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I'm new here. I've been reading the forum for a while but decided to register the other day and jump in. I'm Mike and I'm from Australia.
I little while back I bought a 72 convertible from interstate. I bought it sight unseen based on pics the guy had sent me. When I got it home and started taking a good look at it I discovered the previous owner had taken a lot of artistic license with his description and the pics weren't recent. Caveat Emptor (Let the buyer beware).
No point in getting upset so I've started stripping it down to fix all the running gear and turn it into a safe useable driver car.
It's not numbers matching and definitely far from original. It was originally a 350 Auto car but at some point someone stuffed a 400 in the front. It's also got an LT1 hood on it. It's had a bunch of bodywork repairs done in the past and some are not real pretty. I've got my work cut out cleaning it all up.
The chassis seems to be fairly rust free. It looks to have been a California car. Also all the oil leaks from the 400 motor, power steering and Turbo 400 trans have rust proofed the underside.
The plan at this stage is to rebuild all the suspension with new ball joints and urethane bushes. New Bilstein shocks and a mono-leaf rear spring.
I've pulled the motor and trans and I'm rebuilding both of them. The 400 looks like it was dug out of a swamp with all pulleys and brackets and manifolds mismatched. There is no point in trying to go for originality besides I like cars that look nice and stock on the outside but bad *** underneath. The motor will get aluminum heads, manifold and water pump. It'll also get a set of headers and decent exhaust.
Here it is on the trip home
The engine bay. Oh dear...
The Underside
The Swamp creature dragged out of it's hole
I'l post up a few more progress pics as I go if you're interested.
The Front suspension is out while I clean up the engine bay. The front cross member needs some work.
The engine bay needs a fair bit of work.
The trans is out now and Most of the wiring. There were so many cut and joined wires and taped up connections. It's a real mess. I reckon I'll start from scratch in the engine bay and modernize the wiring a bit.
Plenty of fiberglass repairs needed in here too. The inner guards are cracked in places and there are some cracks in the firewall around the tunnel.
I've sand blasted and repainted a lot of the front end parts ready to go back in.
I've been tearing down the motor to get it ready to go to the machinist.
It looks like it's still on the standard bore size. It's a 4 bolt mains motor. The plan is to get the block hot tanked and crack tested. Then we'll see if the mains need align honing. Bore the block for new pistons, Deck the block to the top of the pistons. Thrown in a set of hyperutectic or forged pistons and some 6" rods. Still not sure whether I'll reuse the crank, it'll depend on whether it needs grinding or just a polish.
I used to work for a US company and spent a lot of time heading back and forth to your country. They were based in Huntsville Alabama. Being a car guy I used really enjoy my trips up there.
I enjoy car forums. A great place to meet interesting people and share ideas. I love build threads. I find them a great way to keep motivated.
It just gets a bit depressing at times. Each piece I pull off reveals another shoddy repair hidden underneath, I was expecting to do a bunch of work, just not this much.
It's not a big deal as I've got the skills and tools to do most of it. It just means it'll be longer before I'm on the road.
The plan for it is to have a usable driver/cruiser. I wanted an Auto so my wife could drive it too (She refuses to drive manual).
It just gets a bit depressing at times. Each piece I pull off reveals another shoddy repair hidden underneath, I was expecting to do a bunch of work, just not this much.
It's not a big deal as I've got the skills and tools to do most of it. It just means it'll be longer before I'm on the road.
The plan for it is to have a usable driver/cruiser. I wanted an Auto so my wife could drive it too (She refuses to drive manual).
Cheers
Mike
Hey man I am right there with you. I have been building my 1970 428 CJ Mustang since 2009. I bought it as a drag car with a 428 CJ and an 871 blower. Well then it was retired and I got the idea to restore it to the street. I knew it was going to be a pain in the butt to take a drag car and make it street-able again. But like you, I didn't really know just how much. I have a lot going on, and many other projects. My '72 orange C3 was wrecked hard last year and all other projects are on indefinite hold until I can finish the '72. It was my first car, so it is the most important one. Through hard times, and even harder times….I have hung in there and when most everybody is telling me that I ought to just quit and give up on all of the projects….I have hung on and I have held my ground. They will be completed one day, hopefully. But even if I die before they are done, at least people could say that I died trying instead of giving up at the first sign of trouble. You can do it, I can do it, we all can do it. Just believe in yourself and stick with it.
Anyways, you do have a lot better starting point from what I can tell than some of the other CF members. You still have a sweet '72!
Yep, when I log on here and have a look at some of the issues guys are dealing with on their restorations I don't feel so bad or at least I don't feel alone.
I bought it here in Australia. I think it's an older import. It was previously registered in Queensland and NSW. I flew up to Sydney from Melbourne (Where I live) and drove it home. A run of about 1000KM or 600Miles.
It was an interesting trip. I soon realized that the suspension and steering needs work. 4 wheel independent suspension is right, each wheel had it's own idea on what it wanted to do.
Paint looks good, my wife's friends cattle dog ran all over mine and scratched it from one end to the other, bloody thing was attacking his own reflection.
Hi CSX66 good luck with your project over there in the West Island! Couldn't help noticing the spacers on the hanger bolts for the rear spring, what's with that I've never seen that before?
Another of the sins of the previous owners. The rear spring has sagged. Rather than just putting in shorter bolts or replacing the spring they jammed some spacers in there to lift the rear up again
What's worse its they hit the inside lip of the rear rims on droop.
It's a 20 foot paint job. Looks OK in pics put up close not so good.
I'd dike to repaint it to the original Bryar Blue at some point.
Welcome aboard, where are you in Melbourne? I'm in Highett and have been a member here for over a decade. Whatever your question, there is always someone here who has the answer.
Nice looking car, and I like the way you're going about restoring it. I have a couple of '74s, a coupe and a vert, so have a BIT of knowledge of them. If I can be of any help, just give me a cooee. Keep plugging away, you'll get there.
Thanks for the feedback guys. Nice to see some other Aussies on here too. I joined the Australian Corvette Forum to connect with local enthusiasts but the place seems very quiet with only a few C3 posts a week so thought I'd look in here.
The Chrome bumper C3 has long been a favorite of mine. Finding a convertible was a bonus.
I was stumped with that for a while too until i read a sticky on the front page about sending them an email to register. Seems like nice people on there but not much activity.
72 Convertible Resto mod down under
