Some of you may have seen this thread:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...ut-buying.html

Well, I bought the car and it arrived a couple days ago. I did have AJ's buddy, an NCRS judge, inspect the car for me before I bought it and it's pretty much how he described it, so no real surprises. I would describe it as a light project. It's going to be a driver so we're not going to be doing a frame off type of resto.

Here's what we're have to do:

Paint
Replace seat covers, carpet and a few other interior parts
Fix headlights
Fix brake issues including parking brake
Shocks and rear spring bushings
Replace windshield
Repair A/C
Replace tires

The only thing that was a bit of a surprise were the brakes. They were barely functioning. After checking it out, I found the right front caliper had been badly rebuilt. It was sleeved, but the shop didn't press the sleeve all the way into one bore, so the seal never seated properly. I think it gave way as the car was being loaded on the truck. We had to get it off there very gingerly. I have a press so I'm going to fix that and rebuild all of the calipers just for safety's sake.

Thanks to all of you who gave me advice on the purchase. I'm very happy with it and the whole thing went very smoothly for a long distance sale. About the only thing that was a problem was arranging a truck. I picked the weeks that Hot August Nights in Reno and the Monterrey Auto Week in Cali were going on back to back. Intercity and several of the others mentioned on here were all out west (the car was in NJ) and couldn't get to it for weeks. Fortunately a classic car buddy of mine knew of a broker who only deals with auto transport. I was leery of a broker but the trucker did a great job.

 

That caliper issue is probably something that happens only very infrequently. It looks new so I'm not sure you need to rebuild all of them if they are all that new. If you're nervous about it you can pop off the dust seal and check the sleeves but if they're that new they're probably good.

Good luck with the car. Enjoy it.

 

Yeah, the brakes are weird. The calipers vary in how old and worn they look. The one above looks OK other than the sleeve, but then one of the rears has a hole rusted clean through. The rotors look like they've hardly been used, but they are pitted on the edges. I think the brakes were rebuilt 20 years ago or so and then the car was put away, and not somewhere completely dry.

 

That hole is just where the bolt that holds the caliper together bottoms out. Mine had one caliper the same way. It doesn't effect the caliper.

 

I agree. That hole is in a lot of them. It does look like you might want to clean up and rebuild them since they aren't as new as the one in your first pic.

 

I also have a hole in one of my calipers at the same location. So I dont think its rust that has gone all the way through.

kdf

 

awesome project good luck and hang on to your wallet

 

You have a lot more car to start with than I did. Keep us posted on your progress.

 

Congrats on the new car! Let me know if you need a place to keep those Mopars - glad to help you out

 

Adam, I poured that slab just so I'd have a place to put them!

I am going to rebuild all of them. It's easy and cheap to do so why not? The seals don't look that bad but they have been sitting for years without use. And I have to pull the rears anyway, the parking brake doesn't work so I need to pull the rotors to get to them.

 

Love Mopars - have had a few over the years. Most notably 3 Challengers - '70, '72 and a '74.

Good luck with the Vette project - I see huge potential in that car.

Adam

 

Congrats and always keep in mind, the end result: you sitting in a nice C3 Corvette!

 

Congratulations!

You have yourself a lot of car there.

Looking forward to pictures of the progress and the finished product.