73 Corvette Before & After

Finally the car arrives, my dream is becoming a reality Car was ordered new with 350 L82, M21 4 speed, 3.70 Posi and AM-FM mono radio. Car was in original condition with build sheet and repair documents back to mid 80s and had been in storage for about 15 years

350 L82, was rebuilt about 13,000 miles ago but will be freshened up in the restoration. L82 included forged crank, rods heads had 2.02/1.60 valves, pushrod guide plates and screw in rocker studs. It was basically a 72 LT1 motor with hydraulic lifters

Always wanted a Corvette since I had a ride in a 69 427 as a teenager. Finally was in a position to buy one in 2006. The only stipulation was it had to be a 4 speed and it had to be a 68-73 "Bumper" car.

The car I found required a body off restoration to replace rusty frame, brake lines and 35 year old suspension bushings

Plenty of rust issues to deal with as disassembly continues

Corvettes may look all nice and shiny on top but there is actually a lot of metal reinforcements and a metal "Birdcage" Here you can see the rocker channel is rusted out and requires replacement. Luckily the Corvette vendors carry all the parts you need to restore a Corvette

This is the seatbelt reinforcement, Car probably sat parked over grass for long periods as all topside metal such as windshield frame was ok

Motor was in good shape so I just freshened it up with new rings, bearings, timing chain, Comp cam XE268, Edelbrock Performer intake, Headman headers

I found a replacement frame from a 73 Corvette parts car. I went to a local do it yourself sandblasting facility in the city and sandblasted my frame, wheels,bumper brackets,driveshafts and lots of other metal parts. The facility has a 200hp compressor with large sand hoppers and air supplied helmut. This sure beats trying to do it at home with the small 5hp compressor and no mess to clean up!

After about a year the chassis is completed. Rebuild included Stainless Steel brake/fuel lines, Energy Suspension Poly bushings, Moog steering components,Addco front/rear sway bars, 460lb front springs, 255-60-15 BFG tires, 2.5" exhaust with MagnaFlow mufflers, new rotors & Stainless sleeved calipers

even the headlight header bar was rusted out but again a new one was available from Corvette vendor

Before dropping the body on the chassis I needed to replace the rocker channels, various reinforcement brackets then clean and paint the engine compartment, floor pans etc

All the headlight buckets were rebuilt with new seals, new rad support and the wiring harnesses cleaned up

Finally, body drop day has arrived!. Its good to have a few helpers on hand to help guide things back in place

Sure looks a lot nicer than it use to. It will be a pleasure maintaining this now

Looks a lot nicer than the second picture. After hooking up dozens of brackets, fuel/brake lines,linkages etc its almost ready to fire for the first time.

First day on the road!! This was the first time I had driven the car except for the 4 test miles I put on when first purchased. With the 3.70 rear end it has a healthy appetite for fuel!

I attended numerous local car shows during the summer and met lots of great people. I still need to paint the car and replace the interior but at least now I can enjoy driving it while I finish it.

My 350 L82 was numbers matching and a little down on power so i decided to put it away for safe keeping and build a 454 for it. Found a late 70's 454 short block for $150. Machine shop bored it .030 over, line honed the crank saddles, decked the block, turned the crank .010/.010 & hot tanked the block. Used ARP crank studs & fasteners throughout, Speedpro pistons (10.5 compression) Procomp heads 305cc runners, 119cc combustion chamber, 2.25" intake, 1.88 exhaust, 2" headman headers, Edelbrock performer intake, Comp Cams roller rockers, guide plates, pushrods, Quick Fuel 750cfm carb

swap day, 454 going in I used most of the 350 components starter, bellhousing, engine mounts, pullies etc. During chassis restoration I had upgraded all the suspension and put in a Dewitts aluminum rad

40+ year old interior was worn out, time for a refresh

seats were really bad, no foam support, covers torn and seatframe was broken.

welded and sandblasted seat frames, painted with DP90 epoxy primer New foam and covers made a huge difference in driving the car. before I was almost sitting on the floor

Replaced Carpeting, Dash Pad, Pillar post mouldings, rebuilt seats I have new door panels but will wait till later when i paint the car