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Hi, I just bought my stepdads 1979 corvette. He wanted it to stay in the family, I dont know much about the car but after looking it over it seems to have some custom changes to the body and not sure how or if I can change it back to original. Specifically the hood. It seems to have a custom hood that flips forward and only locks with some pins on top. The fender and hood are all one piece.
Yes your hood and fender “clam shell” is a major modification. This is similar to the 1984 - 1996 C 4 years. Although I never did a mod like that I think it took a lot of work and $$$. It does not appear to change the look of the car when in normal position.
The cowl in the center of the hood is higher than stock. This might be necessary if engine mods raise the height of the air cleaner.
Your wheel wells are flared out to accommodate the bigger tires.
Usually I don’t like body mods but yours looks nice. If this car was mine I would leave it like it is and spend my money on gas driving it.
You'd likely need to find a donor car and replace the entire front clip. Try to find one with a complete set of pop up up and down headlights. Would you then un-flare the rear?
Otherwise, just drive it and enjoy it the way it is! 79 was the most popular year for Corvettes, ever. Yours is beautiful. Go show it off!
I would say there's been a huge amount of work done to it with the body kit, custom headlights, etc. that would be tons of work to put back to original. 1979 isn't really a year that is a collectible type of car that you would want to invest a lot into it to make it original in my opinion.
I think what's been done to it is very cool, I'd look at little modifications to get it just how you like it. For example, looks to be riding pretty high, I'd look into lowering the suspension.
Do you know what engine or suspension mods have been done to it? What does the interior look like? Looks like a special car, I'd like to see more pictures!
Thank you for the reply, i will send some more as soon as i get it back running. my mechanical fuel pump broke and been waiting for parts to replace it. going to also replace the seats inside. I have no clue what has been done to suspension but will ask... I did want to replace the wheels though to maybe something more custom.
The wheels look to be custom already, maybe some wide 15" types. I'm in the process of going from 15" to a wider staggered set up with 17x8 front and 18x10 rear. Having to work through some fitment issues but it looks like you have wide wheels on there already. With your fender flares something like my set up will probably bolt right up.
I like the wheels you have on it now. I think just lowering the car will improve the stance and make the wheels fill in the fender wells better.
Thank you for the reply, i will send some more as soon as i get it back running. my mechanical fuel pump broke and been waiting for parts to replace it. going to also replace the seats inside. I have no clue what has been done to suspension but will ask... I did want to replace the wheels though to maybe something more custom.
I think you'll find that those wheels are pretty custom already, and expensive to replace. Are those 295 or 305 tires? 10" wide wheels? They fit the fenders pretty well. You just need to get the car lower to the ground.
What's wrong with the seats you have? The PO of my black 79 (oyster interior) replaced just the cushions, and spent $2K + boutique garage labor to do it. A cheap set of C5 seats would great in your car, and there are lots examples of those, and similar seats, on the Forum.
Lean into the customness! Buy another one if you want a stock 79 to drive around. Unless you do it yourself, the cost of just a paint job ($10-15K!) will likely be more than a driver-quality 79 C3.
Lean into the customness!Buy another one if you want a stock 79 to drive around. Unless you do it yourself, the cost of just a paint job ($10-15K!) will likely be more than a driver-quality 79 C3.
I agree with this. Take it to a Cars and Coffee thing or something, talk to some other Corvette guys about it. To me, it looks like you have something pretty awesome there that doesn't need a lot of changes. The investment on that one has already been made! Time to drive and enjoy it.
Last edited by zxryder72; Oct 16, 2025 at 05:03 PM.
1979 C3 Corvette
