I am looking to dress up my 1978 350 small block engine. I have been on a few sites, but I cannot find what I am looking for. Does anyone know of a good website that sells complete chome engine kits. The ones that I have found, say that it will not fit cars with a/c. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

By the way, I am new to the forum, just bought my 78. Are there any other 78 lovers out there? Will these cars ever appreciate in value? This is my first vette, and I am loving it!!!

 

You can find aftermarket bling just about every where. Since most 78s had factory air, what are you finding which says it will not fit air cars?

 

cfrperformance.com was one of the cites that I looked at for the chrome parts. It was under the restrictions, where it said the parts would not work with a/c. I don't know??

 

Back in my custom days, I used to buy chrome items from ChromeCo, which I believe continues to provide chrome for other distributors now. I saw his booth in Bloomington and I think he was in Carlisle too.

A/C has nothing to do with anything. But the parts you want individually for the year you need- there's no real "kits" that are any good.

Here it is... Corvette Central bought them:

http://chromeco.com/

 

They have a lot of stuff.

 

try www.jegs.com or www.summitracing.com or www.northernautoparts.com

 

Actually it's a valve cover issue with the a/c. You need to get short valve covers or the ac compressor will them (tall ones) and not fit.

 

Look up engine dress up kits on any site like Summit racing.

I like the ones from Proform parts. I may get the black powdercoated one myself.

 

As others have said you will need to buy individual pieces for the most part and you need regular valve covers not high raised ones...even the AAc? unit can be covered with a chrome cover....

Having said that I purchased my 79 in the mid 1980s with way too much chrome in the engine..(fuel pump/ water pump etc were already chromed ..air cleaner was replaced with a small triangular one...yada yada yada.... anyway I both the water pump and fuel pump had problems with pinholes I always blamed it on very poor chrome plating jobs or excessive acid baths etc prior to being chromed...needless to say those parts were replaced with non chromed pieces...

I still own the car BUT it taught me that keeping the chrome polished was a job I honestly did not car for... so none of my other 6 Corvettes have much chrome under the hood... nice factory appearance just looks better in my opinion...and is a heck of a lot easier to keep clean...

As for the 78 thru 82 cars ever appreciating...well yes but by the time they do all of us will be long gone ... Just enjoy the car drive, it keep it looking and running good

...that is the best way to get your moneys worth ...I value all of my Corvettes by the number of smiles I get on my face per mile...

Bob G.

64 72 & 98 Convertibles
76 79 and a 35th anniv edition Coupes

 

e bottom line: Competitiveness, thy name is Chrome. ... For a while now, Google has been pushing features over what it calls milestone numbers, which means that as soon as new features are usable in .... Mac Starter Kit ...
www.gmpartshouse.com

 

That looks amazing. Do I even want to know how much that cost??? That is the look that I want.

I also want to clean up and repaint the valve covers that are on there. They are original, and are in need of some cosmetic work. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks to all of you who replied. I cannot wait to start "chroming". I am sure that I will have more questions in the near future, as I get into it. Thanks again for the input...

RV

 

My original engine just went out again at 186K miles. I am going to buy a new crate engine, but I want the Proform krinkled black accessories. Anyone have any experience with this finish? Would chrome last longer? Thanks.

 

eBay is a good source for cheap prices (especially if you mix and match) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MESE:IT

 

http://www.motorchrome.com/servlet/StoreFront
I got aluminum pulleys form here, I had to get different belts but the pulleys fit good.