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!
Hey Tim, I stumbled across your blog while doing some research on changing C3 brakes. I read this introduction and realized I am in a similar situation. I am the new owner of a '71 C3 that was a family car. It has been in storage for about 23 years. I have not done a lot of work on cars but I am looking forward to getting it back on the road. How steep was your learning curve when digging into doing the work? Any advice to pass along? Like you, this is a shoestring project so I want to perform the work, I feel like it is doable but would love to hear your experience. The car will be arriving home in April, should be an experience.
ReplyDeleteWell, my experience has been very positive. There are TONS of places to get parts (if going with places like Ecklers make sure you wait for a good sale, they have them like every other week). A good set of socket wrenches (high tooth count) and some screw drivers can get most of these cars apart. The one thing I will say is to expect to replace or fix everything if it's been sitting that long. About every gasket, o-ring, bushing, etc. will likely be dried up and cracked and the wiring will probably be corroded and the jackets brittle. When I started I just wanted to add a collision sensor to the front since the nose is so long... Ended up gutting the interior and completely replacing the engine and transmission.
DeleteThese are excellent cars to learn on as it turns out since the engine bay is setup to accept both big blocks and small blocks. It gives you lots of options.
If there were one thing I would say I've regretted when working on it, it's probably that I didn't just do a complete body-off restoration of the chassis and body. I got really close to that, but didn't quite get there. Body off is the easiest way to replace the brake lines, but I can tell you it can be done without doing that (with a little contortion and occasional pain).
My other piece of advice would be to not be afraid of the expensive aftermarket upgrades that make it more modern. For example, I attempted to use OEM brake calipers and they ended up leaking before I really even got to use them. The place I'd gotten them is highly regarded on the Corvette forums, so it was surprising. Switching to stainless steel lines and getting Willwood calipers and pads was a fantastic change and I've only regret wasting money on the OEM ones, the thing stops better than any new car I've had.
If you're considering A/C, you may want to checkout my experience with Vintage AC... It was less than satisfactory.
Anyway...
Good luck with the car! '71 is my favorite year (a little jealous)! I wish I had time to work on the car still as I've never finished all my projects for it, but now having a family of 4, the 2 seat car takes a back seat to everything else... My 3 year old loves riding in it, and I can't tell you how many compliments I get on it even though the front fender is damaged and the bumper is still just primer.
Oh... definitely pick up a service manual for it. They carry them at places like Zip Corvette for a reasonable price. The diagrams in that thing are very helpful.
Other tool that will save you some pain and swear words... Electric impact wrench. Mine cost about $200 without a battery, but there were several bolts I could not have gotten off without it.
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