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Follow along on my build of my dream car if you like. It was a cheap BB project car, and I think most of the bones are pretty good. But the more I looked into it, it quickly went from being a daily driver / fixer-upper into a full frame-off restoration before I'll really trust it.
It's a 72 BB 4spd, with 3.23 rear. It was (will be again) Ontario Orange with Dark Saddle Leather. It was a real he mans car: a BB, with manual steering and brakes.
Along the way it'll gain a few updates to accommodate me in my retirement: PS/PB/AC.
There are way too many parts missing to ever try to make it a numbers matching car, so I'll add a few modern upgrades underneath like: Borgenson box, smart struts, QA1 adjustable shocks, etc. From a few feet it should still look 100% stock.
Since this engine is a NOM, and I don't trust it, I am building another one, much stronger. A 100% stock appearing LS6 is mostly complete in another thread.
A lot of my repairs seem like they are going to go towards undoing whatever Bubba did to it for the last 47 years.
I wanted "a project" and I got it. A Big One.
Project Links:
There are some separate threads, so I will add them all here as a Index for DIY how-to guidance.
Distributor Rebuild: Rebuild, blue-printing, setting timing curve and vac advance, at home, without a running engine, or a Sun Machine Distributor Tuning at Home
Jan 2018 I drove it one whole block before sticking it in the garage. All the way into 2nd gear Whoa!
The velour seat covers may have been 1970's period correct but were the first things out. Anyone want them before I tear the covers off?
The windshield frame was the first big ugly Bubba surprise that immediately killed the daily-driver and fix-it-up as you go plan:
I was suspicious of the six different kinds of glues and sealers around the windshield. Little rust was visible until the (loose) windshield was pulled. Then this surprise reared it's ugly head.
So that committed me to a frame-off and nose-off restore plan.
Now that I have recovered from my hand surgery, and the garage update is complete, the disassembly commences.
I didn't trust the engine either, just because I didn't build it, and a pan-pull proved me justified.
Existing 1978 dated engine block sports the correct 72 bottom end hardware. And it shows signs of being rebuilt, but what if Bubba did it? It did not run that well anyway.Flat cam?
Oil pan contains evidence of an earlier major engine issue, or a rebuild issue, or just bad hammer work. There are 100's of hammer dents in the oil pan. The rod nut scrapes look very fresh.
Look how nicely Bubba made this small block fan shroud fit on a BB radiator. !?
Bubba thinks a May 1968 expansion tank is perfect for a 72.
The radiator core support looked solid, until you look under the seal....
Another surprise LOL. The radiator not only leaks, it's a replacement, and for an automatic.
The old lump is almost ready to come out.
It's nothing short of amazing how far back the engine sits, even a BB. If the entire engine, except for the fan, sits behind the front spindles, doesn't that really make this series a mid-engined vette?
Oh well it's all fixable. I did say I wanted a project, right??
Last edited by leigh1322; Mar 17, 2026 at 10:07 PM.
Weekly update.
Cam is in.
Ordered the new valvetrain parts tonight, new springs, retainers, pushrods etc.
It took a lot of measuring but I am happy with the result.
We are going with PAC Beehive springs. Roughly 170/430#. Just slightly stiffer than your normal BBC HR spring.
The retainers alone drop from around 29g each for steel dual spring retainers to 11g each for the beehive ones!
The combo is supposed to add roughly 700 rpm to the powerband.
With a little luck, this BB may even rev like my old LT-1! Woo-Hoo!
Make sure to check the lower windshield corners for rust too.
Yes i have plenty of that. Two 5 inch long rusted "slots" there to deal with. That's what's prompting me to tear it all the way apart instead of driving it now.
Guess it'll be another year or two before I drive it. Oh well. At least it'll be "right" then.
There was even body filler in here hiding this surprise!
Last edited by leigh1322; Aug 17, 2019 at 10:02 AM.
Any pics of what the windshield area looked like before you pulled it? I'd be curious to see what it looked like with the glass still in. I have not pulled the glass out of my 68 yet and wondering if it needs to come out. Best of luck in your project!!
"Formidable" Yeah there's a good word.The windshield frame definately gave me more work than I was hoping for since I'll have to pull the front clip now. And it will be longer till I drive it. But it's just metal, but it does mean I'll either have to learn to weld or find someone. Kinda changed my mood from driver quality clean-up to full on recovery effort. I am calling it a "BB Rescue" now. Any further degradation, and I don't know if it would have been worth it to save this one.
On what the windshield looked like before, yes that is a very good question. Hopefully these pics can help some others. I had a couple of clues that I knew I needed to inspect it further, but the clues did not lead me to believe the holes were this extensive:
Original date coded windshield had possibly never been out, it still had a thick rope style seal, that should have been a clue. I found out later it was only attached in one 12 inch location around the entire windshield.
Evidence of windshield silicon sealer around trim and some other sealer under fender lips in lower corners.That turned out to be both rubber and body filler up two inches thick, to top of fender lip.
Only two visible w/s rust spots / possible holes with all parts/trim in place. Obvious small hole by VIN plate, and possible dark spot/flake/hole in upper driver corner.
Disassembly found more: Inside inner kick panels, the body bolt head and rust on it and significant amount of loose flakes sitting on it.
Once inner header trim was removed I found rust evident inside car under the top header. During w/s removal I filled up a coffee can with six different kinds of sealers during repeated leak-stop attempts. I'll try to find pics.
First external clue: Rust flakes & hole by VIN plate
Second external clue: dark shadow on frame. Rope seal obviously still attached to w/s. But later probing revealed it was not attached to w/s frame.
Third external clue: Looked good to me. Later I realized I could feel loose rust if I stuck my pinky in the gap there. Internal: More clues behind driver's internal kick panel. Surface rust. But about 1/3 of small baby jar of loose rust flakes from somewhere..... five inch rust slot above. Driver's header once inner trim removed. Pass kick panel still had paint and primer showing, but was resprayed black not factory green. Little rust. Who would have guessed a 5 inch rust slot directly above?
Last edited by leigh1322; Aug 18, 2019 at 09:17 AM.
Out with the old BB.
The old truck motor 454 came out easily with a 2 Ton Harbor Freight engine lift. Dropped the nose til the rotor was 7 inches off the floor, just enough for the cherry picker to slide underneath. Easily lifted it over the fender and out the side. Could have gone a foot higher if needed. Hardest part was bolting the chain on in the back of the engine while in the car, tight with a BB in there!
Engine mounts politely separated into two pieces to make removal easier. LOL! Well they are at least 30 years old. I believe the engine to be relatively low miles, It's a cast crank 2 bolt 454 with low compression flat top pistons and Vette OEM open chamber heads.. It is very clean under the valve covers, but every gasket leaks. The new LS6 that's being built should make double the power of this one.
Now you can see why I bought the car. It has very little rust on the frame, and not even that much grease or dirt considering. It was parked in the 90s indoors and not driven since. Mileage is around 100k. Not bad for 20 years of active service and 2 engines. Too bad water & rot got to the windshield frame during it's active driving years!
I am trying really hard to imagine how nice this is going to look once it gets a clean powder coated frame in there.
Last edited by leigh1322; Oct 1, 2019 at 09:45 PM.
I completely understand that feeling you get when every inch you dig in, you find another surprise. mine will be fully disassembled this weekend and starting on welding, gusseting and sealing the frame. 42 years worth of surface rust and undercoating to pound through. take a real good look at your frame, they hold many surprises. I lucked out on mine for the most part, I hope the same for your project!
a lot of work ahead, but in the end, you will be building your own vette!
Right now it is mille miglia red. (Just bad camera lighting) The original color is Ontario Orange, which it will be again someday. Got it from Manassas VA. 2 years ago. It is a factory BB and will be again. Found a little of the original color: OEM color hiding under never removed stainless trim.
Haven't posted any car progress in a while because most of it was engine related. Since I am still teaching I really only have a spare day or two a week to work on this.
However the Engine build is now complete:
1971 LS6 look with 10.5 C.R and LS6 spec solid roller. 485HP and 556ftlbs on the Dyno. The keep-the-stock-BBC-hood "pancake" manifold was estimated to cost me 50HP vs a tall single plane.
Complete engine build here: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ls6-build.html
I did the engine build first, a little out of the normal sequence, in part because of my engine builder's declining health, and I understood that part best. Now the engine gets to rest for a while while the carb gets rechromated and the body/frame get tackled. My plan is for the rest of the car to turn out as nice as the engine did.
The rest of the body restoration I will be learning as I go.
Here is my wooden body removal gantry I have built to fit tightly into my 9ft tall 2 bay garage.
I am using a combination of three different members body lifts. I want to be able to lift the body in my height restricted garage, and store it in the air with the chassis underneath so I can have room to work in the other bay when desired. (Thank you David Howard for that idea!)
My almost complete wooden body lift gantry frame
The double 2x8 main beam is rated for 2000lbs. The other two half that each. More than my needs, but may serve as a engine lift when time comes. (I had to borrow one twice already). I have two 1.5 ton manual chain hoists for body lifting. The vertical 2x6s are strong enough but needed 90 degree 2x4s added to eliminate wobble/deflection/shakiness. Barely moves now in any direction.
I plan on using a 2x8 box style body dolly, with removable wheels. That dolly will support the body while it is on the floor or in the air, and I can bolt it to my gantry frame and suspend the properly supported body & body dolly about 50-54 inches off the ground. Enough height to store the chassis underneath or slide myself under on a sitting stool and clean the underbody.
Gotta use all the space! Even vertical. Hood is mounted on wall like a picture. 15 storage boxes of parts are in the attic.
Body lift-off should be soon! I still need to work out a few more details. (Body dolly, Straps, garage door opener, etc)
I would like to be building the frame up this summer!
Wow, that is amazing.
I have a feeling you just built something like Alan71’s body dolly.
I hope you made a diagram because I’m sure there will be many people asking for it.
I for one copied the photos but I’ll start by asking if you made a diagram.
Awesome.
There was a member who built a nice body lift out of wood last year.
When I get home I’ll post the pictures up for you because it was nicely done as well.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
1972 Big Block Rescue
And it will be longer till I drive it. But it's just metal, but it does mean I'll either have to learn to weld or find someone. Kinda changed my mood from driver quality clean-up to full on recovery effort. I am calling it a "BB Rescue" now. Any further degradation, and I don't know if it would have been worth it to save this one.
