AngryVette - The story of an 81 now living in Europe

[mjollnir]

Now the car is back in belgium (click here for the story) I'm starting this thread about my needalota TLC vette

I had some issues getting it back from the port. When I started it for the 1st time in belgium fuel was spitting all over the engine.. a luck I had the hood open so I could turn the engine off before something bad happens.. dunno who played with my car but I had to tighten fuel filter hose clamp..

Then I realised the brake pedal was just pumping air.. so I didn't even dare to pass 'D'. Got it back on a flat bed, safer

I'll post some pics of her

[mjollnir]

Richie the seller in Willits, CA






In oakland hotel, before going to the port




In Oakland port before entering the container

[lsejlowe]

good thing you caught the fuel leak when you did! Congrats on the new 'vette. I'm sure you'll have her looking and running well in no time

[Spiderpat]

Very exciting bringing a Vette back to life

[mjollnir]

Rail&boat trip

Oakland/Houston/Antwerpen

[mjollnir]

Back home!

[mjollnir]

Finally in my street

[raidmagic]

Congrats on finally getting it home.

[mjollnir]

My first objective is to get it legal here

So I need to fix the lights issues:

- lights don't pop.. though they did in USA. Maybe I need to drive it to repressure the system?

- turn signals don't work. Can't hear any relay switching.

- fix power windows

- buy new door locks.. seller lost keys


Had to add some brake fluid. Now it's breaking but not as it should. There's some air in the system. I had the car on jacks, wheels removed but the drain plug broke when I loosened it (!) Should have it drink WD40 for a day before attempting this

When I had it on jacks I could see the suspension joints are in a really bad shape.

[mjollnir]

I built this to bleed my brakes:



Couldn't use it yet due to the broken drain plug on a front caliper but it is holding 30 PSI.. should be enough to bleed my brake system

[mjollnir]

Some pics of the interior before I throw all the junk




There was so many uninsulated wires under the carpet, now they won't mess again with the chassis ground




Dirtyyyy oily




What's this pull button for?




Can someone confirm the upper thing is for lights? What's the below thing?

[82CEtuner]

The upper switch is for your windshield wipers the bottoms witch is your actual headlight switch that must be why they didnt come up. if its like my car you need to replace them both to get them to function properly

Originally Posted by mjollnir

Can someone confirm the upper thing is for lights? What's the below thing?

[mjollnir]

Right, 2 new things on the buylist

I started to dismantle my door panels. The left window motor is working but something is blocking or the window is not properly aligned cause it won't go up more than a few inches

The right motor doesn't respond at all

I'm amazed how many options were available in such an old car.. power window, cruise control, power seat.. those options appeared way later on European cars

[The Bad]

Originally Posted by mjollnir

What's this pull button for?

You pull that to keep the headlights up. Mainly used in the winter so the lights don't freeze shut.

[mjollnir]

Originally Posted by The Bad

You pull that to keep the headlights up. Mainly used in the winter so the lights don't freeze shut.

Good to know