C4 Kellison coupe project

[jmc]

I thought that some of you would be interested in my Kellison project. I had a Kellison J5 coupe body sitting around. The Kellison has a very low roof line. The original kit had the cockpit molded in. It bolted on top of the frame. There was no way that I could sit in the car. I looked for a cheap donor that would work with the body and came up with the C4 Corvette. The C4's frame wraps around the occupants and puts the floor height as low as possible. Perfect for the body. I cut out the cockpit, firewall, and rear bulkhead and am using just the body shell. I'm molding the body to slide over and sit down on the C4's perimeter frame.

The C4 has a 96.2 inch wheelbase. At the end of production Kellison was selling a couple of similar body styles on 96 inch wheelbase frames. The J5 had a longer wheelbase but I like the looks with the shorter wheelbase. To fit the C4 I split the body in half and am widening it by 5 inches.

This will be pretty simple by Kit car standards. The C4 body is removed, the windshield cut off and different fuel tank will be used. Otherwise the C4's drive train/suspension/steering/pedals ect can be used with out modification. I will fab a full roll cage.

I haven't been in great health. I have had a couple of heart attacks lately. So, this project will be done at a slow pace. It gives me something to look forward to doing. I also am continuing to work on a Miata based project.

[Jbrown]

I love it, great build.. look forward to more pics

[MacGyver]

That’s a unique looking project. Looking forward to your progress. I like the roof line. Not sure about the nose with the dual headlights.

[Jbrown]

updates? more pics?

[jmc]

It's been slow going. The roller that I was test fitting the body to didn't have the engine,trans, radiator.... I was concerned that the Kellison hood wouldn't clear so I went to Craigs list to look for a complete C4.

I found a trashed but running C4 and purchased it for $700. I drove it onto my trailer and brought it home. I stripped it down and discovered that the hood wouldn't clear. I have sliced the center section of the hood and raised it up to clear everything. The body that I have is a J5. Kellison's next version was the J6. It had single headlights and the center of the hood was higher. I will end up with a car that combines the look of the J5 and J6 together.

When I saw the C4 stripped down it occurred to me that it would be fun to attach an Exoskeleton tubular frame to the Vette chassis and drive it as is. Exovette will be a little bit hot rod, locost, exoskeleton, and sport rod all rolled into one. I'm in the process of building the Exoskeleton right now. I'll have pictures of that I hope by the end of the week. So, now I have 2 projects for the same chassis.