The radiator leaked on my 71; I knew it when I bought it. No problem, I kind of enjoy re-doing things so I thought I'd "re-do the cooling system." The water pump was making some noise so I might as well replace it (Stewart Stage 1) while I'm working in that area. Oh yeah, the front seal was leaking so what the heck, I yanked the timing chain cover only to find a worn out timing chain. Gee whiz, why not clean up the entire engine area too, so I yanked the intake manifold to replace it's seals, have it sand blasted and painted and I can then get to the firewall and back of the block (clean and paint firewall, wires etc.) while the manifold and all of it's accessoriesa are out of the way. I've been meaning to repalce the non-matching number right exhaust manifold, so I removed it (and all ignition shielding), of course the left manifold (something about equal treatment) had to come off so I could clean and paint the block, and paint the manifolds with high temp paint. Now the darn oil filter can't be removed because it is stuck. The engine oil pan is coming off also to put the front timing chain cover seal in properly and I've never even used a pickle fork in my life (drop steering linkage for the oil pan removal)! . Holy smokes. My wife walks into the garage and wants to know why the "perfect car" I spent $13,500 in October is now laying all over the garage and why there are $900 new charges on the Mastercard. She then adds insult to injury (bless her cold black heart) and asks me if I know what the hell I'm doing! Do I?????

I'm standing therre, covered in grease, sweat, and frustration, looking all over the garage at the 50 or 60 Corvettte parts laying all over the place, a whole box of nuts and bolts, and wondering how I will ever get it all back together. You see, I can take $hi*t apart, but I'm beginning to wonder if I can get it all back together. Two weeks into a project, $900 poorer, the wife is pissed, my Vette is in shambles, and I have a car show in 18 days. Man, I am so busted!

Rick in Tennessee :U

 

Trust me Rick...it will all come back to ya! i'm piecing mine together....call me if you need any help :cheers:

 

Do it all the time...its a disease called while-i'm-at-it-itis! Most of us have it here. :smash: :cheers:

 

Hehehe... while-i'm-at-it-itis, alright! :D I also suffer from that from time to time... Here's what happened when I had to adjust the parking brake of my 74:
http://home.earthlink.net/~pplt/corvette/pix2/parts.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~pplt/corv...rearsusp-1.jpg

:cheers:
-Pedro

 

OK Rick, Take a deep breath, wash up a bit and pull it together.
Everyone here will help you get that vette back together - better than it was.
What you need to do is commit to an adgenda that gets a part done every day or two.
I found that when I could do this, my progress would skyrocket.
Make a list of little 'projects' and take one a night.
You'll be driving in no time. Everything you took apart can be reassembled
without much difficulty.

Good luck. What's the first thing that needs to get done ? Clean up the engine compartment area ?
:seeya

ps - Rick, don't take the parking brake apart. You will regret it.


[Modified by NHvette, 10:49 PM 3/25/2003]


[Modified by NHvette, 10:50 PM 3/25/2003]

 

Rick....

Add another *0* behind that $900 and you get to join the "Certified Idiot" Club. Damn proud to be a *CI*! :thumbs:

New members welcomed!

 

Rick, sounds like we're in about the same exact position. The only difference may be that I actually planned to get this deep into mine. One thing I can suggest is to go through and separate the bolts, nuts, fasteners, etc and put them into sandwich bags. Write up detailed descriptions of where each bolt goes and drop the notes into each respective bag. Trust me, you'll forget where half the bolts go, even if you think you've got it all stored in memory.

Welcome to the "while-I'm-at-it" Club :cheers:

Shannon

 

I know that feeling all to well. Two years ago i wanted to change out the bushings and springs on mine.

So far i have stripped the paint, replaced all the springs and bushing, sent the motor to the machinist for a complete overhaul and stroker kit, port, polish, blue print etc....
replaced the entir floor plan with a new one, replaced the radiator with an aluminum prototype from Tom Dewitts, powder coated the entire suspension, replaced the clutch with a Tilton triple disk, replaced all the hoses with SS braid, replaced all the rotors and calipers and parking brake hardware and SS brake lines, rebuilt the power steering pump, slave cylinder and acuator, snadblasted and coated the frame, rebuilt the rear gears, replaced the dash with an aluminum racing dash with all new after market gauges, replaced all the insulation and sound damping materail, recondition the gas tank, installed headers and new SS exhaust system and to top it all off, I'm in the process of replacing the entire electrical system.

Did i mention i was only going to replace the bushings and springs?
I still don't have the body back on the frame yet. :banghead:

 

:lol: I basically did the same thing. I ended up swapping the engine, though. :eek:

 

Yeah, I need a new monoleaf and lower balljoints... now I'm putting in all new ball joints, poly bushings, and fabricating a complete coilover setup...

 

Rick, last year, after my first ride of the season, I pulled the car into the garage to change a fuel filter. The car needed it. I had never done it.

That was April.

In the second week of October, I was finally back in my car, going for the second drive of the now dying season.

In between, I had redone the entire engine, firewall, and front end. That's just how it goes.

This year, I made sure to get a couple good rides in, before ripping my dash apart to tackle the instrument panel and sound system. But this job, I'm sure, will be measured in days instead of months.

Good luck with your project. You'll do fine. There's a lot of good advice on this forum.

 

Here let me help.
Don't buy any more parts.
Buy Flowers
Buy Beer, to get some Buddy's to help.
And the show will be no problem...... :cheers:


If this isn't an option, then yes you are so busted.... :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Been there, done that! I also found out the hard way .... it's always easier to take something apart than to get it back together... Hang in there Rick! It will look soooo good after you've finished. :cheers:

 

Rick, I completely disassembled my 74 and completed a full resto. Prior to that, I had never picked up a wrench. Now my car is better than new!
Two words of advice, take your time and bag & tag everything you remove from the car. It worked for me....I had no parts left over either :D

 

Right there with ya Rick ..... my clock didn't work so ...... I bought;

a quartz upgrade, full carpet, am/fm cassette with CD remote, 6 disc cd, 6 speakers, 1 amp, 1 sub, 23 bulbs, insulation yada yada yada .......AND while I was in there I had to clean everything up (of course) rebuild my tach, lube speedo, re and re all gauges, repair arm rest, fix door panels ........ I know I forgettin stuff ....... what a frickin mess!!

 

I get to this point so quickly I usually stop myself before I get into serious trouble!!! :lol:

I guess this is why we call it a "hobby"..... and forget that first car show! Maybe you will make a later one!! :) MJ

 

For me, the front parking brake cable turned into a complete parking brake restoration. We all have these problems sometimes, not being able to let well enough alone. Only one of my dash gauges works and I'm planning on tackling that soon. The reason I haven't started yet is that I KNOW will not be replacing just the gauges. ;)

Brett :thumbs:

 

:lolg: :lolg: :lolg: I think we can all relate. The question you have to ask yourself.. Are you having FUN.. ! That's what it's all about.. Big boy toys.. I started out replacing a leaking diff seal.. less than $100 bucks and it turned into a complete backend replacement.. T-Arm, rods, rebuilt diff with 3:55 gears, redo drive shafts.. over $1,500.. and now I'm finishing up painting the frame while it was opened up too.. I was talking to some friends and said I was under the car painting.. They gave me the old.. You spend a lot of time fixing that car.. don't you.. I said.. Not enough.. :D I have the music playing and the luxury of a quick lift which makes life much easier.. Tell the wife you have it under control.. then when she leaves.. get it under control.. I used plastic cups with masking tape to label bolts but I think the baggie with a note is even better. Describe what you did or what it looked like before you take it off.. just in case.. I wire wheeled every bolt I removed.. I still have a couple washers I'm not sure where they go.. but I'll figure it out when I start to reassemble.. It's fun and it's what grown up men do! :cheers:

 

When I started looking in 2000 for my car, I read all of the how to buy books I could find(didn't know about this place). But one of them made a point of saying several times that once you bought a car, RESIST THE URGE TO TAKE IT APART and only do oil and filter changes for the first 6 months. I have tried and as a result I have several parts that I got and didn't install because I saw it comming that I would have to replace more. Still, I have completely done the power windows and every thing inside both doors, completely disassembled the wiper doors and everything under them to clean and repaint. The stainless brake lines are on hold, cause the entire rear needs redoing.Ok I admit it I HAVE THE WHILE YOUR AT ITS too. :eek:

 

Rick, I have a $14k '69 Mach1 in the same state. It's been that way for going on a year. I currently have another $4k in the engine, sitting on a pallete in the garage, and i'm getting ready to drill out all of the spot welds in the fender apron because the battery tray rusted through and rusted the apron. I am beginning to wonder if it will ever run again, or will it end up on ebay as a Super Rare Mustang with a rebuilt motor, just needs some assembly. :lolg: