I used to have a BMW and belonged to an online car forum for it. Those guys would rice out their cars and really didn't know anything about the originality of them. I have found that here, I am in the company of individuals who raise the bar when it comes to being as correct as possible on their cars. I am currently working on a project for my buddy on his Vette, but after being here, I think I am going to get one of my own! Thanks guys.....

 

I think the seller knows exaclty what he is doing.

On a side note, some people really don't care if their Vette is original or not. They might like the decals, but hate black & silver.

On a further side note, not everybody that posts on this forum know what they are talking about. I am a perfect example of that.

 

This is obviously true.

As am I. I think that's OK as long as I keep my comments to the areas where I know "something", and use a lot of "I think...." type of lead ins. Of course, I would never comment on what is "correct" for a '78 Pace Car, because I am sure I don't know squat about it.

All that said, I would be willing to bet some serious coin that the second pace car that is posted has A LOT more than 23,000 miles on it.

 

I would think that the interior should look damned near brand new, right? 23,000 miles isn't alot of seat time......

 

O boy, nit pick time!
1. Obvious paint work, not really a bad thing but raises questions on a supposedly low mile Vette. Missing 'limited edition' decals, stripe on rear bumper way too high, painted the front license bracket silver instead of black.
2. Glass tops missing
3. air cleaner ductwork missing
4. Dist shield missing
5. Smog pump missing
6. Wrong color horn button and emblem
7. Pass side dipstick? wrong motor!
8. Seat hinge cover missing
9. Driver side under dash lite hanging down in wrong spot.

Someone mentioned cruise but I don't see it. NOT available with manual trans.
For a car out of a "collection" with 23K miles it looks a little beat under the hood and inside, BUT, I've seen lower mile Vettes that look far worse!

 

I think the UN decal must have falled off the "OFFICIAL" on the side of the car

 

Do the buyers a favor and just report the listing as misleading: http://cgi1.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...victoryroute66

 

See, I knew I hadn't spotted every little flaw...

PrestonM, yes you've fallen amongst some pretty picky guys here, but don't let that put you off. It's more of a passion than an **** thing, for most of us, as a good many of us have modded the crap out of our cars to improve or personalize them as we see fit.



FYI, glass tops were an option.

 

I can be pretty picky myself. There are some "extra" things that I am going to do to my buddy's Vette to try and make it more presentable. He wants that braided hose cover stuff on all of the underhood hoses and lines, but I am not too sure about that and there are some details that need addressing. Too many to list, but when I start, I will post pictures to let you guys know what is going on.

 

smack your buddy upside the head and tell him to put that braided crap on his civic.

 

I am not too keen on that crap anyway. Going into the trash tonite....

 

Not on the actual Pace Car link swatato posted
Think you were nit picking the original SA/fakePC this thread started out about.

 

Clams,
Very well thought out reply,
You are very correct about evolution and large cube SB engines are the norm these days, but still a bit pricey,
You are also correct that a BB weighs a lot,

If I could afford a "modern" big cube SB engine I would still have to really ponder hard do I really want that for how I will use my car, a lot of what people build is not ever taken to it's limits on a track, most people in all honesty can't handle 200 real HP, so some things are just posturing, I want to do an "old school" custom so I am guessing I will run an old, big, heavy, 454.

I really can't believe that I am even stating my opinion on your build, I am always tooting the horn how people should build what they want to how they want to I just see a few inherent flaws with tributing the 1978 Pace car, and I don't want to see you end up unhappy,

I have to assume you plan to paint black and silver w/red pin stripes, it looks good, but was a very "late 70's" thing, really insists upon itself, I have seen many vettes painted that way, even recall one bumper car but as a vette person the first thing I always have pop in my mind is "Pace car paint on a non pace car= Cheesy"
You want to go one further and apply the decals,



That really gets ...ahem...dicey, you will face most of the same comments the seller of this threads car is facing, people will not think "tribute"

First problem is it's dated, and even a fair amount of non car/vette people will know your car is not a 78 and not a real pace car and then that equals...cheesy,
Perhaps you could loose the date part of the decals or even get really eccentric and have a date that matches your car decal made,

I love all c3 vettes, some more than others and each variation has it's pros and cons with me, but I don't believe a more beautiful car than the 68-72 vette was ever made,
While I love custom those cars are just sweet.

I see all kinds of tribute cars built and it's fairly popular to fake the 69 Camaro pace car,
In your case you don't want a clone of the 78 Vette Pace car, but rather some tribute, It then dawned on me,

The 78 Pace car wasn't all built up and fair breathing, it had what 180 or 220 HP? it was just a car used to pace a race, it didn't win a race as it wasn't a rcae car,
All it had to do was run and drive, while the real deal is a wonderful price of vette history best left in the hands of a collector, you have a bumper car and so many "real" racers of that era could be faked, cloned or paid tribute to,

I am not trying to wet on your cupcake and call it rain but I have been involved with so many customs both mine and others that didn't turn out in the end to be what the builder desired,
Just be 100% sure a tribute to the pace car is what you really want to build.

 

Actually.... I've had 30 years to think this over. The only thing else that even came close in my mind was a Jurrasic Park paint scheme with red over silver (like the jeeps seen on the helo pad - not the loud colors of the ill-fated tour cars) The doors would be some kind of a knock-off of the Jurrasic Park logo on the jeep doors with a tie/spoof in to the tag line "When Dinosaurs Ruled The Road". Try as I want to sell it to myself, I keep coming back to both "too hokey" and too "movie geekish".
Yes - I'm a movie geek..... but I'm not sure I want the car to scream it. Perhaps if I was *not* a movie geek - then the idea would sell itself to me better. Heh.

Back to the Pace Car... I myself am a 70's dinosaur in many ways.. so I'm OK with that part of the problem. I thought about using 52nd Annual etc and changing the date to the 1968 date. But then we (IMHO) commit a worse crime against history... because the '68 Vette was *not* the pace car that year. While God knows it should have been (with a design like that) it wasn't. That means some other car *was* and to do that would be to step on the real '68 pace car and commit a greater historical injustice.

So to get back to 1978 - which was the year I graduated high school, got the car, etc etc. I don't hold the '78 pace car replicas in "awe" that much with the exception of the *looks*. To me, none of them are "pace cars" - they are all replicas and tributes anyway. And with the "limited edition" inflated (under threat of lawsuit) so that every Chevy dealer got one - the pace car replica program turned into as much of a embarrasing GM fiasco as it was a tribute.

That's why people who squirreled them away for "collectable value" are still waiting for thier retirement check. Part of painting my car that way is a laugh in the general direction of such "collectors" as well as the whole Pace Car fiasco. I hold more to the opinion that it's the **C3** that was the 1978 Pace Car. And I feel that way more so as time goes on and the C3's fades into history as a single group. While it's unfortunate that a gutless, bubble backed, car with silly assed genric GM door panels had to do the deed - it did the deed to redeem all C3's everywhere for being overlooked for 10 whole years.

All that said.. I *have* been thinking of changing the date to the build date of my specific car... or changing it to 1968 - 1982. The jury is still out on that one and has been out for well over a year now. Anyway, at the rate I'm spending, the paint job may wait (again) and the thing will still be "Vagenta" when it hits the road for a while. I'm not sure yet.

-W

 

BTW: Why does the L-48 engine on the Silver Anniversary (Pace car decals) E-bay Corvette that started this thread have a smog pump on it?
I have two L-48 78's and neither does. I know the L-82 did though...

 

Clams,
With the Pace car you will be paying tribute to a tribute in a way,
I just don't know how to make decals that state "1978" float on a 1968

You talk about not digging the bubble back or plastic bumpers, don't like the silver interior, geez, the 78 pacer is the epitome of everything you don't like about C3's, why pay tribute to it?

I want to add that I loved both my 81's, bubble back and all, GM's mistake with the bubble back is it was fixed in place, they all should have opened like the 82 CE car and like C4's,
Not until I had that 76 sitting in the driveway did I really start digging the Dino style cove back for the 68-77 coupe,

I am a huge movie geek and way proud of it, My screen name is even a Goth-ish, fun in a Munsters kind of way parody at the movie The 12 Monkeys,

I actually dig the Jurassic vette idea better than the Pace car tribute,
With the Jurassic vette you will have a one of a kind, while a tribute to the film chances are you will never see another painted anything like it, perhaps it would remind a few people of this car....which wouldn't be all bad



Not a Corvette as some mistake, but a Dune buggy called a "Shala-Vet." short wheelbase like a most dune buggies,



I would actually love to have one of these in normal trim and with a Corvair 6 in the rear,

Well, I look forward to seeing your project progress,
Seems we are high jacking this thread to some degree, so I will let them get back at trashing the cheese ball seller of that poor car...