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76 project

327K views 1K replies 73 participants last post by  brent319 
#1 · (Edited)
hi all. I got my first (and last) corvette last week and am pretty excited. It is a '76 that once belonged to Bob Wallace at 'vette magazine many years ago as a project car. I think it was probably one of the first LS1 swaps at the time. The car got a crate LS1 and 4L60E and Bowtie Overdrives did a lot of the work on making it fit, but the project was never finished and the car was passed around until it wound up at Custom Image Corvettes and eventually with me.
How this all came about was really strange story. I will TRY to keep it short.. but here goes.
About a year ago my wife said we should get a "fun" car in a couple of years. I have always admired the lines of C3 'Vettes since I was a kid, but did not (and compared to most of you.. still don't) know that much about them so I hit the internet each day reading all I could. I became interested in a LS swap so I hit the forums to gather info. I noticed that this one guy kept answering everyone's questions and really knew this stuff. He even had parts. I wished I could find somebody like that in Iowa. Yea, right. Iowa. Then one day I clicked on that guy's profile and found that he not only lived in iowa, but he lived around the corner from me. "it's a small world after all...."
So I walked over to his house and introduced myself. There was Kaos in his garage. Man, I was blown away by that car. I had seen it on the internet all the time and even mailed Chris McDonald to tell him how much I loved that thing. Then a few weeks later when I figured out who Josh was I realized that exact car was around the corner from me. "It's a small, small world"
Josh and I talked and I was impressed with not only his knowledge of cars, but how happy he was to stop what he was doing and talk to me. We kept in touch and then a few months ago I started my "internship" with him. I went over there with the intention of sweeping floors and fetching wrenches, but Josh is a great teacher and has given me years of insight in a few short months. It started with "fiberglass 101" and has continued from there.
Somewhere along the line I got sucked up by all of the fun and wound up buying the '76.
We are working on getting it on the road and will be able to hit it a lot harder soon. Right now priority 1 is to get Kaos back to Rob, and getting flares out to folks.
*****
On to the build so far...
I got the vacuum parts stripped off of the lights. Being from Iowa I can't believe how little rust there is on this car! We will do an electric conversion on the lights down the road.
frontstripped by brent hagist, on Flickr
Josh and Adam got the wires all hooked back up and I replaced some of the sensors. After working through the night, it was almost ready to run, but the sun was about to rise and I had to rush out and go to work. I stopped by after work and got to start it up. There are no seats or carpet inside the car, so sitting on the floor with open headers was a pretty rumbly experience for me.:laughing: Here's video of my first running of the LS1:

I brought home the interior parts and cleaned them up. They were pretty ugly looking when I got them there, but once 10 years of dirt was washed off they looked pretty good.
88470aa8 by brent hagist, on Flickr
Josh is working on modifying my water pump and when he can get that done, the radiator will go in and we can run it a bit more before we tear it all out, clean things up, and stuff some new goodies on this old shark.
So far it has been a LOT of work. I am glad I did the "internship" so I had some idea of what I was in for. It ain't like Overhaulin where it gets done in an hour. But it has also been a lot of fun along the way. Here is a video my wife is not so proud of:

Hopefully more to come soon
*****
EDIT: Fixed broken links.
 
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#945 ·
Firstly congratulations on your Daughters graduation!!!


I have used SEM black to cover my red panels and have never had a problem with adhesion even with basic prep. However...The paint/dye will not stand up to a lot of abuse and touchups will be needed. My car gets a lot of use and I have red showing every time something comes in contact with it.
If I could do it all over again I would have bought black panels. Poor planning on my part and the inability to make up my mind!!!
 
#946 ·
The tire leaked but it is fixed. Got some brackets made and got the grills in as well as the turn signals. Next up getting the front plate mounted somehow. Cops like it when you have those. :thumbsup:



On the meantime, the water pump shelled out on my DD truck and it gets my attention first. :down:

PTOB.
 
#948 ·
Have you tried the license plate mounting bracket? :rolling:

Just giving you crap..... should be easy to make one up, I can check to see if I have an extra off a 70.

The car is looking awesome, side pipes should be wanting one of her own by now, if not yet very soon. Great job Brent, enjoy the heck out of it. :cheers:
 
#949 ·
7T, yea that's not gonna happen. We are out of garage spaces and budget. Also, I have already called in every favor I had to get this thing together.
I went for a nice drive this morning. As I was coming home, I had a couple of young ladies yell out to me! That was a first.
"Slow down!", I heard one of them yell. :laughing: It was really kind of funny since I drive that street all the time and was going slower then I ever go in my truck or my wife's honda.
So either my car looks like it is going fast even when it is not, or they judge a cars speed by how much noise it makes. I am guessing the second, but maybe some of both.
Anyway, back to it. Trying figure out how the t tops mount to I can get the weather stripping in so I can try to put the door panels on so I can......
 
#952 ·
#957 ·
It was going to be redrum, but then the car wound up orange so I put that aside. Honestly I have not thought about it too much, although at one time I liked the name "tango".
We had to go on a beer run yesterday and so we took the vette. The kid that brought the groceries out looked at the car and said, "hey, this is my car. Your car is that ugly jeep over there". Nice to see a young guy (probably about 17) who likes these old cars and has a good sense of humor. :thumbsup: then I took my son for a ride and we turned at a corner and a big biker dude was stopped on his Harley there. As we rolled past he pointed and said "nice car". Then a guy in a Plymouth prowler rolled past our house and yelled "nice vette". I have never had a very cool car before and am not used to that kind of response.
I went to try and get the door panels on yesterday. They are warped and a real biotch to get to fit. Then I figured out that there are no clips to screw them to the bottom of the door. They are cheap, but have to wait for them to be shipped and that project got put on hold.
I got a little over 100 miles on the car and have had no issues. I filled it up with gas and am kind of curious what kind of mileage I will get with this setup.
PTOB.
 
#958 ·
100 mile shake down. So you are ready?

I've put almost 200 miles on mine this weekend- a little squirrelly since the alignments off-I'm awaiting some 10" bolts to drop the rear down some before I get it aligned.



I'm thinking one of these-because the plate will just mess up the clean lines and that stance.

It's remote control-




And the name- I'm gonna stick w/ "Orange Krate"

orange krate by richardhayes454, on Flickr
 
#960 ·
350 miles on the vette. No real issues so far. I had the alignment finished up today. A small camber adjustment in the back and some caster adjustment in the front. Not too bad for eyeballing it. The car pulled a bit before and feels good now. The steering wheel was off center and I thought could correct that at the wheel last night but found out that was not the case. I figured it could be fixed at the end of the u joint, and I had to go back today and have the car in the air so we dropped the rack a bit and centered the wheel. :thumbsup:
Put 120 interstate miles on in total the last two days. I saw my first c7 coming at me in the opposite lane and was trying to check it out and at the last second I realized he was giving me the wave. My first corvette wave, and I blew it. :laughing:
The bad part is after a tank of almost all highway miles I only got 11.8 mpg. Holy hell my truck does better than that. If I was in it for mileage, I would have gotten a Prius, but still...
I found out there is a big difference in wind noise between 55 and 75.
Tomorrow back to the garage and see if I can get the t tops to fit and the door panels in.
Enjoy the weekend:cheers:
 
#963 ·
Yea,that seems off. The car seems happy running 70 with the OD. There is a bit of black blow out on the one side where the collectors enter the side pipes. That is in front of the o2 sensors. When I start the car it seems like it heats up fast but runs right in the 192 to 196 range in town and on the highway. It seems like it is running a lot of advance but I can't find a simple answer to what they should be running. I think it is around +30 at idle. Maybe that is normal. The motor is brand new and I know these things loosen up a bit with time. I had an issue with plugs and replaced them before I really started driving it. I don't like having the intake right behind the radiator. The intake temps there are reading up around 130 and I want to fix that, but I know most swaps do it the way it is now and thy do a lot better.
I do have a check engine light on and will get it scanned to see what is up. I assumed that was from when it was run with no o2 sensor hooked up on one side and the code never cleared, but it may be something else.
I have the day pretty much clear (so far) and should get some more time working on the car.
PTOB.
 
#964 ·
Brent, I would say if you drive the car easy, and 11 mpg is all your getting, your crate motor needs to be retuned to correct the fuel air ratio, along with the timing perhaps. My 402 was getting 15 16 mpg and that was before I started missing with tune and intake again, I hope to see better numbers when finished.

Terry
 
#965 ·
Yea, I guess I would be okay with 12 mpg if I was making crazy horsepower or something.
I just looked and I was wrong about the o2 sensor as it is ahead of the potential leak into the main tube so never mind that.
I may find out more today after I go to a buddies shop and get his input.
 
#968 ·
Well that was fun. Took "Larry" out for a drive on some county roads. Much more enjoyable than interstate I must say. :thumbsup:
As far as the milage... I have no idea. I was going past the station, so I decided to top off the tank. It was all highway miles, and it said I got 29 mpg. Yea, I find that hard to believe. I am trying to remember if I really put 150ish miles since the last fill. I am not sure why the odometer would be off since the speedo is calibrated and shows dead nuts on with my gps. I will run a few tanks through and see where it averages.
Here is an odd photo for you. This is the building where josh and I started to build the car before he moved to South Dakota: a move for which he has yet to be forgiven.


Then again, if he were still here, my car might have ended up like these a few doors down from his shop.



The interior is coming together.



Back at it....
PTOB.
 
#969 ·
Those flares look nothing short of incredible!!!
Wow- that building is nothing but scrap metal now.

Interior looks like it's almost there.

Do you have your AC up and running yet?

I think if you take 11.8 and 29 then average them- your around 20-which sounds more like it.

I did a Google trip for the whole Hotrod Power Tour and it's a little over 2600 mile round trip for me. IF I average 12/14 it's only going to cost $750 in gas...

PTOB-I am back at it as well!!!

Richard
 
#972 ·
That photo looks like a scene from a movie where the good guy got out of the building just in time before the it collapsed. kind of fitting since your car looks like a movie car.

As for you, it looks like you got your car out just in time or it would have been up in smoke.

Your car looks stunning, I bet you smile with pride when ever you are returning to the car and see how good it looks as you approach it.

I'm glad you are out enjoying the car while finishing up the small details. it makes all the hard work you put into it worth it. I hope the Mrs. is getting to enjoy it with you.


Terry
 
#974 ·
The AC is not hooked up yet. I am hoping to mount the radiator better and am waiting to do that before I hook it all in.
The building is a shame. There is a woodworking shop in one of them. I can see a nice freestanding jet band saw as well as a big freestanding grizzly planer. They may have gotten wet but look fine. I am sure if you gave them to me I could save them. I am guessing he is going to take the insurance money and sell them later.
Yea, looks like some mopars ate it in the fire. I too have a soft spot for old mopars and it is truly sad.
Back to vettes....
Jim: I can try to get some pictures of how I mounted the grills when I am under the car next. I wish I had fitted them before the paint was done. They are okay, but it would have been nice to make them fit in perfectly. I had to do a bit of creative work with the dremel to get them to fit at all close. It is probably not the most professional job of mounting them, but it seems to have worked.
If I remember right, at 55 I am turning about 1700 rpm. It seems to chug along fine and cruises pretty quietly. The motor noise is petty much canceled out by all of the wind noise. It's my first LS and was not sure if it was happier at a little higher rpm in fifth gear or slowed down in sixth.
Have not gotten anything done on the car today since I spent my afternoon driving around on county roads again. I may try to hit it a bit after dinner unless I find myself driving again. There is a ice cream stand about 20 miles from here. Wonder if side pipes wants some ice cream. :laughing:
 
#976 ·
Jim: I can try to get some pictures of how I mounted the grills when I am under the car next. I wish I had fitted them before the paint was done. They are okay, but it would have been nice to make them fit in perfectly. I had to do a bit of creative work with the dremel to get them to fit at all close. It is probably not the most professional job of mounting them, but it seems to have worked.
Thanks Brent, much appreciated!
 
#977 ·
Hmmmmm???
"Well that was fun. Took "Larry" out for a drive on some county roads."
"LARRY"???
Really??? Did I miss something???
I thought you were contemplating "Orange Krate"??
Or is Larry just a friend of yours???
At any rate the car looks great and in my opinion a bumper car needs the bumpers!!
Good job!
 
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