Full Blown: a 1979 work in progress

[Full_Blown]

Hi Folks,

Just wanted to thatnk you all for your help. I'm just posting a few pics here to show you all how it's coming along.

Thanks again,

Steve

Our 1979 Corvette (Shark)​

​

Rolling Restoration

A great deal and so the work begins. ****ty bodywork , a crappy black paint job, and a blown up L48 engine.

A pretty tired looking light beige interior. Cracked, missing parts, and screwed together with wood screws etc.

This motor is toast. Main caps are sheared off, two bent and broken piston rods and a bunch of bent valves.​

Well let's start from scratch. Re and re entire front and rear suspension with Hi-pro Gymkhana suspension and Urethane components.

Toss out the engine. bought a 1976 Corvette L82 350. Rebuilt Turbo 350 Tranny, torque converter added hi-pro shift kit. Rebuilt Posi rear end and added 3.72 gears. change all U joints etc.

 

[Full_Blown]

part 2

Full rebuild of 1976 L82. Edelbrok Manifold, Holley 600 carb, 1.6 Roller rockers and girdle, dbl. roll timing chain, performance cam, heads 2.02 valves - ported and polished, headers, hi. vol. fuel pump. Sweet!

Gutted the interior for redying replaced missing air control and installed new AC. Bought new leather seats and replaced and repaired broken and damaged components.​

Removed all glass, chrome, etc, etc. Sanded off all ****ty black paint. Repaired butchered body work. Realigned all miss-aligned doors and panels.

Epoxy sealed, primed, sand and wet sanded by hand down to a fine 800 grit finish. Beautiful

Getting her ready to Rock . . .
and roll to the paint shop.

 

[Full_Blown]

The paint job speaks for itself. 2002 Corvette Torch red (I call it Horny red)
3 base coats and 3 clear coats. It looks like glass.
No ripples, no runs.

I got my son to airbrush the Great White on the underside of the hood.​

He's pretty good eh?

Recognize the character? It's Bruce from Disney's "Finding Nemo"

Well I'm now installing the chrome, accessories, glass etc. It's looking pretty good.​

I hope to be working with the interior soon. I'm redying everything a dark beige (Camel) It's an 1982 colour.​

Still got to do a 4 wheel alignment too and then she's good to go. I'm shooting for a Spring 2005 roll out. I should be finished well before then though​

 

[jclit]

Wow!!

Looks good. Alot of work, but Ill bet it is worth it.
Jim

 

[ON 7TH]

thats cool !!!

 

[pasvorto1]

Wow. How much $$ do you think you have rolled up in the project so far?

 

[Ripp 73]

Great Job Full Blown. But you are making the rest of us who aren't working on our Vettes right now look bad. Keep the pics coming and the updates. Have any surprises arrised yet while working?

 

[Z06 Tom]

Holy crap FB, that's friggin AWESOME!! What kind of wheels are you gonna put on it? I love the shark under the hood! "Fish are friends, not food!" But rice, that's another matter entirely!!!!:naughty:

 

[Daryllawman]

Very nice.......keep up the good work....pictures look great....

 

[RodsnRides]

Nice!

Great work! Looking good. You have a few hours and a few $ invested, and it shows nicely.

I'm a little jealous, too. Reminds me of how much work I have backed up. And then today, guy at work wants to sell his wife's '86 Z-28 Camaro, needs engine, for a song. Yeah-i'm thinking about it. Why do I do such things?:eyerole

Rick

 

[corvettespecialists]

looks awesome! What did you do on the suspension and exhaust sytem?

 

[Eddie 70]

Nice looking work. She should be a lot of fun when finished. Enjoy the car to the max. Are you going to show it or is it gonna be a driver. Either way you have lots to be proud of.

 

[Full_Blown]

Sorry I haven't replied sooner guys, I've been a bit tied up. Thanks so much for your kind comments. I'm just finishing up some electrical right now and installing the new interior. I hope to have in on the road the first thaw in the Spring.

FB

 

[Full_Blown]

Wow. How much $$ do you think you have rolled up in the project so far?

I picked the original car up for a song. There was no real damage, the frame and trailing arms were solid and it had had sme major components replaced i.e gas tank and tires. The car cost me $1,800 CAN and with some bartering, ebaying, and shopping around I got a great deal on many of the parts I needed and the paint job. In all I figure I've got about $8,500. CAN tied up in her and all my own FREE labour. Now where can you pick up a brand new rolling retoration 1979 Corvette for $8,500. Canuck bucks?

FB

 

[Fuelie]

Full blown,

Your car looks great!

Keep all those updates and pics coming. We all love to watch your progress and share your excitement.

And you are right about your project costs , you won't find another resto '79 for that kind of cost.

Take care,
Brian

 

[Full_Blown]

Great Job Full Blown. But you are making the rest of us who aren't working on our Vettes right now look bad. Keep the pics coming and the updates. Have any surprises arrised yet while working?

Yeah, Nothing too major though. MOst have just been from someone elses shotty workmanship. All it's really done is slow down my progress because I've had to take a couple of backward steps to set it right. The only real challege has been trying to re and re rusted on parts.

FB

 

[Full_Blown]

Holy crap FB, that's friggin AWESOME!! What kind of wheels are you gonna put on it? I love the shark under the hood! "Fish are friends, not food!" But rice, that's another matter entirely!!!!:naughty:

Thanks Tom,

I plan to polish up the stock slotted, aluminum wheels. I already blacked out the slots. I think they'll look awesome myself.

FB

 

[Full_Blown]

looks awesome! What did you do on the suspension and exhaust sytem?

I was lucky. When I got the car It had a near new, 2 1/2" completely dual, stainless exhaust system. When I installed the motor I also installed ceramic coated block hugger headers. It was fairly easy to cut in the collectors. It needs a little bit of custom bending to clear the frame better but I'll have that done when she's on the road. As for the suspension, I was able to score a great deal on a pickup truck load of 1979 parts from a guy that had gutted a 1979 L82 for a drag racer. He'd stored the parts in his basement for 20 years. Total cost to me $350.00 CAN., included was new 4 core rad, full working AC, power steering complete, master cylinder, complete HVAC ductwork, Rad fan housing, 5 blade fan, brand new side rocker mouldings (still in the bag) , heater core, etc, etc, and . . . a complete Gymkana suspension front and rear (Guess what I installed on my car?).

I used most of the goodies above on my car and sold what I didn't need on eBay and made $750. So actually I was paid $400.00 to update my car. I like that).

FB

 

[Full_Blown]

Nice looking work. She should be a lot of fun when finished. Enjoy the car to the max. Are you going to show it or is it gonna be a driver. Either way you have lots to be proud of.

I'm a hands on type of guy. I could never figure out why someone would want to own something just to look at it. It's like buying an expensive bottle of wine and never knowing what it tastes like. Or having a beautiful woman just to look at her? NOT. In answer to your question . . . I can't wait to get her on the road and drive her!

FB

 

[Full_Blown]

Full blown,

Your car looks great!

Keep all those updates and pics coming. We all love to watch your progress and share your excitement.

And you are right about your project costs , you won't find another resto '79 for that kind of cost.

Take care,
Brian

Thanks Brian,

My goal is to do a couple of these, drive 'em a bit, sell 'em, make a couple of bucks and end up with what you've got . . . a 65 or a 66. I'm just hoping I'm still able to drive when I finally get one. LMAO