Howdy All...I just signed up for a Gold Membership, (probably the most worthwhile thing I've done in ages!!)
We found the vette that we want, a 1971 coupe. It's immaculate, and we put a deposit down, but I have one nagging question!!
On the front end, in front of the hood, there are two distinct rows of small round bumps. It appears as if they are where framework is bolted or mounted underneath it.
I am wondering if this is a natural phenomenon, or is there reason for concern?
I have had the car thoroughly checked, the frame and suspension are perfect, but those bumps...I don't know !!
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated, and I thank all of you who responded to my last post about "Vette buying Tips!!"
Thanks in Advance for your time,
GRIZZ

Hi GRIZ and welcome. Yep, the Gold Membership is really worth the money! Love chrome bumper Vettes! I don't have a clue what those bumps could be. Do you have the ability to post pics of them? You could always take the car to a good body shop that deals in Vettes. Hope this helps and I'm sure someone here can help you out more on this.

|UPDATED|7/31/2002 4:09:15 PM|/UPDATED|

Hi Griz,

Welcome to the group & congrats on the '71 !!! Excellent choice of years I must admit.
Sorry to say that "I have no bumps" on mine. Dars idea about potsing a picture of them is a great idea. I have a mental image of "nail-pops" behind a sheet-rock wall. Is this right? Do you know whether the nose was ever damaged & repaired? Hope we get to see the pics soon. ~ Joe

Welcome to C3VR!
If I recall correctly, those bumps are a sign of an original car, Alot of older vette have those visible there and also you may see lines where all the seams of the car are. My car had them before I had it painted, I had all the seams redone when it was stripped including those marks. Good luck, looking foward to seeing pictures of your vette. (I am a bit partial to 71's!)

welcome to being a Gold member, and after only 2 posts
As fara s the bumps go, it is the bonding points in the nose/fiberglass. It shows that the car definately is original if they are there. one guy in our club has a 69 with bumps all over his nose too.

Hi Tom, is that really your car in that barn? Where did you find your ride anyhow?

Hi Dar,
Yes, that is my car in the corncrib. Let me tell you my story. I was in high school in 1979 working for a local farmer in my hometown of Kutztown, PA. While loading hay I glanced up and saw a blue corvette pulling into to farm's driveway. It was the farmer's son Doug who just bought a 71 Corvette in Wisconsin at a farm show and drove it back to PA. I thought it was really cool, I got a ride in it later that day. 11 years later I ran into the farmer I worked for and asked him if Doug still had the corvette. He said yes he did, it has been sitting out at the farm for quite a while now and won't start anymore and Doug would probably sell it to you if you ask him. He asked if I wanted to go see the car the next day. I of course said yes. A friend and I went the next day to the farm with our books to examine the car. When we got there we were shocked to see it parked in a corn crib with filth all over it. I addition to all the equiptment that is seen in the picture, there was also a tractor parked directly in front of the car, so it was hidden from the public eye. We checked all the numbers which were all matching, the mileage was only 34000! While I was checking something under the hood, my friend starting yelling very happilly, he found all the paperwork in the glovebox! Paperwork found was protecto-plate, build sheet, original temp license plate from Kentuckey, Final inspection sheet, owner's manual, warranty book. We were excited to say the least!!!! I asked the farmer when his son would be home, he said tomorrow, I gave him $20 (all I had on me) and said I want the car. He said ok. We transferred titles the next night and the following morning went to the corn crib with a trailer to remove the car. Talk about dirt, being in a corn crib with a screen side really had it filthy. We took the car back to my place, put new plugs, plug wires, primed the cylinders, put new gas in her, changed the oil and fuel filter and turned the key, it started within 30 seconds and didn't run that bad considering it had been sitting 8 years! The next step was removing the the entire interior, dash and consoles to remove all the dirt and to see what the critters had chewed through for the last 8 years. I had to do alot of splicing of wires including some of the fiber optics. The seats and the rest of the interior were almost perfect, except the carpet and parking brake console had to be replaced. The only other thing that had to replaced in the interior was the steering wheel,(the mice had chewed huge chunks out of the wheel(must have tasted good). While the dash was out I painted all of the parts that needed painting and then reassembled the interior. While cleaning under the car I pulled the spare tire down and found the original spare the was never used. After driving it for a summer, I decided it was time to get it repainted, It was original paint but it had now shine to it at all. I took it to a friend's house who worked at a body shop and had done many vettes in the past. I gave him the car in October and he stripped her down to bare glass, redid all the seams of the car. In May he took it to the shop he worked at and his brother painted the car. The paint is now 10 years old and I still get alot of comments on how it has held up. The story of my car appeared in the October 1993 of VETTE Magazine. It has been featured in many books and calendars in the past years. I have been told it will again be featured in Cars and Parts, Corvette within the next year. I took many more pictures in the corncrib before I removed it so that this story is believable. My car is on the cover of How to Restore and Modify your Corvette 1968-1982.
I hope I wasn't too long winded here, I love to tell my story about my find.

What a cool story! I have that book with your Vette on the cover too, that's why I asked about your car and that barn. One thing you left out....How much did you pay Doug (that's the son, right?) for the car? Did he think you were crazy and why didn't the guy sell it instead of letting it sit in some old filthy barn? Although, if he had done that, you wouldn't have your pretty Vette right now!

Dar,
I paid less than 9000 for it, but it took alot of TLC and $ to get to where it is now. He had ideas to drive it someday. But his job took him around the country all the time and didn't have the time to drive it. He did start to do something to the car 2 years before I bought it, he put stainless brakes on it, that was nice of him, right? Something else I forgot to mention, about 2 weeks after the artcle appeared in Vette, the original owner from Louisville KY called me, what a surprise! (His name was mentioned in the article) So I found out about the first 7 years of it's life too! In fact, I just saw Doug's dad today in Kutztown!

Ok Tom, now you're creeping me out with seeing him today!