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A newb to the board and to owning a Vette. ... well or almost. I'm about to pull the trigger on a numbers matching 71 Vette which is a creampuff ... been rebuilt in the late 80s, but all original and immaculately kept. Current owner tells me the top weather stripping (?) needs to be replaced. Air conditioner inop (compressor), the windshield wiper door mechanism works, but not properly (linkage adjustment?). Odometer inop, too (saw the thread on that) It's an EPA gutted 350 (270 hp) ... but drives straight. Auto trans.
Considerations from the gallery?
I'm restoring my first car, 1961 Impala ... so it's going to take my excess funds for a while, but for this Vette, I'm wondering about a digital instrument panel upgrade and a throttle body. The quadrajet is a great carb when tuned, but like the one on my 283 Impala, it always needed to be tuned or reseal the heat transfer plugs. Thinking of electronic fuel injection mod?
Beautiful car - love Ontario Orange! I concur with Chapter2 - keep it stock - often the easiest and most cost effective way to fix problems, plus it will help retain the car's value. All the problems you mentioned are typical and easily resolved on these Corvettes. Tons of info on the forum here and quite a few vendors and forum members offering services to repair/restore specific parts.
Concur. Keep it stock!! On my 1972 Ontario orange I am trying to make it more stock by replacing some minor components. I think in the future the two extremes retromod and stock will have some value. Those in between will be a hard sale
but it then again it your car and do what you like to it. Especially if you plan to keep it forever. But save what you remove. Ike
Last edited by general ike; 08-13-2018 at 09:02 AM.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
Do what you want. The efi conversion is a nice upgrade which would elimate any start problems. Just put all the original parts in storage if you ever sell it.
I'm about to pull the trigger on a numbers matching 71 Vette which is a creampuff ...
Remember the reasons you listed for buying this car. The next owner would be impressed for the same reasons. Now having said that, I don't see any reason not to do bolt on mods to make the car more drivable, and the throttle body falls in that category and would be a mod a lot of future buyers would view as a plus.
I wouldn't do the gauges unless I was doing an LS1 conversion. These cars are pretty well instrumented compared to your Impala so there's no real advantage. Spend that money getting the a/c working along with the other items.
Welcome to the C3 Forum. That's a sharp looking car! IF you decide to upgrade the dash (or anything else) box up and store everything you remove from the car. Keep us updated with pics as you begin the work/upgrades.
Thats a great looking car, and a good color. For the weather stripping project check out some of the supporting vendors, They offer good products and will help you to get your vette in better working conditions.
Good luck with your purchase, it looks like a nice car. It is your car so enjoy it any way you wish and mod I any way you choose. I will agree with the above comment that it is a good idea that if you mod it to retain the original parts in case the next owner wants to bring it back to stock. It could make it easier to sell if and when the time comes.
I do have an opinion about digital gauges for what it is worth. I agree with the poster above that they do tend to look dated after a time. If you want an example, look at an early C4 (star wars dash.) In 1984 they looked super cool. A few years later, they became hideous looking. (I know because I owned one for many years) Even though the gauges in the new Corvettes are high tech, they look like analog gauges. IMO, that is a really nice compromise between function and technology.
Last edited by crawfish333; 08-15-2018 at 02:15 PM.
My advice: Own and drive the car regularly for a year. Then you will know enough about it and have talked with lots of C3 'addicts' so that you will have a better idea of what you really want to do with the car...long-term. The worst thing you can do with a vintage car purchase is go changing everything for reasons that you [presently] think are justified.
My advice: Own and drive the car regularly for a year. Then you will know enough about it and have talked with lots of C3 'addicts' so that you will have a better idea of what you really want to do with the car...long-term. The worst thing you can do with a vintage car purchase is go changing everything for reasons that you [presently] think are justified.
Well, we have it. Sweet ride back to our rural residence from the metromess of DFW. Cool temps and traffic flowed ... then we took her down a nice twisty road. Handled GREAT. Wish TxDot would have left the wash-board center stripe in the truck ... sigh ... but it was a good run anyway.
Discovered I may have a ground problem with the lights. They work but the engine instruments went bad ... maxed the coolant temp and the oil pressure indications. Sigh. Any pointers on that?
BTW ... bright/dim switch for the headlights??? :o
I have a very original 72 coupe and I am in Burleson, so if you every want to trade notes with me, let me know. Mine has never been rebuilt but I have freshened it up a bit since I bought it 2 years ago.
I'm assuming you tried to pull the turn signal stalk towards you. I don't know what year GM made that change, but for your car there should be a button on the floor, possibly buried by carpet, to the left of the pedals near the kickpanel.
You have a beautiful car in a great color. I don't envy your next problem of figuring out behind the dash wiring, but that sounds like a likely culprit. If you can get your stock gauges to work (perhaps with fixes or even modern internals), I bet you'll like them more than digital gauges. EFI is a fine mod, though. Possibly a winter project for my wife's 79, though simply plugging the holes in the bowls would probably fix most cold-start issues.
08-13-2018, 08:11 AM
1971 Ontario - First Vette
Welcome to our world, love the color, good luck with your plans keep us posted, imagine it will be awesome.
