JThw8
UltimaDork
4/22/23 10:34 p.m.
Sigh, first thing anyone says when you buy a corvette is "midlife crisis" but I already had a red corvet (2005 C4) and an 18 year old girlfriend (I still miss the car) Well past that now and just always wanted a C3. Love the bodystyle, dislike the underpowered nature of a stock version. Been following them for a while and realized the "cheap" rubber bumper cars are finally hitting their stride and the prices are moving up. Years ago I missed out on my real dream car, DeThomaso Pantera, when you could pick one up for 20k, now prices are through he roof so I figured I'd try to catch the C3 before it got out of hand.
To keep budget in check I had to give something somewhere. I knew I didnt want stock mechanicals, 190-220 hp....bleh. I dont do interior work. I'm in year one of a 3 year custom build so not a lot of time for mechanical shenanigans. But paint, I like to paint, that could be a quick win. So I started looking for a C3 with good interior and mechanicals with E36 M3 for a body. Found the perfect candidate about 3 hours away. 77 C3, fresh mechanicals with a 400+ hp 383 under the hood. New interior and a straight and solid body with failed paint. To sweeten the deal the PO had bought the paint to redo it already ($1000 ish value) the only change I wanted to make was to ditch his intercoat blue pearl for an intercoat purple pearl ($25) Deal was struck car came home. I finally took a week off work to do the deed. Goal is/was presentable DD, nothing more. I could spend more time perfecting the final result but I'd rather drive it. What follows is a breif pictoral representation of my past week.
It looks so quick and easy! Just a few pics from pig to perfect. Looks amazing
The_Jed
PowerDork
4/23/23 4:42 a.m.
It would have been hard for me to put anything over that silky-looking black primer. I probably would have gotten sidetracked into a Batman-esque-type thing.
Cars aren't a midlife crisis, if you either have always liked cars, or just could not afford it.
Well done
The_Jed said:
It would have been hard for me to put anything over that silky-looking black primer. I probably would have gotten sidetracked into a Batman-esque-type thing.
Agreed.
Not to take anything away from the gorgeous finished project, but I have an entire Pinterest board I have filled with inspirations for Darth Vader's summer road trip vehicle. That look would be perfect for the DiploScat build.
Perfect color. I need a purple car
Looks great! I couldn't afford my dream Pantera either so I bought a Lotus Europa....
JThw8
UltimaDork
4/23/23 6:24 p.m.
Yeah, when the black primer went down I'll agree it was hard not to stop there, it did look rather nice. Even my mom who is usually all about the shiny said she was a little disappointed when she saw color go back on it.
That looks fantastic! Well done!
Looks amazing, I love the purple!
JThw8
UltimaDork
6/5/23 8:57 p.m.
A little closing the loop, took me awhile to finish the cut and buff and reassembly, free time aint what it used to be but eventually I get it done :) I swear I never want to reassemble a C3 door again, what a pain in the butt.
That looks fantastic!
And of all the modified C3 Corvettes that I've seen, I don't ever remember seeing a pre-78 rear window with an 80-81 tail cap and spoiler.
Is that an Eckler's type deal or is that a stock 80-81 replacement part?
JThw8
UltimaDork
6/5/23 9:56 p.m.
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:
That looks fantastic!
And of all the modified C3 Corvettes that I've seen, I don't ever remember seeing a pre-78 roof with an 80-81 tail cap and spoiler.
It was actually a fairly common mod to update the styling of the earlier cars when the 80-81 style came out. This one is a fiberglass replacement, not a stock one but a stock part could be used.
In reply to JThw8 :
It looks so easy that I'm sure that it's been done thousands of times (starting around September of 1979!), but I don't ever remember seeing it before.
Did you add it, or was it there when you bought the car?
You said brief...and it was! The result really looks good and dare I say the color is a great choice for a car from that era. Well done!
JThw8
UltimaDork
6/6/23 9:42 p.m.
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:
In reply to JThw8 :
It looks so easy that I'm sure that it's been done thousands of times (starting around September of 1979!), but I don't ever remember seeing it before.
Did you add it, or was it there when you bought the car?
It was on the car when I got it. This was destined to be a quick project so I wouldnt have go to the effort of swapping out any panels unless they were broken.
JThw8
UltimaDork
6/6/23 9:45 p.m.
Loweguy5 said:
You said brief...and it was! The result really looks good and dare I say the color is a great choice for a car from that era. Well done!
It needed to be quick, I still have the '49 Ford and I didnt want to take too much time away from it, although I still think Im at least 2 years away from completion that. Especially with potentially another semi-project showing up, still working out the details on that one.
