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You might also consider the NCRS judging manual for your year. Not so you can restore it to NCRS level, but it just has a lot of good info on what is on your car. Part numbers, casting dates, etc.
Congrats on the new car. I second and third what others have said about what manuals to buy, but most importantly, again as other said, this forum here has been by far the most valuable tool in restoring my 79. Looking forward to seeing the progress!
Hi V,
"How did we get by before fleabay, paypal and UPS"
Yes, things were very different not all that many years ago.
I'm not sure if things are 'better' now or just easier and faster?!?
Regards,
Alan
Welcome to the '71 Corvette Convertible family. When I turned 16 my first car was a 1973 MGB. I cut my teeth wrenching on it as I couldn't afford to pay someone to fix it.
As everyone said, get the Assembly Instruction Manual. Make sure you get the index that the vendors offer. It makes navigating it a lot easier.
Good to see you have the hard top. I actually like the look with it on better than the soft top or even the coupe. It appears the seats are not stock.
Hey, if you go resto-mod and don't use the ignition shielding I'll take it off your hands if the price is right!!!!
Here's my War Bonnet Yellow Vert. Ontario Orange is my second favorite '71 color. Very nice.
Hello V and welcome to the CF. Always great to have volunteers bring fresh projects with them because as stated, we love pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.
Here's another suggestion regarding those pesky mice when the time comes: I will be surprised if they didn't build their HQ behind the speedo and tach gauges or the center instrument panel.
The little bozo's found their way into those spaces on several of the cars here, including mine. Though their "exhaust" may be dried there too, you seem to be very aware of the health hazards so respond accordingly. We want you around when the car is licensed to run!
Otherwise, your new acquisition looks to be a fine example of a relatively complete car, albeit ignored for a length of time.
No question is too dumb or outrageous; many of us have either been there-done that or the many good guys here have seen them already. The data and experience that you will find here is rarely rivaled anywhere so ask away.
nice find and welcome aboard...it's amazing how a little bitty mouse can stink up a car.....
1 mouse or 20 mice or a beaver or two, it is hard to believe a car can stink so bad. When I pulled it home with the trailer I should have rolled the windows down!
Awesome to see the 20 year old dust all over it! Also, great to see another '71 being saved and brought back to life. However, without being frigid or insulting, this car will more than likely cost you more to restore than its ultimate (after) value. If you're OK going into it, then your end result will be a great car! It looks like a well optioned vehicle and is quite complete with some minor exceptions. I don't see, from the few pictures anything that can't be reversed or restored without the "normal" difficulties. I do however see what looks like rust at the lower "A" pillar, which probably indicates a further inspection of the windshield frame is needed....I say all the above to help!
I hope you enjoy the work ahead, I'm jealous and want to restore one more!
Keep us posted, we love pictures!
Thanks WB. I welcome all advice and forewarnings. As far as costs go for me, cleaning rusty car parts turns out to be cheaper than psychotherapy . I think I am going to be way ahead on this car.
You asked for pics, so here are a few of the tow home. I was amazed at the friendly comments at the stops and the thumbs up from drivers around me.
Thanks WB. I welcome all advice and forewarnings. As far as costs go for me, cleaning rusty car parts turns out to be cheaper than psychotherapy . I think I am going to be way ahead on this car.
You asked for pics, so here are a few of the tow home. I was amazed at the friendly comments at the stops and the thumbs up from drivers around me.
Its amazing what 10 bucks and 45 minutes at a do-it-yourself car wash will do. That car will clean up nice.
Thanks WB. I welcome all advice and forewarnings. As far as costs go for me, cleaning rusty car parts turns out to be cheaper than psychotherapy . I think I am going to be way ahead on this car.
You asked for pics, so here are a few of the tow home. I was amazed at the friendly comments at the stops and the thumbs up from drivers around me.
Congratulations on your find and welcome to the Corvette Forum!
The seats look suspiciously like Recaro LS seats. Back in the very late 70's Car Craft did an article on these seats and I went out and bought a set. You could have bought a nice Corvette back then for what they cost. I bought them for a BOSS 302 and absolutely loved them.
If they are Recaro's, the structure is incredibly strong and may well be worth restoring. At one time you could buy the upholstery from Recaro. I sold the Mustang and installed them in my '73 Corvette convertible. I lost some headroom, but they fit. I had to mount them without sliders to save an inch and my head still touched the headliner of the hardtop. Convertible top was okay however.
Good luck with the project and keep us posted on the progress.
GUSTO
Thanks for the info on the seats. I was thinking the seats in the car were toast because of the neglect but maybe I shouldn't just toss them in the garbage. I found the original seats in the attic of the barn and I was thinking of having these restored instead. I don't do upholstery work myself (a man has to know his limitations ). What do you think? Are stock seats comfortable and as good as the Recaros? I am starting to wonder why the original owner replaced them.
Best of luck to you. It's a long, slow, expensive process, but when all done it's rewarding. Here are before and after photos of my 78 which sat in a barn for 8 years.
Thanks RM. The before and after shots are inspirational.
Thanks for the info on the seats. I was thinking the seats in the car were toast because of the neglect but maybe I shouldn't just toss them in the garbage. I found the original seats in the attic of the barn and I was thinking of having these restored instead. I don't do upholstery work myself (a man has to know his limitations ). What do you think? Are stock seats comfortable and as good as the Recaros? I am starting to wonder why the original owner replaced them.
If those seats are Recaro seats, well lets just say the originals are not even close. Having said that, Recaro offered them in LS and LW models. The W in LW stands for wide. The bolsters are firm on the Recaro seats and an LS might feel confining to someone, shall we say more robust? My seats are LS's and as tight as they fit in the Corvette, I doubt and LW seat would fit, so again if they are Recaro's they are probably LS's.
I would recommend you clean one up a bit and just sit in it and see how it feels.
Recaro's were used a lot by Porsche and even supplied (perhaps still do) to a number of aircraft manufacturers. I believe that Lear used them. Over the years some of the OEM's even offered them with certain option packages. As I mentioned the structure of the seat is quite substantial and the basic LS with cloth upholstery sold for close to a grand each. You could option them with leather, power and even speakers in the headrest and about double the cost. A big thing back in the early 80's was to offer them as a fancy desk chair. So yes, to the right person they are certainly worth something in their current state. Sets of them show up on eBay from time-to-time.
The seat came with manual sliders and you purchased a set of adapters for your specific car. When I removed them from my Mustang, I just purchased a different set of adapters for the Corvette.
Ultimately I did a frame-off on my '73 and since it came with the Custom Interior Trim, I recovered my original seats with Al Knoch leather covers and reinstalled them. While not as comfortable as the Recaro's, they are a bit easier to get in and out of and do look terrific.
Congrates on the barn find.......Sorry to say to get rid of the smell you will most likely need to get rid of the the carpet, seat covers, seat cushions and what ever else inside the cabin.
As for a manual Ecklers has a manual for every year that goes into detail of every assembly on the car in diagrams.
Take the above to Kinko's, UPS or who ever and have them put into a slotted plastic spiral binder with plastic covers.....Spendy books so you might as well spend a couple extra dollars to keep them intact.
While at Ecklers look into the buyer club as it will save you a bunch of money on everything you are going to need to replace.....They have all the Interior, all the under hood vacuum lines in one kit for the head lights, wiper door and you can even order a new wiring harness for the dash that might be brittle and could cause a fire.
If you get around to the rear end I have a set up tool for the rear bearing tolerance....Spendy but I bought one and would be willing to loan it out as long as I get it back....I have a buddy with a 1971 that will be wanting to use it some day.
I had to replace everything under the car....Rubber bushing, bearing, springs, all hoses, lines, boiled the gas tank and had it resealed.
My Corvette already had a SBC truck motor so any hope of making it NCRS Grade was was gone so I got rid of the motor and dropped a 375 HP 350 back in.
02-23-2017, 12:26 PM
. I think I am going to be way ahead on this car.
