Hey, you beautiful corvette people! So I'm making a list to organize myself and would appreciate some input. So I got a 74 with a L82 and the hydromatic with 134,000~ miles. The only things I have done so far is tune the carb, bleed the brakes and put the grill inserts back to make sure I had all the pieces besides the covers which rotted away. The things I'm tracking that has been done are the front calipers have been replaced and I'm thinking the carb (quadrajet) has been either rebuilt or is new. The water pump is going cause I can hear it clicking so I was going to do timing when I get the money scraped together for parts. So I'm looking for advice on what should be done while I'm doing the pump and timing please keep in mind I do not have a hoist or stand.

 

OK, so progress report I started a spreadsheet that has the part slinger, Manufacturer, Price, quality(that I can gather because let's be honest I know **** all about choosing a water pump and other parts sometimes), part number, and where it's going like engine, interior, etc and comments. I'm kinda leaning towards Ac Delco through summit but I'm also looking at rock auto. So this is kinda a long way of saying bump because I still don't know what else I should try and do while I'm doing the water pump and timing chain.

 

Dude, use the search or whatever system you are researching.
I have a 74 and it is not original.
Decide what you want your car to do, and proceed in that direction,
There are members who have spent a nice house on their Vettes!
Learn from their time an money,

If you plan on going power than stock.
Expect to spend as much on your suspension!

Mine as beacoup $ VB&P on brakes and chassis.
I have 303 RWHP
330 rwtq
Do it right the first time!
Spend the money.

Good ain't cheap.
And cheap aint good.

R

 

Whatever you do HAVE PATIENCE. I’ve been dabbling with mine for 15 years and enjoying it along the way. Fix your pump. Getting it drivable and enjoy it while you knock things out along the way. A lot of support in the forum that will save you time and money. Good luck

 

Borgeson steering conversion is a nice upgrade . Well worth the money in my opinion if you’re going to upgrade suspension ect………

 

I get that Taijutsu. But I also don't want to pay a hundred bucks on a part that's worth half that you know. So I was kinda hoping for someone to say hey steer away from this part slinger or this brand you know.

 

Put together a plan. It depends on how patient you will be as it will take years to get it right and even then you will continue to work on it because you will learn to love it. If your budget is ready now I would take the body off and you can simultaneously work on the body while you address the power train and suspension. If it’s an original block then either rebuild it or build it up. Depends on the power you are looking for. Again, you will find great support on this forum.

 

ok so my to-do list got longer any recommendations on distrubotors cap/rotors wires plugs water pumps and timing sets for stock+?

 

everyone approaches this differently... no idea what your mindset is. If you have more time than money you can save a lot of the second. Take timing chains for example... Many of the standard double row timing cahins are made by cloyes but they are resold under many "name brands" and at drastically different prices. you cant go wrong with something like this where they come right out and tell you the alternative part numbers.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/19194910110...0AAOSwBO1d5hp~ On my 74 Ive had the timing chain out multiple times... well once when I built the replacement engine and once when I decided to go from the flat tappet cam to a roller cam... I used a cheap aluminum cover like this myself. like https://www.ebay.com/itm/28435539039...Cclp%3A2047675
The water pump is tricky because if your engine has the original pulleys, you want a special vette specific replacement pump or you will need to change those pulleys. GM mixed parts from both the long version water pump and short to make a specific pump for the c3s (My guess so they could charge more for replacements). I did away with all that and put a skip white polished short water pump on my car with billet pulleys. later I removed the mechanical fan and added an electric fan which helped dramatically in keeping things cooler. (prior to this I replaced my rad with a 3 core champion and new mechanical fan clutch with a 180 degree tstat)

That reminds me dont forget to add a bottle of ZDDP additive of some kind to you engine oil! modern oils no longer have this because modern engines no longer use flat tappet cams and the zddp clogged emissions stuff liike cat converters (which didnt come along on vettes till 75 making your car the last year vette to be completely legal to install sidepipes in any state I believe) You want the additive to prevent damage to your camshaft and lifters.

As far as cap and rotor, this depends on if you have the original points style distributor or is someone swapped it already. theres nothing wrong with either. one just requires more maintenance due to points or at least a points replacement module. If you have all the covers in place you need specific wires that are cut to the longer lengths to run in those brackets. I shelved my original distributor and purchased one of those cheap billet HEI tach drive replacements found on ebay like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/16458440438...3ABFBMsOvPw6Jf that so many here will say not to use, Ive had no issues with mine but its only been 8 years and a couple thousand miles. you can buy both better quality versions and rebranded marked up versions with american name brands if you prefer. My original distributor and coil was ratty and I learned all replacement oil filled coils are made overseas now anyway. I did buy a recurve kit which came with different weight springs and plates but You will want to do a search and research this yourself. having the distributor curve and timing set correctly to about 35 degrees full mechanical at 3000rpm with the vacuum disconnected while setting it will wake your engine up if it hasnt been done already. GM specs were for emissions and gave up performance.

My 74 was a basket case I picked up for $2,700 a few streets from my house. PO didnt use any zddp so the cam had damaged lobed and some of the rockers were flopping around loose when I drove it home. In my opinion is you dont have to spend a lot of money if your willing to learn to do it yourself over time. I didnt know much of anything about c3s when I bought mine and Ive learned to do all the work dont restoring and modifying it myself. I did not have the money to pay someone 10k for body and paint so I sent two summers doing it myself for about a grand, I replaced my interior on a budget mostly from ebay and the engine I pieced together with used and new components over time from craigslist, facebook classifieds, amazon ebay, rock auto you name it. 8 years later and this hobby still has me going. right now im collecting the stuff to replace the suspension components (nothing crazy, just new springs, bushings and shocks.) as well as an overdrive transmission and 3.73 geared rear end. my advice is before jumping in, do some reading here and watching you tube videos you might find that you'll change your mind on what you want to do multiple times. Many here including myself have.


Theres a you tube video on rebuilding c3 calipers which I found was cheap and easy using seals from autozone which were under $20... (Been there also) The one replacement caliper I did have to buy from advance auto has been great too.
You also may want to consider replacing the damper when doing the timing chain. Many have had the rubber rot and the outer section slip causing the timing mark to be off. If you have the original timing chain its likely failing since its nylon and very brittle at this point.

You wanted advice... You got a novel.

 

Yeah thats actually kinda what I wanted I definitely have more time than money but not much of either right now we picked up mine for 3400 but since I'm student atm Im well broke lol so im looking at summit and rock right now I have trust issues with Ebay though but if thats the way its gotta be its gotta be. Did you replace your bumper covers if so who did you go with and is it super hard to get the fit right?

 

yes, someone replaced the rear with a fiberglass replacement before I got the car and the front bumper have been hit and crumbled away but a new fiberglass replacement came with the car. it did take some evercoat vette filler to get things to line up. as far as ebay... Ive made thousands of purchases there and gotten burned like twice that I can remember. You can pretty much always get your money back if theres an issue. I have honestly had more issues with summit sending the wrong items than anything. too often thier photos and descriptions are incorrect.

ive heard the semi flexible bumpers are easier to get lined up. I had to remove and reinstall my rear bumper a couple times because someone hit my car while it was parked right before I painted it. it takes patience even when just realigning one that was already on the car.

 

So if you are doing the timing chain and cam gear why not pull the intake and slip in a new cam and lifters. I had a 76 L82 and T400 with 3.36 gear. Was always pretty doggy off the line so I went with the the Isky 264 Mega cam. Had much better low and midrange punch. 264 cam is similar to Comp 268 HE and they are easy on the valvetrain.

 

if im not mistaken the isky 264 cam is actually smaller than the stock l82 cam and more like the l48 cam isnt it? that would give more low end torque at the cost of the top end hp.

 

So a clicking sound is turning into a water pump and timing gear set replacement. Don't start changing parts just to change parts, find out what is clicking. I'm betting it's not the water pump.

 

hopefully its not a lifter..

 

Does anyone know what color this is? I think it's silver but I'm, not an expert. edit* I found a metal tag on the underside of the seat and it say mist any ideas*

 

I'm looking it at as the water pump is original and so is the timing gear so they are 50 something years old and have 100k plus miles on them. The guy I bought it from said he changed the oil but nothing else and I know nothing else about what else has been done.

 

I dont think so noise is too far forward and down might be a sticky fan clutch *shrug*

 

any one have a good guide for pulling the dash above the steering column out?

 

Youtube can be your friend here. If you do a search on this site, or on youtube, you will find that someone has done this before and filmed it so people like you and me have a reference.
The dash would be the last thing I would try and do as its quite a task. Also little teeny tiny little parts that you never find again. Good luck.
Best quote about old cars I ever heard was: Speed is a question of money, how fast can you go?
Cheers!