FINALLY...

Took a week longer and a couple hundred more than i wanted to spend, but i finally parked my first C3 (and first Chevy) in my driveway. Man this is cool. I've had more than my share ov cool cars... Lots ov E-body Mopars, B and A-body Mopars, lots ov full-size Mopar and Buicks... GM A-bodies, pretty much all big blocks. Just sold my second old Caddy hearse (68 Cadillac M&M), and still have a 68 4-speed AMX somewhere... Hell, even drove a 70 Stage 1 455 (in a roach Skylark) to high school. But this... this is different.

I wanted a 69 4-speed coupe, but my budget said 79 automatic. Took a year to find this. I had to choose between a rubber bumper car and a 4-speed car... but i think i chose right. It'll be a lot easier to swap in a stick than change front and rear bodywork to 69 style. Its gonna hurt... bad... driving around with an automatic again ( i said i'd NEVER drive an auto again...), but if there's a future in it, i'll live. I sold my last race car (72 Charger 440 road race) because it needed a 4-speed... and i could have done the swap, had all the parts even, but it was just too big, heavy, and ugly. So FIRST order ov business... is scrounging up the complete 4-speed swap pile o parts. And NOT paying a fortune for it.


Anyways... enough dreaming. Got it home today, and that pretty much broke me, so things will be slow-going for a while in here. It runs BAD... but after pulling three wires off the distributor and with NO change in idle... i'm pretty sure its just a set ov plugs and wires away from a strong V8. 8 year old gas doesn't help. Got the numbers off the non-original engine, and hopefully someone in the other thread can shed some light on what this mystery 350 is. I found an old Performer, and an older Accel distributor. The car has headers, but a gawd-awful dual exhaust.

I also had to choose between an original car and one thats been through many hands. While i like untouched factory stuff, it can be a nightmare to get into (when nothings been unbolted in 50 years). This car's had several paintjobs, the last one probably the worst, and its pretty thick, chipping off here and there. It wont be a crime to change the color. The interior is a tad sketchy... and i see wires here and there. I dont like where thats going. BUT... so far pretty much everything in it works. Its been modified a bit. I see engine, exhaust, mags, so far. Its getting a full-bore race treatment (not clapped out though), so originality isn't important, nor is nice paint. Ultimate goal: 24/7/365 daily driver, thats great on gas, and will take anything in the canyons. Lots ov long-distance high-speed road trips.

Unfortunately, being out ov province... it needs an inspection to be insured. While almost everything works... these things can be nightmares. The E-brake doesn't. That sucks. The camber on one side ov the rear doesn't match the other, does that suck? I have no idea. Soooo... MY CUNNING PLAN... is to just snake it through, any way, shape possible, then insure it. THEN... i can address real problems. Like:

THE FIRST thing i do here... is call an (actual) stock car racer i know, and have him bring over his 4-corner scales. I need to know what my starting point is, weight-wise. No guessing. $50 well-spent.

The last guy installed brand new mufflers (just stockers) that sound HORRIBLE. I have some nasty little Spintechs i'll cut and weld in for now in front ov the stock tips. New exhaust (X-pipe, 2.5" mandrel Spintech side-exit (not sidepipe) from the headers) ASAHFP after.

Need to find some 8" rally wheels, and hopefully wedge in some 295/50-15's all around. The mags on there are a bit wider than 8" i think (guessing 8.5")... as the 295 on the back actually fits semi-okay, and the 235/60 on the front is quite stretched. My neighbors 76 across the street with 235/60 on 8" rallys, looks different. Pretty sure the offset wont let me fit 295's up front. Plus... i dont like chrome, rivets, or spinners. Thinking body-color painted rallys, no rings or caps.

Man... those stock old seats HAVE to go. Mine are beat, and they have all the lateral support ov a greased school bus bench. Some very light, very modern import buckets should do. Now just gotta hit the junkyard with my scale...

And then let the weight-reduction commence... . . . . . . . .

 

Enjoy the fun making it your ride!

 

I think it's a good looking car.

 

Way to go! That's nice looking. You're in for some fun with that ride.

 

Glad you finally got one. I was thinking about your goal of shedding weight. You know how to do it, so I will be little help.....but I did want to mention one thing. The headlights are easily opened "manually". It takes less than five seconds to lay down in front of the car, reach up, and push the over center mechanism to open and close the headlight. So......you don't need any of the vacuum acutators, etc,....nor do you need to convert to electic. Get rid of all of it. And frankly....at least for me.....I open the lights maybe five times a year. I do have the factory vacuum setup completely functional now, but first couple years I drove the car after restoration......I just did it manually. Just a thought to help on your goal of losing weight.

 

Congratulations!!! I like it!!!

Nice color too! These C3's cast a spell on a whole lot of people, I am very happy I am one of them!

 

WE HAVE A WINNER! Keep posting pics so we don't miss a thing.

 

Hey. Thats funny... i was just wondering a couple days ago where i read that someone did this. Do you have to lay down? Possibly is there some way to rig it so you could just quickly reach under?

Problem is, i do a LOT ov driving at night, and pretty much ALL ov my fast driving. I'll be looking at different methods to cut weight on the lights, but also just eliminating the whole pop-up deal. Not a huge fan ov how the pop-ups look (when up), and like i said, they'll be up a LOT.

There are options:

Headlights in grille. BUT... are they too low to be useful? or legal? How is the beam width/height?
Glass covers/fixed lights. BUT... i like the stock solid look, and dont like the see-through look.
Removable covers/fixed lights. BUT... i still have get physically get out to pull them. Probably not legal if i get caught...
Half-opening (to about horizontal) with electric motors. BUT... will i have a wide enough beam?
Full headlight delete but with night-vision goggles. BUT... running from the cops gets expensive, and can be hard on parts.

Quite frankly, i like the stock look when closed... so i'd prefer an option that lets me keep that. This is hardly my main priority though, unless i can find a dirt-cheap temporary fix that works.

 

Heh... thanks guys. Everyone likes the color. I cant stand it. Luckily... the paint looks WAY worse in person, so i wont feel bad removing it. Seriously... its REALLY bad up close. Just for now though, i might keep it, paint some rallys that color, delete some chrome, and play around with some stripes. I have a big-*** cowl scoop for it already (off my Charger) and just need to find a ratty 80+ hood to hack and then put it on. That stock 73 hood is HEAVY. Kinda feel silly driving around with a 4" cowl in a slow car... but it'll inspire me to quicken it up... quicker...


Do people actually read the updates on these 'project' threads?

 

Some projects have 50,000 views because of updates.

 

!!!

 

Keep the updates coming! Just because a lot of folks don’t post in your updates does not mean they aren’t reading them!
congratulations on your purchase!

Scott

 

Hahahahaha... yeah, i'm gonna go ahead and guess that those guys have a LOT more money than i do....

However... even though i'm broke... like Mad Max wasteland broke... i'm crafty. Going to get WELL-deep into practical weight-reduction here (and not just clapping **** out), extreme tire fitment, and i'm going to build a GLORIOUS exhaust for this thing... So maybe it wont be so boring.

I'll probably start my own weight-reduction thread though. Or maybe an entire project thread?

 

Dont get rid of the pop up headlights! That's one of the best design features of the C3.

Get an aftermarket electric kit.

 

Impressive getting 1973 with a modest budget, they've really gone up in recent years, even for a rough one. Great choice though, I may be a bit biased.......

 

I'm on the fence. Great design, and they look decent up, but they look WAY better down... and mine will be up a lot. Haven't seen any alternative options i like yet... so i dont know.

 

Yeah, i got it cheaper than any 74-82 (in the same condition) i've seen around here for a year. The guy couldn't sell it. I made him a slightly lower than cool offer (because thats all i could get), and he sat on it while half a dozen guys checked it out. He eventually came back and said yes. The frame, cage, all the usual places checked out they told him, everything worked except the E brake, but everyone wanted the numbers engine. Its a base 73 auto. It'll never be worth a fortune, numbers or not. So i stole it. Their loss...

I'm not sure i would call it rough though. 'Well-handled' perhaps. Its been through a few hands, had a few paint jobs, but so far i see a LOT ov stock stuff on there, in stock places, and no stupid or half-baked mods. The 305 thing is bothering me, but i'm still not 100% on that. Fingers crossed.

 

Great choice and have lots of fun. I finally found my ‘81 after wrecking my ‘61 over 55 years ago. I call her my “Senior Project”. My wife calls her my “High maintenance Girl Friend”. Mainly because she’s 40 years old, looks good, has a great shape and hardly ever works! But I really enjoy working on her and seeing progress, even though just a bit at a time and quite a few back steps later. Things like the rear camber were scary at first, but a piece of cake to re-adjust. Headlights popped by hand (watch the fingers though) until I rebuilt the vacuum system. Interior was a job, but worth it. Be ready for the alarm system to go off for no reason and scare the crap out of you. Be sure and prop the hood open when working on her because they will SLAM shut for no reason. And use cribbing …..don’t trust just Jack stands.
REWARDS: constant beeps and thumbs up. Watching people stop in their tracks and taking photos and all the nice remarks I get about her.
and I have to say it all would not be possible without the great people and help from this site! 👍🏻

 

the easiest and cheapest upgrade is a small block chebby. they are everywhere and fall into the engine compartment. and the existing motor still makes the car go in the mean time.

 

I suppose its just going to require a slight adjustment ov attitude. I bought this car to get in and drive. There'd be a few things to address right off the bat, but i paid extra for a runner/driver. Now there is a small leak under the tires, and i'm gonna guess thats a leaky caliper... so now brakes. Ugh.

Sooooo... i guess it is now a project, though one that shouldn't take too much to get moving. The best projects (in my opinion) are driving and insured ones, so i'll get this rig there as quick as i can. Not that i wanted to do an engine swap so soon, but if i find out thats a 305, i'll be scrounging up a running L31 Vortec from somewhere, and i'll buy a custom cam, single plane, and Holley 750 for that. Bit more than i wanted to spend up front, but 400HP will be a nice 'temp' engine. A Vortec 350 would probably get better mileage than a 305 anyways.

So...
350 swap...
4-speed swap...
full exhaust ~ this will actually cost me less than $100 all total... for a full-race no loss 2.5" system.
new wheels and tires
new (used) seats
80+ hood (well lighter than mine), so i can hack it, and put on my 4" cowl.

Jesus... thats five grand right there...