I have own my 1977 Vette for 3 months now and I am the 4th owner. I knew up front that it would drain my wallet for the first 2 years of ownership. It really did not matter out of all the C3s I looked at this was one of the best ones since it only had about 43,000 original miles on it. I figure the last 2 owners did very little to maintain the car and I am picking up their slack. I put grease in the Steering Control unit and it spit water at me and was leaking fluid How much fun is that after the second week I owned it.

I can only do short trips till I figure out everything that is wrong with it. So I drive only to work and back which is a 24 mile round trip once or twice a week.

The front suspension was totally dry of grease and who knows for how many years So far I have had to have almost the entire steering system and ball joints replaced OUCH that was about $1700 bucks because I had a shop perform the work after I bought all the parts. It was right at $1100 in labor cost and around $600 in parts. I had this done in the first month of ownership.

Fixed 2 battery drains which turned out to be the Horn Switch and Hood Courtesy light switch $60.00 bucks and a new tool for electrical system testing.

New Dual Stage High Flow 160 Degree thermostat and 2 gallons of antifreeze.

Transmission filter was clogged and shifted really hard. Bought a new chrome plated drain pan with a drain plug, filter/gasket kit and a transmission cooler than also 3 gallons of Valvoline DEX/MERC Tranny fluid. Have yet to install the tranny cooler since I have only performed 2 fluid changes so far. This weekend the 3rd transmission drain and Cooler goes in. I figure about $200 in parts and 10 hrs of labor so far.

Drained the rear differential and put in 1.5 Quarts of Mobil 1 LS full Syn plus a LS additive another $30 bucks.

Now that I have driven it about 1000 miles and put about 60 to 70 hours of love into the car it will require much more work before I take for a true really long pleasure cruise.

I have to rebuild the rear suspension next this is where the time and money comes in because I plan on doing most of the work myself. The car will be down all winter and that is when I will start to tear it apart and really fix it up. I can buy the parts over time than have everything I need but still making a parts list. I will start buying kits next month and will spread it out over a few months. Everything will be stripped down and repainted including all 3 drive shafts with new U-Joints. I will remove most of the rear end and suspension to perform the work.

None of this is complaint I kind of knew what I was getting into when I bought it. I just did not know everything it needed. Everything is found out later since we cannot completely inspect a car before buying them unless the current owner lets you have it for a week before handing over the title to you. YUP not going to happen

 

these are old cars. owners neglect things over the years.. if you can do the work yourself you will save a ton of money and have the satisfaction of knowing you did it .. if you have questions or need advice, just ask, we will help you .. when its done, it will put a grin on your face everytime to take it out, trust me

 

Some great stories here guys keep them comming

 

MakoJoe,

Your story sounds so familiar. But you know, when I am cruising and hear the 350 hummm it somehow does not matter.

Just for entertainment purposes, spot what is wrong in this pic.



Something wrong with these I think.



And these too.



All have been replaced.

 

Took it to work today for a short drive. Roads were wet from the rain just happened to hit the gas a little too hard taking off from a traffic light and lit up the tires on wet pavement. Rear end started to fish tail once the limited slip went into posi traction so I rode with it till I hit second gear and the speed limit. Now that is what is fun

Looks like you lost both metal plates on the rear spring mount top and bottom. Your lucky the bolt did not go thru the rubber bushings.

 

38 years time, 90% driving time, yes it requires repair but its a car, you drive it.

I give credit to those that can take a ride down for years to restore it, that would drive me nuts, just drive it.

 

Not really. The bolt is upside down!!

 

Wow after the second look I see that now. Some dummy found it easier to put it back in upside down. I can see why they did but was not a smart decision LOL

My rear end is not in that bad of shape bushings are only dry rotted but still functional. It is getting worse in the last month. Have a scrubbing/crunching sound when a hit a bump on the drivers side. When I perfrom the 3rd Tranny Fluid change this weekend going to put the car on a 2 post lift and pull the left rear tire than try and figure out where this new sound is coming from.

The shock is spent on this side and it might be it making that scrubbing/crunching sound. All the shocks appear to be orginal on the car no markings and silver in color.

 

My ratio is so bad. I have three, all of them are in some state of being up graded or getting some new set of parts. SO, my driving time is zero and my fixing time is through the roof.
Even worse, I have a line on a 76 for a good price. My wife thinks I need my head examined, she might be on to something.

 

That's probably a 5/8" replacement [longer] bolt instead of a 9/16" bolt. If so, the 5/8" hex head won't fit through the hole in the top side of the T/A (unless the hex tips are filed). So, the owner decided to put the nut on top. No biggie.... Just a little tougher to deal with.

 

So far, our driving time has been minimal. Got the car in November of 2011 and it was a basket case, so it's been non-stop repairs, rebuilding, replacing and several other "re" type things. lol

We can drive it now, but it still has a long ways to go.

Adam

 

I get better than 90% drive time, but only because I've 'been there, done that'. My first 'Vette, 20 years ago, was closer to 50/50 as I worked my way through many of the repairs mentioned above. When I bought my current 'Vette two years ago, I searched for months to find just the right car, which for me included $4500 is chassis repair receipts from the prior owner!