77 Chevette

Been meaning to start a thread for this for a while now. Picked it up for $1000 a week after I found my 79. This will be a slower build as I now have THREE 'Vette projects plus an S-10, a Miata, and a Van.

So far I've added a cargo liner, floor mats, trans mount, and torque tube mount. I also replaced the fuzzy red seat covers with basic black. HUGE improvement. The 4 speed cruises right at 68mph and runs great even in the cold. Plans are for a V6 swap with T5 and fix the rusty front floor pans.

It might even make the challenge if I can keep the budget right.

That is some kind of orange.

Turns heads, that's for sure! Funny thing is this one shows well, but the 79 is a much better shell.

I like the early grill and lights.

Woody wrote: I like the early grill and lights.

With luck the 79 will have that look shortly.

This one looks way cleaner than the ones I can remember from high school back in the 80s. Nice.

Brings back memories of my oldest brother's '78 (his first car); hope all goes well on the build!

What V6 are you using?

2.8 and T5 from a 92 S-10. No huge powerhouse but easy bolt-in and doubles the HP. Hope to use TBI and make it look like it was factory.

Thanks for answering. I had a '79 Scooter back in the early '90s and wanted to do something similar; it was just too far gone to invest the time and (minimal) resources. Will be following this one with great interest.

Junkyard_Dog wrote:

Woody wrote: I like the early grill and lights.

With luck the 79 will have that look shortly.

I think both cars would look best with the round lights and Passports. Very clean, minimalist look.

Although the body color/chrome wheels look great as well.

The MPFI from a 2.8/3.1 F-body will give you and extra 20hp and 20-30lbs of torque over the S-10 TBI.

Gearheadotaku wrote: The MPFI from a 2.8/3.1 F-body will give you and extra 20hp and 20-30lbs of torque over the S-10 TBI.

Might do it later, but doesn't fit my initial plan.

Lots more done to this than The 79 , mostly due to not having to drive this one every day.

First I replaced the antenna. You don't realize how much you miss it until you can only get two country stations-and I can't stand country.

Once that was done I had to remove the crackly speakers under the seats. It wasn't hard, they were just laying there. These old garage speakers sound much better and are actually secured where the back seat lower cushion should be.

Next I replaced all the dash lights, because seeing how slow I am is helpful. Also replaced the bezel with one from a parts car. No before pic, sorry this one is so blurry.

I couldn't get the cluster out without removing the dash pad, so I replaced it with a slightly better one (only one crack). However the speaker grille was shot. I tried to cover it with an aftermarket grille but it just didn't look right. Some searching at Pep Boys found me an add-on lighted mirror for a sun visor that I repurposed on the dash. I carefully cut out the damaged pad and zip tied the mirror through the holes.

To fix the crack I used Rapidfix. This is the greatest stuff on earth for glueing together things with cracks in them. A little black Sharpie and it's not too bad.

Last up for the interior was replacing the seats. The ones with the car were torn up and didn't match. Even one of the cheap seat covers had a hole in it!

The replacements had some problems on the passenger side, but I can live with that for now.

These poorly installed trim strips were probably meant to keep the tail lights from leaking.

I used more Rapidfix to secure the loose bezels and a little RTV to build up the seal on the lens. Much better.

Found a 77 stickered plate at the last Kyana swap meet, and since KY lets you use a plate from your car's year I slapped it on.

I found this Opel wheel at the swap meet too. $5 with cap! Now to find three more.

All cleaned up and ready for the next Cars & Coffee

Very cool, I've not seen one in the road here in years.

i am looking forward to see where this goes ive owned three chevettes and love them to death

Very cool. I look at these cars and think..... 2.4 Ecotec and a 5 speed? Good luck!

Not much to report. Still didn't fix the cracked exhaust manifold, because it runs so well I don't want to take it off the road. I DID swap the wheels. Because I can.

SOLD!

Fixed the exhaust and sold it to Rob, who has the turbo 4 door. He immediately fixed a few niggles and did a rear bumper tuck and swapped the wheels. Hopefully he continues the progress here as there was talk of a blow-through turbo with a later 2 barrel carb!