Mine was to replace the intake manifold and carb on my 81. The listing in the parts catalog said it would fit under the hood of my C3.
It didn't.
Then I learned another lesson. I measured at least 3 times to make sure to cut a hole in the hood so that the air cleaner would fit and allow some room for the engine to torque a bit. My plan was to glass in a hood scoop over the air cleaner (think 68 Camaro style).
I got the fore and aft measurements correct but I did not realize that the engine did not sit exactly in the middle of the car! I cut the hole to be exactly in the side-to-side center of the hood.
Oops - it was about 1 1/2" too far to one side.
Fortunately I was able to recut the hole and glass in a piece to cover the gap. The hood scoop ended up covering everything nicely and looked pretty good.
I really liked the engine mods (355/heads/cam/ignition/intake and carb) but I was quite embarrassed as several of the neighbor guys were watching and helping as I first put the hood back on.

 

Installed the VBP Street and Strip suspension on my 68 Convertible. The 68 Vert has a lot of body flex..and the Street and Strip is way to stiff. I've mitigated the problem a little by not installing the rear anti-sway bar, replacing the front anti-sway bar with a slightly less diameter bar, and installing a spreader bar between the front spring control towers. The spreader bar made a noticeable difference.

 

I don't think this qualifies as a "mod", but I'm gonna throw it out here anyways... I didn't know "jack" about C3's when I bought my 68 coupe in pieces. When I was unpacking the nasty boxes and putting the stuff up on shelves I grabbed the crusty 'ol wad of dirty seat belts and tossed them in the trash!!! I've learned to regret that move over the years!!!

 

Honest question, why?

 

Having restored mostly Camaros and Chevelles, getting parts was never an issue. This was my first Vette and I knew nothing about them. Nasty seat belts? Huh... I'll just order new ones. I had no idea 68 was such a rare breed. (I do now!).

 

I put a set of C-5 power seats in my 68. Showed one of several problems. The stock steering wheel now hits your thighs and you cannot steer. No problem, figured out I would just swap it out with a tilt/tele column. New problem, no tilt/tele column made by GM for that year vette. Got a Ididit tilt column. New problem, old steering wheel still does not fit. Got a custom looking smaller one. New problem, Seats still sit a bit high, Custom mounts and hours of mods to seats to make them work. Looks good now, but a bit more than I thought went into what I thought was going to be a quick swap.
Not really a regret, but really glad its done.

 

Though I havent finished it and installed it yet because I found a high rise eklers hood on craigslist for $50 to use in the meantime, I took my 76 hood off to install an l88 hood scoop. Well even though I read how to do it, I suck at fiberglas repair (as well as drywall repair in my house). To top it off the gel was bad and did not dry correctly. So I put the hood aside till I feel like stripping it down and doing it correctly, or run into a l88 hood I can afford.

 

Ouch.


Have you tried to replace original 68 belts?

 

Vettebuyer6369 and HP Bushrod are two mods that you might regret messing with?

 

My C3 modifications that I regret include adding some aftermarket calipers and rebuilding the factory trailing arms.
The calipers require spacers to clear my aftermarket wheels.

As far as the trailing arms go, I wish I would have sprung for some offset trailing arms when I went to rebuild mine.

You live and learn...

Rookies are you listening?

 

NOPE......and there is nothing stock about my '72 vert, from wheels to roof, I mean NOTHING!!!! not the frame, not anything, all the mods have been modded even further.....

seat belts are aftermarket from Carlisle I modded them to work, added power windows, lowered the seat, late shark TT wheel, moved the lower firewall forward about 3" bent the gas/brake forward to move my knees off the wheel, custom console controls, custom/aftermarket gauges, white face speedo/tach was a 4 speed stick, removed the clutch pedal, and kept the stock brake pedal, which is a dead giveaway to any sharp observer, Hurst shifter bar, 8 ball on top....just not cool unless you have a 8 ball shifter.....wrapped the stainless windshield header with black vinyl to stop leaking 80 mph into a hurry-cain proved that point.....
'89 vette wheels, 50 series tires, O ring pistons, hydroboost brakes, 17SI alternater 108 amps, rack/pinion steering, serpentine drive, dual Spal fans, '89 F body radiator, engine oil cooler for transmission, 200 4r overdrive for FLORIDA hwy speeds, 336 rear ratio, engine is a L98 with factory 4 bolt mains--truck block with stock L98 heads, and a highly modified stock LT1 induction that kept the HEI in back where God intended......up and over air induction, so reverse hinged the hood, opens from up front now, electric wiper door, and all the louvers are blocked off, between hood and wiper door, and in back deck.....headlights are moved forward on Ecklers sugar scoop trays, and the holes are 1/2 size....custom aluminum front grill blacked out....'68 Olds tail lights, backup lights white from Carlisle....intermittent wiper controls, frame cut on cross support to facilitate transmission removal, Magnaflow stainless mufflers....square stainelss tips out back, late shark mirrors moved to forward door edge, gloss black powder coating on mirrors, rocker panels, front grill, license plate frame, gas hatch, thinking of doing the bumpers in gloss black, cross support up front between control arms--huge improvement in handling, VBP 460 front 360 plastic rear springs, Billy-stein shocks,

replaced entire interior some 20 years ago, car used to be white, but p/o painted it an elegant burgundy that faded and cracked after some 25 years or so, so I painted it green, p/o had added flares/flaps front and rear.....so the wide tires are right on the flares, just purrfect......door key locks shaved it's a rag top, who in hell going to LOCK a convertible?? battery is a marine deep cycle....no radio/electronic entertainmant, if you can hear your stereo, the exhaust is too quiet, and it's a VERT......

I suppose the only thing stock is the windshield glass.....

 

 

One C3 I was working on was a real pain to get the bolts on the trailing arms. I took an air chisel to the metal plate behind the seats to get access. The job became a hundred times easier.

Still, there are those holes, though no one would ever see them.

The trailing arm arrangement was one of the more stupid things Chevrolet did. Of course, they figured they would last 50,000 miles without issue and no one should keep one that long.

 

No
Are there some "mods" (modernizations/modifications) that I later changed?
Yes
I guess a color change from stock qualifies - and it has been painted two different colors, and getting ready for the next..

Some times I go back and refine things, like the modification of the welded in trans crossmember, (too heavy) that later was replaced with one that I started from scratch. Or the hydroboost that bolted on like stock, I went back later and pulled the studs out and made removable stud plates that allow removing the nuts from the engine compartment. Or the big cam small block I built and later replaced with an LS.

I look at it as a "journey" where I learn and enjoy making the decisions, then carrying them out.

 

No not really anything I've done, grand touring suspenion, borgeson ps, vintage air, bb hood, stroker kit in my original block, autometer guages in the original bezel, non original paint color. All good there.
But how about a mod I didn't do? LS3 engine. Yes I really wish I had just gone that route instead. That with an overdrive 5 spd would have been a better choice.

 

Adding front and rear flex fiberglass bumpers on my 80 and molding them in. Not knowing the glass the bumpers was made of thinner fiberglass I molded the bumpers in and have had nothing but trouble with the seams. I have done the areas over numerous times and still have he problem. If I had extra cash I would rip them off and install regular fiberglass bumpers on it.

 

Did you regret the mod or regret doing it wrong?
I have mucked things up and regretted the extra work to fix my mistake but never regretted a mod I wanted and pulled off correctly....

 

Probably the only mod that I've undone, rather than refine, is Hydroboost. Installing it gave me brakes where I didn't have them before, but it also created problems and simply hid the issues that caused the poor braking performance. Once I solved the problems, I really didn't like how Hydroboost worked and felt. Went back to a vacuum booster and the brakes work flawlessly. Took time and a lot of work though.

 

After reading CA-Legal-Vettes reply I thought about any regrets and I do have one...
I fully expect to be tar and feathered for this one...
However, when all is said and done getting what you pay for means different things and should not be used as an excuse for overpaying for something unless overpaying gives you warm tingling chest thumping bragging rights.
If I had to do it over like many happy people on this forum I would buy a "cheap-o" budget aluminum radiator rather than paying/wasting many times more for the named one.....

 

No, not yet anyway. However, the one thing I did do that is driving me nuts and will have to be addressed is the brake booster I installed. Out of the box it was painted so, and as some of you know, I went through that knuckle busting process to put it in. Well, after a few weeks I noticed rust beginning to show on the finish. Once I saw that I knew I would be taking that damn thing off at some point and painting it properly. God knows I'm not looking forward to doing that job again.