Hello,

Just thought I'd share my personal experiences with everyone as I restore my corvette. Hopefully I might be able to bounce some ideas and help others in their restoration as well.

Background:
Vehicle is a 1978 Corvette which was painted to look like a pace car. Original car is actually classic white according to the Vin #, either way i still love the car!

I don't have the mechanical expertise to do alot of the resotration myself, so I'll be sharing my experiences w/ various vendors and any adventures that pop up along the way!

Goal:
Restore this car back to its prime while adding a few modifications here, while staying smog legal in CA

 

"I don't have the mechanical expertise to do alot of the resotration myself,

That's O.K ..........you only need three things to qualify:

1. A Vette.

2. A camera.

3. A good attitude.

(Do you have the camera?)

 

Do you have a budget in mind before starting? How much did you pay for it and are you planning on keeping long term? Easy to spend way more on repairs than the car is worth. Paint alone can cost $8-10K. Nothing lots of $$ can't fix. Be prepared to spend if you can't do most of the work yourself. I am in the process of restro mod a 78 and enjoy working on it myself. I am planning on keeping mine for a long time. Lots of documentation on this forum, use the search and you will find almost every kind of problem or challenge has been tackled before.

 

Entry #1

After a couple years of the car sitting around, the car has two flat tires, steering wheel thats stuck in lock position from a prev poor repair job, dead battery, and has not been started since. We decided to the car repaired by someone who has had previous experience with C3's.

I did research online regarding various vendors by comparing their positive and negative reviews. I analyzed the content of the comments and the ratio of positive and negative reviews since I do understand no business can please 100% of their customers.

Vendor: J & D Corvette

Experience:
I sent a couple e-mails back and forth with Noe and finally followed up with a tour of the facility. They were pretty busy lots of nice looking corvettes ranging from every generation. Havent seen a c7 yet =). Everyone there was friendly and knowledgeable. Noe gave me pretty accurate estimates as for as turnaround time and cost. Very straightforward, and comparing the experience I had with those who shared their own online via forums // yelp. It was spot on. If I can sum it up I would say they do quality and honest work.

Repairs//Modifications//Restoration
Very straight forward, just had a few repairs to get the car to driveable condition, tune up, new tires, steering wheel, fluids, etc.


Didn't really take any pictures for this entry, but the next one I'll have my before and after video // pictures of muffler//exhaust work I recently had.

 

Entry #2

When we first got the car, we installed flowmaster 40's. The sound was ok, lots of drone, but was not as deep as I wanted it to be. Because We're in california and its after 1975 we had very limited options. I decided to search for a better muffler with less drone, deeper sound, and to learn what other modifications I could do while staying legal. I decided to go with Dynomax Super Turbo Mufflers b/c I've researched online they have better flow than flowmasters and are loud when u want them to be(stepping on the gas) but quiet enough to have a conversation in the car. Two Dynomax Super Turbo Mufflers with a 2 1/2" rear Y-Pipe.

 

The chrome tips are a good idea....They "wake up" the lower bumper area.

What's next on the list?

Pick a modification that you can get some "hands-on" time into the project similar to the muffler mod.

 

I have a 78 pace car (well I think it's a pace car) and have dreams of restoring it. I don't have any mechanical exp at all. My car has been sitting around for years(15) I love that car,,, so where do I begin? What I really want is for someone to work on it and I pay as we go, but anyway where to I begin?

 

@Cor1978,

I would search on this forum for some shops around your local area. Thats what I did and I just compared their reviews and did research =).