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I am new to this forum, and would like assistance with anything you can including helping me find where to search this thing! I am starting a restoration project on a 1979 corvette.
Known Problems:
1. The car itself does run, but as I learned a few months back it does not brake. I can have the pedal to the floor and do not feel any stopping power. The hand brake also does not work on this car. I bled the brakes according to what i found online, and i do not see any real leaks anywhere, but it does not stop. I was thinking of getting new calipers and stainless steel braided lines from Willwood.
2. The driver side floor pan is rusted out I am getting another one today and I was hoping to rivet it into place all around and weld it in. I have a 90 amp flux core welder, and I can get my beads to look like this guys
( I assume the rivets will hold it, and the weld will just be that much better, but i want to make sure that is a good way to do that.
3. My exhaust is sagging, this should be an easy fix.
4. Driver side headlight is broken, i have a replacement so i will see if i can get that working.
5. When the car is turning I see and feel a thud, thud, thud it feels like it drops a bit with the thud. I assume this is probably the rear differential.(any other opinions are welcome)
I accidentally posted this in the wrong area, and was informed to check stickys for info, so I will be looking at those.
I take it you got it for free or at least extremely cheap right?
If not, I would start with a little bit better model. Just from the pictures and your description, it's going to cost you quite a bit to get it into really good "driver" shape. You can get a good condition 79 driver that needs very little for around $5-8,000 depending where you are located. Maybe even cheaper if you want an automatic or a less desirable color.
With the one you have, if your floor pan is rusted out, there is a good chance you have rust elsewhere (CHECK THE BIRD CAGE)! If your diff is clunking and needs a rebuild, there is a solid $1000 there for a basic rebuild. How mechanically talented are you? Judging by the front bumper missing part of the grill, the brakes not working, the clunking diff, condition of the headlights etc... the car was not exactly loved on in recent years, so you have to wonder about the condition of everything else that can't be seen in those pictures.
If you got that car for basically nothing, then it MIGHT be worth the amount of money you need to put in it to make it road worthy, assuming it doesn't have serious birdcage rust or frame rot (check this before you do anything else as that can render this car almost worthless for you) and assuming you can do all the work yourself.
Not trying to be a downer! I have a 79 myself and didn't do my due diligence (even though I THOUGHT I had because I am fairly knowledgeable on cars), and got lucky, Thankfully I bought a car that was running and driving because I wanted a project that I could also drive around as I made mods, so I was at least able to verify things like the transmission, engine, brakes, etc... were working well enough. But that said, even with a running and driving example, I have put many thousands of dollars into it to get the interior, electronics, vacuum lines, engine, diff, suspension, wheels and tires, brakes, and other things up to my standard and something I would feel comfortable letting my wife drive. I would have been dollars ahead to just spend a little bit extra at the beggining and got an example that had been better maintained.
You may not need either. The first thing to do is determine what the problem might be. Have you checked the master cylinder?
When was the last time the differential fluid was changed?
Congrats on the 79.
Thanks for the reply. So I took off the the lid to the brake master cylinder and when I pumped the pedal brake fluid was splashing out. I do not have a video of it, but it is doing something. These are the original brakes from 1979, the calipers were never changed. I guess I just assumed that replacing that, and the rubber would fix it and if not I could do the master cylinder next. Is there anything specific that should be checking for? On my other vehicles I have always done brake jobs and I had to compress the piston back in... These things are just loose, I can literally just push them in with my hand. I cant be sure that the differential fluid was changed I will change it myself. Do you have any advise on cleaning up the rotors? They look pretty bad.
I take it you got it for free or at least extremely cheap right?
If not, I would start with a little bit better model. Just from the pictures and your description, it's going to cost you quite a bit to get it into really good "driver" shape. You can get a good condition 79 driver that needs very little for around $5-8,000 depending where you are located. Maybe even cheaper if you want an automatic or a less desirable color.
With the one you have, if your floor pan is rusted out, there is a good chance you have rust elsewhere (CHECK THE BIRD CAGE)! If your diff is clunking and needs a rebuild, there is a solid $1000 there for a basic rebuild. How mechanically talented are you? Judging by the front bumper missing part of the grill, the brakes not working, the clunking diff, condition of the headlights etc... the car was not exactly loved on in recent years, so you have to wonder about the condition of everything else that can't be seen in those pictures.
If you got that car for basically nothing, then it MIGHT be worth the amount of money you need to put in it to make it road worthy, assuming it doesn't have serious birdcage rust or frame rot (check this before you do anything else as that can render this car almost worthless for you) and assuming you can do all the work yourself.
Not trying to be a downer! I have a 79 myself and didn't do my due diligence (even though I THOUGHT I had because I am fairly knowledgeable on cars), and got lucky, Thankfully I bought a car that was running and driving because I wanted a project that I could also drive around as I made mods, so I was at least able to verify things like the transmission, engine, brakes, etc... were working well enough. But that said, even with a running and driving example, I have put many thousands of dollars into it to get the interior, electronics, vacuum lines, engine, diff, suspension, wheels and tires, brakes, and other things up to my standard and something I would feel comfortable letting my wife drive. I would have been dollars ahead to just spend a little bit extra at the beginning and got an example that had been better maintained.
Everyone I have talked to has pretty much told me this is a bad year, and not worth the time or money and I understand that. My problem is this car was my dads. He has since passed, and I have loved this car since I was a child. I obviously wish we took better care of it, but my problem isn't that its going to be expensive or time consuming. I need to figure out how I am going to fix it, and what modifications I want to do. It is an L48 from what I gathered the 5 digit in the vin is 8 and the tach redline/orangeline shows 5,300 and it is an automatic which I hope to change. Like you said its not worth a ton, and I do not plan on reselling so I do not need to bother about numbers matching. Thank you for your reply. I plan on doing a lot of the same things you have done, but I would like to get it to be able to drive to a mechanic, or body shop if need be. So the brakes and headlights are probably first. I will check the birdcage when I get home today.
Everyone I have talked to has pretty much told me this is a bad year, and not worth the time or money and I understand that. My problem is this car was my dads. He has since passed, and I have loved this car since I was a child. I obviously wish we took better care of it, but my problem isn't that its going to be expensive or time consuming. I need to figure out how I am going to fix it, and what modifications I want to do. It is an L48 from what I gathered the 5 digit in the vin is 8 and the tach redline/orangeline shows 5,300 and it is an automatic which I hope to change. Like you said its not worth a ton, and I do not plan on reselling so I do not need to bother about numbers matching. Thank you for your reply. I plan on doing a lot of the same things you have done, but I would like to get it to be able to drive to a mechanic, or body shop if need be. So the brakes and headlights are probably first. I will check the birdcage when I get home today.
Oh there is nothing wrong with the year! Like I said, I have a 79 as well and love it. Each year has it's own little things, but there is nothing inherently wrong with the 79. I was mostly commenting on the cost of fixing up a run down car vs the cost of buying one in decent shape.
However in your case (nostalgic value) I COMPLETELY understand why you would want to put in the effort. And I agree with it as well, I would do the same. So hats off to you sir!
You came to the right place with this forum, I've recieved help countless time from forum members getting my car into good driving shape, you just gotta learn to ask the right questions.
So with brakes being the first priority (for obvious reasons) I would start with the basics. If you have bled the brakes and master cylinder (and I'm assuming flushed with new fluid, if not, go back and do that since that old fluid is doing you no favors), you should not be able to just push the piston in without significant effort. It is a fairly simple hyrdraulic system, so if the master cylinder is full and all brakes bled, pushing the piston in is displacing fluid somewhere else. So that implies to me that you have a leak somewhere, or brakes were not properly bled. Are you fairly confident in your brake bleed job? There is also a bleed order on the C3 because of the proportioning valve. I would search this forum for the procedure, but essentially you are working from the farthest caliper (passenger rear) to the closest caliper (driver front) to get all the air out of the system.
79s are no better or worse than any later C3. They are great cars to restromod and make your own. Hopefully this one is not too far gone. Good luck with your Dad's car.
Oh there is nothing wrong with the year! Like I said, I have a 79 as well and love it. Each year has it's own little things, but there is nothing inherently wrong with the 79. I was mostly commenting on the cost of fixing up a run down car vs the cost of buying one in decent shape.
However in your case (nostalgic value) I COMPLETELY understand why you would want to put in the effort. And I agree with it as well, I would do the same. So hats off to you sir!
You came to the right place with this forum, I've recieved help countless time from forum members getting my car into good driving shape, you just gotta learn to ask the right questions.
So with brakes being the first priority (for obvious reasons) I would start with the basics. If you have bled the brakes and master cylinder (and I'm assuming flushed with new fluid, if not, go back and do that since that old fluid is doing you no favors), you should not be able to just push the piston in without significant effort. It is a fairly simple hyrdraulic system, so if the master cylinder is full and all brakes bled, pushing the piston in is displacing fluid somewhere else. So that implies to me that you have a leak somewhere, or brakes were not properly bled. Are you fairly confident in your brake bleed job? There is also a bleed order on the C3 because of the proportioning valve. I would search this forum for the procedure, but essentially you are working from the farthest caliper (passenger rear) to the closest caliper (driver front) to get all the air out of the system.
It does not hurt to double check, I am fairly sure that i flushed the system well as the fluid was darker when I started (which I assumed meant something was getting in the line) and when i finished it was clean. I believe after bleeding and looking online, I found a bunch of links stating that the calipers should be stainless steel sleeved. So I assumed this was normal problem and that I needed new calipers. I will admit I jumped the gun and went straight to looking for full replacement kits (hard lines, master cylinder, rotors, pads, calipers, and rubber/stainless braided lines). I figured if i replace it all there is no room for problems. Of course it was also over a thousand dollars, and most of this stuff is probably still good like you mentioned. It is easy to fall into these rabbit holes, in fact I was watching videos to see how to get the caliper off of the hub. Hopefully none of that is necessary.
79s are no better or worse than any later C3. They are great cars to restromod and make your own. Hopefully this one is not too far gone. Good luck with your Dad's car.
Thank you!!! My dad always bragged about his old 69 corvette with a 427. He totaled it sadly. Maybe I can fit one of those bad boys in this.
I take it you got it for free or at least extremely cheap right?
If not, I would start with a little bit better model. Just from the pictures and your description, it's going to cost you quite a bit to get it into really good "driver" shape. You can get a good condition 79 driver that needs very little for around $5-8,000 depending where you are located. Maybe even cheaper if you want an automatic or a less desirable color.
With the one you have, if your floor pan is rusted out, there is a good chance you have rust elsewhere (CHECK THE BIRD CAGE)! If your diff is clunking and needs a rebuild, there is a solid $1000 there for a basic rebuild. How mechanically talented are you? Judging by the front bumper missing part of the grill, the brakes not working, the clunking diff, condition of the headlights etc... the car was not exactly loved on in recent years, so you have to wonder about the condition of everything else that can't be seen in those pictures.
If you got that car for basically nothing, then it MIGHT be worth the amount of money you need to put in it to make it road worthy, assuming it doesn't have serious birdcage rust or frame rot (check this before you do anything else as that can render this car almost worthless for you) and assuming you can do all the work yourself.
Not trying to be a downer! I have a 79 myself and didn't do my due diligence (even though I THOUGHT I had because I am fairly knowledgeable on cars), and got lucky, Thankfully I bought a car that was running and driving because I wanted a project that I could also drive around as I made mods, so I was at least able to verify things like the transmission, engine, brakes, etc... were working well enough. But that said, even with a running and driving example, I have put many thousands of dollars into it to get the interior, electronics, vacuum lines, engine, diff, suspension, wheels and tires, brakes, and other things up to my standard and something I would feel comfortable letting my wife drive. I would have been dollars ahead to just spend a little bit extra at the beggining and got an example that had been better maintained.
You know, the guy does not need this kind of advice. This is the Corvette he bought, and it hardly is a lost case. Your advice is "to start with a better model"???? Wow. I understand that is does matter what condition a car is in, but this idea that nothing is ever worth restoring unless its a "special" car, whatever you definition of that is, but probably not a rubber bumper Corvette. It gets very old.
Take a look what a 67 GTO rusted out project sells for,.......or any C1 or C2 Corvette. So just because a late model C3 is worth less in resale value does not make them not worth restoring....unless all you care about is return on investment. It gets very old this negative attitude toward late model C3. If this was a 69 Corvette, .....you wouldn't complain, but because its a junk 79, its not worth bothering with. I totally disagree, and hope the OP enjoys building the car he bought. I think it IS worth doing, no matter how much it can be resold for. Some of us care more about the car than the money and these distorted "market" values.
One more thing.....you can buy ANY C3 Corvette for whatever price you pay and STILL have to spend thousands to make it a driver, so saying you can buy a decent late model C3 for $5000-$8000 and it will be in great shape and require nothing is absolutely BS. I bought my 77 for $9000, it was in great shape, but it was still an old car, and would have required continuous maintenance and money had I not restored it. Now its a NEW 1977 Corvette, better than GM built, and I will enjoy driving it every day....it was worth every penny....even if it doesn't have chrome bumpers.
Last edited by Shovels and Vettes; Jun 22, 2018 at 04:57 PM.
It does not hurt to double check, I am fairly sure that i flushed the system well as the fluid was darker when I started (which I assumed meant something was getting in the line) and when i finished it was clean. I believe after bleeding and looking online, I found a bunch of links stating that the calipers should be stainless steel sleeved. So I assumed this was normal problem and that I needed new calipers. I will admit I jumped the gun and went straight to looking for full replacement kits (hard lines, master cylinder, rotors, pads, calipers, and rubber/stainless braided lines). I figured if i replace it all there is no room for problems. Of course it was also over a thousand dollars, and most of this stuff is probably still good like you mentioned. It is easy to fall into these rabbit holes, in fact I was watching videos to see how to get the caliper off of the hub. Hopefully none of that is necessary.
yeah it is VERY easy to go down the rabbit hole on these cars. If you have the budget, new SS sleeved calipers and SS lines are a great way to go. Probably not necessary unless all your brakes are in bad shape (hard to say without being able to check them out first hand).
So kinda up to you how you want to proceed on that. Little tip, you can get replacement calipers that are remanufactured Delcos from Advance Auto Parts. I just had to do that on my car recently and I believe it was around $80 a caliper. Front lines were about $10. So figure roughtly $400 for the car. Not as nice as buying a full SS sleeved kit from one of the vendors, but not a bad option either.
Everyone I have talked to has pretty much told me this is a bad year, and not worth the time or money and I understand that. My problem is this car was my dads. He has since passed, and I have loved this car since I was a child. I obviously wish we took better care of it, but my problem isn't that its going to be expensive or time consuming. I need to figure out how I am going to fix it, and what modifications I want to do. It is an L48 from what I gathered the 5 digit in the vin is 8 and the tach redline/orangeline shows 5,300 and it is an automatic which I hope to change. Like you said its not worth a ton, and I do not plan on reselling so I do not need to bother about numbers matching. Thank you for your reply. I plan on doing a lot of the same things you have done, but I would like to get it to be able to drive to a mechanic, or body shop if need be. So the brakes and headlights are probably first. I will check the birdcage when I get home today.
I am glad you are sticking with it. Your 79 is every bit a Corvette as any other Corvette GM built and don't let these elitist types make you feel bad about owning it. Fact is, your car is less than 10% different than any other C3 Corvette. Sure, it doesn't have the exalted "chrome bumpers", which are nothing more than cosmetic jokes compared the real protection your bumpers provide. You don't have those antique Model T chrome mirrors the early models have, and you actually have a real sports car steering wheel instead of the boat wheel the early models have, you don't have to fight the silly windshield wiper vacuum door that never works, you don't have "fiberoptics" to tell you when the lights are working, you have much better seats, the steering column puts the wheel in a better position and is tilt / tele, etc etc etc.. There is a long list of improvements GM made that your car has that a 68 does not. So in reality, you should be pleased you have a 79. ITS A CORVETTE....and its yours. If you want more power, there is no better engine to power up than a Chevy SBC.....! And of course, most importantly this particular 79 has the history your described, and that is WAY MORE important than anything else. It will be challenging to build, and cost some money, but its worth every penny.
Last edited by Shovels and Vettes; Jun 22, 2018 at 05:06 PM.
You know, the guy does not need this kind of advice. This is the Corvette he bought, and it hardly is a lost case. Your advice is "to start with a better model"???? Wow. I understand that is does matter what condition a car is in, but this idea that nothing is ever worth restoring unless its a "special" car, whatever you definition of that is, but probably not a rubber bumper Corvette. It gets very old.
Take a look what a 67 GTO rusted out project sells for,.......or any C1 or C2 Corvette. So just because a late model C3 is worth less in resale value does not make them not worth restoring....unless all you care about is return on investment. It gets very old this negative attitude toward late model C3. If this was a 69 Corvette, .....you wouldn't complain, but because its a junk 79, its not worth bothering with. I totally disagree, and hope the OP enjoys building the car he bought. I think it IS worth doing, no matter how much it can be resold for. Some of us care more about the car than the money and these distorted "market" values.
One more thing.....you can buy ANY C3 Corvette for whatever price you pay and STILL have to spend thousands to make it a driver, so saying you can buy a decent late model C3 for $5000-$8000 and it will be in great shape and require nothing is absolutely BS. I bought my 77 for $9000, it was in great shape, but it was still an old car, and would have required continuous maintenance and money had I not restored it. Now its a NEW 1977 Corvette, better than GM built, and I will enjoy driving it every day....it was worth every penny....even if it doesn't have chrome bumpers.
Thank you for the response. He also has a 1979 corvette, so I think we are all actually on the same page. I appreciate all the responses, and I will keep working on this machine. I love tons of features of this car, although I think I will be doing a bit of upgrading. I am picking up my floor pan replacement today. Then i will get some pictures of the brakes and post them, to see if there is anything worth saving.
Yep its a project , but with the history you have with it , its the right project for you.
Looks like it was under a car cover or tarp outside for a long while, from how the paint has rubbed off the edges of the front guards ,sitting on grass /dirt? Anyway it doesn't matter now except to dig deeper into it to determine how far RUST has developed into the birdcage (if at all ! ) To me there's no point fixing it up to drive if the Main body structure is rotted away, as fixing THAT could take months in itself .
First thing I would do is take those kick panels off and have a look at the body mount bolts/area . Take pics and post them back here , IF that's rusted out ,the guys on this forum ,who have done rust repair on these cars can give you advice on how to proceed.
yeah it is VERY easy to go down the rabbit hole on these cars. If you have the budget, new SS sleeved calipers and SS lines are a great way to go. Probably not necessary unless all your brakes are in bad shape (hard to say without being able to check them out first hand).
So kinda up to you how you want to proceed on that. Little tip, you can get replacement calipers that are remanufactured Delcos from Advance Auto Parts. I just had to do that on my car recently and I believe it was around $80 a caliper. Front lines were about $10. So figure roughtly $400 for the car. Not as nice as buying a full SS sleeved kit from one of the vendors, but not a bad option either.
I will take some pictures of my calipers today, and I will take a picture of my rotors as well and post them. I dont mind cleaning things up, and I am all for saving money.
Yep its a project , but with the history you have with it , its the right project for you.
Looks like it was under a car cover or tarp outside for a long while, from how the paint has rubbed off the edges of the front guards ,sitting on grass /dirt? Anyway it doesn't matter now except to dig deeper into it to determine how far RUST has developed into the birdcage (if at all ! ) To me there's no point fixing it up to drive if the Main body structure is rotted away, as fixing THAT could take months in itself .
First thing I would do is take those kick panels off and have a look at the body mount bolts/area . Take pics and post them back here , IF that's rusted out ,the guys on this forum ,who have done rust repair on these cars can give you advice on how to proceed.
Very good idea to join this forum
Back in about 2005 the paint was actually in pretty perfect condition. The lines I am not sure what they are, but they were pealing. Unfortunately, this car was operational and it was parked on my parents old driveway. Someone covered the car and the minivan with what appeared to be baking soda and then covered it in Vaseline... when it was cleaned off it looked like this. I am good with removing things and putting them back together, but I do not know the name of a lot of the parts. I would assume the kick panel is in the interior by where your feet would be located. I found a picture online ( the one below, but until i get home I am not sure where it is.
Yes they are the kick panels and you assumed correctly
I have heard of cars being vandalised with brake fluid or eggs thrown at them but never Baking Soda and Vaseline !
Here is the new pan I picked up... And the pictures you requested. Should I get in there with a Razer and clean the inside or does this tell you what you need to know?
Congrats on your 79. C3 are great cars. Great lines and relatively workable for an average guy like me. I bought a 78 three years ago. I have been having a gret time fixing it up.i encourage you to do the same. This forum is an incredible resource of knowledge. First advice you will find, which you are already doing: MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT GO, MAKE IT LOOK GOOD. I would add that I would keep it operable as best you can while you work with it. That will keep your interest up and you can enjoy it in the process.
as far as your brakes go, I am not a good source of help. Everything I know I learned by doing and I have not had to deal with my brakes. But it might be possible that your calipers are frozen and won' move. If the rubber hoses are weak they would be the weakest link in the system and are bulging out causing your weak pedal. Probably a stretch on my part. But I would take a tire off and inspect each brake and hose while someone presses the brake.
Get the Assembly Instruction Manual. Wilcox has them on a searchable CD. Indispensable tool.
1979 C3 restoration
