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My 1980 restoration...FINALLY!! Lots of Pics!

48K views 156 replies 37 participants last post by  slofut 
#1 ·
Warning: This is a LONG post with a lot of pics and a lot more to come! :laughing:

Okay, heres a little back story on my car, Ill try to make it quick!

Its a 1980 L82 that I got back in the spring of 2005 when I was 17. I have always been a car guy, mainly a Chevy guy. My father is a firefighter, and was a part time Chevy salesman. I grew up playing in vettes on the show room floor and fell in love. My father bought the car as a mid-life crisis. I had helped him pick it out, we bought it from a Boston cop who had bought it from the PD after it was recovered stolen.

Anyways, my father had it for about a year and a half, but it just sat in his driveway through rain and snow:surprised (hes not too into cars) So after I had my license for about a year or so, I convinced him to sell the car to me...(yes I paid for it :laughing: )

So thats where the fun began. When I got the car it was running, but in rough shape. The front and rear suspension was shot, the body was painted some nasty red with typical cracking and fading, and the motor was strong but had plenty of leaks.

Over time I picked away at things on my high school income. I was working as a mechanic part time at a local shop, so I had access to everything I needed, and jobs I couldnt do I got help with. I started with the suspension, COMPLETELY rebuilding both front and rear. I eventually got to the body, doing most of the sanding and prep myself and then having it painted back to the original black.

There was a lot of things along the way, but that will take MUCH too long to list :laughing.

However, all along the way I had dreams of building a badass 383 stroker someday, but it was always out of my price range. Now, 5 years later, its time. Ive settled into my career as a Paramedic, and now have the time and money to take this job on.

Here was the car in the beginning:




Painted:




The Tear Down









Ive begun gutting the engine bay, and cleaning ALLLLL the grime off. I plan on etching all the clean metal, applying POR, then topcoating either a semi-gloss or gloss black.:







:WTF This control arm was missing a bushing and BOLT!:surprised

Since these pictures Ive gutted more from the engine bay.... the heater box, wiper motor, wiring and hoses. Ive cleaned a lot more, and hopefully will be doing some paint prep and painting later this week:thumbsup: Ill try to get some new pictures of the progress.

Heres the interior. The dash was junk, so Ill be replacing it along with an aluminum center console and speedo/tach face plate, both filled with autometer gauges.


Now the best part! The beast to come... A 383 stroker hydraulic roller motor. My local engine builder, who lives literally 2 mins from my house, is going to be building it. Hes in his early 70s and has been doing this since his teens! We just got the block, and after cleaning and magnafluxing it, we've found NO cracks...its perfect.

Its a 1987 4 bolt main, 1pc rms, roller block.

Bottom end: SCAT rotating assembly with a cast 9000 series crank, forged 6" rods, forged KB flat top pistons, and ARP hardware.:partyon:

Top end: Edelbrock Power package: Edelbrock 170cc/64cc E-tec Aluminum heads, Hydraulic roller cam w/ 296/300 duration, .539/.548 lift, Edelbrock Vortec RPM Air-gap intake, Edelbrock performer 750cc carb. :partyon:

Before cleaning:



Well thanks for putting up with the long post, just wanted to catch you guys up. Ill be posting throughout the process with more pictures (and probably looking for advice) so stay tuned:cheers:
 
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#113 ·
Hey 80 you can buy the ends and the steel line and put them together yourself. Not hard at all I had to do it for my setup. You dont want to find out it is not long enough.
 
#116 ·
Okay, so I corrected my POOR fuel line installation. Heres what I did:









Definitely a LOT more secure:thumbsup:
 
#117 ·
Okay, so I corrected my POOR fuel line installation.

Definitely a LOT more secure:thumbsup:
Much more secure now. Good job. :thumbsup:

If for some reason you decide to step up to a better mechanical pump. Get one with the adjustable base. Like one of these where the main portion of the pump body can be rotated.

Note: Make sure if you get one that the max pressure is no more than 7 PSI, 6 PSI is plenty, or you will need a regulator and more fittings. :D
This will allow you to make a much cleaner (less fittings) better flowing system. Like this. ;)

 
#118 ·
Thanks!

Yah, that looks like a good setup you got there. My engine builder told me to stick with the stock style fuel pump, so I did. But, if I upgrade later on Ill definitely look into that.:thumbsup:
 
#119 ·
UPDATE:

Alright, the day of reckoning is almost here!

After a long delay due to some issues with one of my headers, everything got pushed back and the car still hasnt been run. However, due to some seriously great service by Josh (Custom Image Corvettes), the header issue has been taken care of and Im back on track... but enough about that, Ill make a separate that about that later.

As far as the car goes heres where I stand:
I got the new header in this morning, and mounted it this afternoon.

Yesterday I painted my new front calipers (to replace the blown drivers side caliper) and installed the calipers today.

Finished up the last of my wiring today.

Got my radiator secured properly today.

Ill try to get some pictures up tomorrow of that progress.

Now for the best part....tomorrow I should FINALLY be starting the car. I have a couple things to finish, but really all I have to do is fill the trans with fluid and fill the radiator with coolant, put some fresh gas in the tank and hopefully crank her over.


So keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned....tomorrow I may be posting a video of a running car!:thud: lol
 
#122 ·
Its ALIVE!!!! And oh man does that 383 ROAR through those OPEN XS-Power side headers!

Overall everything went pretty well, but I did have some mishaps....one being very comical but kind of shitty.

First off, the car wouldnt crank when turning the key. We fired the car with a screw driver a cross the starter:lookinup: After some trouble shooting, it turned out due to the switch of transmission and shifter the neutral safety switch was thrown off. I corrected the issue and she started fine.

Next, after and ran for a while the real **** show happened....its rather embarassing. Heres what happened...
-After the car had been running for a few minutes, I suddenly noticed coolant leaking from in front of the radiator!! :surprised
-I opened the passenger door to shut the car off and O boy was I suprised to see coolant pouring from my headlight switch!!!:thud:
-Yup, Im an idiot. Some where along the way I made a mistake. The headlights are the only vacuum accessory running off the intake (the booster and distributor are off the carb), but somehow out of all the spots to tap on the intake for vacuum, I accidentally tapped a coolant port rather than higher up on the intake runner:crazy:
-So, after running for a bit, and filling the vacuum canister at the front of the car along with my headlight switch and motors, it began to overflow and I noticed it!:nuts:

Like I said, embarassing


So after I got THAT taken care of, I just did some fine tuning, topping off trans fluid and coolant etc.

The Taurus fan works GREAT! (thanks lsejlowe:thumbsup: ) It kicked right in when up to temp, and my temp didnt go higher than 180ish.

The car was running good at idle, but everytime I put it in gear it stalled. I got the timing adjusted a little, and made a gentle pass down the street....

My hood also came in today, Vanacor is awesome, but Ill make separate thread on that.

I did make a video, but I just got finished with the car (11:15pm) so Ill be posting the video up Friday (Im at the firehouse all day tomorrow)...sorry lol

Here are some pics of the calipers from yesterday:


 
#124 ·
Vanacorscorvette.com I believe:thumbsup:
 
#127 ·
congrats on getting her running! That's gotta be a great feeling after all the time you've been waiting. Sucks about the vacuum/coolant issue, but **** happens. Who needs headlights anyway? :laughing:

:cheers:
 
#128 ·
Lol....I'm thinking it may be time to upgrade to electric actuators lol
 
#129 ·
VIDEOS!!!!!!

Open headers, first day we had her running... before tuning...


All tuned and ready to hit the open road... Side pipes on! I was pleasantly suprised at how good the glasspacks that came in the pipes sound. They have a great sound and are loud but not obnoxious.



Its hard to tell, but the side pipes are loud in person, especially while driving. The only issue Im having with the side pipes is Im getting a lot of fumes in the passenger compartment. I have some leaks at the header flange, and some leaking where the side pipe meets the collector on both sides... maybe thats causing it?

Ill work on getting some fly by videos once shes a little more broken in!

More to come.....
 
#130 ·
BUMP for videos
 
#132 ·
I know right! How many other cars can do that?
 
#133 ·
Update!!

Okay, since getting the new engine up and running the car has been at the body shop.

Initially it was going in to have the new L88 high rise hood fitted and painted, and have the stock urethane front bumper stripped and repaired.

Unfortunately, there has been a LOT of hiccups in the road.

First, the bumper was NOT repairable, so I ended up getting a Trueflex front bumper from Rik's Vette.

Second, the new front bumper didnt fit very well. The bumper did not line up right with the fenders. So, the body guy said he would have to build up the fenders with filler to get them to line up. I had 2 choices when it came to having to involve the front clip. A.) Strip just the front corners of the fenders, build them up, then blend it with the rest of the clip. or B.) Strip the front corners of the fenders, build them up, and then paint the entire front clip rather than blending just the corners.

I opted for plan A, cheaper and faster, and he said if it blended right you wouldnt be able to tell.

Well....unfortunately (again) the blend didnt go as planned and after all the work we had to resort to plan B. On the upside, now that we were at the point of painting the front clip we could repair all the cracks, bubbles, and scratches in the front clip.

Here are a few pics to get you up to speed. The full thread and more pictures on the body work can be found here:
http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142088

Original fit of new bumper:


New bumper fit corrected:



Ready to blend: (didnt work)


Front clip repair....

One of many BIG cracks in the front clip:


Lots of cracks being repaired. In one spot the fiberglass panels had split!!!


Front clip all repaired and sanded down:



Front clip primed: (will be getting painted tomorrow Monday 8/23)




Hood and bumper primed:



Hood Painted!!!!!




:partyon::partyon:
 
#134 ·
glad you're seeing some progress. What happened to modifying the bumper to fit the fenders? I don't know much about body work, but mixing that much body filler with fiberglass scares the hell out of me. I'd think it would be exceptionally prone to cracks. Hopefully you don't have to find out the hard way!

Hood looks awesome. Is it just a little dusty or is there that much flake in the paint?
 
#135 ·
Yeah, I dont know much about body work either but I was worried about the same thing... he assured me that the stuff he uses for filler is solid stuff and will hold up fine

Haha I know, the hood looks metallic in that picture. Its JUST dust, there no flake in it at all. Its gloss black to match the car, and the stripes are gloss red.
 
#137 ·
Thanks man! Sweet looking vette youve got there, great color red.
 
#138 ·
Update:

Body guy sent me some pics tonight. The front clip is done, its all painted and looking good. Ill be heading down there tomorrow to give him a hand throwing the front bumper on, then my baby will be coming home.

I cant wait to see it all together tomorrow to really get an idea of what it looks like with a clean and smooth front bumper, and have that beautiful hood on.

Heres where it stands tonight:











Stay tuned for complete pictures!
 
#139 ·
FINALLY got the car back from paint.

While it was there it had some engine issues. For some reason I wasnt getting enough oil through my pushrods to the rockers. It turns out the 1987 block we got, because it was a "factory hydraulic roller block" and we wouldnt have to retrofit the roller cam and lifters, was actually a flat tappet block! I did some research and apparently in 1987 the 350 came flat tappet OR roller and my core was a tappet. SO, the lifters I had in my motor werent the right ones, and everytime the a lifter was at full lift the oil was leaking out around it and not getting up the pushrod. When the lifter was at half lift, or completely down, oil would get through, so SOME (although very little) was getting up there.

Anyways, I swapped in some retrofit roller lifters and all is well!

Onto the body work. Her she is! Pics are from my cellphone, Ill get better ones when I get a chance. Tell me what you think:thumbsup:



 
#140 ·
Well, I havent updated this in a while!

Im in the process of reintroducing the Vette to the streets after her winter slumber. Theres 700mi on the motor now and Im really starting to get into it... boy I forgot how much power this thing has!

Ive done minor things over the last fall and winter... I didnt do anything to major as I was in the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy for 3 months :nuts:

First off, converted to a Steeroids rack and pinion. I got the entire setup out of a local 1973 Vette that had a ZZ572. The guy had resto-moded it, and after only 500miles spun the rear of the car into a pole. He ended up building a new car and selling off the parts from the 73. I lucked out and got the entire Steeroids kit, completely intact for $400!! The only issue was a couple brackets had some chips in the paint which had rusted over, so I sand blasted all the brackets and had them powdercoated gloss black so theyre nice and protected :thumbsup: Here it is when I picked it up:





Next, I swapped out the glasspack mufflers in my Custom Image sidepipes for 2.25" Sweet Thunder inserts....




All I have to say is these things sound NASTY! Theyre so aggressive and deep, I love them.

I also have come up with some plans for my interior. The carpets are fairly new and in good shape, but the rest needs some work. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this thread the car was stolen before I bought it years ago. During this process the dash was torn apart, including a huge chunk being torn from below the steering wheel to access the wiring.:down: The seats, after the car being my daily driver for the first couple years of ownership, and still frequently driven, have started falling apart.
So... Ive come up with some plans. First I picked up this dash today for $100:




Its a 1981 dash that came out of a 1978 :huh: lol Its dirty, but completely intact with zero cracks! Im going to my local custom interior place this week to get a price to custom wrap the entire dash in red leather. If its too pricey Im just going to dye it.

As far as the seats go Ive come up with 2 options. First, restore the stock seats and have them custom wrapped in a two-tone scheme. I want the pattern to be the outter parts of the cushions in red leather, and the inner portions of the seat (the part with the horizontal stitching) to be black suede. Once again, if this is too expensive Im going with a pair of red/black Corbeau A4's.

Thats pretty much the update for now. Stay tuned for updates on the progress of the interior! Also, fall/winter of 2011 MAY POSSIBLY be bringing a Shark Bite suspension and a swap to an iron differential setup!

As always, any input is very welcome! Critiquing is helpful

:cheers:
 
#142 ·
Absolutely. If its SOMEWHAT reasonably priced :)lookinup:) Im definitely going to do it. Ill post plenty of pictures of the process :thumbsup:
 
#146 ·
Thanks man. Yeah its slowly sinking in. Every time I go out to the garage to take her out, or every time I'm out for a cruise and stab the throttle how far it has come hits me. :partyon:
 
#147 ·
Great job man, that looks mega tuff! Those L88 hoods really bring out the aggressive stance in the C3s!

How much louder were the sweet thunder inserts compared to the glasspacks? I got a set of the same pipes on mine, and while they look great, the sound isn't really all that impressive.
 
#148 · (Edited)
Thanks!

The Sweet Thunders are MUCH louder! They sound are so aggressive sounding, I love them. I have some videos to give you an idea:

This video is with my GoPro HD camera mounted on my driver side rear quarter. As youll see, the camera falls off towards the end because I moved it and didnt clean they dust off the new spot I put it on so the suction cup let go. The camera survived the fall... the case its in didnt even get scratched! Its a great product. ANYWAYS, I dont get on the car too hard in this but itll give you a good idea. I plan on making some much better videos, including fly-bys, once the weather gets a little warmer here :thumbsup:



Heres another one with the Sweet Thunders... its on facebook so Im not sure if youll be able to see it without an account:

http://www.facebook.com/RickWhite/p...o/video.php?v=1324400688275&notif_t=video_tag


For reference, this was it with the glasspacks the pipes came with:

 
#151 ·
Lol yeah, I should send it to GoPro so they can use it for an ad!
 
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