Disco 'Vette Rebuild

[JuliusPleaser]

I called my father to wish him a happy Father's Day, and he punished me by giving me a '79 Corvette that he bought in 1980. It's not a bad car, but it needs some attention. I need to rebuild the front end first, cuz it's making some very dangerous-sounding clunking noise.

I have all the Eckler's/Mid America catalogs, but I'm looking for a local fix. Should i get the parts from GM, or go with the catalog guys, or. . . ?

How much of the front end rebuild can be handled by a mere mortal? Should I pony up and sub the work out to a qualified shop?

Excuse my ignorance. This is the first time I've ever owned any Detroit iron. (Beyond trucks, that is.)

 

[Senior KX Rider]

Gold chains and a leisure suit. ;)

 

[mx547]

Originally posted by Julius Pleaser


This is the first time I've ever owned any Detroit iron

don't you mean detroit fiberglass?

i had a 66 convertible once. i wish i still did. a guy asked me one time if it was one of the fiberglass ones or one of the steel ones. :scream:

 

[super rat]

You gotta get me a pic of you in that ride. Is it that two tone brown on brown? Is it an official pace car of any type? I'm just busting you JP I bet that car will be a lot of fun when you get it all dailed in. Hey, atleast it's not pink I hope :)

 

[WaltCMoto]

Ive had good customer service with Mid-America. But check around for better prices. when I needed some body parts, GM parts were actually cheaper than Mid-Am. Also check with Napa or other reputable parts stores for parts they may carry if you do it yourself.
Good luck, Walt

 

[MikeT]

I had a '79 vette. Nice car, always got loads of looks. I replaced most of the front end STEERING parts myself. The upper and lower A-arm bushings and ball joints MUST, MUST, MUST be done by a professional. This is because when changing these parts the front springs will be let loose. The front springs in that car are about DOUBLE their inplace length when removed. HUGE amounts of preload on them. When the guys did mine, the spring compressor slipped and moved a mere 1/4 inch around the spring, we thought someone shot a rifle in the shop. Very scary. Don't even mess with any perts connected to the A-arms.

The steering stuff is easy though. The only thing you need to do after that is get an alignment. Get everything changed before you get the alignment because every part changed will mess it up.

The '79 is a pretty car as I think all the Vette's are but it is pretty dissapointing in the power department. Not telling you to do anything illegal, but a test pipe in place of the CAT will add a bunch of power. The car only gets a little louder, (sounds nice) and it accelerates much better.

MikeT

 

[Danman]

I helped an experienced friend (mechanic) do the front end on my 80 Firebird. He put safty chains (to keep the springs from poping down all the way should something go wrong), and a hydralic jack under the bottom A-arm to farther stop it. We poped the Ball joints and the took the chains off and let the jack down slowly to release the pressure on the springs. If you have experienced help it will be a good thing, but if you feel uneasy about the job I would have it done by a good shop.

 

[XRpredator]

Definitely get the bushings, etc. done by someone in the know. They'll cuss you since you're bringing 'em a Vette, but if you have the fenders off they'll probably give you a big ol' kiss.

If you get into the bodywork, you'll find out what it's like to be a real "glassman"! :debil:

And not owning the Detroit Iron? For shame . . . :|

 

[MikeT]

Fenders off? Forget that. That would be a true pain unless you have to take them off and this is a ground up restoration which wouldn't be worth it on a '79 as they are not rare or desireable.

 

[XRpredator]

The whole front end couldn't be too tough to take off, could it? I've personally never worked on a Vette, but on my pickup we took out about 8 bolts and could remove the front fenders, inner fenders, grille, and core support all together. I think it could be done on the Vette as well, and then you'd have easier access to the engine if there was some work to be done on it as well.

Just what I'd do . . . :)

 

[MikeT]

It would be nice, but the fenders aren't seperate on that car. No seams. It would have to come off as one piece which would probably crack it. I don't remember space being a problem on that car for that work. They accessed everything from the wheel well and didn't do anything from under the hood.

 

[JuliusPleaser]

Thanks for the tips. I'll probably just drop it off at a shop and take it in the shorts.

This car is really not too bad. Back in 1981 or 1982, I convinced the old man that the car really NEEDED a 1980 nose and tail update. He actually agreed that the 80 model looked better, and he had it done. It's dark blue metallic with an oyster grey interior. He only put 104,000 on the car, and says he had some performance work done on it, but he can't remember what was done. He also had it painted before he left Atlanta in '94, and it's held up well in the AZ desert.

I'm considering a 700R4 trans, too. It's pretty quick off the line, but it's SCREAMING at 70 mph on the freeway. I'm pretty sure it has a 3.73 gear in it. It still has the old-school rally wheels on it too. I'd like to complete the 80's look and put the later model alloys on it.

I'm starting to like this car. I get comments on it every time I drive it. That rarely happened when I drove Porsches or BMWs.

Pimp suits are starting to appeal to me. :scream:

 

[MikeT]

If you had an 80 nose and tail put on it, that IS nice. I wanted an '80 to '82 but ended up with the '79. It had a 4 speed in it which was what I wanted.

I know the blue and oyster combo you are talking about. SWEET! I had a really nice black one with doeskin interior.

 

[JuliusPleaser]

A 4-speed would be nice, but an LS-4 crate motor and a 700-R4 would be the hot ticket.

The chassis on this pig is pretty grim. It always was an evil handler, and I doubt that much can be done to make it good. It's a cruiser, so I should proabably not get too wild with it. Some fuel injection and an OD trans would make it a capable driver though. My '01 S-10 has the ZQ8 suspension on it, and some of those parts might interchange with the 'Vette parts. All I need now is a couple of bags of money.

I got some glass tops with it, and a really funky 'Vette jacket that Dad got when he had his '69 convertible. Anybody need a functional 8-track tape player? :yeehaw:

 

[MikeT]

What really SUCKED on that car in my opinion was the play in the steering. It just doesn't steer like a car with a rack and pinion. Mind you I had every, I mean EVERY piece of the front end replaced and adjusted to eliminate the play, including installing a brand new steering box from GM. I think if that car had a rack on it, that would be the best money you could spend on it. Unfortunately I don't know of anyone who can put a rack on one.

 

[70 marlin]

I'd would have a front end shop take a look and give you a writen estimate. then figure out what you want to do, most stuff is fairly easy, but a real pro can made it handle like "art work!" also ask around for someone who has experence with vets! congrats sound like fun wish I could help!!!!! :whiner: :yeehaw:

 

[motometal]

fuel injection is nice, but also expensive. There's nothing wrong with a properly working 4 barrel with automatic choke, I actually prefer this setup because I know how to work on it.