The evaluation

We drove back with the Vette in tow. Every stop we made people were asking about the car and commenting on how much they loved them. It gets me jammed up about doing this project.

We got it off the trailer and into the garage no problem. The engine tends to idle very low when cold which doesn't surprise me much with the amount of time it was in the garage. With the car in the garage for a couple of days I could confirm the slow leaks that I was told about from the transmission and the power steering. The transmission has never been rebuilt and does not surprise me that a gasket leak is the probable cause. The power steering leak seems to be coming from the seal of the primary piston. Either a rebuild kit or a replacement is in order.

I couldn't help myself and just had to take it out on the street in the neighborhood some on New Year's Eve. It was hilarious, I came around a corner into a cul-de-sac where some people were firing off fireworks, couldn't have been doing more than 15-20mph in a 30 mph zone, and the guy yelled at me, "Slow down!" I guess the car just looks fast.

Once the car got warmed up, the idle was now way too high, in the 1500-2000 rpm range. Some carb work is coming. But I thought I would go ahead and try a few things out. Changed the plugs. They were in pretty bad shape, fouled badly. Next morning did some laps around a 4 mile loop about 10 times to burn off some of the old gas and then stopped to put in some fresh gas and fuel cleaner. After about an hour of running it in loops, the idle is better, not perfect but still a little low. The fast idle is gone, that's good news.

Driving it around it was obvious that the shocks were toast. Took a peak around the suspension and everything looks mechanically ok although some surface rust but in solid structural condition. The body mounts are toast, no surprise. I've already read about the issues with the rubber body mounts collecting moisture and rotting out the bolts. Goodie, goodie.

The interior is in ok shape. The dash pad has an enormous crack in the middle and the grills are rotted out. There are a few cosmetic cracks in the left lower dash pad and some cracks in a few plastic pieces. The original door panels are in rough shape, complete but showing definite wear. The carpet is in decent shape and as reported earlier, the seat covers are new.

So, with the basic evaluation completed here's the short list of things to do:

* Engine rebuild. It's got 102K on it and never rebuilt. It needs some TLC but is strong.
* Tranny rebuild
* Power steering rebuild
* AC compressor
* Dash pad
* Lower kick plates on both sides
* Upper windshield trim piece
* Door panels
* Re-seat and re-seal the front and rear windshields
* Paint and body work

The good news on a few things mechanically is that the guy I bought it from had already done these:

* Sand blasted the body
* New master cylinder and stainless calipers
* Re-cored the radiator
* Relatively new alternator

And in looking through the boxes of parts I found these things:
* Original T-top covers
* Original luggage rack
* Original owner's manual
* Original radio w/CB
* most of the rear compartment trim pieces in good shape

Because the body mounts are toast, I'm toying with a frame off restoration. It's a lot of work but when I'm done there will be no doubt about the condition of the vehicle. This is the direction I'm leaning. I originally had a target for completing all this by June. With a frame-off who knows but I feel in my heart this is the right thing to do.



The objectives of the project are:

* Keep the vehicle in as original condition as possible. Rebuild as much as I can and replace only what I have to.
* Possibly beef up the 2nd motor to get it near the 300 hp mark but keep the original motor and ALL other original parts replaced.