Hey everyone,

Just to give you some background, my father passed away recently and I've taken upon myself to finish restoring his 73' Vette that he never got around to completing. Last year we completely rebuilt the engine and transmission along with new bushings, and other misc stuff. It's a 73' 4-speed L82 350ci, its got PS, PB, AC, leather, etc. The interior is in poor shape as he was in the middle of taking it out and fixing/cleaning/replacing the whole thing. The body is in excellent condition but the paint has been sanded down as he was getting it ready for a new paint job. He also had a new front bumper for it as the old one was starting to crack. I have a few mechanic friends that will be helping me out with it. I just had a few questions that you guys could answer for me.

I'm trying to make a list of reliability stuff that needs to be replaced first, such as plugs & wires, vacuum lines, brake lines/pads, belts, tires, etc... what else? The car hasn't been on the road in 10 years and has been sitting under a boat shelter since (not fully enclosed). Although, like I said, the engine/tranny was rebuilt last year and the thing starts right up evertime.

Best way to rechrome the bumpers?
Cheapest way to add Fuel injection?
I need some good/cheap headers, and a link please

Also, I noticed some 73's have "stingray" on the side, but his didn't. Were all 73's stingray's and what's the difference??

There's a C5 in a junkyard near me and I was wondering what I can pick off of it. Will the seats, seatbelts and Wheels of a C5 be somewhat trouble free to install on my C3?? What else from a C5 will fit a C3, probably nothing, just thought I'd ask. & no, the engine is gone ...

One last thing, the speedo doesn't work. What's the first thing I should check?

I have an 03' accord as a daily driver and this will just be my weekend/cruising/hobby ride.

 

Do your car (and your father's memory) justice. Remove the word "cheap" from your vocabulary.

There's a lot of not-so-cheap stuff I want to do to my car, but the expense of daily life get's in the way. I wait until I have some "funny money" saved up before buying the next piece of the puzzle. Yes, it will take several years to finish my car at this rate, but no one will be able to say I went "cheap".

Good luck and have fun!

Cheap, fast, reliable...pick two.

 

All 73's were Stingrays. Your father's car definitely came with the badges; they've probably been removed and the holes have been filled.

As far as the C5 seats, I think they're a pretty easy install; just fabricate some mounts and you're good to go. I know at least one person this board has done this, and it looks pretty good.

About the speedometer, first off, be sure that the cable's attached from the back of the speedometer to the side of the transmission.

 

Welcome to the forum!

I'm sorry to hear about your father. My wife and I got our 81 the same way, her dad passed away about a year ago.

I think you've got a good list of stuff to start with for checking, you may want to add lights, wipers, fluids and maybe flush the radiator.

As far as headers, I've heard that dynomax ones are pretty good for the money, go check out www.summitracing.com.

For the speedometer, there's a gear in the tail of the transmission that drives the cable, make sure that's in place & hooked up. If you don't have cruise, the cable goes straight to the back of the speedo. Make sure that's hooked up too. if both are, you may have a broken cable. With cruise, it's a 2 piece cable, the cruise box is under the hood somewhere... (I don't have cruise).

The search function on this forum is pretty good, I use it liberally.

I haven't heard of very many c5 swaps into c3s, maybe seats. The seatbelts might work if you get creative with the mounting. I'm not too familiar with them.

I hope this helps a bit, I'm sure others will be along shortly.

Good luck!
Dan