Thanks for the welcome guys!

 

Thanks

 

It all goes back to when I was a kid. I always wanted a "Corvette Stingray". I had a cheap plastic C3. Fell in love! It all came together after I sold the 39 Chevy sedan I restored. I checked out eBay for some US muscle, and considered a few cars before an L48 1974 convertible in California caught my eye. I was aware there were some parts missing, so I bought it and shipped her over. Great day when it arrived! Came with new medium saddle door panels, carpet, and seat covers, and a tan soft top. The car was white with silver vinyl when it left the factory, but since it came with the new stuff, I went with that. That meant the trim tag was no longer correct, so I painted her mille miglia red. Boy, were there some parts missing! A lot more than I was led to believe! But, the BIG plus was, being a Nevada car, not a scrap of rust on the frame or birdcage! Sometimes you have to get lucky!

 

 

There were lots of incorrect parts as well. Some, I learned to live with. eg, 26" manual trans radiator. I moved the lower bracket in an inch, and rigged up a trans cooler. 1977 radiator shroud. Bought some 1977 radiator top brackets with the shroud brackets combined. 1978 Q-Jet, I re-kitted it and fitted an electric choke.

Some bits, I'm going to change, or have already. It's had an HEI distibutor fitted, but I need one with a tach drive. I got rid of the 76 fibreglass bumper covers for some correct Truflex ones. I have no idea why I had a power steering pump from a GTO, but a new reservoir sorted that out. The car came with an AIM, which was really helpful. Would have been even more so if it wasn't for a 1977!

 

 

The restoration got serious at the begining of 2011. Got all the bits I needed to get the car running, starting with the brakes, then getting the missing engine and suspension bits. The car didn't come with shocks or even a rear brake rotor!

 That was a shame because the upright wore a groove into the brand new BFG 255-60-15 that was on white lettering facing in! Grrrr!!!

Had a bit of glass work to do, but nothing major, just fixing previous bad repairs. So, for a while, I had to content myself with illicit squirts around the block until it was time to get really serious with the body work. I primed and blocked the car, but had a shop shoot the top coat on. It's amazing how much the pace picks up when the paint is on!

 

 

Even though there were some really helpful tips on how to install new seat covers, I got a shop to put them over the new foam. I did fix the seat frames myself though, including modifying one seat back to have a hole for the shoulder belt, which I have yet to get (laps for the time being). Put the carpet in. That was fairly straight forward. Re-dyed quite a few bits using SEM Colorcoat shot through a HVLP spray gun. My shifter console was flat, so I had quite a bit of work to rebuild that. Needed a new drivers dash pad as well, because, 1.It got damaged in the 6.3 quake, and 2.It didn't have the A/C vent!

 

 

Electrically, the car was pretty good. So no real dramas, apart from the fact that for some reason, the guage cluster was from a 72 or 73, and had an old style oil pressure guage. I was tempted to rig it up with a tube, but decided it would be safer to install a correct electric one.

Bought a radio on eBay, initially to fill the hole in the dash, but I got it going!

 

 

So that's more or less it. The car's restoration kept me sane through all the bad quakes by giving me something to focus on. I had to dig it out of silt a couple of times from some of the really bad ones.

 

 

Still a few jobs to be done. I'm rebuilding the engine because it was never actually rebuilt like the guy who sold it to me said. Need a new headlight switch (instrument lights only work with park lights). Still need the panel that goes in the soft top above the sunvisors. And a liner for my jack compartment might be good. Heaps of other little thins as well. BUT, most everything works! Door buzzer, radio, clock, factory alarm. Seat belt interlock doesn't, but that's not a bad thing from what I hear!

 

 

I'm biased, but I think out of all the C3 convertibles. the 74 and 75's are the prettiest! Having said that, I'd never say no to a 1970 LT-1 convertible, or a 68 Tri-power convertible. And, I can't explain why, I really love 73 coupes! I'll take a 454 4 speed thanks!