vetski179

I called him (the Centralia guy) about the clutch pedal assembly I'm going to eventually need. He only sells the pedals WITH the trans/bell housing.

vetski179

Whew, I have my work cut out for me!

caskiguy

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger, I'm knee deep in it too :-)

vetski179

Thanks caskiguy. Saw the pix of your Vette body on the hoist. How far are you along? What are your plans? The frame/engine part of my project should be pretty easy, as I did almost this much on my Nova a couple years ago. It's the paint/body/hatch conversion that has me a little worried.

caskiguy

Just received the frame and some parts back from being powder coated and now I'm trying to decide what style suspension front & rear, trailing arm(s) type, rim(s) & tire size, brakes, EFI or not (for engine gas line size). So to sum it up, I have to at least make one decision or I'll be paralyzed by over analyzing.

vetski179

Envisioning the end project can be difficult. I am fortunate that I have a primitive beast in the Nova I recently finished. It takes care of the the flashy, straight-line part of my hot rod dream. And , that old '74 LS4 car's fond memories are the foundation for this build. So it was relatively easy to plan this. The little details have to be dealt with. But, thanks to this forum, those detail questions have been mostly answered.

vetski179

I raced stand up Jetski's for many years. I used to have a shop. A guy came to me with a Ski that he had taken in as a repair project for another guy. My friend did not want to continue with it, so he gave it to me to fix. I diagnosed the many issues (1975 JS400's were almost hand built, very primitive, and very unreliable). The owner did not want to spend the money to rebuild a ski back to unreliable stock condition. So, he gave it to me in lieu of the money he owed me. I thought it would be fun to make it look stock, but with up-to-date (for 1995) power. A lot more power, actually. To the tune of a 120 horse 750 engine. Here's what I came up with.

vettebuyer6369

For a few years in the 80’s I had an ‘80 custom show car and every single time I went to a swap meet (there were lots of them) I looked at CE hatch assemblies like this and lusted after getting one!

Brings me back... looking forward to seeing how this ends up on the project.

jd1a

Not to hijack the thread. Caskiguy, who made the lift rig you are using?

caskiguy

https://www.palletforks.com/1-ton-ad...shop-lift.html
worth every penny.

vetski179

Thanks Vettebuyer6369 for replying. I can't remember how I found the hatch, but it was in Canada. Somewhere near Toronto if I recall. I've had it for some 14 years now and am very happy to finally be close to actually engineering the installation.

scotty t

You couldn't have started with a lower car than a 305 (cough) 1980! The 80-2 cars are beautiful but lame, looks like you are on track to correct that though. Good luck, Have FUN!

vetski179

It's a lucky 1980 for sure, because, as I'm finding, this baby was used and abused and completely worn out. It is a perfect 'canvas' for me to start with, as nobody is going to lament me 'ruining' a perfectly good 305 smogger! If you were to look at Edmunds.com 10 worst Corvette's, mine sits ashamedly in 3rd spot!

scotty t

Which two are above it? 84 and?

vetski179

1. 1975 Corvette Base
2. 1953 Corvette
3. 1980 Corvette 305
4. 1998 Corvette Pace Car
5. 1979 Corvette L48
6. 1982 Corvette Collector Edition
7. 1988 Corvette Commemorative Edition
8. 1958 Corvette
9. 1995 Corvette Pace Car
10. 1987 Callaway Twin Turbo Corvette

https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/...-all-time.html

Taarzaahn

Hi I will follow this story as much as possible since mine will soon be going thru what you are doing now so nice get some more info and I did worry a little since my garage isnt high enough but seeing how you put the body was very inspiring for me so now I know I can do that too without worry to much about space. Thanks

tyancey00

]This looks like a full on project. Glad to see you know what you are getting into... it will be worth it in the end.

vetski179

I remember not being a Corvette guy. It was the mid sixties, and my friend Randy’s (he was the last child in a catholic family that had ump-teen kids) waay older brother in law had a quad headlight c1. I did not know the specific year. I wasn’t a fan. I was certainly aware of them as I grew up, but, I was way more into motocross. And I rode with Russ. One day, Russ’ dad bought a 1978 Pace car as an investment. I REALLY liked that car! Plus, Russ had also bought a ’77, which we cruised in. (Definitely noticed the attention we got from the ladies!) While the Pace Car’s spoiler package enhanced the look of the car, I didn’t like the after-thought-ish way they were added, specifically the rear.
I went to local magazine store in late ’79. Was browsing a car rag, and there, in a full page add was the now probably famous ad of the new 1980. The one with the yellow Vette facing the camera, and the lithe blonde model, her back to same, showing the new integrated spoiler front. Much to my delight, I found the same was true for the rear. A nice, one-piece, sanitary unit.
The 80-82’s seem to end the c3 era nicely, with clean interior and exterior, (with the dubious exception of horsepower!)
As stated previously, I loved my LS4 ’74, and always have wanted to replicate that car in the 1980’s skin.
Thanks for replying tyancey00. And congrats on the awards for you car.
Thanks too Taarzaahn. Glad my post helps you. I did remove the front clip before raising the car to its place above the frame. Did it with my engine cherry picker at the rear, and floor jack at front. Raised it, blocked it, repositioned jacks, raised it more, etc. The rolling chassis on it’s wheels and tires will move freely from under the body. Gonna have to get it a bit higher once the fuel tank is mounted for the same ease of access.

vetski179

Got this c4 rear end and front end. Going to try to use the rear spring, as the FE7 spring assembly weighs about 40 pounds, the c4 about 10.

Will get new shocks to replace the stock FE7 Pliacell's

Going to go with addustable rear lower sruts.

Going to ditch the stock A/C and go with a Vintage Air unit.

Going to do a Borgeson steering conversion.

And stainless sleeved calipers.

Any of these items that I've decided not to re-use or need the core are available.

NAVY08

Dude, sweet progress! After seeing what you did with the bikes and the jet ski, I am looking forward to following your progress!

I am subscribing.