MaineShark
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2002
- Messages
- 1,326
- Location
- Rockingham County, NH
- Corvette
- 1979 L82, 1987 Buick Grand National
Well, it looks like the Shark has to go. I need to simplify things a bit, and having two performance cars just doesn't work for me right now. So I'm selling the Shark and my Grand National, and I'm probably going to buy an already-modified C4. That should work well, since I want to be driving a Corvette, but I can't spend the money to finish the Shark project properly, and I don't want to drive it as-is, because I've been spoiled by the GN's acceleration.
Briefly, it is a 1979 Corvette L82, equipped with glass T-tops, light beige paint, red leather interior, factory aluminum wheels, and most options (it has A/C, but it does not work – may just need a charge). Not-so-briefly, it is a project that I've been working on for over a year...
I had intended to install a pretty radical stroked (406 or 427) small block, so I've done quite a few upgrades. The radiator has been replaced with a Griffin aluminum radiator. I have a twin Spal electric fan assembly as well. The fans still need custom brackets, in order to be mounted, but those won't be much of a problem. I'll knock a bit off the price if you want to do them yourself, or I can take care of them. I wired up a control box that allows each fan to be independently controlled, so it can be set to come on whenever the ignition is on, or only when the temperature gets too high (180), or can be disabled for maintenance or diagnostic work (easier to listen to the engine without the fans running). I installed a 100-amp Delco alternator to handle the extra load. I ran a new wire from the alternator to the hot terminal (main hot buss) on the starter, and another from there directly to the fan control box.
I have replaced the vacuum-operated power brake booster with a Hydratech hydraulic unit that is run off the power steering pump. I did this so that I wouldn't have to worry about the low vacuum generated by a radical engine, as well as to gain increased braking system pressure. The hydraulic booster is also much smaller than the vacuum booster, which would give added clearance for a big block, or a small block with tall valve covers, tall deck height, or both. I replaced the master cylinder at the same time. The old one was fine, but I figured that I'd rather play everything as safe as possible with brakes. I also installed braided stainless brake lines on all four corners, and speed bleeders in the calipers. The power steering system was re-filled with GM fluid, and the brakes were filled with DOT4.
It should also be mentioned that 1979 was the last year for the heavy-duty rear end, and it has the more aggressive 3.55 rear gearing, stock. The rear-end fluid was changed, and genuine GM fluid with Positraction additive was used.
The car is currently equipped with a TH350, but it could be replaced with a TH400, 700-R4, 200-4R, or any of several manual transmissions. The previous owner removed the little sprag on the shifter that keeps it from being shifted without pushing the button, so it can be shifted freely. It’s kind of nice, but could easily be returned to stock if desired. I have installed an external transmission filter unit which accepts standard oil filters, as well as an external cooler. The filter unit is mounted to the radiator support, near the bottom. I fabricated an aluminum bracket which includes a removable shield to protect the filter from road debris. The cooler is mounted behind the right-front grill (where the front turn signal is), on its own custom bracket.
The left-front grill houses a cooler for the power steering fluid. I spoke with the owner of Hydratech, and he said that it was unnecessary to add the cooler, but that it would provide an added margin of safety, if the car were ever road-raced. So I went the extra mile and installed it. Both coolers are B&M stacked plate coolers with internal bypass paths that prevent the fluid from being over-cooled in cool weather, and are as big as I could fit (11"x6"x2.5" - good for 24,000 GWV).
I also have all the parts to install an engine oil cooler and remote filter (except the oil lines going back and forth, which will need to be made up after the units are installed). The filter adapter is a screw-on unit that goes in just like the standard oil filter. This means that, in an emergency, the adapter could be unscrewed, and a standard oil filter screwed back on in its place, bypassing the cooler and remote filter. The cooler has rigid piping connecting it directly to a thermostatically-controlled bypass, which keeps oil from circulating through the cooler until the car comes up to operating temperature. This reduced engine warm-up time and related wear&tear in the same way that the water-cooling system's thermostat does. Both the oil and transmission coolers have temperature sensors, and I set up a single gauge with a toggle switch so that the driver can switch between them while driving, without having to clutter up the dash with extra gauges, or the oil temperature sender can be connected to a stock C3 water temperature gauge (installed in place of the clock, perhaps), and the extra gauge could be deleted, or used for both transmission and power steering temperature. I have senders to do it either way.
The right-front suspension has been rebuilt with polyurethane bushings, and the control arms, spring, etc. were all painted at that time. I have all the parts to rebuild the left-front suspension, but I haven't done so, yet. Same deal as with the fan brackets: you can do them yourself, or I can do them, and I'll drop the price if you take delivery as-is. The passenger-side door latch mechanism and the driver-side window regulator have both been replaced.
I have installed a stinger hood (similar to the '67 big block hood). The hood is painted light beige to match the car, with the stinger painted dark red to match the red leather interior, and the front (vertical) portion of the scoop is painted black. The three-tone paint job cost more, but it was worth it. The hood is 1-3/4" taller than stock, which allows a significantly taller intake and filter to be used.
The car has dual stainless 2-1/2" exhaust pipes, with DynoMax stainless UltraFlo mufflers, and it sounds quite nice: reasonably quiet at low revs, but it reminds me of a Nascar race when I punch it to pass someone. The previous owner installed a CD player in the dash. There is also a barrel-keyed kill switch that disables the starter. The battery also has a shut-off switch installed on the positive terminal, which I've found is a real time-saver when it comes to maintenance. I can include a side-terminal wrench for the battery, if you don't already have one. The car just crossed the 100,000-mile line a short time before I started taking it apart to do these upgrades.
I'd like to think that I went the extra mile with this project. For example, while most people wire their electric fans to any source of switched power they can find, I installed dual relays (standard GM parts used for C4 electric fans, for easy maintenance), and the switching signal used for the fans comes from the same connection on the ignition switch as the A/C, which means that the fan is shut off when the starter is being used, which reduces the load on the engine and charging system (just as GM intended it to do when they set it up that way for the A/C). That connection required removing the steering column to access the wires, but I feel that it was worth the extra effort, to do it the best way that I could.
What does it need? The paint is serviceable, but it could use a re-paint, sometime in the future. I can recommend several good paint shops in the area. Same deal for the weatherstripping. It needs an antenna, but those are cheap (the one is has works, but is ugly). Personally, I was planning to go with satellite radio, and then glass over the antenna hole, when it gets painted. I think that would be a cool way to go, but it’s your choice if you buy it. The engine runs fine (I have a dyno sheet for it, documenting approximately 250hp at the crank), but the obvious plan here is to install something with more powerful. The transmission has a small leak at the shifter linkage, but that’s not really an issue, since anyone installing a high-performance engine should have the stock transmission rebuilt, at the very least.
I think $12,500 is a fair asking price for my CAC friends. The car, as it is, could not be duplicated for that price, but I’m open to reasonable offers. If someone has a reliable modified C4 they’d like to offer, I’d be willing to trade the Shark, plus some cash to sweeten the deal. If someone wants to trade a nice C4 plus some cash for both the Shark and the Grand National, you’ll make a friend for life!
I think that mostly covers it, but if you have any questions, please feel free to email me or PM me.
Joe
Briefly, it is a 1979 Corvette L82, equipped with glass T-tops, light beige paint, red leather interior, factory aluminum wheels, and most options (it has A/C, but it does not work – may just need a charge). Not-so-briefly, it is a project that I've been working on for over a year...
I had intended to install a pretty radical stroked (406 or 427) small block, so I've done quite a few upgrades. The radiator has been replaced with a Griffin aluminum radiator. I have a twin Spal electric fan assembly as well. The fans still need custom brackets, in order to be mounted, but those won't be much of a problem. I'll knock a bit off the price if you want to do them yourself, or I can take care of them. I wired up a control box that allows each fan to be independently controlled, so it can be set to come on whenever the ignition is on, or only when the temperature gets too high (180), or can be disabled for maintenance or diagnostic work (easier to listen to the engine without the fans running). I installed a 100-amp Delco alternator to handle the extra load. I ran a new wire from the alternator to the hot terminal (main hot buss) on the starter, and another from there directly to the fan control box.
I have replaced the vacuum-operated power brake booster with a Hydratech hydraulic unit that is run off the power steering pump. I did this so that I wouldn't have to worry about the low vacuum generated by a radical engine, as well as to gain increased braking system pressure. The hydraulic booster is also much smaller than the vacuum booster, which would give added clearance for a big block, or a small block with tall valve covers, tall deck height, or both. I replaced the master cylinder at the same time. The old one was fine, but I figured that I'd rather play everything as safe as possible with brakes. I also installed braided stainless brake lines on all four corners, and speed bleeders in the calipers. The power steering system was re-filled with GM fluid, and the brakes were filled with DOT4.
It should also be mentioned that 1979 was the last year for the heavy-duty rear end, and it has the more aggressive 3.55 rear gearing, stock. The rear-end fluid was changed, and genuine GM fluid with Positraction additive was used.
The car is currently equipped with a TH350, but it could be replaced with a TH400, 700-R4, 200-4R, or any of several manual transmissions. The previous owner removed the little sprag on the shifter that keeps it from being shifted without pushing the button, so it can be shifted freely. It’s kind of nice, but could easily be returned to stock if desired. I have installed an external transmission filter unit which accepts standard oil filters, as well as an external cooler. The filter unit is mounted to the radiator support, near the bottom. I fabricated an aluminum bracket which includes a removable shield to protect the filter from road debris. The cooler is mounted behind the right-front grill (where the front turn signal is), on its own custom bracket.
The left-front grill houses a cooler for the power steering fluid. I spoke with the owner of Hydratech, and he said that it was unnecessary to add the cooler, but that it would provide an added margin of safety, if the car were ever road-raced. So I went the extra mile and installed it. Both coolers are B&M stacked plate coolers with internal bypass paths that prevent the fluid from being over-cooled in cool weather, and are as big as I could fit (11"x6"x2.5" - good for 24,000 GWV).
I also have all the parts to install an engine oil cooler and remote filter (except the oil lines going back and forth, which will need to be made up after the units are installed). The filter adapter is a screw-on unit that goes in just like the standard oil filter. This means that, in an emergency, the adapter could be unscrewed, and a standard oil filter screwed back on in its place, bypassing the cooler and remote filter. The cooler has rigid piping connecting it directly to a thermostatically-controlled bypass, which keeps oil from circulating through the cooler until the car comes up to operating temperature. This reduced engine warm-up time and related wear&tear in the same way that the water-cooling system's thermostat does. Both the oil and transmission coolers have temperature sensors, and I set up a single gauge with a toggle switch so that the driver can switch between them while driving, without having to clutter up the dash with extra gauges, or the oil temperature sender can be connected to a stock C3 water temperature gauge (installed in place of the clock, perhaps), and the extra gauge could be deleted, or used for both transmission and power steering temperature. I have senders to do it either way.
The right-front suspension has been rebuilt with polyurethane bushings, and the control arms, spring, etc. were all painted at that time. I have all the parts to rebuild the left-front suspension, but I haven't done so, yet. Same deal as with the fan brackets: you can do them yourself, or I can do them, and I'll drop the price if you take delivery as-is. The passenger-side door latch mechanism and the driver-side window regulator have both been replaced.
I have installed a stinger hood (similar to the '67 big block hood). The hood is painted light beige to match the car, with the stinger painted dark red to match the red leather interior, and the front (vertical) portion of the scoop is painted black. The three-tone paint job cost more, but it was worth it. The hood is 1-3/4" taller than stock, which allows a significantly taller intake and filter to be used.
The car has dual stainless 2-1/2" exhaust pipes, with DynoMax stainless UltraFlo mufflers, and it sounds quite nice: reasonably quiet at low revs, but it reminds me of a Nascar race when I punch it to pass someone. The previous owner installed a CD player in the dash. There is also a barrel-keyed kill switch that disables the starter. The battery also has a shut-off switch installed on the positive terminal, which I've found is a real time-saver when it comes to maintenance. I can include a side-terminal wrench for the battery, if you don't already have one. The car just crossed the 100,000-mile line a short time before I started taking it apart to do these upgrades.
I'd like to think that I went the extra mile with this project. For example, while most people wire their electric fans to any source of switched power they can find, I installed dual relays (standard GM parts used for C4 electric fans, for easy maintenance), and the switching signal used for the fans comes from the same connection on the ignition switch as the A/C, which means that the fan is shut off when the starter is being used, which reduces the load on the engine and charging system (just as GM intended it to do when they set it up that way for the A/C). That connection required removing the steering column to access the wires, but I feel that it was worth the extra effort, to do it the best way that I could.
What does it need? The paint is serviceable, but it could use a re-paint, sometime in the future. I can recommend several good paint shops in the area. Same deal for the weatherstripping. It needs an antenna, but those are cheap (the one is has works, but is ugly). Personally, I was planning to go with satellite radio, and then glass over the antenna hole, when it gets painted. I think that would be a cool way to go, but it’s your choice if you buy it. The engine runs fine (I have a dyno sheet for it, documenting approximately 250hp at the crank), but the obvious plan here is to install something with more powerful. The transmission has a small leak at the shifter linkage, but that’s not really an issue, since anyone installing a high-performance engine should have the stock transmission rebuilt, at the very least.
I think $12,500 is a fair asking price for my CAC friends. The car, as it is, could not be duplicated for that price, but I’m open to reasonable offers. If someone has a reliable modified C4 they’d like to offer, I’d be willing to trade the Shark, plus some cash to sweeten the deal. If someone wants to trade a nice C4 plus some cash for both the Shark and the Grand National, you’ll make a friend for life!
I think that mostly covers it, but if you have any questions, please feel free to email me or PM me.
Joe
