So this thread is a summary and most likely never ending thread on a 1985 Corvette that my dad and i purchased together. We bought it in February of this year after a lengthy project car search. My dad worked in a body shop for years so he know paint and body and mechanical work as well. He purchased a wrecked 72 Corvette in college that he still has. The cars we looked at were mainly late 70s Trans Ams, Camaros, and Corvettes(Late C3/ early C4). The rules were to find a running car, needed body work and was not fuel injected and the costs to be split in half. So naturally we landed on an '85 Vette that had been sitting for 3+ years. The car is a local car with 2 previous owners before us. Its got some neat options: transparent top, Z51 suspension, and cloth seats. Here some pictures of the car as is and I'll follow up with more posts because a ton of work has been done to it

 

Looks pretty nasty. Should be fun project putting the fun back in.

 

The next step was to see more of what we had in the car and to get some new tires on it so a jack could get under. Because of the locking lug nuts and a missing wrench(the previous owner could not find it and it wasn't in the car), the job became much more difficult but they managed to come off with the help of a hammer and a socket. We ended up getting Firestone Firehawks for it, and they seem to be pretty decent. We also got a new battery, air filter, fuel filter and a fuel pump to get started. And thats where the fun began...



4 bolts from the sending unit to the tank snapped, the sending unit was covered in rust and the tank was full of rusty gas. We ended up ordering the fuel tank replacement kit from Corvette Central, who has excellent shipping times. Cutting the exhaust off meant we also ordered the Magnaflow catback from them as well. Heres some pictures of the replacement of the tank and the hours upon hours of labor that went into it while in a 40 degree garage in February.















And nothing is worse than removing that rear bumper cover on these things. The build sheet was very carefully taken off the old tank and placed in a frame

 

Have fun with it....keep us updated on progress.

It is fuel injected though...went against your own rules.

 

We went against every rule set, including the budget! Its been a fun ride, thats for sure. Luckily the lady who sold us the car(it was her husband's who had passed a few years earlier) was honest about it and I think she could tell it was going to a good home. It was actually my mom who pushed my dad and I to go for a corvette after we had looked at a couple camaros, a Trans Am, and an '86 Vette. Craiglist is full of liars, thats for sure. I'll have more pictures coming

 

Looking good. Keep the pics coming.

 

like the color same as my 85

 

Man O man. I don't miss salty roads!

What a great family project!

 

I like seeing them come back to life.
Bob

 

Thanks all!

So after the tank was installed and gas was poured in, the car started up on the first try. It ran extremely smooth. In mid March, I was driving it around the block trying to diagnose some gauge cluster issues that had popped up and as I was about a minute away from home, I smelled a burning smell and the car kept losing power going up the hill. I rolled back into someone's driveway, a flatbed was called and the car was taken to a local transmission shop that has done great work for my dad and his trucks in the past. It was clearly a transmission issue from the start, so it was sent straight there. When we got the car back, they informed us that the cooling lines in the radiator had rusted through sending coolant into the transmission, forcing a rebuild. They sold us the radiator at cost and the lines were at their cost, so they made a great effort to help us out as much as possible. When we got the car back, our wallets were a bit lighter and they said the car ran great and shifted hard, but it shook under breaking. So the next step for us was installing new rotors and pads all around, and now it stops pretty well.




Heres some pictures of it cleaned up. The paint on one side was a whole lot worse than the others, the carpet threads sucked into the vacuum when I was cleaning it, the drivers seat had a growing hole and the weatherstripping was useless. But it ran, drove and stopped which was pretty cool after a few months of hard work. More pictures and posts to come

 

So after the transmission, tank, radiator, and brakes were taken care of, both my dad and I drove the car for awhile to work and just around. The one side of the car was a lot more faded than the other from sitting outside, but it ran well. We ordered a nice set of neoprene seat covers because the cloth seats were looking bad, mostly the driver's side, and we figured it would make the inside of the car just look better.

Foe what its worth, the tank kit was from Corvette Central, who i believe is a forum vendor. We also replaced the horn cover, the shift boot, and the sun visors which is from a local place who is here on the forum too, Keen Parts.

Below are pictures of the car as we drove it for awhile, a picture with a friend's Cougar and one with my dad's '72 Corvette. More to come!

 

Looks like a really great project for you and your dad! Doesn't really matter how the car turns out , building that with your dad must be really rewarding. I have two younger sons now and I only hope to be in their lives as much when they are adults. That said......the car is looking fantastic. Keep up the great work!

 

Thanks! It sure has been fun so far, and I've been learning a bunch along the way. Theres definitely been some highs and lows, thats for sure

 

So over the summer months as I drove it and my dad drove it, it once again ended back up on a flat bed wrecker. The car quit while grabbing lunch during work, making for an interesting day. The cause was the coil or the ignition module; we replaced both. Getting to the distributor is not exactly an easy task. Replacing the fuel pump relay is pretty easy though.

After about a month, so a few weeks ago actually, storms were about to hit and I went to move the car in the garage because the top was off. The car wouldn't start at all, so we just threw the top on and went in. It would run on starting fluid but wasn't getting any gas, but the fuel pump could be heard. We pulled the sending unit out to replace the pump with a new one and strainer, and the cause the hose going from the pump to the line, about two inches long, split along the side sending all the pumped gas back into the tank. But the new pump is in, and the car fired back up.

Posting and pictures of paint and body work up next, the '85 two tone turns into the first shark gray metallic C4!

 

Lol you need to do the front bumper then.

Good job keep it up! Always great to see Father and son projects.

 

You and your dad are doing great work. Threads like these are my favorites - fixing things up and making them great again.
Keep posting your progress.

 

So with the car running, stopping, and driving well we began the prep for paint. We scraped out all the old weatherstrip and began sanding and filling low spots in the body. The passenger side door was extremely wavy and there were a few chunks taken out in random places. My dad knew how to do all of this well, so it was pretty neat to learn from him. The next post will have the prep at the body shop and the paint process. Even during this time the huge debate was over the color of the car

 

So i was the one who had the pleasure of wet sanding the whole car, I really didn't mind it at all. There were some tough spots on the car but I thought it ended up pretty good. The emblems came off easily, and we were able to save the rear "Corvette" script so we didn't have to buy a new one. At this point I went down to Keen Parts and got outer door seals and the weatherstrip from Willcox had already been ordered through their July sale. From here we took the car over to the body shop that my Grandpa and great uncle have, formerly my Great Grandpa's shop. This is where my dad grew up working, and my Grandpa was pretty enthusiastic about the car. My dad intended on doing the spraying, but my Grandpa wanted to do it so we let him.

The color debate had been going on since the early part of summer. I liked the original two tone, or a new version of it using cyber gray and blade silver from the new corvettes. I also liked shark gray metallic from the new ones and night race blue. My dad wanted to paint it red, really the brightest red he could find or the shark gray. We looked through the PPG catalog and our biggest worry was price. Most of the paints from newer cars seem to be pearls and there are quite a few tri coats. But after months of indecision, we chose Shark Gray Metallic. So here are some of the paint process pictures and the first ever shark gray metallic C4!












The last couple are right out of the shop. We couldn't use the paint booth because the lift had rusted out so we made due with what we had. I have more coming of after the cut and buff, but it looks awesome as it is here (if i say so myself).

 

That color looks fantastic on the C4. Good choice.

 

Awesome color choice, now tint the windows???