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Hi everybody! I'm a new C3 owner from Estonia, Europe (some pics)

S

speedbird1229

Guest
Hello!

Although so far I have mostly visited corvetteforum.com, I've also been browsing this one and it seems to be just as nice! I thought I'd introduce myself a bit and show a couple of pictures. I found my Vette from Estonia and we have really few of those cars around here. It was imported from USA 2 years ago and the previous owner here took good care of it. In USA somebody has already begun restoring the worn parts and I'm going to continue. The Estonian owner replaced the suspension with KONI shock absorbers, installed a new radiator, replaced cooling system hoses and more, plus he also gave me new Corvette America window seals for the whole car. I will replace them this winter.

The frame is in very good condition, some surface rust here and there but mostly clean. I didn't actually check all the birdcage before the purchase so I kept my fingers crossed when I removed the interior panels. Fortunately the sight was quite okay :beer

Here are some photos for you:

side_1.jpg


side_2.jpg


front.jpg


rear.jpg

(The Stingray emblem is not supposed to be there according to the original factory design, of course. I will probably replace it with the correct Corvette emblem.)

front_lights.jpg


Here are some photos of the birdcage, frame and bottom of the car. I'd love to hear some comments if anybody notices something. Index of /corvette/details

Although most of the stuff on the car works, I've found out some items which need fixing. The speedometer does not work, I pulled the cable which was okay and the speedo shows perfectly when rotating the cable manually, so it must be the drive gear or driven gear in the transmission. I will probably fix it in Spring. The dashboard lighting didn't work, I found the cause which was a disconnected wire from the headlight switch. However, it seems like somebody has "fixed" some items on this car by removing the result, not the cause, hence the wire was probably disconnected because of problematic speed/tach printed circuit. Also all the cockpit illumination lamp bulbs have been removed although they get constant power. I found out that they are kept on even when the doors are closed so the timer behind glovebox must be bad. I shorted the two white wires on the plug and the system began working (ofcourse without the timer).

Also the climate control settings don't have much effect so the air only comes from the feet ducts and doesn't reach the window or center console ducts. I was told the vacuum system going to the climate control might have a leak. Will be checking on this soon.

I have already ordered all the parts to fix the dashboard lighting and I have Shop Manual, Owner's Manual and 79 Sales Brochure :)D) being delivered from USA right now.

I'm also actively posting in my blog at George’s Car Blog to share my latest experiences with the car.

I will certainly write in this forum to get more information about stuff and I thank you for the help in advance!!
 
Hi George. Welcome to the :CAC !! Nice Shark!! Thanks for sharing the photos.


We have a wealth of knowledge and information here, free of charge and available to anyone just for asking.

Here are a few links which may be interesting and/or entertaining to you:

CAC Tech Center

CAC Model Center

CAC 1979 Model Center

Enjoy your C3 and the CAC!!
:wJane Ann
 
Welcome! It is so cool to see someone oversea's with a Classic Vette. Yours looks well taken care of. We are here for you if you have any questions.
 
Speedbird,

I love it! That's one beautiful 79 -- congratulations!

Ralph
 
That's one nice looking ride you have there, congrats.:beer
 
Thanks for all the great words, guys!!


Did you ever get your radiator cap issue fixed?
I think I did because before with the old cap the radiator hose very often got rock hard and perhaps a bit swelling but no matter what I did now (idle for long or drive around for hours), the hose was moderately hard so that I could perhaps squeeze it half smaller. When I started the engine, I marked the reservoir level with a pencil and after driving around, the level had raised by about half an inch or so. Does it sound about right? The weather was very cool, -3 C so 27 F.

I'm also very happy because yesterday evening I finally found the engine VIN number stamp and I have a numbers matching engine :) Just have to find out about the transmission now.

I am rather sure that somebody in the USA has been somewhat restoring it. I wouldn't call it a show-ready restoration quality but seems like his goal was to make it a nice driver (which it is). I noticed that several of those white (oyster) color cockpit panels have been repainted, most of the interior screws seem to be non-original. There is an alarm system installation half way finished and when I removed the headlight switch, the dimmer was somehow removed and it was converted to just one-level dimming setting no matter what position the dimmer is at. I think the car was also repainted by the same owner in the process of making it a nice looking car, but seems like he was on a budget though. The new seats are probably vinyl, not real leather, the paint quality is not show-ready and sometimes it seems as if he didn't have new replacement parts ready for purchase so he fixed the old stuff.
 
Hi George..

A big :w from west of you!


Beautiful car you have. :thumb

:w
-Stefan
 
the hose was moderately hard so that I could perhaps squeeze it half smaller. When I started the engine, I marked the reservoir level with a pencil and after driving around, the level had raised by about half an inch or so. Does it sound about right? The weather was very cool, -3 C so 27 F.

That sounds better. -3C is cool? We had -21C here the other day. THATS cool!:eek:hnoes
 
Hi George..

A big :w from west of you!


Beautiful car you have. :thumb

:w
-Stefan

Hi Stefan! Thank you and nice to hear from you. I studied in Langen for 7 months, came back March this year. I drove my Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.2 V8 there all the time, took it with me from Estonia. Frankfurt is nice! And I just love the central location, I drove to Switzerland, Paris, Luxembourg, all around Germany, eastern France and stuff.

That sounds better. -3C is cool? We had -21C here the other day. THATS cool!:eek:hnoes
Haha! We haven't had such cold here for 2 years I think. It's possible though. I'm not sure I'd be spending much time in the garage if we had such temp. outside. The garage is not heated at the moment ;)
 
Nice piece,...you did well..:cool
 
Hi George, and a huge Welcomed Aboard to you.

You having your Corvette in Estonia truly gives credit to the fact that the Corvette is a World-Class Sportscar!:beer

It does look a-better-than-average shape considering that is nearly 30 years old. Easy does it with the fixes and restoring to stock conditions, and before you know it, you'll have it there. (not having to depend on the Vette for transportation really does help to wards this end :thumb).

In case you didn't know, one common place to find the build sheet is on the upper front of the fuel tank. I hope it still there for you. There are other locations, but I can't recall which other locations you could search as well. Perhaps someone will post here those other locations.

The "Stingray" script may not be in its proper location (or even used at all on your year-model), but I do like the way it looks. :upthumbs It would have been a great place for a factory-designed and scripted "Corvette".

Please keep us abreast of your projects' progress.

GerryLP:cool
 

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