Hello everyone,

My name is Andy. I just got my first vette and am new to the list. It's a 1979 coupe. I got the car in Bakersfield, CA for what I thought was a great deal. There comes a point in every transaction where you either choose to believe what the seller is telling you or choose to believe he's lying or has no idea what he's talking about. When purchasing my vette, I chose the former. PO had the car since 1983 and had the engine rebuilt in 89. Said he only put 20000 miles on the car since the rebuild. Car had been sitting for a few years. Said ran fine etc. everything looked and sounded ok. So. . . 20 miles toward home, the radiator blew. It was about 9 PM and I had to have the car towed 240 miles home. Arrived around 6:00am the following day. Wrong size lower radiator hose had kinked and forced coolant into the engine. Long story short. . . needed a new engine. Decided to do it right (more HP) and decided to go with a new Chevy Vortec crate motor. A friend of mine swapped the engines as a favor/side job. And there are still a few kinks to work out. i.e. Passenger door only opens from inside, ignition key works intermittently (have to use pliers to start)- this should be fixed tomorrow - AC needs fixed etc. All these issues and I still love the car. Wife not convinced yet. She said she'll drive it when she doesn't have to start it with pliers.

Sorry to ramble. Thanks for such a great place to come and learn.

All the best,
Andy

Welcome aboard Andy...!!!

And congrats on your entry into the "Fraternal Order of Corvette Fixers"...!!!

My bride went from mad as hell at me for buying "The Toy", to mad as hell for not asking her to help drive it home from Pittsburgh, to mad as hell at me for driving it in the rain one day (do you detect a trend?). Anyway, she enjoys "The Toy" now and even takes it out for a spin on her own now and then. Good luck with your adventure.

Like my friend Jay said, "owning a C3 is like a bad relationship that you just can't bring yourself to end, and end up falling in love all over again. It's a vicious cycle!" LOL
Welcome!

Welcome to the forum
Looks like you will be asking a lot of questions
Don't feel bad, we all have SOMETHING to fix

Andy:
Welcome to the club! I think the first thing you'll discover here at C3VR is that you're not alone. Is that all that was wrong with your Vette when you bought it? Be thankful you still had brakes! (JK )

Sometimes I wonder if we all didn't in actuality buy early model Harley's!

Hope you enjoy contributing to the group, and getting advice from us C3 owners around the country.

Just so you know you're not alone...looks like I'll be rebuilding the tranny and the engine next year (or at least when I get the $$). Too many missing hoses, leaks and grease buildup over the years.

But hey, I LOVE my Vette! (I'm beginning to wonder how deep my pockets will have to be during my tenure of ownership!?)

Again, welcome!

My wife was very tentative about getting the '82 also. But after we got it (and got it running and fixed to Texas standards) she came around. Then, when we started doing the wash and shines and car shows... well, I created a monster. She gets out there and starts detailing the engine and I can't get her to quit. And no, you don't want her to judge your car show, especially the engines, because she is verrrry picky. Anyway, as the other folks have said, we all have something that needs fixing, and as old as these cars are, I've run across very few people who got their C3 in pristine condition...unless they bought it new 25 years ago.

Hang in there. When I got my C3 I was so disappointed that I wanted to send it back to the dealer. But now that I've worked out the major flaws I love my Vette and will probably have it for quite some time to come. See ya!

Grego

You will meet GREAT people on this site. The info you can get is unreal. Welcome Aboard, Frank in WV

Andy,
If your wife is anything like mine, fix everything EXCEPT using the pliers on the ignition ! Good luck with the car, and don't think you are alone when you start thinking about a second job just to support it

Welcome Andy. Don't worry about the wife, she'll get over it. Soon she'll be complaining that she doesn't ever get to drive it.

I'm new to the site too. Just picked up my first Vette in December. Driving it home it took ten minutes to get the headlights to come up, and I had to hold the brake and gas pedal down at every stop light to keep from stalling. My wife's first comments the next morning, there are three different colored fluids on the garage floor under YOUR car! Now lately I have been listening to sounds of different mufflers on web sites, she thinks I have really lost it. I love this new gal, and I am enjoying the ride.
Bernie
1980 L82 No Picture yet.