New C3 owner from Belgium
#1
New C3 owner from Belgium
Hi,
So, I'm new to the forum, first post and all that. Dang, it's been ages since I posted on forums.
My Corvette story started ages ago, as a young lad of around 12, when riding my bike to school I happened to drive past the local bank to witness a thing of pure beauty sitting on the parking lot. It was a dark C4, and that rear end with the 4 lights was just mesmerising. Day after day I would stop on my way to school or back, and just sit there for a couple of minutes, admiring that beautiful machine. I vowed that one day, I too would own one exactly like that.
Well, fast forward a couple of years, and my tastes had gradually evolved. While I still like the C4, I found I preferred the 60's/70's look of the C3 over the 80's look of my first automotive love. Alas, I was still a student, so permanently strapped for cash, but that dream never went away. Fast forward a couple more years, and suddenly in my mid 30's I noticed my bank account had grown enough to be able to afford that Corvette I had always dreamed of. So the search started.
Now, you folks over there in the US, you have no idea how lucky you are. Apparently Corvettes are pretty common in your neck of the woods, but here in Europe they're a little harder to come by. Especially the one I wanted: a 1977 model (last year with the vertical rear window, and also the year I rolled off the assembly line), T-roof, and most importantly: manual transmission. But eventually I found one, albeit a 1976 model, paid way too much considering the state it was in, but we'll put that down to inexperience. I was following a class in automotive body repair in the evenings, so after discovering the clumsily hidden damage, I figured it would be no big deal and I could fix it in no time. How wrong I was!
We're now 4 years later, and I'm finally up to the stage where rather than taking stuff off, I'm reaching the point where it's just a couple of SMC repairs, prepping for paint, some mods, and off to the paint shop. It doesn't look like much now (see pic below), but I'm hoping to get the exterior mostly done over the next year or so, so that I can shift my attention to the interior.
Anyway, I think that should suffice by way of introduction. I will probably bug you guys with some questions later on, if you don't mind, but for now I'll stick to the introduction, and some pics of the horrors I visited upon my poor C3:
So, I'm new to the forum, first post and all that. Dang, it's been ages since I posted on forums.
My Corvette story started ages ago, as a young lad of around 12, when riding my bike to school I happened to drive past the local bank to witness a thing of pure beauty sitting on the parking lot. It was a dark C4, and that rear end with the 4 lights was just mesmerising. Day after day I would stop on my way to school or back, and just sit there for a couple of minutes, admiring that beautiful machine. I vowed that one day, I too would own one exactly like that.
Well, fast forward a couple of years, and my tastes had gradually evolved. While I still like the C4, I found I preferred the 60's/70's look of the C3 over the 80's look of my first automotive love. Alas, I was still a student, so permanently strapped for cash, but that dream never went away. Fast forward a couple more years, and suddenly in my mid 30's I noticed my bank account had grown enough to be able to afford that Corvette I had always dreamed of. So the search started.
Now, you folks over there in the US, you have no idea how lucky you are. Apparently Corvettes are pretty common in your neck of the woods, but here in Europe they're a little harder to come by. Especially the one I wanted: a 1977 model (last year with the vertical rear window, and also the year I rolled off the assembly line), T-roof, and most importantly: manual transmission. But eventually I found one, albeit a 1976 model, paid way too much considering the state it was in, but we'll put that down to inexperience. I was following a class in automotive body repair in the evenings, so after discovering the clumsily hidden damage, I figured it would be no big deal and I could fix it in no time. How wrong I was!
We're now 4 years later, and I'm finally up to the stage where rather than taking stuff off, I'm reaching the point where it's just a couple of SMC repairs, prepping for paint, some mods, and off to the paint shop. It doesn't look like much now (see pic below), but I'm hoping to get the exterior mostly done over the next year or so, so that I can shift my attention to the interior.
Anyway, I think that should suffice by way of introduction. I will probably bug you guys with some questions later on, if you don't mind, but for now I'll stick to the introduction, and some pics of the horrors I visited upon my poor C3:
Last edited by jrial; 06-07-2018 at 03:55 AM. Reason: Factual correctness (apparently I got it in May 2014)
#2
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Welcome and best of luck getting the restoration of your C3 finished. Please visit the C3 sections of the forum for some good info on your car.
#3
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Welcome to the CF!
#12
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Welcome to the forum!
Best of luck with your project, and looking forward to seeing the completion photos too!
Best of luck with your project, and looking forward to seeing the completion photos too!
#13
Thank you all for the warm welcome.
@Vetteman Jack: The C3 section is how I found this place. Specifically, the thread about Priya's '79 chrome bumper conversion. I haven't finished reading it, but wow, that's ambitious! While I'm also planning to replace the rather anticlimactic rear-end of my 'vette, I'm not sure I want to go as far as to start chopping up the rear end for an all-out graft-on. Kudos to her; she's got more guts than I have.
@Vetteman Jack: The C3 section is how I found this place. Specifically, the thread about Priya's '79 chrome bumper conversion. I haven't finished reading it, but wow, that's ambitious! While I'm also planning to replace the rather anticlimactic rear-end of my 'vette, I'm not sure I want to go as far as to start chopping up the rear end for an all-out graft-on. Kudos to her; she's got more guts than I have.
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Welcome aboard.
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Ross Downing Chevrolet
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985-345-1285
"PUTTING DREAMS IN DRIVEWAYS ACROSS AMERICA"
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