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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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#260 ·
I have been talking with Josh trying to work out a time when I will be able to get up there and work on the car. I am hoping that early in June is going to work for both of us.
The new shop is coming along and looks great. You may recognize some great cars there, but I am partial to the one on the lift :)


I am really looking forward to working on the car, seeing the new shop, and catching up on stuff with Josh.
 
#264 ·
well i can tell that rear fender all the way on the left use to be my car;)
 
#268 ·
Thanks for askin' I am still planning on it. Unfortunately our schedules are kind of conflicting but I am trying to work around that the best I can.
7T, your car was already going to be cool as hell even before you put those on there. Now..... (trying to think what comes after cool as hell) Have you decided on what wheels you are going to run with?
I REALLY like the looks of the smaller flares. If I was not already into this as far as I am I would have a hard time deciding which way to go. Actually.... If I were starting from scratch and did not already have the wheels and tires, I would be really pulled toward the 2" flares. They look great and it would save a ton buying wheels to fill out the full flares while still have plenty of tread on back. From the pictures they look pretty natural and should leave a lot of people wondering how you stuffed so much meat under the car.:thumbsup:
I can't wait to see them and really want to see them when they are all panted up.
 
#269 ·
7T, those 2'' flares are going to look great on your setup, can't wait to see them with your wheel choice.

Brent, The direction you have set forth on your build will leave you one incredible looking Vette. I hope you get to making progress on the 76 very soon.

You both are killing me with all this flare talk, If and when I ever get the car running right, I hope to flare my ride next fall, if all goes well.


Riggs
 
#271 ·
Mistress... she is in hiding for awhile. All she has done is regress, too many people wanted a piece of her and literally got it till there wasn't much left of her. :huh:

The "Mistress Project" is going to take on a whole new form. I have lots of ideas for her rebirth but with all of the customer builds and the lack of $$ because I have to keep moving to a bigger shop (3rd one in not even 2 years) I am going to put her on the back burner until the time is right.

However there is good news on the horizon. We have started on a new build that has been almost 3 years in the making and just trust me when I say this. You will finally get the satisfaction that you have desperately been seeking from the Mistress. :devil:

Doesn't make since? It will. Stay tuned for this summer and keep your eyes open for "INTRUDER"


SUPERPOWERS. over and out. :cheers:
 
#272 · (Edited)
planning trip to Custom Image....

It looks like am set to go out to SD to spend some time with Josh and my 'vette this week. Sadly when we hauled it up there we were in a hurry so we dropped it off and headed back to Iowa in one very. long. day. I would have loved to hang around longer but it was not to be. The really bad part is that when we were hauling it out there we hit some bad weather. I guess I have some rusted parts underneath from the snow and probably salt that was on the roads. While that really sucks, I know it is nothing that can't be fixed.
I am looking forward to being re-united with my 'vette and having a chance to hang out with Josh for about a week. I am not sure how much we will get done, but I hope to get it torn apart (again) and finish up wiring and some other things. Probably clean up some rust too :-(
I will post photos later on this week.
-brent
 
#273 ·
Bitter sweet, you get to go work on what you have missed and see a friend
you haven't seen in a while, A week will not be long enough, it will be gone before
you know it.

I hope you have a safe trip and a terrific time while you're there, take lots of pictures.

Riggs
 
#275 ·
I made it back from my trip to Custom Image in South Dakota. It was great to see Josh and the guys again. The new shop is coming along and the paint booth got done while I was there.
HERE is a view of the shop.
Eric was working on the 2" flares when I was there. That guy is a fiberglassing machine. He worked about 20 hours straight the first day I was there getting the flare started.

I like these flares a lot. They look subtle and work well with the stock front lip, but yet allow some serious rubber under the car without getting into really expensive wheels.
I did not get as much done as I had hoped, but that is normal as you all know. I spent quite a bit of time cleaning up underneath and trying to get any salt off of parts that got there when we transported it. The rust was not as bad as I had pictured since almost everything was powdercoated, but it is amazing what one round of salt will do to a car.
I got the car stripped of all of the little trim pieces that have to come off for paint and brought back a few parts to work on before next time. I did not powdercoat the radiator support and man did it take a hit. I brought it home and will fix it up before the next round.
So all in all it was a great trip. We mocked up some pieces on my car and got some really good ideas of what direction we are going with it. A few more custom ideas came about and I am excited about those. I will keep you updated as they progress.
I'm not sure when I will be back to work on her again. It is tough getting my schedule to mesh with Josh's but I hope I can get back out there fairly soon.
-brent
 
#282 ·
Looking good Brent, if that is a photo of the new 2" flairs I am glad I got my order in early. They look awesome. :cheers:

I should have negotiated w/ Josh for royalties on every set of my 2" rear flares that he sells; it seems like they're going to be really popular. If I see other C3's with them before my car is back on the road, I'm going to freak out! :WTF
 
#278 ·
Riggs: Not soon enough! Seriously, it is kind of a unique build. Josh and I started this together and it was supposed to be done, or at least running, last summer but we got tied up trying to finish another project and did not get started on it very much before he moved to South Dakota. I worked on it at home for quite a while doing what I could, and then hauled it out there. I really want to have the car done now, but I also want to be part of the whole build process. The trick is for Josh and I to both have time to work on it at the same time. He is in the process of setting up shop (again) and it is a huge undertaking, but it will be so much better when it is done. I enjoyed the trip out there and it was fun to hang out around the shop with Josh again and relive the glory (?) days, and I look forward to doing it again.
So in short, I don't know. It won't be any time too soon. I am hoping to have it back here this winter and work on stuff like the stereo and other details so it will be totally ready for spring/summer here in Iowa. One thing is for sure: If I bring it back in the winter, it will be in an enclosed trailer :)
7T, Yea, those are the 2" flares and they do indeed look wicked. Your ride will kick all kinds of butt with your setup and those flares. It is kind of hard to tell what you are looking at in the photo, but I am looking at the car from the front and liked that view because it shows the stock lip and the 2" flare. I think they work together well. :thumbsup:
 
#280 ·
Dang Brent, you were all the way back on page 4, and in the 6th month.:thud: Welcome to the 7th month of 2012 :rolling: I know you have a old part sitting around just waiting to get that makeover. Come on, whats going on with you? I know, you can make a video of you sitting on the floor of your garage pretending to drive the 76.:smack Sorry Brent just had some time on my hands and I feel better than I have in months. :thumbsup: Mark
 
#281 ·
Good to hear from you, Mark. Yea, I have a few things here to work on and need to get to that. I have some powdercoating to do and I need to find some LED's for the Autometer Sport Comp gauges.
I have some other ideas that I am working on for the car. Things that I have not seen on a 'vette before and will post them when I get them worked out.
I hope that I can get some time time in the next month or 2 and get out there and work on the car.
Stay tuned.....
 
#288 ·
...Not a whole lot to report. Just thought I better prove I am still working so Riggs and 7T don't come over and raid my stuff.
I originally sprayed the interior parts in the winter in my garage. I am not sure if it was not warm enough or what (I heated it some-what) but when I was beating on the parts to re-install them, some of the black wore off. I brought them back with me to Iowa and scrubbed them back down and re-sprayed them. After they dried it seems to have taken much better this time.




I also brought back the core support. It was the only part of the underside of the car that I did not get powdercoated. I planned on (some day) also doing it but for the time I just sprayed some black on it. If you remember.. when I hauled the car out to South Dakota we hit snow. We had to head back to Iowa the same night, and just unloaded the car at Custom Image. Well later I found out that we must have hit salt also because the support rusted more in that one trip then it had in the previous 35+ years living in California and Oklahoma. A buddy of mine let me blast and powder coat it at his shop and it turned out really well..



I am hoping that in the next month or so Josh and I can work out a time when we are both free and I will go up and spend a week or more getting the project moving again. Then I will have something more interesting to post up.:thumbsup:
 
#290 ·
photos from custom image corvettes....

Josh got my flares made. I think he hung them on the car just to tease me.







We are still working out some of the details with the hood, the color and a few other things.... I think I know what we are going for and will keep you posted.

It sounds like he got the shop pretty much done and there are new photos on Custom Image's Facebook page. A few of you guys will recognize some of the cars there. :thumbsup:
 
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