1980 Corvette rebuild

[HLN A55]

Yeah like i said i ended up hating what the Camaro turned into, so i sold it for half of what i had into it. Love the Vette. best car i have ownes to date, cant wait to get it on the road.

what turned you off about the car's evolution?

Nice build on the vette!!

 

[Grumpy 427]

The roll cage, the high compression, spool in the diffy,full manual powerglide.

When i first built the car, i had a mild 427 BBC 390 hp. a Borg Warner super T-10 4 spd and a Ford 9" rearend with 3.70 gears. The car had radial tires gas shocks, and was a blast to drive. My ego got the better than me, and i needed to be faster that the rest, so i kept building it up to the point where it became a race car that i had to live with on the street.

 

[Riley P]

That would have been awesome with the 427 and 4-speed. I am trying really hard to resist modding the Vette beyond the basics of increasing power and only want to do things if it also increases the fuel economy.

I think the reason why the 350's in the 70's made so little power was that the auto industry kind of got caught with their pants down and were scrambling on making the cars meet emissions/fuel economy standards first, then learning how to make horsepower out of the engines once again. Hooray for computers...sort of. Someone else may be able to help me out on this one.

The torque spec on the LM-1 350 that was in my Camaro rated at 285 lb-ft@2400rpm. It went up to 120km/h ok and really gassed out after that. The Vette is much quicker where I don't stress out having to pass cars on a single lane and gets nearly twice the mileage on the highway as the Camaro. Hooray for computers...sort of.

Do you ever miss the speed of the Camaro? A mid-9 second time on the track must of been one heck of a rush!

 

[Grumpy 427]

Oh dont get me wrong, the camaro was a blast to drive, hit the gas and hang on for dear life, especially off the trans brake. I had 31x16.5 ET streets on it for a while, then went to a sportsman pro street tire. Sideways is a fun ride when you have 700 hp on your right foot lol.

The vette, has a 350 now with 9.5-1 compression and a nice dual profile cam. Head work and an Edelbrock intake and carb. 340 HP and 390 tq, should move it along pretty nice out on the road. I wanted something that would run strong, and be able to step out and pass when need be.

To replace the rush of the camaro, i went and bought a sport bike. I have ridden cruiser bikes, but wanted a sport bike. I started out with a 2007 GSXR 600, snappy little bike huge fun big redline at 16000 rpm. Then felt the need for real speed, and bought 2009 GSXR 1000. Now were talking HANG THE HELL ON BOYS. I tell you there is not too much on the road that i am afraid to play with now with the 1000, this thing is scary fast. I plan on going to a motorcycle race school in Shannonville Ontario in the coming year. want to learn how to get my knee completely down in the corners.

New tinted wind screen and frame sliders.

And new custom seat covers to match the bike.

 

[HLN A55]

Cool bike... interestingly.. I rode an R1 for a few years and had plans to race my slightly older FZR1000 with the fitment of newer brakes and an Ohlins suspension. Oddly enough with upgraded brakes and suspension, the older bikes were fast enough to make the rider the difference on the track.

The irony is that I went the other direction... traded the bikes in for kids and bought the car to give me that summer time fun again!!!

Those things are awesome and you're right, the best place to play with 380lbs and almost 200 horsepower is definitely on the track!!!!

I guess that even though the '81 'maro was under powered, I still think that they were a cool car.. I never researched the specs on them though so I thought they may have been a little more powerful than that LOL

Have a great day guys!!!

 

[Woodstock Car Guy]

Very nice restoration on the '80 vette. Now that's the stuff I like to read about. I get inspired when I read (and see the pics) of someone with a great passion and talent for this hobby or should I say black-hole obsession.
I've been down a much similar road having previously owned 173 different vehicles. Still enjoying my first vette and its' this forum that helps keep me pumped. Once any vehicle I owned was repaired, fixed or modified to my satisfaction, I'd usually get bored and see some other challenge that I think I'd like more. I do miss a few of them and unfortunately wasn't even wise enough to take a few pics. But I'm sure most of us have had some rides we wish we had now.
Recently, I had an opportunity to ride my buddies new '09 Hayabusa and quickly realized that this thing was much faster that my skills could manage. This was definitely the fastest acceleration I'd ever experienced riding or driving. Not even sure that any riding school could enable me to challenge the bike to its full potential. 2 years ago, after much, much encouragement from my family, I sold my last bike with the promise not to buy another. They were concerned about someone not seeing me on a bike and right (or wrong) the bike rider looses.
Look forward to hearing the progress and congrats again on the splended work on your project.

 

[Grumpy 427]

Thank you for the compliments, i cant to get back out to the garage and get working on the vette again. How in Gods Name did you find time to enjoy 173 different vehicles .lol.

 

[Woodstock Car Guy]

I started when I was just 15 and stayed single for a long time!

 

[Grumpy 427]

Well back out to the garage again. Its all the little things now, but it makes a big difference.

 

[Somebuddy]

What a great thread and an AWESOME build!! Thank you for sharing this with us..........the pics and info are great. The outcome is going to be fantastic.

 

[Riley P]

Looks better and better all the time! Keep it up and thanks for sharing with us!

 

[Grumpy 427]

Thanks for the compliments. I appreciate it.

 

[testarossa]

Great work.. Job well done!..

I like it!.. Red Corvette!..

 

[C5Howie]

It is going to be better than new!

 

[AGVI]

It's nice to see an '80 being given a second chance at life! Awesome work man!

 

[taylorsk8]

Very Nice work. I just gotta do all that to mine now. hmmm. Maybe later.

T

 

[Grumpy 427]

Trust me its a trick lol. Once you start, you will end up doing a frame off like i did. Very hard to stop once you start.

 

[taylorsk8]

I know, that's what I fear!! Not that I don't want to, I would love to but it all costs money I don't have.

T

 

[AlbertaZ06]

Wow Nice work!!

 

[Grumpy 427]

Well the air conditioning condensor is in, rad, tranny lines linkage etc. Started on the brakes, got the rears done, will do the fronts on Monday. Put equal amounts of trailing arm shims in too, will be enough to get to the alignment shop. Front nose spoiler etc all complete. A quick nut and bolt re torque and the exhaust and we will be putting the tires on and getting it back on the ground. will need to take the time to bleed the brakes, will see if i can get my hands on a power bleeder?