chstitans42

This thread will be continually updated showing the restoration of my 1973 Corvette Big-Block Convertible. I will not be doing an entire frame-off restoration, BUT little by little I will be improving the car, and providing a story to go with.

A week ago, I decided to post up my 1999 Corvette C5 on Craigslist, just to test the waters and see what was out there. I had owned a c3 before, but had sold it, and bought a c5 as a daily driver. The '99 was a great driver car, amazing handling and acceleration, but what did it in for me was the cost of maintenance, insurance, and parts! For example, one relay for the A/C was $170!!! Also, I know c3s inside and out, they are more "me" you could say. You never get the thumbs up, or pictures taken of the c5 like you do in c3s
Here is a pic of the old '99:

The plan was, sell the c5, and try to get myself into a chrome bumper car. I got an email last week from a guy who lived about an hour from me, who offered a straight across trade, my c5 for his c3. I was skeptical at first, but the car turned out to be a pretty solid car, not to mention an original '73 BB Convertible!

After the hour drive home, here is the car!

chstitans42

Here are a bunch of pictures of the car right as I got it home, in "as-bought" condition. As you can see, the car needs TONS of cosmetic restoration to say the least! Also, the carb and suspension need a good going through as well.

chstitans42

shok

I have no idea of values, but I'd take the C3 over the C5 any day, congrats!

ji58

nice trade!! the black top over red looks great!!:

Redwing01

I really like the black top as well , good luck on the resto, looking forward to following your thread.

MrJlr

Good trade !

Blue73Shark

Hot looking car! Welcome to the 73 club. Looking forward to seeing pictures of your restoration.

GPGG70

I think you did good. Keep in mind that I have a 04 Z06 and dont think I would trade for another C3, maybe a C2. I know what you mean about the waves and thumbs up when I'm in my 70 compared to the Z.
Congratulations!!
Now let the work begin and please keep use posted. Looking forward to reading and watching your thread.

C02VETTE

Definatly a good trade! I did the same thing. Traded my 2002 for a 1972 BB.

540 vette

I sold my 99 convertible last April and bought another C3. The 99 was starting to have electrical gremlins and I got rid of it before they became real headaches.

chstitans42

The day after I got it, I drove it down to Garland, TX where Mike (tracdogg2) and I were able to do a few minor tweaks to the car. First of all the carb, which is of a 1980 Corvette, was running really lean. We adjusted the float level, tweaked a few other things and got the car running much better. Future plans will be building a nice 454 tuned carb for this car, so that I wont worry about burning valves etc. WE also replaced a cracking rubber fuel line, with another temp one. I have on order the correct metal fuel lines for this car, so that I wont have to worry about these things exploding gasoline all over my hot engine.

I also was able to pick up a set of windows for this car. For some reason, the driver's side window was broken out completely. In the next post, Ill show the window install.

chstitans42

On one of my free afternoons, I decided it was time to do three things. One, fix my window problems, two, clean out the interior, and three assess how much Bubba has been in this car.

So the drivers side window install didn't take much time, I also greased the innards of the door with white lithium grease, cleaned the door panels and installed them, since they were just hanging on the tops of the doors.


The passenger window was intact, BUT one of the rollers was totally broken off. Luckily I had one in the other "new" window that worked just fine. Took about ten minutes to replace. As I did with the other one, I cleaned the door panel and re-installed them. As you can see in the pics, the interior has been dyed from saddle to black, and as it works as a driver car, eventually it will be changed out. For now it just needed a good cleaning. I also had to use a window roller out of my parts stash, and paint the handle black


What a little cleaner and armor-all can do

Here is a paint history of the car. Originally Elkhart Green, the sprayed blue, and now red.

The third thing was remove the stupid "blocks" that bubba made and installed in order to put in older style seats in this 73. The problem it made was that I wasn't that comfortable in the car, but now with the seats an inch lower, its a bit more comfy for me. The carpet is also new, but not installed 100% correct. In the future, I will be fixing the seat belts and how the carpet is laid down.



So the diagnosis is, that this car has alot of good parts, and some good work done to it, but there is "bubba" in the details. (He wrapped the center A/C vents in aluminum foil so they would shine.) It will take a little while to get this all like it should be.

gguillot

Great Pics! I am working on a similar '73 Vert down here in Boerne, TX. Completely rebuilt the rear suspension already and have the front apart now. Yours is in better shape than mine was, but you gotta love a '73 ragtop!

chstitans42

So next up was the brake system. I see this car as one of those cars where I want to do it once, and then not worry about the car. The brakes worked just fine (or so I thought) but I decided to put it up on jack stands anyways and check them out.

So three of the four calipers checked out, but one rear one was leaking. The pads all around the car were either worn well, or wet from brake fluid. As for the rotors, well they were 100% from 1973, because they were still riveted on. I decided to just go all the way, and get new everything. New lines, calipers, pads, rotors, and master cylinder. I also ordered a new front cross-over brake line, seeing the other one had been bubba repaired and needed replaced.

LEAKY CALIPER

Original Rotors!! But hey, the power steering lines are all new!

On to the new stuff!!


For some reason, I didn't take pics of the front, but they look just as nice. I hope to change out "while I'm at it" the rear leaf spring, and the entire cooling system, seeing the rad, rad support, rad hoses, and water pump all need replaced. Better safe than sorry!

manofsteel1

At least you did not have to drill out the rivets on your rear brakes like I will have to. Someone must have replace the brakes earlier if its lifetime. Besides this message, I also sent you a PM please go and read it. TT

chstitans42

I did have to drill out the rivets on the front brake rotors. Now that was fun!

The weather stripping on this car was either totally rotted out or even missing, so I spent the big bucks and bought the hard top set and the set for the car. I will be buying the soft top set later. Here are a few pics of the hardtop weatherstripping install. the hardest part was getting some stubborn retaining screws out that had rusted into place.
OLD

NEW

OLD

NEW

Time to replace the rubber on the body of the car.
OLD


MISSING

OLD



NEW

chstitans42

UPDATE!

So in the past few months, a lot of work has been done, but I haven't had time to post anything up so here it goes!

Next on the immediate things to do list was the cooling system. The water pump had a wobbling shaft and the radiator had a bunch of pinhole leaks. It was the original one to the car, so it was clearly on it way out. Also the radiator support was rusted out due to the fact that the rad leaked. There isn't any other rust on the car other than this, due to a faulty rad. I will be eventually replacing the mechanical fan and shroud with a dual spal fan setup from Dewitts.
Check out the pics!
Old Radiator with clear leaks down each side

Here are a few pics of the old rad support. Rusty rusty rusty



Here is a pic of the new rad support and rad installed

chstitans42

Cool pics I took with my neighbor's old 50s Poncho

Tally Ho

Nice work. Any plans to return it to its former green with saddle interior?