Well, it's been a longer project than we had planned, we started planning it in the middle of May and started actually working on the car July 3rd and finally today we finished.
Today we had to reinstall the drivers side exhaust manifold which was removed to get the frozen studs out to replace them since two of them were stripped than we installed the complete new exhaust system. Next was the reinstallation of the power steering control valve which Mike rebuilt.
After that we filled the radiator with coolant. A minor leak there and we discovered a loose clamp on one of the coolant hoses but that was easily and quickly fixed and stopped the drip. Next we refilled the power steering pump with power steering fluid and it was time to test fire up the motor. After just a short amount of cranking she fired up and the motor and new exhaust sounds just fine.
An odd whining noise that seems to be coming from the alternator may be indicating a bad alternator pulley bearing I'm guessing but Mike will work on that noise once he gets the car home along with some other odds and ends stuff. He now has all winter to work on the car so he will have it to enjoy in the Spring. He wants to clean up the engine bay and dress it up with nicer valve covers, clean the intake, etc to make it look good plus he needs to work on the interior.
Once we fired up the motor i noticed the car wouldn't go into gear but checking the tranny fluid we saw the dipstick came out dry, not a surprise as they mentioned the tranny always dripped a lot, so i'll run back to the car on Tuesday with some tranny fluid and fill it up and check it again. Not a big deal really, when I got my '78 the same thing happened - no tranny operation and I discovered it was very low on fluid so I filled it up and she has been great ever since.

in a few days they will send a flatbed to come pick the car up and take it home, than get it over to an alignment shop, than eventually over to DMV to get the car registered for the road.

He still has a lot to do to make the car really drivable and usable, but the project that we offered is now completed. He has a good, solid, replacement frame, along with all new and/or rebuilt front and rear suspensions, new exhaust, all new brakes front and rear, etc.

Actually, there is one more thing left to do on this project and it's up to me to complete. The article that is going to be run in Corvette Enthusiast magazine needs to be written and submitted and that is on me so over the next week or two i need to find time to sit down and write all about this from start to finish.

Oh....... as an added bonus for today, today is actually Mike's (the young car owner) 18th birthday. What a present for him to have this project finished on his birthday! He was very excited.

here are the last pics:
http://www.vetteclub.org/1980_Projec...ectpics13.html

 

I applaud all of you for taking on this project. I have kinda been following it since the time that you were looking for a frame. All the guys and gals that volunteered their time and parts are top notch in my book.

 

Nice job. The hard work pays off. Enjoy your ride. BTW I like the color.

 

Awesome,Barry!Congrats to you,and the guys that helped!

 

Barry.. what a nice job! I am glad to see the Corvette brotherhood helping out another vette owner. Is mike a forum member? If not, you should encourage him!

 

Great project, and very admirable! Congrats!

 

You guys freak'in Rule!!!

 

Barry,

Thanks for the update - I wish I could have helped beyond just a donation but the commute from AZ is hell

I hope Mike enjoys the car. Is he a CF member yet???

Tom

 

Way to go Barry! I was talking to Mike last night and I can't tell you how happy he is! He's going to have the flatbed drop it off at my garage so we can start working on getting it where he wants for spring. Its tough to find a group of people who will do what you and your club did for Mike. You are definitely a great group of guys!

 

Above and beyond

 

Wow!

 

Nice to see that you are "grooming" three more dyed-in-the-wool C3'ers. Keep up the good work.

 

thanks for all the kind words everyone!
it was a long project but very well worth doing and EVERYONE, not just Mike, learned a lot during it.
Corvette Enthusiasts magazine has already been told the project is over and they will run the story about the project once I get it finish and in to them.

A very huge THANK YOU to everyone that helped and contributed to this project, it means more than you can imagine!

Being able to finish the project on Mike's birthday was just an added bonus but a very good one.

Dale, you guys still have a good amount of work to do on the car to get it ready by Spring. If you want, PM me or email me, and I'll give you my cell phone number and I can go over some areas of importance that you guys need to take care of in addition to the "cosmetic" improvements I know Mike wants to makes.

Oh, and for the guys that asked....no, I don't believe that Mike is a CF member YET but i'm sure with Dales (VTHokie77Vette) encouragement he will become one.

Oh... and Dale...... one question came up yesterday that we all started wondering about.
just why in the H*LL were we working outside in an open carport for the last 5-6 months when it turns out you have a BIG, enclosed garage or barn to work in with a LIFT that would have come in VERY HANDY during all of this???!!! I feel this information would have been nice to know back in June and July.........

 

Hahaha! I DID offer to Mike that it could be done in my garage! I think they were worried it would be an inconvience for you and the rest of the guys since it was closer. And I'm pretty sure it did get mentioned to the group when I was there, but nobody pursued it... so I just let it go! We probably could have had it done in time for Carlisle with a lift and air tools!!!! Hahaha! It was a good learning experience for him though... the old school, hard way! Kids need that these days, everything is too easy for them!

I'm sure Mike will become a member of Corvette forum soon enough! He'll be off at school next year, away from his vette for awhile, and he'll end up here to fill the void! That's how I found this place!

I have your email address.. so I'll send you something and you can give me some more info on the to-do list!



Yeah... that would have been nice to use!

 

HOLY SH*T!!, we could have been working THERE instead of Andy's open carport this whole time and using that lift instead of all the jacking up and down onto jackstands and lying under the car in the dirt from outside although it was really funny a few weeks back when we were there right after a huge rain and Mike discovered after being under the car for about a good 20 minutes that he was lying right on top of a big, messy pile of worms that had washed up underneath the car.

I may bring my '65 over this winter for a few weeks if it's ok since it would be TONS easier to have the lift to use to pull the transmission out and than reinstall it back in rather than fighting with it and the lack of room while on jackstands - I have to rebuild the tranny and than install a new clutch and throw-out bearing.
I got your email with your info so I'll call you and we can discuss it.

 

Barry,

Great job... You guys should be proud of what you've accomplished!

Regards,