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I now own my first Vette

A

Altered

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My best friend and my brother all left out at midnight Friday and I just got home 1:30ish AM Sunday. We drove 1548 miles to get her but man what a freaking deal. I was selling my 23T Altered (Drag car) and a fella from Cali had this 76 Stingray we met in ElPaso TX and traded shortly after noon Saturday. I absolutely cannot thank my friend, my wife and daughter, my boss (he let me off work), and brother enough as they made it happen. I couldn't have done it without them.
Anyway the nerves of mine are shot. I was so worried I would be met by a $3000.00 basket case. Turns out the car is very clean, fully functional and runs decent. He was the second owner. I will be here often asking for advice since I am a noob to Vettes. I hope I don't wear my welcome out. :D I loved the many looks and comments as we pulled her home on the open trailer. It really made me happy to be the new owner.
Once I get it cleaned up really good I will put some pictures of my own up but here are the ones he sent me before we met.
76vette.jpg

76vette1.jpg

I know the back piece and wheels are not original for that car as some have stated that read my other post but other than those 2 items both of which I plan to redo it was pretty much original. It has Flowmaster 3" exhaust that the guy was real proud of that he had done. I am still unsure how much I like it though. It hangs too low for my liking. Also it is a L48 motor with a factory 4spd tranny that I know absolutely nothing about except it is tight and has a new clutch. I understood him to say it was the original motor with a rebuild approx. 20000 mi ago. The rear end has had the original gears replaced with 4.10s. I will change to something more highway oriented one day. It has new after market axles and all u joints have been replaced with solids. Not to bore anyone but until I can check it all out thats pretty much all the main stuff I can list.
I am beat I need sleep so off to bed I go to dream about my early Christmas and what I want to do to it.
 
Nice story, I know the feeling also alot of nice people here at C.A.C. Keep it tuned to this channel.:L :upthumbs
 
Conratulations!!! Great to hear another Corvette success story. Get some sleep and try to be patient...
 
Congrats and enjoy the ride! :Steer

Owning and driving a vette is special enough, but the attention they draw is cool too :beer

My neighbor wife and I went to a huge car show today and the C3 contingent was out in full force. I found a beautiful red 70 with side pipes and asked the wife if we could buy it, but, alas, such was not meant to be. In point of fact, I have no place to put another car :chuckle. But it was gorgeous...

Again, enjoy the ride and welcome aboard :w

Dave
 
Many thanks guys. I spent pretty much all evening going over my new car. :) I started my list of things to work on but didn't do any of them yet.

1. Heater core needs replaced. (I given a new one by the previous owner)
2. Motor has some erratic miss in it. (Not a problem I have over 20 yrs experience building engines)
3. Absolutely hate the steering wheel. (Have to find one I like before I can replace it)
4. Driver door needs new pins and or whole hinge. (I given a new pin kit by the previous owner)
5. T-Tops leak not sure exactly the best way to do this. (I given new seals by the previous owner)
6. Driver seat seems loose at the rear mounting points. Ill have to investigate this one.
7. A/C needs to be recharged and or repaired its all there just doesn't work.

Well this is a portion of my to do things. I want to investigate more to see really what I have.
I took these numbers off the block.
16S424581 VO224CKW
I think I read these correctly but I may have mistaken one or so.
The VIN is 1Z37L6S424581
I'm going to start reading up on what these numbers say as to the correctness of the engine to car.
09-30-07_800x640.jpg
 
Congratulations on getting your Stingray, and welcome to the CAC!

Have you received any waves from other Vette drivers yet?

:w
"Save the Wave!"


.
 
Welcome to a very friendly place. and grats on the purchase. I wish you luck on the steering wheel..seems there are no aftermarket wheels that fit. so we both have cars so unique there are fewer upgrades. ha ha ha .. still luv my red c3.
 
Congrats on your entrance into our world! :) We'll look forward to hearing more from you as you work out the kinks. Don't hesitate to ask questions... we've all been where you are... and the CAC has some great members that are willing to share info and advice!

:wJane Ann
 
Welcome to a very friendly place. and grats on the purchase. I wish you luck on the steering wheel..seems there are no aftermarket wheels that fit. so we both have cars so unique there are fewer upgrades. ha ha ha .. still luv my red c3.

Are you serious no after market steering wheels for this car? :confused You are kidding right ? I will have to invent one if thats the case I cant see using that POS to steer my car for years to come. I know several machinist pretty good if none are available for it. Out of curiosity why have the mfg decided to skip this model ? Is the column the problem or what? ;shrug
 
You know where the steering wheel came from in 1976 and into very early 1977? The Chevrolet Vega! LOL true story.
Brian
 
welcome to CAC!!!!
glad to hear you made out OK with the vette!!!!!!!!

enjoy!!
 
Congrats on your new vette - very pretty car from your pictures, and it sounds like you got a great deal on it. Welcome.

-John
 
Hi Altered. Welcome to the CAC..

The Grant Products part number for the 1976 Corvette steering wheel instalation kit is 4193. With this kit you can mount virtually any of the hords of Grant steering wheels on your car and the horn ect. work as they are supposed to. I'd check to see if there is any problem if you car is equiped with option code N37 Tilt and Telescopic Steering Column.

As for the numbers you will notice that the VIN is repeated on the block stamping indicating that it is the engine installed at St. Louis originally.

The V starting the engine stamping number makes it a Flint small block which is right for a Corvette. The V was used for Flint engines starting in 1967.

The 0224 is the build date of the engine: 02 (Feb) 24 (24th).

CKW suffix says it is a L48 Federal emissions, 180 horsepower with a 4 speed.

The first part of the VIN just says it is a Corvette coupe made in St Louis.

The last 5 digits of your VIN tells us that your car was built on March 2nd, 1976 which is perfect for your engine dates. This is all of the info you can gleen from a Corvette VIN.

It looks like you made a good deal.

BTW Got any pics of the 23T altered? I love these things.

Tom
 
Welcome from another proud 76 owner, you will have a task if you want to replace that steering wheel for sure. I just took mine off cleaned it you real good repainted it and covered it with a black leather wheelskins cover and I think it looks good, cheap and fast way to clean it up.
 
Hi Altered. Welcome to the CAC..

The Grant Products part number for the 1976 Corvette steering wheel instalation kit is 4193. With this kit you can mount virtually any of the hords of Grant steering wheels on your car and the horn ect. work as they are supposed to. I'd check to see if there is any problem if you car is equiped with option code N37 Tilt and Telescopic Steering Column.

As for the numbers you will notice that the VIN is repeated on the block stamping indicating that it is the engine installed at St. Louis originally.

The V starting the engine stamping number makes it a Flint small block which is right for a Corvette. The V was used for Flint engines starting in 1967.

The 0224 is the build date of the engine: 02 (Feb) 24 (24th).

CKW suffix says it is a L48 Federal emissions, 180 horsepower with a 4 speed.

The first part of the VIN just says it is a Corvette coupe made in St Louis.

The last 5 digits of your VIN tells us that your car was built on March 2nd, 1976 which is perfect for your engine dates. This is all of the info you can gleen from a Corvette VIN.

It looks like you made a good deal.

BTW Got any pics of the 23T altered? I love these things.

Tom

Awsome man thanks. So as far as you can tell it is a # matching car right? Yeah here is 2 phone pics I have.
alteredcopy.jpg

Rear23T.jpg
 

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