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The first job was shot-blasting the chassis. “We did this dry,” says Edwards. “I didn’t pressure wash it because water gets driven inside and then the shot sticks to it.” The old repairs were removed, any rust cut out and the chassis repaired properly, with extra welding and strengthening around the engine and rear axle mounts. “A friend in America, Clive Vick, used to work on the production line in period, so he advised me on what they used to do,” says Edwards. The chassis was primed immediately, then painted “in house.” Another of Edwards’ buddies, who builds and repairs fiberglass boats, was earmarked to tackle the body. “The shell was shot-blasted inside, outside and underneath,” says Edwards. “Because these cars crack a lot, we ground down the joints about two inches wide and fiberglass matted them and strengthened all the known weak spots. The panels were originally just stuck together, so the whole body shell is now a lot stronger.” Meanwhile, the hunt began for all of the rare L88 and ZL1 parts. Of course, the whole key to the project was finding the engine. “John Mayes found a pair of the aluminum cylinder heads in good condition,” says Edwards. “They have massive valves in them. At the Turkey Run swap meet at Daytona, I found the correct sump, incorporating an anti-oil surge flap, a ZL1 harmonic crankshaft balancer and a pair of correctly date-stamped exhaust manifolds all within 15 yards of each other. I mistakenly thought that I was going to get everything really easily! I searched all over the States looking for an aluminum block. I found a couple, but the sellers wanted over $50,000 and I didn’t know if they were any good. “In a serious bit of luck, I eventually stumbled across one just a few miles from where I live. I had gone to look at another Corvette for sale, got talking to the guy, who was restoring an old dragster, and he had one laying in the corner of his garage. He told me to get it tested and if it was no good, bring it back and he’d give me my money back. I took it to Peter Knight in Daventry who discovered that it had been over-bored and dry-sumped for racing, but it was basically sound.” Numerous trips to swap meets and Corvette shows in the U.S. were supplemented with many hours on the phone and Internet, searching out the remaining parts. In the process, Edwards hooked up with Norman Werner of Werner’s Corvettes in Daytona: “He was very knowledgeable and helpful and found some really hard-to-find parts. And if he couldn’t help me directly, he put me in touch with other people who could.” Edwards gradually amassed the parts he needed, including a set of original rocker covers, a replica high-rise hood, new door and window seals, a new date-stamped windshield and side windows, new seat covers, nearly new door cards and new carpets, and heavy-duty brake calipers. He managed to buy an inlet manifold and a rare reconditioned Holley 850 cfm carb for reasonable money. “I saw a similar carb sell on eBay recently for a staggering $9,500,” he says. However, some other parts, including a “radio delete” plate, did cost him an arm and a leg. “A set of original plug leads cost me $2,000,” he said, “and I paid $100 just for an oil-filler cap. The ZL1 had heavy-duty brakes on the front with dual-pin calipers instead of single pins. There was a bracing rod at the bottom to stop the caliper rotating under heavy braking. I paid $2,500 for a couple of cast steel brackets with three holes in them at Carlisle; they are really rare. I wanted everything to be as correct as possible.”
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