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This past weekend I went and picked up my 1978 C3! It was a hell of an adventure to say the least so I'll tell you what happened. Originally my wife (just married in July) my best friend, his wife and myself were going to drive out to go pick up the C3. It is a four hour drive that I had already made twice by myself so I was over it. Unfortunately my friend and his wife had to cancel last minute because their baby sitter fell through, incidentally this was also my dog sitter. So 6am Saturday morning we load the dog up (Archer a 58lb hound mix) and set out for Tn. After about an hour of driving Archer would not calm down and kept climbing into the front to sit on us. So Kate got fed up and switched with him...see the attached picture. He finally fell asleep and all was good for about 2.5 hours. It was raining on and off the whole way there and there was a little water on the road but nothing crazy. For some reason Google maps took me a different route, while going through the back hills of Tn I came up on a 90 degree corner. I was going rather slow and suddenly the back end kicks out. Now this has to be the slowest fish tale I have ever seen but the car whipped back around and I slammed the bumper into the guard rail, luckily it was only a scratch. (side note, that guard rail was beat to crap, I think they didn't bank the corner and people constantly smack into it) We get there I pay and we go to leave. I thought he had left the car in Reverse (because that is what he did last time) and so when I went to leave I kept having to really give it gas to pull out of the driving and intersections. I thought I had broke the car already! I was only driving in 3rd and 4th gear for about 20 minutes, to afraid to find 1st because I was afraid it was reverse. I was so flustered and freaked out that I didn't realize that Google had yet again taken us a new way. So now driving in only two gears, following my wife through the back country hills and staring at the gas gauge as it sits under 1/4 tank I had mental breakdown. Finally I found a spot to pull over, a random abandoned gas station, where I had to walk around and breath until I could think. I found a gas station on Google, I played with the shifter and realized that I was never using 1st or 2nd gear and it was all pretty easy from there on out. You know except the car doesn't have AC and it was 80+ degrees, I sweated a few pounds off. lol Thanks for listening, I'm gonna post more about the car later and ask questions because the guy did sneak a few things past me that I should have seen!
I have a video of her running, how do you attach videos.
Update: Maybe this will work for youtube
I love stories of driving a new C3 home from far away. I've done it twice now, and each time was a grand adventure*.
Good luck with the new car! Whatever issues it may have are just part of the experience, and hopefully easy to fix.
“An adventure is never an adventure when it happens. An adventure is simply physical and emotional discomfort recollected in tranquility.” - Tim Cahill
I love stories of driving a new C3 home from far away. I've done it twice now, and each time was a grand adventure*.
Good luck with the new car! Whatever issues it may have are just part of the experience, and hopefully easy to fix.
“An adventure is never an adventure when it happens. An adventure is simply physical and emotional discomfort recollected in tranquility.” - Tim Cahill
I am excited to get to work on her, I love messing with cars.
A congrats on the new car. Is that a stock color for that year? Reminds me of Frost Beige from 1981.
That first long drive home is never easy in a 50 year old car. When I drove my 73 home it was only an hour+ from home but still nerve racking. It was a 110 degree afternoon with no A/C in rush hour traffic on the interstate. The PO confessed that he’d never taken the car out for more than 30mins without bringing it home on a flatbed due to ignition problems. I knew the tires were past their expiration too, like 20 years past. My goal was to make it to within 15 miles from my driveway so the insurance company would take it the rest of the way no charge. Regardless, it made it all the way without a hiccup. I had a hunch when I paid him that the car was fine and the PO was spooked. These things just need regular exercise to remain reliable.
Enjoy that new Vette out on the road!
Good luck,
Ken
That is a pretty good story to tell on your first ride home in your C3. A lot of drama getting there, and getting back. I hope you had a more enjoyable time after you finally found 1st and 2nd gear.
And I was wondering about the different hood. Your engine photo showed me why its there. From the details it looks like you have a lot more power than a stock C3. Enjoy it and keep the photos coming.
kdf
Thanks y'all it really does make me feel better knowing that I'm not the only one that has issues. It is an adventure for sure. I think the 4 hour drive was the longest it has been on in a while. I got under it yesterday and both sides, the sway bar linkage bushings were gone! They were there when I left the sellers house so I rolled by Napa and picked up a new set. They were just so old, that they fell apart on the drive. I also spent some time searching the forum and under my dash. I have figured out the HVAC system, so I need to replace some tubes to get the vents to change positions and to open/close the fresh air valve. I also found that the car originally had AC and the compressor was removed at some point, so I may be able to reinstall that. A big find was that the main reason I was getting so much hot air into the cabin was that the shell that sits around the AC cooling thing (looks like a small radiator) that cools the air, had a big hole in the underside. So heat from the engine was just constantly flowing in from the engine bay. If I can fix that it will stop me from driving a mobile sauna!
A congrats on the new car. Is that a stock color for that year? Reminds me of Frost Beige from 1981.
That first long drive home is never easy in a 50 year old car. When I drove my 73 home it was only an hour+ from home but still nerve racking. It was a 110 degree afternoon with no A/C in rush hour traffic on the interstate. The PO confessed that he’d never taken the car out for more than 30mins without bringing it home on a flatbed due to ignition problems. I knew the tires were past their expiration too, like 20 years past. My goal was to make it to within 15 miles from my driveway so the insurance company would take it the rest of the way no charge. Regardless, it made it all the way without a hiccup. I had a hunch when I paid him that the car was fine and the PO was spooked. These things just need regular exercise to remain reliable.
Enjoy that new Vette out on the road!
Good luck,
Ken
It is the original color, "light beige" I checked the color and trim code. It was definitely repainted though and they didn't do a great job so in the next 5 years I'm going to get it redone.
cabin heat: most have that issue to some "degree"
big help is install small inline 1/4-turn ballvalves in each of both heater hoses. Will absolutely isolate heater core. find em @ lowes, fleabay etc.
My new c3
I love stories of driving a new C3 home from far away. I've done it twice now, and each time was a grand adventure*.
