuild - we removed the engine and it is at the machine shop. We hope to get it back soon.
We are continuing to assemble the body. The steering wheel and column are painted. We will continue to put the car together - and prepare for the body drop.
* Aug 3, 2020 - We received the engine back from the machine shop and wasted no time and got it assembled and painted. We will get the engine in the chassis this week !
* Oct 1, 2020 - We painted the engine and installed it in the chassis and we have started the engine. Ran like a top !!
We are installing all the wiring under the dash and ready to install the steering column in the body. Once that is done we will prep the body for the drop. !!!!!!!
* Nov 8, 2020 - We fired the engine one more time, and adjusted the timing. We then married the chassis and body. The body had been off the chassis since 2007.
Huge milestone.
We are now in the process of reassembly - check out the link above and new photos as the car goes back together !
* June 5, 2021 - We fully assembled John's 54 and took it to an NCRS meet in Wisconsin. This was to be the first time John had see the car finished. We covered the car and did an unveil for him and the response was over whelming. Over the next 2 days John got his car judged and went home with an NCRS ribbon !!!!
It was an absolute pleasure working with and for John on this restoration. It is a gorgeous car and I hope John enjoys it for years to come !
