I was looking at "Phoenix" my torch red L-48 79 and it reminded me of an oversized matchbox car. It does have the tendency to leak like a newborn baby but given time and a little money it can be made to potty train. I also hate looking through Summit and seeing almost every mod listed for a camaro or Trans Am and a few for my Vette. I can live with gas expenses, doesn't bother me so much. I don't care for matching #'s because I plan to customize the junk out of Phoenix. I don't care if he's only worth 100 bucks, he's worth a million to me and I'm never going to sell him. Many question why I label Phoenix as a male, I just look at him and don't see female in him. I see female in some of those Mary Kay cars but not my vette. Looks all male to me. He pisses me off every week and everyday I find something wrong or needs fixing on him. My first major project dealing with the exhaust turned out to be WAY more trouble than I thought...

But you know what! I wouldn't trade my C3 Vette for all the Ferraris, Z06s, and Vipers in the world. Might never go past 14s in the 1/4 mile but he's still my special car. All those kill stories made me feel bad. They really put a ripping on my C3...but in the end I just love Phoenix for Phoenix. Speed isn't everything. The C5s are nice looking cars...but the C3s still hold the scepter of coolness. I just have a thing for old cars. No I just have a thing for old Vettes!

Now if I only could fix him up alittle so I can drive him. The longer he's undriveable the better the feeling will be when he is!

I'm sure all of you have quirks and things that boil your blood when dealing with your C3, but you love it anyways.

Israel

 

Phoenix, I recommend first if you have a garage, tearing the entire suspensions apart and rebuilding with everything new, assuming some parts are not allready fresh....then just replace the radiator, if old, support too...
then rebuild top end of engine if under 100k miles, if over...rebuild entire engine to bacic stock specs with mild workup...say to 300 horse...at crank...
depending on type of driving done...you may stay with no overdrive for city work, but if a lot of freeway/trips are planned, an o/drive is highly recommended, cheapest way to do that is an automatic tranny...
brakes are another issue and covered plenty in other historical threads on this forum....so are wheels and tires...
IF you are electronically inclined, the addition of a TPI unit from say a later C4 vette/camaro/f-bird is a worth while performance gain...both in driveability and fuel economy...which nearly doubles...

GENE

 

Go ahead, I know you want to post your appreciation comments to the C3s. What is it about your C3 that you love so much?

 

What I appreciate:

Everything about it. Building it into something way better than the factory put out.

My mottos:

"A 'Vette is not a car, it's a hobby."

"Enjoy driving your 'Vette every chance you get while it's working, and consider breakage a significant opportunity for improvement."

You would have to shoot me to get me to part with my car, and bear in mind I'm armed. :eek:

-Noel


[Modified by Noel Carboni, 6:49 PM 2/26/2002]

 

I know that feeling!!! I feel terrible, the car has been in the garage for more than a month! It's the longest I have ever been without it. It's still very nice to look at when I leave the house. Even looks cleaner than when I put it in a month ago. Gotta love curves!

 

I like the thumbs up I get from kids. They act like it's the last car on the planet!! Makes you feel special.


[Modified by Stingy74, 2:51 PM 2/26/2002]

 

Phoenix79, don't worry about the performance. It doesn't take a huge amount of cash to make a 79 fast. I typically kill C5's, however, I've never run into a Z06 (I just don't try to beat them in a top end contest ;)

The best thing about owning a C3 is to pull up next to a school bus and watch all of the kids. My wife and I get a kick out of that :lol:

 

Yes indeed! I like most of my stop for gas sessions. Lots of looks and some talks during those moments. Stingy74 your car is awesome. I love to look through your gallery of pics. I hope to get some nice wheels like yours too!

 

Yea, I love my Vette too, One of my favorite things is to drive it somewhere with the hood off. It has a fair amount of chrome, and a big ol intake with a big ol carb on it.

People, usually guys 15-25 will walk over to it and look at it's engine. It's like a little car show.
I get paranoid, with all of it's junk hanging out like that, but no one has ever touched it...and no I don't leave it out of sight for long..

And when I come back they all want to hear it :D

And phoenix, I agree, I'll never part with it, I've rebuilt the front end, the back end, the engine, the transmission. Body and paint is this year, interior is next year....

They'll pry it out of my cold dead hands.

 

My favorite thing is when I take her out for a ride around town. People look and do a double take. Hopefully because there aren't many late C3's in our area. Always get a thumbs up from the kids at the gas station when filling up.

 

The body style (of course) it is unmistakeable.

The way the seats/cockpit feels... its classic and you can't buy it new.
there aren't many on the street. Unique

The fact that I can work on it (im 23 and have limited space/tools) but I still have a good socket set...do you need anything else?

It makes my friends jealous and also girls like the car...good chick magnet.

The community of Corvette fans is awsome as well !!

 

From an earlier post I made. No one responded to it.

It amazes me how many people will go well out of their way too steal a look, or roll down a window, or whatever to tell you how much they love these cars.
It can almost be embarrasing, Except every time I drive it I feel the same way.

It was a good day.......can you tell. :)

 

I appreciate mine the most when no one is around. There is a state forest not far from home that has a lot of winding roads.

Hot summer night, tops off, radio blaring taking a 45mph corner at 90! You just gotta love a Corvette! :D :cool:

An old Zen saying is "The journey is the reward." He must have been a C3 guy because my journeys are a whole lot more rewarding when I take them in my Vette.


[Modified by Pete79L82, 6:47 PM 2/26/2002]

 

It's about time for the wife and I to get away without the kids. (they are 2 and 4 years old) :yesnod: Don't get me wrong, I love my kids to death, but as all of you that have had kids know, sometimes you just have to leave them with grandma on a nice summer evening, take the tops out, and drive. The sound of the exhaust mixed with the wind blowing across the open tops. The way the car wraps around us as if it's giving us a hug of appreciation for rescuing it from salvage. Just getting in and driving to absolutely no where in particular. No deadlines, no schedule, nowhere to be at the moment. :cheers: I can't wait for summer. See what you've done now. :cheers: The cool summer nights with the tops out driving around the lake..................... OK, I'll stop now.


-Justin

 

I totaly agree I mean what can you say when, without you saying a word you here exactly what you wanted to here.
Some of my favorites are
The style It looks like its doing 90 at stop light
The way a 26 year old car handels every body I have had in the car says it handels like or better than a new car.
You might disagree with me on this one but I find them very easy to work on almost every thing is simple enough for me to figure out. not like my other cars.

 

Israel,

I read your profile and it said you were 18. I am 46. Last weekend I crawled in the back of our (actually our 19 year old daughter’s) 1979 Red L-48 to install new speakers. I felt the same way as you about the car – and hell it is just a 20 some year old used car!!!

There is just something about it. I figure Corvettes are something of a fountain of youth. As long as I can, get in, crawl under and wrench on a Corvette I will consider myself young. When I can no longer do these things, I will be OLD.

George

 

We C-3 owners sometimes have a love/ hate relationship with our vette. I've had 5, but this one will never be sold. After spending almost 8 years building this 72 big block, I wrecked it at Carlisle this summer. The entire front end is waisted, but I'll put him back together. I put less than 200 miles on him before the accident, but it was the best time I had in 8 years!

 

Yep! I'm only 18 and with a vette. Its my first car and I sacrificed having a car during high school to save up for it. I'm sacrificing right now with the new headers in and the exhaust pipes not wanting to fit. Pain in the butt, saturday and Sunday it was 60 degress outside. Monday it got real cold and snowed pretty bad, same for tuesday. Car is still on its ramp outside the garage with the cover on and 4 inches of snow on it....terrible. My friend and I planned a quick 6 hour at the max installation time. Boy were we wrong. Yeah Phoenix really makes me mad, I'm extremely new to the mechanics of a car and somethings that may be harmless and simple fixes seem to blow up into dynamite problems. I'm more than sure when they do become fixed in the future, I'll be so happy I'll forget about the pain and many cuts on my hands when it wasn't running. Gotta love C3s!!! C3PO your vette is damn cool!!!! I'm jealous!