79 Corvette - seeking advice
Discussion
Hi everybody,
I will try to keep my request as basic as possible, so only a short introduction how I managed to end up here.
Throughout this year I tried to talk my father into selling his
beloved Alfa GTV 2.0 from 85. He has owned a very similiar car almost 20 years ago and tried to relive his memories by buying another one three years ago. To cut a long story short, we spent many hundred hours fixing it and only 300 miles were driven in this time. I really wanted to like it, but it seemed such a huge waste of time.
Luckily he sold it two weeks ago and to somehow close the gap and fill the empty space in the garage, we agreed to search for a replacement.
Due to various reasons the decision fell on a 1979 Corvette,
mainly because he prefers the fastback rear window, I prefer the bucket seats and we both dislike the facelift of 1980. Ideally black with auto transmission, as he sucks at shifting
.
It doesn't have to be fast, nor do we want to stretch out for the chrome
bumper version.
Reading through various buying guides, there are horror stories of chassis rust, is this very common?
Are there any very expensive replacement parts that should preferably work?
If a C3 was involved in a crash, is it difficult to notice and fix?
Any reasons to look out for earlier cars?
Does anyone know this particular car that we may visit in three weeks and was supposedly exported from the UK?
http://allegro.pl/chevrolet-corvette-c3-zamiana-me...
We have no fear of rebuilding or replacing certain parts, but there are two cars and two bikes awaiting assembly after restoration and I don't want
to add another one to the batch.
I will try to keep my request as basic as possible, so only a short introduction how I managed to end up here.
Throughout this year I tried to talk my father into selling his
beloved Alfa GTV 2.0 from 85. He has owned a very similiar car almost 20 years ago and tried to relive his memories by buying another one three years ago. To cut a long story short, we spent many hundred hours fixing it and only 300 miles were driven in this time. I really wanted to like it, but it seemed such a huge waste of time.
Luckily he sold it two weeks ago and to somehow close the gap and fill the empty space in the garage, we agreed to search for a replacement.
Due to various reasons the decision fell on a 1979 Corvette,
mainly because he prefers the fastback rear window, I prefer the bucket seats and we both dislike the facelift of 1980. Ideally black with auto transmission, as he sucks at shifting
.It doesn't have to be fast, nor do we want to stretch out for the chrome
bumper version.
Reading through various buying guides, there are horror stories of chassis rust, is this very common?
Are there any very expensive replacement parts that should preferably work?
If a C3 was involved in a crash, is it difficult to notice and fix?
Any reasons to look out for earlier cars?
Does anyone know this particular car that we may visit in three weeks and was supposedly exported from the UK?
http://allegro.pl/chevrolet-corvette-c3-zamiana-me...
We have no fear of rebuilding or replacing certain parts, but there are two cars and two bikes awaiting assembly after restoration and I don't want
to add another one to the batch.
Hi There,
You are right to watch out for rust in the chassis and bird cage. Easy to check underneath especially around the pockets for the rear trailing arm mountings. Checking the bird cage is a bit more difficult, you can easily remove the speaker panels in the foot well and check the bottom of the cage for rust and look very carefully round the windscreen frame. Rear wheel bearings are a pain so check no play on them. However I'm no expert on late C3's (mine is a 70) but go onto the UK Corvette club site here and ask your questions, you will get sorted out there a lot faster. http://www.corvetteclub.org.uk
Parts are relatively cheap and you can get every nut and bolt easily and they are great fun to drive.
G
You are right to watch out for rust in the chassis and bird cage. Easy to check underneath especially around the pockets for the rear trailing arm mountings. Checking the bird cage is a bit more difficult, you can easily remove the speaker panels in the foot well and check the bottom of the cage for rust and look very carefully round the windscreen frame. Rear wheel bearings are a pain so check no play on them. However I'm no expert on late C3's (mine is a 70) but go onto the UK Corvette club site here and ask your questions, you will get sorted out there a lot faster. http://www.corvetteclub.org.uk
Parts are relatively cheap and you can get every nut and bolt easily and they are great fun to drive.
G
Thank you very much for your advice, just visited your profile to admire your
Corvette, it's jaw dropping. Always loved the early chrome bumper coupes, as I don't like convertibles. Unfortunately they command a premium, so a later one will have to do for now.
We are sold on the idea of owning a 79 Corvette and will search for the right one to start cleaning and modding.
Performance parts look very cheap, compared to Italian classic car stuff too.
Ceramic coated headers and free flowing exhaust is already on the list. Very tempted to order the Edelbrock 2022 kit sooner or later as well.
Corvette, it's jaw dropping. Always loved the early chrome bumper coupes, as I don't like convertibles. Unfortunately they command a premium, so a later one will have to do for now.
We are sold on the idea of owning a 79 Corvette and will search for the right one to start cleaning and modding.
Performance parts look very cheap, compared to Italian classic car stuff too.
Ceramic coated headers and free flowing exhaust is already on the list. Very tempted to order the Edelbrock 2022 kit sooner or later as well.
Gassing Station | Corvettes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff