If you are going for restore, I would do motor, body, then interior. just makes your life easy and you only have to do it one time...

 

I've been researching the stripping, priming, and painting of vettes and there seems to be a lot of contradictory comments out there. The link below will bring you to a PDF, describing in detail, the whole process of painting a vette. It was the best document I could find while researching for hours. Didn't know where else to post it, so feel free to repost in other locations.

http://www.corvette-restoration.com/...Tech_Paper.pdf

I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself/project but I can't wait to see some good color on the 78...patience!!!

 

Sounds like a good way to do it. And I'm thinking...pull the engine, pull the exterior components, pull the interior, paint the engine compartment, rebuild/paint the motor and tranny, install motor/tranny, repair body, paint exterior/interior, install exterior components, install interior, drive away smiling (hopefully). Did I miss anything?

 

The brackets used for R side alt is for a 2nd gen camaro. Hope this info helps

 

Hope to have the engine out by the end of the week.













Just noticed the photobucket puts them in reverse order so I'll have to remember that next time I copy and paste.

 

Got the engine and tranny pulled. The tranny definitely needs a rebuild. The engine, I'm not so sure. It ran before I pulled it. It was a little rough, mainly hesitation upon accelerating, but had been sitting in a garage for three years without being touched. I pulled the valve covers, found extruded aluminum roller rockers, and everything looked exceptionally clean. I talked with the guy I bought it from and he didn't have much history on it. He said the guy he bought it from had rebuilt it. He bought it, drove it for less than a hundred miles, and parked it in the garage.

My question: Should I tear it apart and rebuild?

It seems like a waste to do that since it's running and looks clean. It ran a little rough, but I think replacing the distributor cap, rotor, plugs, etc., will fix that. Also plan to change all filters, pumps, hoses, and belts. Any thoughts?

 

I was wondering why you were putting everything back in.

Good progress so far, keep us updated.

 

Ready to drop the engine, but waiting on the tranny. It's getting a complete rebuild and I'm picking it up tomorrow...supposed to anyway. The engine color has me changing my mind about the car color. I'm thinking two tone now...chevy orange/red pearl and black...I've got plenty of time so something to think about.

I did pickup some Citristrip from Walmart. I tested it on a small spot on the hood and it took the paint off without hurting the fiberglass.

Anyway, a couple of pics of the engine, ready to be dropped. Had a heck of a time getting the number 1 piston TDC by myself, and without a timing tab on the timing chain cover.

 

Looks great! Not feeling the orange exhaust manifolds, BUT to each his own. Painting them grey would make the orange on the rest of the engine stand out much more.

 

I was thinking one step further, why the cast iron rams horn manifolds at all? Headers are cheap and offer much more flow, the engine does not have a stock look so leaving the cast exhaust and then painting it orange....well I would have went another direction, but thats me.

 

Headers would have been the way to go but I would have had to modify the exhaust, which is in pretty good condition. For some reason, I'm digging the orange. It's really chevy orange red, and much darker in person than the pictures. Up until now, I would never have painted a car orange. And I would have opted against two-tone. Now, I'm thinking everything orange red pearl and black. So, orange red following the rear fender curve down to the bottom front of the door, and then black to the nose to finish it out. Possibly a patch of orange red on the hood scoop, and maybe a black stripe or two up the back and top. Could also flip those colors around...wish I had a computer app that would let me experiment with the colors. Just a thought right now, but I want it to be totally different. I'm just not feeling the stock colors and basic dull schemes. Throw on some five-spoke cragers and think it'll look street mean.

 

Where I work ALL of our trucks are that color! After 13 years of driving an Orange truck, you could not hold a firearm to my head and make me paint something that color! We have thousands of big Orange line trucks and buckets and p/u trucks. I drive a 3/4 ton Orange Chevy p/u. ...... it really is easy to add headers to a stock exhaust system.

 

Got the tranny back late yesterday evening. I'm working by myself, so I had to study everything for a while and formulate a plan to get it back in. Well, here's how you successfully reinstall a transmission, by yourself, using only a floor jack, skateboard, and two short pieces of 2 x 4 lumber.

Get the tranny back under the car by lifting the car, and sliding it under. Once you got it back into position, lift the front end of the tranny and slide the skateboard under it and balance it. This will give you easy left to right movement for placement. Now lift each end of the skateboard and slide the 2 x 4 under the wheels of the skateboard for jack clearance. Be sure to chock the skateboard wheels with something. I used folded cardboard and a pry bar.





Now, crank the jack up and push the tranny back into place.



Bolt the center support, bolt the ujoint straps.



So it's basically back in. I just need to reattach the speedo cable, kickdown cable, shift linkage, fluid cooler lines, and drop the dip stick housing back in. Add a couple quarts of ATF to the torque converter and slide it into place. I won't tighten everything until I get it reattached to the engine, loosely. So, if anybody ever tells you that you can't install a tranny in a vette, from the floor, by yourself, tell them you know better. Wish me luck with the engine. I'll post pics when I get it back in.

 

Still working by myself, but managed to get the engine dropped back in, mated to the tranny, and both are bolted back in. Took me all today, a little jack here, a little hoist there, back-and-forth, to get the tranny and engine mated and bolted in place. Talk about a job by yourself.



Tomorrow I'll hookup up everything else and hopefully crank it up.

 

Got the engine and tranny back in, everything hooked up, added all fluids and checked for leaks. As soon as fuel hit the filter and carb she fired right up. Set the timing by ear and took her for a spin around the block. She was very responsive and chirped the tires as I pulled away from the house.





I need to work on the brakes some more. I bled them before I pulled the engine and tranny and they seemed fine. Now, there's barely any brakes. I've noticed fluid on the rotors and tires also. It's leaking from somewhere. I'll bleed them again, check all the fittings, and see if they'll hold pressure. If not, I'll be looking into calipers, master cylinder, and possibly booster.

 

Just rebuild your calipers if necessary. You may find they'll be fine once the car starts getting some "exercise". If not, putting o-ring seals in them will take care of that issue. Get that timing set properly.....Lars has a great paper on setting it correctly. Glad to see her running....good job.

 

I thought about rebuilding the calipers, but everything I read suggests just buying new calipers...is this just an easy way out or scare tactic to persuade me to buy new/rebuilt? Is it worth it to rebuild the calipers? If so, what sort of kit should I look at?

I don't have a timing tab on the timing chain cover, and buying a tab isn't a perfect solution. Everything I know about timing, the goal is to get the highest idle rpm...that's where I'm at now, retarded just a bit, and she seems to run perfectly.

 

You have three options when it comes to calipers.

1. Rebuild your existing ones using new seals. This is the cheapest option, some say it works great, but in my experience they start leaking after a short time again.

2. Buy rebuilt calipers from your local auto parts store. These will be rebuilt but WILL NOT have stainless steel sleeves in them, they will be a copy of the stock ones. The most common reason why calipers leak/fail is because the bores where the pistons are tends to rust when a car sits for a long time, causing the seals to leak and the calipers to fail.

3. Buy rebuilt or new calipers that have stainless steel sleeves in them. These will cost you a little more, but in the end, you will probably never have to replace them in another decade etc. Vendors like Lonestar Caliper make amazing calipers. I just put a whole brand new set on my '73

I would personally go with option three,seeing brake work is usually a job I don't enjoy much, and would like to do just once. Also depends on the size of your wallet.

 

Contact me if you need a nice used set of dark blue leather seat covers.

 

Don't worry about the orange exhaust manifolds. About 10 minutes after you start the engine, they will be a crispy, black anyway. You need to use 1200*F paint, if you want to 'color' them. I had my manifolds shot blasted, then put on two coats of Seymour 1200*F 'Cast Blast' cast iron colored paint. It is a ceramic paint that bakes when the engine is fired up (about 2 hours of running to bake the paint and get the smell to go away ). But, it's worth it to have original-looking manifolds that never rust.