WTF are you talking about? This is a forum isn't it? I gave my honest opinion:

 

OK, your dad left it sit too long. Welcome to the forum. Sorry for your loss. Also sorry for the condition of this car your father left for you to try to deal with. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ml?styleid=146. Click last page and scroll backwards to post 107. Read. It is about your car and your expectations-abilities. Then go over this car and see what the whole car needs before you worry about valves and pushrod. The easiest and least expensive part of an old Corvette is the engine. I think you will find we are all giving this car last rites sight unseen for a reason. We have a lot of experience with cars that need a coroner, not a doctor. Anything can be rebuilt-repaired with enough time, money and ability. Many are NOT worth the effort. This is one of them. You want to try. DON'T SPEND MONEY!! You wanna free up the engine? Go for it. Get the wheels all turning. Bleed the brakes. Then step on brakes hard and watch the rusty lines pop and spray brake fluid everywhere. Check the front and rear suspension. Birdcage-frame. Now figure out what it needs, triple the time and expense any one job is gonna take. Now hold your hand up in front of the car and make the sign of the cross. Repeat after me. Ashes to ashes. Rust to rust...

 

First, drain the oil and look for indications of water or debris, and IF.... you have inclination to start or rotate the engine, remove the plugs and shoot the cylinders with motor oil or any light lubricant. Change the engine oil. Rotate the engine (no spark plugs) with the starter and it hopefully it spin freely. This will also pump fresh oil from the crankcase throughout the engine. If this fails Sell As Is.

 

If the cyls are rusted up...then wire wheel the pushrods and run em. It wont hurt anything
Most times though those pistons and rings are fd. So zap the heads off and check no big deal.

 

Sell it 'As Is" its a parts car thats all.

 

A C3 is a pretty steep build to learn on, but it's doable. If you were planning on keeping it, I'd be telling you to check the frame, birdcage for issues before buying a single part.

Now, you've indicated you're going to sell it when it's running - that changes the story.

Can you do it? I'd say probably. It's not a bad car to learn on.

But should you? No- you're honestly not likely to recoup your losses in the sale.

If you want a more detailed answer, we'll need some photos. Specifically of the frame, floors, body mounts.

D

 

Well written. Well put!

Who are we to judge something we have yet to see? The sentimental value may out weigh the resale value.

 

I saw the OPs post that he wants to fix it up and give it to his sister.
Then it will be her problem, I guess.

I really don't think he has the knowledge to rebuild the engine, based only on his comments.
Let's say he takes the pushrods out and cleans them up, or replaces them. What good will that do if the valve seats are bad, as he claims in orignal post.

We should stop giving advice here because he is set on "fixing it up for his sister".

I wish him luck. But the bottom line is that it was his Dad not caring enough about the car to take care of it, and now he wants to keep the memory alive. I truely wish him good luck and success.

 

Z, (Yeah, I'm a fan of RP1 too) - some of the folks on here are pretty negative about big projects - but everything is possible if you have either the skill to do it, or the skill to acquire the skill to do it. Bottom line is- this is your call - but if you send over some pics we can give you some guidance.

I don't profess to be an expert, but I'm in year 8 of a 3 year restoration of a 73 that should have been parted out. Frame rusted, birdcage rusted- in fact, I not a single bolt has broken loose with out excessive heat - and some of them have just plain broken. I'm in the thick of it.

See- rusted out valve cover is really concerning - not sure where you are, but if it's wet out there, then you might have a mess on your hands - frame, birdcage. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemies, it's an incredibly expensive, laborious project.

@Parzzival

 

My condolences to you for the loss of your father. Best of luck to you with the decision(s) made regarding his Corvette.

 

Ok, your father's car is a 78. Worth about 10k in very good shape. On paper worth 15 when perfect, but no buyers are gonna pay that much. A lot of people think-thought their vett is gonna be priceless someday. So they parked them when they got too old and tired to continue using. And now a lot of those people are leaving those cars to their hiers to deal with. I bet your father didn't even remember what broke or wore out causing him to park that car. So now, you are faced with getting it running. Getting the brakes replaced-repaired just to go 100 yards down the street. Getting the mildew smell out of the interior. Every belt. Every hose. And then you are gonna find rainwater down thru the windshield and cowl rusted the bird cage. Please for your own sake do not try to save this car. If you insist, start with the frame and bird cage inspection.

 

I’ve only owned my C3 for 1.5 years. In that time I’ve seen a picture of every possible rusty area (or so I thought) on a C3 on this very site. If you have anything close to a truly not rusty C3 and you’re feeling down about life for any reason just click through some of those horror threads. It’s a sure pick me up lol.

That being said I don’t recall seeing a rusted through valve cover. The sadist in me is looking forward to that. op let’s see it!

 

OP Parzzival
First, condolences on your family's loss. There's no "should have" or "fault" here; it's God's way.

It seems the car was your late father's, but you can't afford to drive it, so you're attempting to repair it for another family member ...
... perhaps there's a firm emotional attachment to his car; perhaps not.

With no pics, no one here can be sure of what to do.

So far you've received some good technical advice.

It's true, the easiest & cheapest thing to fix on these cars are their motors ... but those are relative terms ... relative to the other systems ...
... make no mistake, repairing a neglected motor is not going to be simple for the inexperienced ... and mistakes can be expensive.

If the motor has pools of water standing within it or in its oil pan ... it'll probably cost many hundreds to well over a thousand just to make it serviceable.

If the frame and/or its subsystems are too rusty, they may be beyond a return to serviceable ... extensive repairs and/or replacement are Very expensive ...
... more than a new motor. Even a decent corvette body repaint can cost thousands.

Make no mistake, a '78 is a nice year and has followers who believe it's the best thing since sliced bread. But, compared to earlier models ...
... it's not a year that brings big $ money.

Again, without some pics, it's a hard situation to assess. If ... IF ... if there's little to no emotional attachment, it May be wiser for the current legal owner to sell as is.

 

LMFAO you almost got it 100% right. He always said it would sell for 80k. And no, This vett never had anything go wrong with it. Only had 20k miles on the engine. He parked it because he had me and no longer could afford the insurance on it. And yes I understand. When I finally find the time to start wrenching on it, my first job is checking for rust. No point in trying to get it going if the cylinder walls are pitted to hell.

 

I have a 77 parts car myself that I got with the valve covers rusted through. Ill be interested in your journey on what happens with this car.
My push rods aren't rusted but I had to basically rip off the valve covers. I hope to be able to remove the intake and heads and see if I can get the engine to turn over myself. On first attempt the engine wouldn't turn over.

 

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I have confirmed that this vett has a structurally sound frame. The issue now comes to the engine. I have done some work today. Confirmed all valves are not frozen, stuck my camera between the head and intake manifold. The push rod guides are fine, no rust. The issue comes to the cylinder walls. Everyone's suspicion about it was right. The cylinders are done. They are way too pitted to attempt to run this engine as is. BEST case scenario, I over hone them to the point where the pitting is gone. Then I go get some over sized pistons and run it from there. I took some pictures with my scope.

https://imgur.com/a/nzYuYxG

I hate to say it, but for me personally, this vett is done. At this stage it will probably be sold to my uncle who is a corvette lover and has the money to dump onto this thing. And to everyone who suspected an emotional attachment to this vett, they are all correct. I grew up with this always in the side yard of my house. Never once got to hear it run. Dad got way to sick to keep it up and running properly. My only hope is that one day I get to hear this beast run but that will not be fore a long time. Once again, thanks for all the help to everyone! Awesome community and awsome people!

 

I came for rusted out valve cover pics and I was not disappointed. YIKES

OP it sounds like this car means something to you. Why not throw a junkyard small block in there and go cruising?

 

I personally can not own this car. Between insurance cost and the upkeep, I would rather it go to someone who has the money to fix it up. My original budget of 2k was just blown way out of the water when I realized it needs a new engine. And you are right, it will probably juts get a junkyard small bock in it. I just personally don't have the tools (engine hoist and stand) to do so. The biggest part about all of this is probably the insurance cost. i'm only 21 and no insurance company wants to insure me for what is on paper a fast sports car.

 

Dude you’re 21. That means you have the unlimited strength, stamina and endurance required to work on something like this endlessly until it runs. Hell I’m 3 decades your senior and when I got my 75 I didnt stop until it was done. Took about 4 months.

There are Corvette “people” everywhere. No matter where you live I bet someone from here would show up and help you. (Please don’t say Seattle lol)

At least if your uncle gets it it’s still in the family.

 

There is nothing in the photos that indicates you need a new engine. It does however, need lots of TLC.
The pitted cyl walls is cosmetic. That rust will not damage the pistons or rings. It will likely make this an oil burner though.

I would get this thing up on ramps. Drain the oil. I would then pull all the sparkplugs and introduce some 10W into each cyl. Use a funnel with a piece of rubber hose attached that will fit in the plug hole.

Put about four Qts of cheap oil in the pan and spin it over if it will. That would be a good start.

Worry about better oil and new plugs later.