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Welcome Dennis

Welcome, Dennis! You'll find that this is the best site on the net for C3 info and talk! Enjoy!

Thx for everyone's warm welcome!

Almost afraid to tell truth bout myself, get kicked off the site lol. This is only the second Chev I have ever owned. First one was an 80 Monza 20 years or more ago. That car really scared me off Chevs n back to Fords which I have been diehard for. Well at least for their Mustangs, I have been a Mustang nut since a kid n still have the one I had in high school (a 68) but its in project mode and has been for far too long. I also admired Camaros n Vettes cuz they have such great bodylines too. So ya the Stang project was never going on, with work n life n everything else there was never time to work on it and I wanted something to drive ... now, cuz I ain't getting any younger and the line 'next year' had been in use for well over a decade. So I went online via the local kijiji For Sale site and one of the first cars I saw was the Vette. I do like Vettes n always have but I figured I couldn't afford them. But here was this picture of the Vette and a price with only 4 digits in it. I noticed it had been listed for 3 weeks already and was still for sale. I thought it was one of those 'fake' ads that you sometimes see ... if it seems too good to be true its prolly a scam of some sort. So I sent a message anywaze and next day guy replies with a phone number saying still for sale. I'm thinking I'm not gonna get too excited until I can lay eyes on it and see it in front of me.

I call him and the first question he has is ' How old are you?'. I tell him I'm over 50 and he sez 'Good! I ain't gonna sell this thing to anyone under 40, they'll kill themselves with it.' I laffed and got his address and went to see it. As soon as I drove down his block I could see the car parked on the street and it looked good. The car has been restored, the seller (who believed himself 2nd owner and still had the newspaper page from 1997 laminated with the car for sale at a Chev dealership - I have it now lol) said done about 15 or more years ago and rarely driven since. The seller was 72 and said he just can't get in and out of the thing easily anymore, I believe him I find it can be a test on the knees myself getting up out of it lol. He told me about the engine being redone for performance 5000 miles ago by a local 'legendary' engine builder Ian Thompson who had a reputation for building race engines. He said its over 500 hp. I dunno if it actually is but it goes like snot so I'm guessing the hp starts with a 4 at least (400 something). The odometer reads 57,xxx and guy sez its original. From the look of the interior which I do believe is original, I believe him.

After a 20 year hiatus from muscle cars while doing the family thing, I forgot how much fun they are to drive. And how much attention they draw. From the oldsters who will tell me their own corvette stories or memories to this new wave of young bucks driving the modified imports who will tell me at the gas station how 'sick' the car is ... that's a good thing these days LOL! Not to mention the cops ... haven't been pulled over but I am sure if there are me and 4 sedans all speeding down the highway, I will be the one getting pulled over and not them.

So ya, thats the story of how I came to acquire this Corvette. I did have a buddy in high school in 1979 that had a 76 so I did have a bit of familiarity and nostalgia for the car. I put about 2000 miles on it between when I got it at the end of July and mid October when the snow came and stayed. I'm hoping in 2 (fingers crossed) or 3 more months the snow will be gone and I can finally drive it again. Everytime I get home and the garage door goes up and I see it sitting in there I think Dang, I wanna drive that thing! lol.

The guy I bought it off of said he had lots of calls in the 3 weeks he had it listed but no one came to see it (theres over a million people in this city). He had told his wife the first person to come look at it would buy it. I was the first person to look at it and when I saw it I knew it was a great bargain. Buddy said he had double into it compared to what he was asking and he had an appraisal saying was worth 50% more than what he was asking (I have the appraisal documents now). I bought the vehicle on the spot after the test drive. All I've had to do is get a wheel alignment (just front two, I know should get all 4 done) and that greatly improved the steering. They told me I should replace the steering power ram and steering will be even better. I'll do that first thing this spring, I see them online for $150. While they had it on the rack they (I think every mechanic in the shop poked his head around the thing) said all the metal and frame looks really good underneath, nothing they could see to be concerned about. That was good to hear. I read about people making fake L82s, so I found some info about decoding VINs and it is a real L82 so that put me at ease too.

This spring I'll prolly replace the door panels and figure out why the passenger t top won't sit right (I think its the weatherstriping screwing it up) and I'm good. I don't feel like changing much about the car at this time, I think its fantastic pretty much the way it is!

There ya go, bit of a read but hope I didn't bore you guys too much and hope I'm not cast off the cliff for my original love of Mustangs (65-70) LOL ;)

Have a great day!

Dennis

Great story.  My Brother-in-law is a Ford guy but he says my vette is not a real Cheve so it is ok.  Now I do not know what he means by that but I guess it is his way of giving himself premission to admire and to help me work on it.  He is a much better mechanic than me.