My latest mistake "star 80"

1980 Corvette. T-Tops, automatic, L48. Aftermarket carb, converted to dual exhaust, cats removed.

And as long as we are making mistakes, we may as well make all the mistakes. This will be my 17 year old son's car.

Not looking to add any power, just to make it reliable and learn about vacuum actuated everything.

That's what 170hp? Not bad for a 17 year old

Nice! Glad to know you're still around Eric!!!

Cool.

Lucky kid to have a dad like you. Be safe.

Nice first car, it will be a good learning experience. Brakes would be my concern, maybe add hydroboost.

Your insurance guy owes you a nice Christmas gift.

Hydro boost overrated. Just make sure you bleed the brakes EVERY YEAR. Or replace calipers with new rebuilds. Piston seals allow air to pass causing soft pedal. Lots of great info on the net. Don't be afraid to update things as you go. Don't listen to the keep it original crowd. Chevy made a half a million C3s so do what you want. Awesome. I love this body style.

If not already swapped, get a set of sleeved brake calipers. Once changed out the brakes will be good for reliable service. Agree with vwcorvette, when the time comes don't be afraid to do mods on an L48 car especially. A 700R4 will make it much more relaxed at highway speeds.

That's an awesome mistake! I love late C3 vettes!

I used to only like the chrome bumper c3s, but this darn forum has made the later c3s grow on me. I still hate working on them though, everyone I've seen has been half ass-edly restored and made it a nightmare to work on.

Should be a cool first car, and parts availability will never be an issue.

Some say he thinks that C3 vettes make an excellent first car....

All we know is he is ERICM!!!

Tbi roller motor, 700r4, and enjoy.

Id also strongly recommend upgrading shocks, springs, and sway bars. That era c3 is a bit underpowered, and floppy for combating modern cars, modern drivers, and a young drivers inecperience.

All that being said, good show. I love these cars, but unfortunately i don't fit with the windows up.

That kid is gonna be the E36 M3 when he drives that thing to school.

Heater core has been bypassed. The headlight don't go up, though the car came with new vacuum actuators for the headlights. IT has AC but no belt and no wires to the compressor.

So, I will start with lights (they illuminate, so that's nice). Then I will get heater working again ( I hope they didn't bypass it cuz it leaks or something). Then I will tackle the AC. The AC has a sticker stating it has been converted to R134a, but if it too much of a pain in the ass I will just pull all the AC stuff out. IT is T-Tops after all..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjMtAJueNvo

Matt B wrote: Some say he thinks that C3 vettes make an excellent first car.... All we know is he is ERICM!!!

for now his car is my wife's minivan :-)

one has to assume a bypassed heater core means it was leaking and they were way too lazy to be bothered pulling the dash out to change it.

patgizz wrote: one has to assume a bypassed heater core means it was leaking and they were way too lazy to be bothered pulling the dash out to change it.

:-( here's hoping it was some other reason that has nothing to do with a leak.

First the lights..... Last night I broke my vacuum pump and gauge by dropping it. Looks like I am planning a trip to Harbor Freight.

we cleared out the other half of the garage and backed it in.

Then we pulled the hood off, I know it is fiberglass, but I was still surprised how light it was. You can see it ovedr on the side there.

Then we started troubleshooting the vacuum, though in the video I say it may be the regulators we now believe it is probably the canister. Stupid $50 coffee can...

https://youtu.be/4-s2MOwUvr4

EricM wrote: for now his car is my wife's minivan :-)

So he's already used to more power than the C3.

Your kid is getting my 10 year-old self's dream car. Despite all the negative things folks like to throw around about C3's, it is a really good platform, with huge aftermarket support and a big knowledge base to tap into.

I would rather have a car like yours that you can modify without concern about resale than some time capsule that you would feel obligated to keep stock. Good luck to you and your son, this is going to be something that he will be telling people about for the rest of his life.

my son doesn't read here (grassroots web site) so I can tell you that his birthday is on the 27th and we are getting him a stereo. There is a hole in the dash where there would be a stereo.

Don't get too excited, we will get an off brand stereo without a CD player, but with a USB and Aux port.

Love me some C3 Corvettes. A ton of untapped potential in these cars and the beauty of the later ones is that you can modify them without really affecting the value too much. These have one of the craziest forward views from the driver's seat.

my son entertaining his girlfriend. Her uncle it Matt Herges. (ex mlb player)

Tell your son the price of his new ride is a mullet...