So i'm going to start ressurecting a 1980 that i got a few months back. Looking for suggestions on where to start, what parts need upgrading, etc. Motor trans etc already pulled and rebuilt since i have prior experience in that department. I have the assembly manual and saw in other threads i've lurked into that i need to get wiring and vacuum line manuals. Dedicated my entire garage to this so plenty of space. I want to do this right so i can do it once and be done. No rush to get it on the road.

Also if anyone is working on a c3 in houston area and needs help or a spectator, i'm willing for the experience!

Posting links to your threads for any part of the resto process is much appreciated.

Entire interior has been stripped in preparation.

This will be a weekend garage queen car. The C6 is my get dirty, go fast car.

I'll post pictures into the thread asap.

 

My advice would be not to pull the body off the frame if you do not need to. You can have a completely driveable 80 with a frame on restore.

 

I agree with Easy Mike. Unless you wish to invest 1000 or so hours, and several thousands of dollars simply to "go to college" about auto restoration a 1980 Corvette is not the premier choice for a plethora of reasons. Yes, it really will take that long and cost that much to do a nuts and bolts "back to factory" job... if you can do everyting except the machine work on your engine by yourself. As a "ferinstance"... if you farm out the bodywork and paint expect to spend somewhere north of $5K and perhaps as much as $10K just for that step in the process. There's a thread from this week over in the paint and body section where a person spent $1400 on a single gallon of basecoat paint alone!

If your 80 is in reasonable shape I would put the lawnmower back in the garage, spend this weekend making a list of projects... and the parts required to accomplish them... and price the whole thing out before you remove another thing from the car. Perhaps it would make better sense to renovate an area of the car at a time as opposed to doing a gut rehab?

 

Expected far different responses. But anyway i got this car from a friends neighbor who started and due to things popping up was unable to finish it.(was trying to talk my friend out of his 67 at the time) As far as time or cost it doesn't really matter to me as i only work 9 days a month due to my 24 hour rotating schedule. I know the rubber bumper isn't a favorite but it was born just before i was so it was the first car i saw and said i want when i grow up. As far as tools to do the job have pretty much everything i could want including a 4 post lift and access to my buddies paint and body shop on the weekend when its closed. I'm not going for a complete back to factory resto sorry if i was unclear. I plan on modernizing the pieces i want to upgrade. Even found a place that'll make an interior for it that looks just like my c6's.
So this will be a totally personalized car with no tracking of receipts or thoughts of "is all this work going to be worth it to resale."
My first car (which i still have) was a 1973 dodge dart sport my parents bought out of a junk yard and made me fix to learn responsibilty. So i'm 26 now and if i don't finish this car till i'm 50 i'm fine with that.
Now back on topic.. any suggestions on suspension upgrades, brake upgrades etc. Decided to start on the chassis first, planning on getting it powder coated an electric blue color. Plans for final car is electric blue with metallic silver stripe.

 

Your choices are quite wide then. There are even completely custom frames available which utilize later Corvette suspensions and/or race style coilover stuff. You can even run a front suspension held up by a tramsverse spring like found at the rear of your car. Wilwood, Baer and Brembo (and others) offer full brake packages to upgrade your stoppers. There are at least a couple rack and pinion conversion kits on the market, or the popular Borgeson steering box conversion. If you want to run huge meats out back there are offset trailing arms available to increase clearance. Many upscale wheel manufacturers are happy to cut one-off rims with custom offsets for agressive tire sizing.... I would start by ordering paper catalogs from some of the supporting vendors listed at left here and formulate a plan based on what strikes your fancy. There are many people here who have gone down a similar road and you'll get lots of feedback/opinions as your plan takes shape. You can certainly get as exotic if you wish.

 

Crazy. I was checking the posts before I posted something that was going to be nearly identical. I just picked up my second '80. Have a AT that has been fixed to head-turning daily driver but wanted a manual tranny. Looked at the conversion but decided to get a MT '80 and keep the other to drive.

I want to start from the chassis and update suspension and steering then put a motor and 6-speed tranny in before I set the body back on. I plan to do the body and paint myself as well. I am also not terribly concerned with time or cost. I want a beautiful car that is a load of fun to drive. I hope you are planning the restoration, not letting the thread die.

 

I got distracted by my other car. Was driving on the interstate at night and someone decided I-10 was a good place to leave a folding chair. Long story short couldn't swerve due to traffic and didn't see it in time to brake completely. So bumper and my vararam intake need to be replaced on the C6.

 

I did a 2 year frame off of my 1980 i have a full thread on it here.

 

I'm in the middle of a 78 body off resto. It's hard for me to say if someone else should do this but here are some of my thoughts half way in. Should I have put the money into a bumper car? Probably, but then I would have been more inclined to put the car back to original when I really wanted to have fun with making the car the way I wanted. Will I ever get out what I'm going to end up spending ($32,000+)? NO! But I'm sure hoping to have alot of fun when its complete. I want to drive this car! My dad has an all original 75 in mint condition and the other day I asked him if he wanted to go for a ride, he said he didn't want to put any more miles on it. If I had a mint bumper car thats probably the way I'd feel so I going to enjoy driving the **** out of this one when ever I feel like it. Just my .02 cents

 

9 days a month? Fire fighter?

 

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...e-rebuild.html

 

With what i paid for the car, and what i have into it, i am at $32,000.00. That didnt include paint, the paint is a 6 0ut of 10, and i am happy with it for now. I love driving the car, and with 350 hp and 390 tq its a lot of fun to tear around in yet still drive anywhere. If your worried about the money, dont start the project, this is not a cheap venture. I do it because i have a car disease, and i love cars too much.lolol