Jay Herbert
Enthusiast
On Patience... and pictures of my \"Project Viper\"
Many of you may have noticed I will spend a lot of time responding to questions concerning what it takes to rebuild a damaged car..... and also my rather silly signature on my posts. Well, there is a good reason for both. For more than two years, I've patiently been gathering the parts needed to "reincarnate" a '94 Viper that forgot which way was up.
The car originally belonged to Ron Kent, a former regional president, he sold it to a local broker, who became momentarily "orientation challenged".... not long after he put the car upside down. I purchased it and sent it off to Kentucky to have Mike Baugh get the right rear frame pulled back into shape and a lot of other miscellaneous things done. Mike did a great job fixing the damage done to the inner trunk from the frame moving and helped locate a lot of needed parts.
Right now, the car is next in line at Classics by Elite (home of DuPont Top Gun painter Ed Combs.... and the V-10 powered double Venoms for those of you who may not make the connection). I've seen Ed's paintwork, and have been looking forward to him performing the needed magic to turn the car from a heap to a jewel. Actually Ed has been tremendously patient with me. I'm a "pay as you go Viper owner".... so the car has been hanging around Ed's shop for more than a year as I found parts needed before he could lay on the paint. Things like a '99 hardtop, 97 RT/10 roll-up window doors and windshield surround, '96 inner doors, a '92 left rear fender, and '93 hood, a '00 RT/10 soft top, '98 GTS seats, '95 black dash, '95 rear end (to do a gear swap)..... the list is sort of never ending, and baffles even me as I go through my "receipts file". Most shops would have wanted the car out of their way, but not Ed..... a true "patience is a virtue" fellow.
Well, with Double Venom nearing completion, the "Project Viper" next into the shop, it is time to show y'all just how much magic poor Ed has to do over the next four (+/-) months, you'll see the project come to life, enjoy:
The hood that came on the car was shot after the rollover, so I dug up a '93 hood that was put aside due to craze cracks. Since the plan is to carve up the hood for some louvres, a few craze cracks to repair was no biggie.
You can see the roll-up window doors in factory primer, and the upper dash removed to ease cleanup of all the glass from the
windshield.
Gross interior, eh
Showing just how much work poor Ed has in front of him
Many of you likely have wondered about my sanity, and maybe, way in the back of your minds though I might be a "half bubble off plumb". Well here's your proof.... but in about four months (+/-) we'll see who's riding around in a brilliant pearl blue
92-93-94-95-96-97-98-99-00 Viper
Many of you may have noticed I will spend a lot of time responding to questions concerning what it takes to rebuild a damaged car..... and also my rather silly signature on my posts. Well, there is a good reason for both. For more than two years, I've patiently been gathering the parts needed to "reincarnate" a '94 Viper that forgot which way was up.
The car originally belonged to Ron Kent, a former regional president, he sold it to a local broker, who became momentarily "orientation challenged".... not long after he put the car upside down. I purchased it and sent it off to Kentucky to have Mike Baugh get the right rear frame pulled back into shape and a lot of other miscellaneous things done. Mike did a great job fixing the damage done to the inner trunk from the frame moving and helped locate a lot of needed parts.
Right now, the car is next in line at Classics by Elite (home of DuPont Top Gun painter Ed Combs.... and the V-10 powered double Venoms for those of you who may not make the connection). I've seen Ed's paintwork, and have been looking forward to him performing the needed magic to turn the car from a heap to a jewel. Actually Ed has been tremendously patient with me. I'm a "pay as you go Viper owner".... so the car has been hanging around Ed's shop for more than a year as I found parts needed before he could lay on the paint. Things like a '99 hardtop, 97 RT/10 roll-up window doors and windshield surround, '96 inner doors, a '92 left rear fender, and '93 hood, a '00 RT/10 soft top, '98 GTS seats, '95 black dash, '95 rear end (to do a gear swap)..... the list is sort of never ending, and baffles even me as I go through my "receipts file". Most shops would have wanted the car out of their way, but not Ed..... a true "patience is a virtue" fellow.
Well, with Double Venom nearing completion, the "Project Viper" next into the shop, it is time to show y'all just how much magic poor Ed has to do over the next four (+/-) months, you'll see the project come to life, enjoy:
The hood that came on the car was shot after the rollover, so I dug up a '93 hood that was put aside due to craze cracks. Since the plan is to carve up the hood for some louvres, a few craze cracks to repair was no biggie.
You can see the roll-up window doors in factory primer, and the upper dash removed to ease cleanup of all the glass from the
windshield.
Gross interior, eh
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This is why I bought so many new interior pieces, also had to get a lot of different parts to work with the roll-up window doors.
Showing just how much work poor Ed has in front of him
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I bought a set of used Purner street rims and am in the process of getting some Pilot Sports.... This should make it a lot easier for Ed to roll the car around his shop.Many of you likely have wondered about my sanity, and maybe, way in the back of your minds though I might be a "half bubble off plumb". Well here's your proof.... but in about four months (+/-) we'll see who's riding around in a brilliant pearl blue
92-93-94-95-96-97-98-99-00 Viper
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