vette

Welcome to Pheengur's Webspace

This is the vette page...Welcome to it!

I AM PROUD TO SAY -- the 'demon vette' background pic is my 1977 Corvette! Pic was taken by Dad and I in my underground parking stall, with his digital camera. I must say, it has alot of picture taking options...damn fine camera.

I'd love to post some good pics, but I don't have access to a scanner at the moment, so I'll have to make do with this for now ..

As you'll see from the HUGE list below, I have ALOT of work to do on the Vette, and it's going to cost a serious amount of money... This list is slightly outdated, but it gives you a pretty good idea of what is involved in a powertrain swap.. It is by no means comprehensive!

June 05 / 2004 -- I have a considerable amount of money saved up. I basically sacrificed an entire year of my life, by working the graveyard shift at the LDB to get that money. And despite Loki the Trickster's prophetic sign that big changes were going to be happening to me in the immediate future, I did not properly decipher it or heed the message in time. The LDB contract has ended and I have decided to move to Calgary to be closer to family. It's very frustrating. I miss my family so much, yet BC, and Vancouver in particular is where I've wanted to be since I was around 13 years old. I love the mountains, the weather, the roads, the ocean, the salmon, and most of all, the awesome people I've met here. I haven't made such good friends since I lived in Saskatoon. I visit my Saskatoon friends (Mikedog & Snotty & Feedback) at least once a year, in addition to phone calls and email...I hope to continue that with my Vancouver friends. I'll move back to BC eventually...

My immediate Vette goals now, are to conserve as much of the Vette Nestegg as possible. Once settled in Calgary, if I can find a good job in a resonable amount of time, I will be able to begin the restoration process in earnest, and actually begin to spend money on the vette.

November 18 / 2004 -- This page still has image problems, but I've updated the content at least... Scotty has taken on a few new projects, one of them being a late 60's GMC panel-van. It's a suburban, before there were suburbans... Anyway, it's got a 350cu.in. motor in it he doesn't want that badly, and I'm trying to convince him to sell it to me so I can put it into my vette, until I can put together a 383 stroker from the block that I blew up so many years ago... It will at least get the car on the road, and allow me to begin the love affair again! He's also found me some rally rims with low profile tires on them.... The next time one of his trucking runs heads to Calgary, he's going to tote those rims along... and when I get work, I'll throw him some money for the rims, and hopefully that motor he doesn't want! ;-)

March 12 / 2005 -- PHASE ONE of Operation Restoration is underway in one hour. Details to follow!

April 9 / 2005 -- PHASE ONE was moving the corvette from storage into my underground parking unit. That required several things. Getting Jason and Cara to move their stuff out of my storage unit, moving MY things out of my storage unit, and flatbed towing the vette from storage all the way to my place. The flatbed alone cost me $160 bucks. Fucking savages. Anyway, the corvette is nicely snug and covered in my underground parking unit. She is not the only corvette down there either. I will take some pics of the other vette there. I have tidy'd up her interior and moved 90% of the parts I plan to use in her up to my apartment. I have some great shots of the vette, as well as the vette lined up with Becky the Scirocco, Jarrad's 95 Reliant, and Jason's 2003 Mazda. The day was shitty and cold and cloudy, but the pics should come out ok...

I have started work on refinishing the headers, and plan to have them ceramic coated. I am also replacing the transmission tunnel trim pieces that run from the firewall, back along the middle of the interior, to behind the seats, with fibreboard units of my own making. I've seen this done in other vettes and it looks just as good as the originals, and is actually stiffer... I have all new seat part hardware, and parts for the doors, and many other annoying interior parts.. I'd like to do the carpet and floorpan insulation, but I don't want to spread myself too thin. The interior, aside from day projects, can wait.

I have to pull the harmonic balancer from the old motor, remove the old A/C compressor, clean and repaint the engine bay in gloss or flat black, remark the wiring labels I made for myself years ago. There is so much more to do, yet I never seem to do it .. However the vette has only been so near to me for a couple of weeks, and I'm getting the itch to start working on her again!

April 9 / 2005 -- I have finally made a firm decision on the corvette. It's taken me how many years??? I have finally made mental decisions, and ALSO put pen to paper, marking out what I need to do, when it needs to be done, and how much it's going to cost.

First on the list: buy a GM Crate Motor, GM Part# 12486041. This will cost around 3grand. This motor is a brand spanking new unit. All of the parts that come with it are brand spanking new. It is rated to produce roughly 330HP and 380ft.lbs of torque. This is basically a long block. So there are many parts I will have to either salvage from my old motor, or buy new. Such as a harmonic balancer, counterweighted flexplate, distributor, vortec style intake, thermostat housing, waterpump, headers, motor mounts, and fuel pump, are mostly what is required. I will also have to get another radiator, and find a dual fan setup from a 95 and up Camero/Firebird.

At the same time as the engine, I will purchase a Level 2 performance rebuilt GM 2004R Automatic Overdrive transmission from BowTieOverdrives. That will cost roughly 2500 bucks. This tranny will be able to handle some serious horsepower, and torque. It will give me an overdrive gear which will lower my RPMs at highway speeds. This will save me serious gas money as well as wear and tear. BTO have come up with a set of instructions, and fully support their products 100%, and the warranty clock doesn't start until I have proved to them the tranny is in the car. There is a trick to installing the Throttle Valve cable to all automatic overdrive transmissions, and this is the most important part of the installation. The position of this cable, is paramount. IF it's installed in the incorrect position, the convertor locking mechanisms, and shifting mechanisms fail to work at the proper hydraulic pressures, which can cause complete transmission failure in under 1000kms!!! So needless to say, I'll be on the phone with these guys during the final install and testing phase.

I plan to physically put the tranny and motor in together in one shot. This is going to be a rather big operation. I'm going to have to secure a place to do it, that can afford to have me leave the car there for a minimum of 2 days, if not 2 weekends, to get the job done. At the very least, the existing motor and tranny must come out, get boxed up, and the new motor and tranny unboxed and put into the vette. That means I have some prep work to do. I've got to remove the hookups for the shifter linkage, remove the main driveshaft & yoke, tachometer cable and gear, and anything else that I have forgotten or don't know about. If I can, I will pull the existing motor and tranny out before getting the new motor and trans. This will also allow me to clean and detail the engine bay, which I've been wanting to do for some time...

To get this car inspection ready you ask? I've decided not to cheap out. I'm going to rebuild this car first class and custom all the way, so that means premium parts at premium prices. There is a couple grand worth of parts I'll need to get after the engine and tranny are bought. Jason and Jarrad's dad Gene, may be able to get me a serious discount at Lordco Auto Parts, through his work. So cross your fingers for me... Otherwise the rough estimate to get the vette running, inspected and plated is around the 9 thousand dollar mark... That price is for all parts at full, brand new, prices, and covers everything from the new motor and tranny, right down to the last part, which is a new dual 2 1/2" exhaust system, complete with crossover pipe.

December 6 / 2005 -- In retrospect, I suppose I should not have said in a previous update that I had made a 'firm' decision regarding the Vette. It seems every time I try to get a plan going, something pulls the rug out from under me. This time, it came in the form of job loss. In retrospect, not really a bad thing, considering that I hated the job, but it did put a rather large dent in my finances... Anyway, with no income to speak of, I have decided to rebuild my motor myself. The good news is I picked up a set of cherry double hump 2.02 heads, freshly rebuilt, with some porting on the exhaust side for better flow, Magnum roller rockers, Magnum pushrods, Magnum lifters, and fine GM orange paint. Sonny from Bomp-Bomp was the benefactor. Unfortunately his fire sale of his garage items was due to a family emergency that has beckoned him home back east to be with his family. We all wish him and his family the best in the hard times ahead, and Sonny has vowed he'll be back in Calgary in the future.

And with that said, I now have the basic parts to put the vette back together. I'll need rebuild items like gaskets, and such. I'm contemplating doing the following: fill the block up with oil. let it sit until spring. drain the excess oil, slap the heads and everything else on, and see if she'll start. I'm sure she'll run...I just have no idea what 5 years, sitting without oil really does to a motor. The oil-soak will ensure it won't be rust seized. (I once bought a red, 76 Ford F150 with a 390cu.in from my friend Warren in Estevan. He had some bad luck coming back from Alberta, it blew a seal on him whilst on the highway. He drove it pinned until it ran out of oil and seized, then towed it back home. I had a blue 77 Ford F150 Ranger XLT 2wd, with the 'boat anchor' 400 cu.in motor, with absolutely bald tires... Warren's machine had brand new rubber on it, so for 200 clams the whole truck was mine. He filled the 390 so full of oil it was coming out the dipstick. I left the motor like that for a few months, drained the excess, and wouldn't you know it, the damned thing turned over and ran! Very poorly, but ran all the same.) So with that in mind, I figure I'll fill'er up with oil, let it sit, and come spring I'll decide whether to rebuilt it myself, or spring for a crate motor or get a rebuilt motor, or get this one rebuilt... I dunno. Anyway, I've got some kickass heads, and that is a major step forward as far as I'm concerned. Wish me luck for the spring!

December 17 / 2005 -- There are a bunch of new pics here feel free to check em out. Many recent pics of the vette are there. There are also a bunch of the same pics on bomp, here.

January 9 / 2007 -- Alright, I have not made any updates for the 2006 year. Dad and I did ALOT of work to the vette in the late summer / autumn. We put the motor back together, replaced a bunch of parts, fixed others. We slaved in the hot sun, braved the wind and the rain. We put grandpa's old black and decker drill to it's final and fatal cylinder honing test. The result is : SHE IS ALIVE !!! But I need sleep, so that's all you get for now .. pics and a detailed update to come later ...

Below is a copy of the consolidated Restoration Requirements document I've been working on. This is helpful for me to put the entire project in perspective, put order and priority to the things that have to be done, as well as put a dollar value on each portion, and a final, and frankly scary overall final dollar value... In case you don't feel like scrolling down, the latest total is around $1900 !!!

Vette costs:

$200/500 - radiator repair/new (SAVE$)
$40/300 - repair/replace seatbelts (SAVE$) (mebbe from 99 trans-am?)
$250 - parking brakes rebuild kit
$150 - dual fan setup (SAVE$ -source parts from scrap 90's trans-am)
$100 - battery (AC Delco)
$100 - plugs & wires & cap & rotor
$70 - coolant-tranny-brake-engine oil-washer-pwr steering
$50 - wiper reservoir & motor & hoses (SAVE$)
$50 - header & collector gaskets
$40 - various hose clamps-electrical connectors-vacuum hoses
$30 - thermostat housing (polished aluminum)
$45 - tranny-fuel-oil filters
$10 - liquid wrench
$0 - tranny fluid flush (if not installing AOD)
$5 - solvent
$ - Timing Marker
$0 - passenger door handle & lock(already have parts)

Optional/possibly required Parts:
new rear shocks (Koni Adjustable $240/pr)
new differential mount bushings ($60)
new Hooker MaxFlow 2-1/2dia. mufflers ($80x2)
new dual exhaust with H pipe & collectors ($400)
inline fuel pressure gauge and filter ($60) (SAVE$)
total=$920

2004R Tranny Swap:
$2500cdn - Level 2 2004R BTO tranny (price includes all required costs)
$120 - tranny cooler (at least 10inch)
$25 - tranny fluid
$50 - polyurethane tranny mount bushing
$2695

Reverse Gear Knocking Sound Possible Fixes:
$11US - Lower Differential Front Mount Bushing Part# A7176
$25US - Polyurethane Differential Mounting Bushing Kit Part# A7153
$9US - Upper Differential Front Mount Bushing Part# A7175

Preferred Cam:
GM part number 3863151 factory replacement 350 H.P. 327 cam. Needs 9.5:1 or greater compression, 4bbl. carb and dual exhaust.
• Duration at .050" = 222°, Lift = .447"
CDN hi-performance.com Part # 22200 -- $75.95(CDN)
OR the GM dual pattern version of this cam, which allows lower compression....

Other Misc Parts
plastic battery tray
header tape / ceramic coating
mc guard wheel nuts (currently mc guard doesn't make wheel nuts for the stock alum vette rims !!!)
L88 hood ($600US)
Spicer U-joints

questions::
*** based on intake & carb, what options do I have to mount the carb linkage? (ANSWER: a custom bracket must be made to fit the holley carb, back 2 firewall facing bolts. this custom bracket can be welded to the existing linkage piece OR inquire with holley to see if they have a premade bracket/linkage assy.

THINGS TO GET DONE BEFORE MOTOR INSTALL:

-- PARTS WASH BIN needed

-- wash car \ vacuum \ inflate tires

-- mechanic's fender covers (big leather cutout)

-- radiator: fix or replace? (measure 77 & 95 camero rad?)

-- dual fan: scout out from 95 and up Camero/Firebird

-- seatbelts: ???

-- carburetor: rebuild kit needed

-- distributor: rebuild& recurve kit needed

-- find replacement carb linkage support bar

-- intake: old performer cleaned and polished

-- parking brake: rebuild kit needed

-- top up and bleed brakes

-- wiper reservoir/motor: locate parts

-- header & collector gaskets: locate parts

-- passenger door lock: install parts

-- seat parts: install parts

-- seat backs: clean/sand/paint black

-- buy black paint & clear coat & black vinyl paint for seatbacks and armrest

-- arm rest: remove/clean/sand/paint black

-- tranny tunnel covers: need fibreboard/insulation/black leather

-- air conditioning parts: remove parts & pump

-- gas tank: flush & inspect tank and lines

-- spare tire carrier: remove/clean/sand/repair/paint

-- find viable spare

-- pulley & balancer: remove from old motor

-- build crate for old motor & use castors

-- armorall leather

-- lube gun & extended hose

-- inline fuel pressure gauge

-- buff the hood support & paint hood bolts

-- clean & paint tranny crossmember

-- remove radio antennae

-- install centre caps & mcguard wheel nuts