C3 Econo Resto

Project '75 (El Cheapo)

Front Clip and R/S fender repair

Seat Reupholstery

New windshield

Engine

Brakes

Suspension Bushings

Sun visors

Although the car comes with the original 4 speed, I am replacing it with a TH350 auto from the doner car. I will save the 4 speed for the '69. The front clip is being donated from the '79. I hope I can get the clip to work as it is in pretty rough shape. The original assesment of the '75 carpet being good was not correct as the passenger side is dry rotted from a small leak in the windshild. The '79 has good carpet so its carpet will be donated to the '75. The first step is to remove the busted clip and assess the damage....

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June 10th, 1999
Hammer Time


After removing the busted front clip off the '75, I noticed that the frame ears were a little canted to the right. I took a stright line of site through the wheels to the rear and the frame looks straight and there are plenty of spacers in the upper control arms for alignment so it seems that the frame is straight just the 'ears' are bent. Easy fix with the 'gentle persuader' aka Sledge Hammer. The 8lb sledge is the simplest way to fix minor frame bends. Two hits and 'walla' the frame is back to its original shape and its ready for front clip reassembly although a little detailing is in order and some work still needs to be done to the front clip before attachment.
Pic is what is left of the front clip after removal and splicing. Pretty bad heh?

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June 15th, 1999
Nose Job


After struggling for a few hours, I was finally able to attach the rebuilt front clip. I will have to do some 'fanagling' with it as the gap between the drivers door and the fender is larger than the gap between the passenger side fender and door. The clip is held in place with four bolts to either side of the frame under the nose. I also have a large crack in the fiberglass on the passenger side that I will fix once the clip is permanantly in place and body work begins. I have ordered a R/S (Passenger) inner fender skirt from Mark Uptmor that should arrive in the next few days - along with a gas cap emblim that is missing. The inner fender skirt on the passenger side is the only piece for the clip that I will not reconstruct as the part is busted beyond repair. My wife and I have decided to install Monza style headlights in the car rather than attempt to make the pop ups work. I will save what pop-up parts I have to install in the '69. With the Monza style headlights and a dark tinted flexiglass cover, I think we will paint the car black.

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June 28th, 1999
Skirting the Fender

Got an inner fender skirt from Mark this past week and I installed it Saturday. It rained most of weekend but I was able to get some work done on the car on Saturday and continued body work on the pass side fender. All is going well. I have also found a new set of Monza style headlights for $100.00 so I am having them shipped and hopefully will install this weekend and then I will take more pics.

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June 29th, 1999
Roughing It

Worked a little more on the header and bonded the fender to the header and filled the crack. Other than more finish work to the body, all I need to do now is pull the 4 speed and drop in a motor and auto trans and see if we can get her running. I have emailed Mark with a list of small parts needed such as hood latches, a door latch, horn cap and rocker panel molding. I am trying to decide if I want to buy a high performance 350 from a friend for $400.00, pull the engine/trans out of the El Camino or buy an old truck and pull the drive train out as a doner car. I will have to check the classifieds in the next few weeks. It I get impatient all I have to do is pull the motor out of the El Camino and it will not cost me a thing.

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June 30th, 1999
Marking Time

Out of money and 85% of the body work is done on the '75. I am just trying to decide where and how much I want to pay for a motor. I thought I would post these before and after pics of the front clip that now resides on the '75 EconoVette showing the all the work that was done to it.

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July 2nd, 1999
Shark Eyes

I recieved the monza type headlights in the mail yesterday afternoon. They look kinda like an old style assembly but in really good shape. The past owner said he bought them from a swap meet sometime back and never installed them. The installation was EASY and I had them installed in about two hours. The A/C condeser, old headlight assemblies and the horn had to be removed to make room for the assemblies but they went right in. One problem I did have was that the holes drilled into the monza assemblies were not large enough to accomidate the stock bolts so I had to use a drill to 'waddle them out.' I commented to my wife that I have noticed my body being in contorted positions with my head upside down most of the time while working on these Corvettes. It is similar to standing on your head, eating peanut butter and putting a huge puzzle together at the same time....crampt, uncomfortable but somehow fun. I will post some pics of the semi-finished front clip with the monza type headlights installed on Saturday afternoon (7/03/99).

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July 6th, 1999
Resession


Here are some pics of the semi-completed front end on project '75 with the monza type headlights. I think they look pretty good and give a 'finished' look to the front of the car...and it actually is starting to look like a car now. Other than some small trim items all that this vehicle is ready for now is a drive train. At this stage I have just over $1,000 total invested in the car. I figure another $500 for paint/body, $500.00 for engine/trans, and another $500.00 for misc unseen expenses for a grand total of about $2,500 - Although not an original show car, it will be a nice car for the money invested.

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August 31st, 1999
Mold or Molding?

It has been a while since I have been able to work on the cars. They are in a state of 'stasis' right now. I am working 11 hour days and continuing the renovation of the house. What a lot of work. I work on the house most everyday until around 10 p.m. I have had a chance to call Mark Uptmor and he has sent me rocker panel moldings and the inner door lock mechanism for the '75. UPS will be delivering it today. I apologize for not updating the page but I only have so much money and time. I will be continuing the '75 project soon, so keep checking back every now and again.

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October 1st, 1999
Start again?
Well, the house resto is nearing completion. I have told my wife that I needed to get cracking at the Vettes again soon. I received a rear mirror mount for the '75 yesterday ($5.00). I will be looking for a doner car for the engine/trans. I have decided to keep the El Camino running as it has been nothing but a workhorse for this house resto and I am sure that it wont be the last haul I will be making for it. Now I need to start combing the classifieds for a beat-up truck or '70s car with a solid 350!

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January 31st, 2000
Will it ever end?
The house is almost done. There always seems to be something more to go and more money to spend. Right now I am taxed out. 'The Boss' gave me the go ahead to start looking for a new truck or El Camino to replace the old '69. Once a replacement is found, I will be pulling the engine/trans out of it and selling the body. The engine/trans will go into the '75 Vette after a little refreshing. Now I just have to start saving some money. Anyone have a reliable truck to sell cheap? I am looking on spending around $1500 or less on the truck and it must have A/C. Of course, I will need time to save up the $ before purchase. Why does money always get in the way of progress?

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April 13th, 2000
Donor Car
After looking at many small trucks I decided to keep the old Elky for a while longer - it too dang dependable! So I have gone in seearch of donor cars for the '75 and bought a tired '75 Camaro this past weekend for $250.00. It supposedly has a 350 but I am sceptical. I got the car to turn-over but had it towed to the house so I could tinker with it and try to get it running. I have a feeling it will be an oil burner anyway so I will either rebuild it or use it as a core on a reman 350. Heck, the core charges run $200-$250 anyway. The car has a T350 trans that will be coming out with the motor. The trans will be bench built with a shift kit. Once this drive-train goes into the Vette I plan on not having to pull it out again for quite some time so I will spend a little more cash and do it right the first time. The car has some good interior so I should be able to sell the body with title and the interior for at least $200.00 to get some of my money back. We are getting that much closer to breathing life into the '75 Shark. I will try to post some pics this weekend.

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April 17th, 2000
69 work
Been busy with the '69 this past weekend - got alot done. Anyway, here is a pic of the engine/trans donor car:

It has a very nice interior. Anyone need Camaro parts? - I have some REAL CHEAP!

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April 23rd, 2000
Its alive! (kinda)
A friend came over this weekend to help get the Camaro donor car running. We tried a few things and then ran some sand-paper over the points, added some gas and 'vruuum' she started. Other than an exhaust leak, she didn't sound too bad. Put it in Drive and Reverse and the car moves. I also checked on the motor and it is a 350 so I feel I got a good deal for $250. I just need to put some tires on it, change the oil, etc. and give it a drive to see what problems there might be. I also need to do a compression check before I drop it in the '75. I am getting kinda anxious on putting this drive train into the Vette so I might just give it the old 'crylon' rebuild and drop it in. That way I can sell-off the old body and get it out of the yard but I am still not sure yet. I guess it will last as long as my patience does.

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May 1st, 2000
Prep for transplant
Noticed that two of the spark-plugs on the donor car had 'anti-oil foulers' on them. NOT GOOD. Checked the compression. GOOD. Got 100 PSI and over per cylindar. So it sounds like the valves may be leaking - fairly easy fix. I can do that with the engine installed in the Vette later. Took the Camaro out for a drive and it drove nice. Motor ran good and the trans shifted OK. Parked the Camaro next to the '75 Vette and began to prep it for pulling. Removed the drive shaft, unbolted the exhaust manifolds and began removing the trans mounts. The plan is to pull the engine/trans this weekend.

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May 9th, 2000
Large Peg in Small Hole!
Had to work all day Saturday, so Sunday I pulled the engine-trans out of the Camaro. Here is a pic of the empty engine bay of the Camaro:

The engine-trans pull went off without a hitch. Easy two hour job. Performed the old 'crylon' rebuild as can be seen here:


The engine crane on full extension only went as far as the radiator support on the Corvette body. In other words - it wouldn't reach far enough into the engine compartment of the car. WHAT A PAIN!!! The engine-trans area on the Corvette is so small, the engine-trans had to be put in at an extreme angle to get it in. The last pic above was my first attempt at getting the right angle to stab it in - I was wrong. The assembly had to be tilted about 50 degrees to go in! Found that out after almost getting it in and had to start over. It took over three hours to get the engine-trans into the Corvette body! I honestly believe that if you plan to pull an engine-trans and put it back into a Vette then do it while the body is off the frame or put the trans in first then the motor - I will be trying the latter technique on the '69. Anyway, at least its in! Now I have to get it running.

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May 15th, 2000
Ticker In!
Started to reassemble the engine. Put on some cheap chrome valve covers that were laying around. The Camaro engine brackets will not work (suprise suprise). Had to call good old Mark Uptmor again and he will be sending out a bracket kit for my to get this thing running. I finnaly got around to making those headlight covers from Plexiglass this weekend. They look pretty good. Anyway, here's some pics before I installed the headlight covers. The car will be painted Yellow. The intake manifold will be replaced with an aluminum spreadbore with 4 brl carb and HEI distributor.
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After doing some rough computing I have around $1050.00 in the car. The donor car was $250 but the body will be going next weekend for $150 so thats $100 for the engine/trans. Mark's brakets will cost $100 so all in all I should have this '75 running for $1250 - not bad. I have nice carpet and all the interior to go in it except seat covers ($150), paint ($400), brakes ($200), and windshield ($200). So I think we can do this car for under $2,200!!!! We will have to see! I WANT TO SEE THIS CAR ON THE ROAD! Its finaly starting to come together.

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May 25th, 2000
Bracket Racing
Got the engine brackets from Mark but went to install them and realized I needed a small snout water-pump. Purchase one from the parts store and then realized that my pully would no longer work so I had to call Mark again. It looks like I will be placing another order from him.......

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