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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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#714 ·
I hadn't really followed this thread at first. But this morning, being the first day back to work from the gov shutdown, all systems weren't fully back on line. I started with the latest thread response...then found myself going back a couple of pages. Before I knew it, I had to just start at the beginning, and then read all 48 pages!

Man...that's a smokin build! Car turned out immaculate, gorgeous, and I'm so jealous. There are so many things I want to do with mine, but don't have the time, space or funds to do. Let alone at the pace you have done it.

I'm personally not a fan of the flares, although I don't think they are ugly. But to watch the whole process evolve the way you laid out the pictures and the story, at times I felt like I was driving back and forth with you...working round the clock with you guys. Great story! Love some of the things you did, and will admit that I might just be STEALING some ideas!! ;)

I can't wait to see pictures of the finished car rolling on the street!! If I can make out the picture from the glare off your smile that is...
 
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#715 ·
Its alive!

Graphic: steal away! I got a lot of ideas for my car from other peoples builds also. That is what is fun about modding these things. Look at every one you can find. Take the bits of each that you like. Add some of your own. When you are done you have exactly what you want and the car is unique and interesting for others to check out. :thumbsup:

I have heard that there were some loud rumblings in South Dakota last night:partyon:

http://customimagecorvettes.com/oooooh-sounds-so-nice-brents-76/?fb_source=pubv1

We are SO close I can't stand it.
 
#717 ·
Now that's exciting Brent, she sounds great! I figured you would trailer her home but sounds like you will drive her home. I'm very excided for you man, it's come a long way:thumbsup:
 
#718 ·
I won't be driving it home. There are a few things to finish up there before it leaves, but I will still need to do stuff when she gets here. Vintage AC, lights, all of the interior... Stuff like that. Doesn't mean I won't drive it around first, though. :laughing:
 
#720 ·
Nice vid, thanks corvette chick. Brent did the side pipes get deleted or is there something else just for a test run?
 
#722 ·
Hew hoo!!!!

Congrats!!! Nice to see 'Agent Orange' moving under it's own power, looking fabulous and sounding awesome. I'm not sure it wasn't actually the sound of the snowplow driving by that was dubbed over the video. :rolling:

If I was you I would be coming down with a severe case of Corvettidus and using some of my sick time to get my butt up there. But then I am a lot less patient than most.
 
#724 ·
Agent orange......[ponders]
I would love to jump in the car and head up there again, but that is not going to happen.
I sent the video of the car running to the original owners today. They are a nice retired couple in California. They loved the car for twenty some years and are happy that their baby is getting a new life.
Can't wait to see it, drive it, work on it.
Agent orange, ey? ....still pondering.....
 
#726 ·
Josh is making his way to Iowa. Looks like he is being tailgated by a pretty nice corvette:partyon:



It is kind of unreal. I have been at this for what seems like forever. Driving back and forth to South Dakota and putting in stupid hours for a week or two at a time.
Josh really had to bust his butt after I left to get the car running. I really appreciate that.
Yea, I a pretty stoked to say the least. Still work to do, but that will be the fun part.
 
#731 ·
I think this is appropriate for the occasion.:thumbsup:

MOTLEY CRUE LYRICS

"Home Sweet Home"

I'm on my way
I'm on my way
Home sweet home...
Tonight, tonight
I'm on my way
Just set me free
Home sweet home...

Home sweet home...
Home sweet home...
Home sweet home...

I'm on my way
I'm on my way
Home sweet home...

Yeah!

I'm on my way
Just set me free
Home sweet home..

:cheers:
Mark
 
#733 · (Edited)
Well, i gotta say my garage got a whole lot cooler last night!



I really wanted to drive her around today, but there are no plates, signals, seat belts, etc. so I will have to wait until next spring for that.

Just kidding, there is no way I am waiting until spring. You guys would have taken my man card away, and Josh would have turned around and taken the car back. Besides, I raised the back ride height a bit and wanted to settle it in.





That was actually the first time I have ever driven a C3 vette. Yea, I kinda liked it

The biggest thing I have to do is install the Vintage AC and then a lot of little things that I can figure out (with some help) Then put the interior back in it again, which I remember is really fun. I am going to put it back pretty much stock until time and money allows me to change up a few things.

I gotta give one more big shout out to Josh and Custom Image Corvettes. :cheers:He went way beyond what I had hoped for when he offered to help me build the car I have wanted since I was a kid. It took longer than we had originally planned, but we also did a lot more to the car than what we started out to do. So after waiting for something since I was a boy, waiting a bit longer was totally worth it in the end.

I better go run some wires!
 
#734 ·
Is your face hurting from all that grinning you're doing?
Glad to see you have it back, it looks right at home.

I bet you're the envy of the neighbor hood when the car is seen by the neighbors.

I think any lawinforcment officer would totally give you a break if you were to be pulled over, I think they would pull you over just because the car is so cool, and to have a closer look.

Any other, as is photos, you would like to share? I know it's not finished, but I'm still intreged to see more.



Terry
 
#735 ·
I know it must feel unreal to have it sitting in the carport. Sometimes I have to think back when I use to work on my cars in the yard to grasp the reality of having a shop and a Vette. The Vette looks so good, I hope one day we can get together for a ride.

Brent I know you have posted the rear tire sizes before, I just can't find it. Would you mind posting the size again.

Thanks
Mark
 
#736 ·
Mark. They are 335 30 18 in back. The fronts are 285 35 18 and have more meat than the back of any car I have ever owned.:laughing:
It is kind of weird to be working on this at home. Most of the time I was working on it I was in a huge shop full of tools and an expert standing by to field all of my dumb questions. Now it is just me in my little garage trying to get the jack to fit under the car in the space I have. I can open the garage door and that helps, but that won't last long around here. It all makes me appreciate how clever and motivated you guys must be to do this stuff alone in your garages.
I am going to take time out and draw up a plan. I keep starting on one thing and then realizing I can't proceed until something else is done and I have half started projects taking up what space I have. I am excited to be working on it, but I am spinning my wheels, and not in a good way.
Time to make a list!
 
#739 ·
The Feeling of spinning your wheels I believe is very common with projects like this along with the feeling of wanting to finely getting to enjoy all your hard work and moneys when it starts to look as nice as yours is at this point.
Starting a punch list is a great ideal, that will keep the project on track with little to no back tracking. I had many of them laying around in my garage when I did my LS swap, my wife was laughing at me often and saying, you can't remember what needs to be done? Um, No.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Terry
 
#740 ·
Brent at this point in your project I would slow down and take my time. The finish work can make your Vette a gem to look at. When we did the Camaro we spent a lot of time on the engine bay and it was clean and impressive. If you need any help just let me know. There is a braided sleeve that I used for the wiring that made it look great. Making a list is a good thing to do, you can sort out things and get on a schedule.

:cheers:
Mark
 
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