kennethj!

Greetings, Corvette owners. My name is Ken and I just found this site while looking for information to assist me in getting my 1979 Corvette L46 back on the road. I received an email from a friend which told a story about a 1967 corvette discovered in a garage where the owner passed away. He had bought this vehicle new and at the time of his death it had less than 3000 miles on it. http://www.vintagecorvettes.com/1967davis.html After reading this story I was convinced that it was time that I get my corvette running and get some enjoyment out of it, before I assume room temperature. I was hoping that this site would assist me it my endeavor. I have a reasonable amount of mechanical ability, but in no way am I a skilled mechanic.

I think it was in the fall of 1989 when I had to move the corvette from my garage at home to a friend’s garage. At that time I had not drove the car for about a year. I always used ethanol free fuel in it along with sea foam. The car started right up, however, every time the wheel made a rotation I would hear this extremely loud thud. When I got to the new garage I removed the passenger’s side rear wheel where the thud appeared to be coming from and looked at the rooter and caliper, but everything appeared to be fine. That was the last time I drove the car and at that time it had 14XXX miles on it.

Last week the streets here in Minneapolis, MN. Were clear of snow and ice so I thought I would flat bed it back to my home and start by removing the gas tank. Much to my dismay the car would not budge an inch. Because of the location of my garage in relationship to the ally, the car would need to be pushed by hand into the garage once removed from the flat bed. I think that the brake pads could have adhered themselves or rusted themselves to the brake rotors. Does this sound logical? If so, what would be the best way to free them up? Besides from changing oil, fluids, and filters, is there any steps I should take before trying to start it up? Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Ken

SuperBuickGuy

douse the pads liberally with a 50/50 mixture of acetone and transmission fluid (well-mixed).... let it sit for awhile. Otherwise, go buy some car dollies from Harbor freight, set the car on those to roll it into the alley. Once in the alley, you could probably use the weight of the car to break the wheels loose (by pulling the car)

oh yeah, welcome - better late than never

TurboStitchCW

welcome to the forum and good luck getting your car back on the road! I look forward to reading of your progress and hope to see pics of her out and about!

-CW

Indiancreek

Welcome, sounds like that may be some of the issue. "Assume room temp" that's funny, I'll use that in the future.

AGVI

Welcome and good luck getting your L48 '79 back on the road.

Easy Mike

No. The pads can't rust, but the rotors can. It is more likely the parking brake is not releasing and is holding the car, or the car is not getting into neutral.

I suspect the thump you heard the last time you moved the car could have been ebrake shoes.

gcusmano74

Or U joints.

kennethj!

Without going into sob stories and lame excuses, I can enthusiastically report to this forum that my 1979 L-48 Corvette is now parked in my garage at my residence. After 28 years of being in storage, it sure looks good. I feel like a kid in a candy store every time I go into the garage and see it. Hopefully I will be able to get it running again. I was going to attach a few photos, however I have not figured how to go about doing it.

The first thing I did was to drain the gas from the tank. I don’t remember it having such a large capacity gas tank, as I removed about 23 gallons from it. I was surprised that the gas didn’t smell as bad as I expected, given the age of it and past experience. I was more surprised that I didn’t observe any crude whatsoever in it. I used a old external VW electric fuel pump that I rigged up years ago for transferring gas and could get right down to the bottom of the tank. I know that it sounds hard to believe.

The next thing I did was remove the carburetor. It appeared that the carburetor was completely empty, most likely it just evaporated. I did not take it apart to see how bad it looked inside. I sent it to a carburetor rebuilding shop in Florida which was recommended on this forum. They advised me that it would cost $250.00 and there was about a three week turnaround time.

I placed the car on jack stands and removed the tires. I didn’t notice any brake fluid coming from the calipers. I replaced the fluid and bled the brakes, no leaks yet.

I removed the plugs and sprayed penetrating oil in the cylinders and let it site for three days. I again repeated that process. I attempted to turn the crankshaft clockwise using a socket wrench and pipe for leverage. I moved the wrench about 1/8 of a turn and the harmonic balancer didn’t move, apparently I just tightened the bolt. I stopped at this point as I was afraid that I could break the bolt. I have no idea on what I should do at this point. I also wonder if I should remove the distributor and spin the oil pump with a drill. Is this crucial? I have read that it is and isn’t.

On my first post I stated that the car would not role. Once the tow truck driver activated the electric winch the car made a couple squeaks and groans and was rolling. Thank God, one less issue.

The only heart breaker so far is when I removed the cover, I noticed that something had struck the very edge of the mirrored T-top and had cracked the glass on the driver’s side. I have been looking every day on craigslist and e-bay in hopes of finding one.

Any and all advice will be appreciated.

Ken

cv67

If you can get to the flywheel from under the car they make a tool that you use on the teeth that gives pretty good leverage to turn the motor over

blue427

are you in neutral and not park,or neutral and not a gear if standard tranny? I would change all rubber hoses and belts,back flush the radiator,change the rear end oil making sure to add the G.M. additive.The next thing would be to pull dizzy and valve covers and spin oil pump to make sure top is lubed.

kennethj!

The flywheel idea never crossed my mind. I checked e-bay and found one of those tools for 16.95 with free shipping. I would have ordered it if I knew there was a place to access the flywheel teeth. I’m on a fishing trip this week so I can’t take a look. I remember seeing automatic transmissions that have something like a inspection area on the bottom portion of them. From my understanding my car has a Turbo Hydra-Matic. Google images has many photos and most of them appear to have that inspection area. It appears that a tin plate is bolted to the bottom of the bell housing. Does anyone know for sure if that the case?

Also, not sure if the car is in park or neutral. I can see that being a problem if it was a standard transmission and was in gear.

procketus

If your cover is still there are 4 bolts holding it on. 2 on the very bottom corners and 2 at the top corners. Very easy access, top ones are easier with a 6 or 9 inch extension on your ratchet. Once bolts are just pull it down and out.

centralcalvette

Welcome to the club! I wish you luck and hope you're driving it soon. You've gotten good advice on turning the engine over, it's an easy task once you get the car SAFELY on jack stands. Fresh fuel, and get it running. Before any trips change all the coolant and radiator hoses, fuel hoses and belts. Transmission and diff service would be a good idea too. Pull the wheels and double check the brakes before going and where. You'll need new tires before any trip longer than around the block. Tires are in danger of coming apart after six or seven years. On a Vette that can be a bill repair bill.

kennethj!

I figured this would be the week that I would try and fire up the vette as my rebuilt carburetor was delivered last Monday. I hope that they paid as much attention to the inside of it as they did to the cosmetics of it, looks great. As I entered the garage, carburetor in hand, I noticed a big puddle of brake fluid under the right rear tire. I figured that if one caliper started to leak the others were sure to follow. I purchased rebuild kits and spent most of the week installing same. My problem now is that I can’t get a good feeling pedal, no pedal. Also, for some reason I can’t get brake fluid to flow through the caliper on the right front. I have taken the caliper apart twice, really not knowing exactly what I was looking for. Any Suggestions?

corvetteronw

Where are you located? One of the members that live in your area might be glad to come over and lend a hand.

kennethj!

While working on the vette yesterday my neighbor stopped by to see how I was doing on the vette. He is not a car guy, but has an abundance of common sense. It didn’t take him long to figure out that the rubber hose going to the caliper was plugged, severely restricting the fluid flow. I went to my local parts store and picked up a new one along with my third quart of brake fluid, and a master cylinder bleeding kit. I replaced the hose, bled the master cylinder, and bled all four wheels again. BINGO! I have what appears to be a great pedal.

By the way, I live in Minneapolis.

kennethj!

I got the engine to turn over by using the method described in a prior post, but it was extremely difficult considering that there is no compression to contended with. After about two revolutions it started to turn over easily. As a after thought I should have maybe not fought it like I did and place more penetrating oil in the cylinders. I hope I didn’t damage anything. Prior to turning it over I spun the oil pump with a drill and during about each quarter revolution of the engine.

I attempted to connect the battery, but was unable to get the bolts started. I must have spent three hours on this simple task with no success. I purchased some battery bolt extenders and still had a tough time, but finally got the battery connected. Is there something different on the way batteries are made today than years ago that would cause this problem? These extenders are now in the way of the battery fitting in the case properly and will need to be removed. I have two gray smaller wires that I can’t remember which one went to which side of the battery. It looks like these wires both end up at the alternator. These wires don’t look like they came from the factory and I was thinking that maybe they were added when I was having a charging issue when the car was fairly new. I assume that I have them on the proper post judging by their length and I didn’t get any spark when I briefly touched them to the post. Now the problem, I have no radio, no horn, no idiot lights, no dome light, and all of the gages are dead. The power windows work and the buzzer that lets you know that the key is in the ignition functions. The engine will crank over. Is there some main fuse that would cause this problem?

I was wondering if I should install the new spark plugs I bought before I attempt to start the engine or use the old ones? My concern was that since the cylinders have all that penetrating oil in them I could fowl the new plugs out.

I’m starting to think that I have bit off more than I can chew! Probably just need a few days away from it.

Syl1953

Don't give up! I would remove all plugs, making sure I knew exactly where all plug wires went, put some 30 weight oil down each cylinder then spin it over some with plugs out. Then install new plugs and try to start. Others with more experience should chime in and let you know. Look at it as a challenge. Every little move forward can be very gratifying . JMO

kennethj!

I forgot to mention that when I turn the key on the heater motor runs at a slow speed and can't be controlled by the switch.

Jack605

Electrical gremlins suck, especially if someone has been re-wiring the car. You really need an electrical diagram to help you figure out why one item works and another one does not.

Jack