Bikespace

Who buys a black Corvette? Seriously, why would anyone do that? It makes not sense for a car that is driven outdoors, occasionally in the rain. But that's what my wife wanted, so after she spent a long time looking for just the right C3, we drove to New Jersey to pick her up. We passed through a line of thunderstorms on the way home.



Here's a photo at a White Castle, 10 minutes after we bought her in February 2017, and another from Cars and Coffee last summer. She photographs well, but keeping her clean is a huge chore. She will probably never be as clean as when we bought her.

Bikespace

I'm finally documenting this car in a separate thread because she is back on the road for another season. After a long, and very cold winter, sitting on my Qwik-Lift, I was finally able to complete the Borgeson steering box conversion. A complete brake caliper replacement was also done, and both mods were test driven today, together, for the first time. I'll dive into the details of the Borgeson install, but the difference is tremendous. She feels like a completely different car.


A few weeks ago, and even a few days ago, it still felt like winter. Today, summer, and the trees don't know what to do. They responded by dumping all of their pollen at once. Everything is yellow outside, and there are stringy oak "flowers" laying in piles all over the driveway.

doorgunner

There's nothing better than a gloss black Vette (before a rainstorm)!

What's the name of your new thread?

Bikespace

The car was fairly stock. Black paint, Oyster White interior, which matched the trim tag. Numbers matching L48 engine, automatic. The PO had spent a BUNCH of money keeping the car on the road, farming out complex tasks to a local Corvette shop, including a differential rebuild. The best improvement was the embroidered leather seats he installed. Unfortunately for the PO, even if he had gotten the car for free, he lost money on it when he sold it, as documented in the pile of receipts.



The previous PO had partially restored the car in about 2006. Under the carpet the floors have been painted in POR-15. There are some blingy braided stainless covers on the vacuum hoses in the engine compartment. The car was repainted at this time as well. At first glance, the car is "black", but a close look in the sun or under a flashlight shows that there is a very fine rainbow metallic mixed in with the paint. I don't know if I can even get it to show in a photograph. It's subtle, and very nifty. I'm assuming the rear bumper with integrated spoiler went on at the same time. My wife and I consider that to be a huge improvement over the stock bumper, and better than the Pacecar spoiler, as it is a single piece. It is about 50% larger than the Pacecar spoiler, and I've not seen another like it.

Bikespace

I guess I shouldn't have put "Thread" in the title, and left it at "Keeping a 1979 Daily Driver On the Road".


Black is the best Corvette color, especially for C3s. I'd never buy another one, though, and I was certainly surprised when my wife picked this one.

Bikespace

Since we've had the car, I've had to do a lot of small fixes to keep her on the road.

To pass VA state inspection (normal plates), I had to get the parking brake to work. This required replacing every component three times before finally finding a combination that worked (in my case, stainless hardware, stock-style replacement shoes, and following the shop manual instructions).

Steering components were worn, with a big flat spot in the middle. I replaced the easy to fix items (tie rod ends, idler arm), and did an alignment. It helped, but steering was still dodgy. Finally, near the end of the 2017 driving season, I'd replaced several pressure hoses, and was at the point where every power steering component was leaking. More on the Borgeson install later.

The wheels were not correct for the car. They had too much backspacing, pulling the wheels in from the edge of the car. I replaced them with a set of YJ8 wheels and BF Goodrich Radial T/A tires, 255/60-R15.


I broke a wheel stud, then two more, and got to pull the front hub off the car to replace them. I replaced the wheel bearings while I was at it.

To fix the timing, which was all over the place, I ended up replacing not only the plug wires and plugs, but the distributor. I bought a ZZ4 takeoff distributor, GM Part 93440806, then added advance springs, an adjustable vacuum advance, and shimmed the endplay. The timing is dead-on now, all in at 3000 RPM and about 34 degrees advanced. The car seems much quicker, and idles better.

If steering was dodgy, braking was worse. About the time the power steering really started to leak badly, a bad pull began to yank the car to the right when braking. There was a lot more brake dust on the right front wheel, so it seemed pretty clear that the left front caliper wasn't doing anything. Looking at the calipers, each one was different. I had one original Delco Morane, plus three other castings. Two looked like fairly recent rebuilds, two were not. I replaced all four with rebuilt Delco casting, stainless-sleeved O-ring calipers from Lonestar. I also replaced the mounting bolts, and ran a tap through to chase the threads. I ended up having to install a helicoil in one spot.

She went up on the Quik-Lift last November, and sat there for 6 months until today.

AboveTheLogic

Black paint, white interior. Talk about a cleaning nightmare!

Sure looks nice, though!!

derekderek

So, spousal unit picked the color? Did she also assume duty for keeping it pretty, or is she farming that job out to hubby?

Bikespace

So far she's keeping it clean. She even bought a detail cart at Harbor Freight, and a buffing tool. I'll keep the mechanicals working, but I won't be washing the car, inside or out.


She's partway into a interior refresh, and now that the car is back on the ground she will hopefully be replacing the carpet and door panels soon.

resdoggie

You'll be inside house cleaning while she cleans her vette!

general ike

Its a love-hate relationship!!!!


I mean owning a black painted Vette not the wife!!!

That is a great color combo none the less.

Ike

Bikespace

Until the Borgeson install spiraled out of control, the brake caliper replacement was the most significant car-related repair I'd done in many years. Here are a few photos of what worked for me, most were ideas gleaned from this forum.

I needed to install a helicoil threaded insert in the left rear caliper. I was able to tap from the outside with a wrench, then screw in the insert from the inside. It was nice to do a brake project on a C3 where I was able to access things easily, unlike the parking brake.

To bleed the brakes, I used gravity first, with a pair of Motive 1820 brake fluid catch bottles attached to the rear bleeder screws. I found them very handy, and ordered them from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2rHAV0D I also added loctite to the threads of the bleeders to keep air from getting in that way. I went through several quarts of Dot3, but it was well worth it.

I ordered the Motive pressure bleeder with the GM attachment for the final pressure bleed, as with the gravity bleed starting from the furthest caliper first. I used a clamp rather than the worthless chains it comes with. I ended up popping it off and on many times, as I only used the Motive reservoir for pressure, with fluid only in the MC.

In the completed image, you can see the bottle jack I used to get the car raised above the Qwik-Lift. For the 79, I went with rebuilt Delco Moraine calipers with stainless sleeves and O-rings, likely the best I can do for original appearance yet improved function.

Bikespace

Here's a photo from last fall, with YJ8 wheels. The car was not the best optioned car ever made, so it likely came with rally wheels. These look much better.

pigfarmer

Very nice! I bought a black truck because it looks so damned nice for those 5 minutes you can actually keep it clean. If that were my car I'd be looking into rear window louvers. I know it's Cylon Raider-ish but it's my taste.

Bikespace

The original Battlestar Galactica came out about the same time that the car was made, so it would be period appropriate. Louvers on a car always make me think of the Gadgetmobile, so it seems unlikely at this time. It would help keep it cool in the summer, though.

derekderek

GREAT! Now I got that song stuck in my gead!

C3 4ME

From 1 black 79 owner to another, I feel your pain. I don't daily drive mine, but even so, I still constantly clean it. I don't really mind though, as its mostly a labor of love. Mine won't pass VA state inspection as I have no working parking brake or catalytic converter, so I just run antique plates on mine. Your wife's looks pretty damn nice in the pics!

Bikespace

Thanks! She's quite proud of it, and lets me drive it occasionally. I did suggest antique plates (I have them on my 80), but she wanted this car specifically to drive to work on nice days so it needed regular plates. It has a true dual exhaust with two cats from a PO's exhaust mod, so the parking brake was the only hurdle to an inspection sticker.



The dirt and grime are a constant challenge, but we're not trying to win car shows, just have a cool car to drive around.

Bikespace

So I started this post because the car is finally back on the road. I drove her to work today. The Borgeson box was a tremendous improvement, but there are a few refinements left to do. I'll cover those in the next few posts, as well as add a few tips for anyone considering the swap. It was a nice day for a drive.

Bikespace

So the good news with the Borgeson install, I only had to remove one wheel to complete the project. The bad news, it was the steering wheel, still attached to the steering column. If I were to do this project again, I'd go ahead and start with the steering column removal. That will make everything else easier as you move forward.