I recently acquired a 1975 Chevrolet Corvette convertible. The car has been in my family for years, but lack of maintenance and usage over the past decade has left the car in bad shape. The body of the car is in decent shape, only some minor fiberglass damage and cracking paint. The interior is faded and worn out. The engine, while it was rebuilt in the late 1980's, could use a bit of work. And lastly the soft top is basically pointless because the weatherstripping has degraded so much there are gaps around the windows.
Examining the car, it's obvious modifications have been done. The most obvious being that it has large, chrome side pipes (so the catalytic converter is already gone). Looking at the engine, it appears that the intake manifold was changed to an Edelbrock Performer and the electrical is now a HEI system from Moroso. Beyond the engine, I know the bumpers are Eckler's fiberglass bumpers (not the original urethane), and the wheels are 15" ARE alloy rims. The last things that I know of on the car that are non-stock, are a pin stripe along the sides and the tail lights. The ones on the car are bubble lights. The originals were flat with chrome rings in the middle.
My goal with this car is to fix up the car so that it looks good and performs well. It doesn't have to be the biggest muscle car in the world, but some power is always fun to have. I don't want to spend an arm and a leg for the upgrades/repairs so in general, I will be performing all the work on the car.
The first thing you should know is that I have never really worked on a car before. I did speakers in my old Mitsubishi Eclipse, put a sub in my WRX, and I have changed the oil in two cars before. Everything that I will be doing to the car I will be learning through the internet, the Haynes repair guide, and talking with people who know about automotive work. People that are willing to make the effort, should be able to do everything that I will be posting about.
The second thing you should know is that I'm not into restoration. Having a car that's completely like the original in 1975 is fine... But given what's already been done to the car, I'd rather give the car more modern amenities. That being said, I do like the "retro" look of this car... I will be striving to keep the car looking like original (interior included), unless that no longer becomes possible.
I hope you find my posts enjoyable and possibly even useful!
