I originally got my 1976 Stingray in 2012. My wife brought it as a Father's Day Gift after I gave up on restoring a 1973 Cadillac Eldorado.

It was a decent car with some mechanical issues, but a good project I thought. The first thing to go was the engine. It threw a rod in 2014 and I decided to go the crate engine route. I purchased a GM Performance Parts 350 with 290 HP. I mated that with a Edelbrock Performer carburetor and an Edelbrock EPS manifold. I added the Chevrolet Orange dress up kit and the mechanic that installed the engine had it painted to match the dress up kit. That same year, I picked up some Primewell Tires on sale from Firestone and those updates took me to 2015.

In 2015, I was able to get about 200 miles or so on the new engine when it became apparent that too many issues were creeping up at the same time. I had a degraded brake line over the right exhaust pipe that was leaking gas, I had an exhaust leak, the body mounts were shot and looked like busted doughnuts, the brake booster was leaking and I was putting power steering fluid in the reservoir just to take a 20 minute drive. It didn't make a lot of sense to drive it in the condition it was in, so one day, I just went out to the garage and took the ENTIRE inside of the car apart. I didn't even know what I was doing. I just found the screws and took everything out and had it on the garage floor in about 3 hours. I sent the seats of to get re-upholstered (and they were gone for an entire year), and tore out all of the carpet. I took the car to a shop over in NW Indiana and had the transmission rebuilt, new body mounts installed, and new fuel lines. I then pre-paid for a new exhaust and was supposed to re-install the seats, carpet, and seatbelts prior to getting the exhaust installed (this was 2016). I sanded out all of the surface rust and treating the floor to some rust inhibitor. I then installed some underlayment and proceeded to purchase a new carpet kit, new seatbelts, stereo, speakers, interior screw kit, and some interior dye. While I was working all of this out in my head, I had to have my knee replaced (Army Vet) and my Father (Army Vet) passed away so I did absolutely nothing to the car for about two years. It just sat while I sat around feeling sorry for myself (2017-2019). I got up off my behind and took the car back to NW Indiana to have interior put back together and the exhaust installed. That was about August 2019.

Fast forward to July 2020 and the Vette was finally ready for pickup. In addition to getting the interior put back together and the exhaust installed, the brake calipers were replaced, along with the neutral safety switch, brake booster, rear leaf spring, shocks, various light bulbs and fuses, and probably some stuff I'm forgetting. They also diagnosed a battery draw which resulting in me know having working windshield wipers and a working horn which previously did not work.

If there is a moral to my story, it is that these projects can take a long time (I'm 8 years in), and seem to never finish (I still need a paint job, new tail light lenses, new overflow container, new windshield washer fluid container, and some gauge work).

I don't know if it's a good enough looking car to be in a club or show it as a restomod/survivor, but I intend on enjoying the car as much as I possibly can. I still don't have 500 miles on the new engine from 2014, so I have a lot of riding to do!



Custom upholstered seats.

Clean lines, but thinking about re-installing the luggage rack.

Needs a good paint job. Excellent from 50 feet away, but showing it's age up close.

 

Great looking car brother!
It deserves to have the resto you're giving it.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Cheers, Greg

 

With Greg.
And of course I love your Vette.....here's mine.


IMG 0164

STA70972

I was lucky. I bought mine new...... Paint's original.........
I just noticed your '76 is loaded up!
L-82, wheels, P/W, leather....even a right hand mirror! It was $10k easy new....

 

Outstanding underhood SEVNT6!!!

 

Enjoy the car!

 

Thanks Greg. This forum has gave me a lot of the confidence I needed when I first started. There are some fantastic looking cars and great people on here...very helpful.

 

SEVENT6, that is an absolutely stunning engine compartment. I have a ways to go before I can even come close to having something that nice. I wanted to get all of the things that I couldn't see fixed first, so now it's time for some extra...once I find what I want. You've given me a great blueprint. Thank you. Your Vette looks like it just rolled in off the showroom floor!

 

Thank you sir. You have reminded me of the goal....your car is beautiful. Like you, life keeps getting in the way of my schedule and at times I don’t think I will have the fire in the belly to finish. But because of people like you and this entire forum I know I will finish. Enjoy your car, even though it might never be finished. If you enjoy what you are doing you can never get enough of it. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

Hang in there Kanvasman. It’s a short ride so let’s enjoy it all the way to the finish line. It might not be finished, but I say it’s finished enough for me! Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Thanks Greg, SeventySixer.
It took about 6 months of every night work back in '06 to get my engine bay the way I wanted.
Everything is stock stuff. I just plated, powder coated, polished or painted it all.
I had a buddy at the time who managed a chrome plating shop. That helped!!
I hid every wire or vacuum line I could. And I filled & smoothed the firewall....







SeventySixer, if you ever have any questions about anything feel free to shoot me a PM.
And take it to a show OK? It's worthy, believe me.........

 

Nicely done! I really like the seats and the attention to detail under the hood.

 

I wish that was my engine compartment AdamMeh! I take credit for the seats, but the engine pics belong to SEVNT6. We just have to have the same year and same color. He/s going to have me working in my engine compartment ALL DOGGONE WINTER!

 

Hey SeventySixer. I need to ask.....
How many miles were on the L-82 when the rod went south?
My old L-48 is closing in on 77k.
My heart skipped a beat when I read that..........

 

I actually have an L-48...it was just optioned out with all of the goodies like power windows, air conditioning, and the wood inserts in the doors. I was thinking about going back with the a/c, but got caught up fixing all of the mechanical stuff first. To answer your question, I had 86,176 makes before that rod shot a hole in the oil pan. The irony is that I as on my way home from seeing about getting the engine rebuilt when I was left smoking and on the side of the road. The car was bought used, so I don't know what kind of abuse it went through before I got it.

 

Sounds like a sign from above.....
I assumed you had a L-82 hood emblem...
I've wanted to make a visit to the office of Dr. Stroker myself for years. Pick up an extra 200 hp or so.
But there's nothing wrong with the L-48. Plus my wife would kill me.
There's better things to spend money on around the house ya know.....