| I bought the car about two years ago as a drivable project, and it is now complete and ready. It is equipped with power windows, power brakes, and power steering. It has an aftermarket stereo installed with CD, speakers in the kick panels, and an amplifier-driven subwoofer hidden in the rear, plus a power antenna. It has factory T-tops and a removeable rear window that all store neatly behind the seats. DRIVETRAIN: GMPP 350 c.i. 290 Horsepower Crate Engine. (New in late 2006). Edelbrock Performer Manifold with a Holley Carb and Headers. Also equipped with a new HEI tach drive distributor. It starts, idles, and runs great. The "divorced" choke works perfectly. It is equipped with a new aluminum radiator, and it runs very cool. New clutch when engine was installed. Muncie 4-speed with a Hurst shifter. The shifter is a replica of the original shifter that came from the factory. It shifts smoothly and makes no noise. 3:36 rear end ratio. When I bought the car, the u-joints appeared to be new, and they are tight and function as new (all six of them!). The rear end had a significant leak from the pinion seal when I bought it, and I just recently replaced that seal, along with the side yoke seals, and the rear cover gasket. The seal that was leaking was brand new, but was installed incorrectly. The car has no leaks at all now (engine, trans, rear end, power steering all dry). More importantly, when I had the rear end apart, the side yokes looked new, the gear set was pristine, and the positraction unit appeared to be a new or rebuilt replacement. It makes no noise and has fresh gear oil and posi additive as of about two months ago. SUSPENSION: The car drives tight and straight. I haven't done any work to the front suspension, other than to rebuild the power steering control valve (once again, to fix a leak). The power steering works really well, but it does growl slightly at full lock. It had new coil springs in front and four new shocks when I bought it. The brakes were all new when I bought the car, including sleeved calipers, rotors, and pads. I have rebuilt the rear suspension, to include remanufactured trailing arms, and new bushings for the camber rods and spring. It has new BFG TA radials mounted on 8 inch rally rims. BODY AND PAINT AND INTERIOR: When I bought the car, it had a 1973 front clip on it. I have since replaced the fiberglass from the doors forward with new body panels correct for the 72. I also replaced all the frame extensions, crossmember, and bumper brackets with factory correct pieces for the 72. I reused the 73 hood so it no longer has the hide-away windshield wiper door assembly (see photos). Other than that, the body is correct for 1972. It has a nice two-stage paint job on it that is less than a year old. The paint is very nice, but has a little orange peel, and a couple of bubbles that won't even show up in pictures. The color combination is not original, as it came from the factory Elkhart Green with Dark Saddle interior. The chrome, emblems, and other bright work are pretty nice. The rear bumpers are really good, but the front bumper and front grilles were swap meet finds and aren't perfect. The interior is very nice. It is the deluxe version, with cut pile carpet, and wood and carpet trim on the door panels. The seat covers are new, and they are high quality vinyl that have the same pattern as the original leather seats. The rear compartment doors are new, but they don't have the chrome locking mechanisms (just the vinyl pull tabs). The gauges and panel lights work, except for the clock and the odometer. THE ODOMETER IS NON-FUNCTIONING. So, technically the mileage on this vehicle is unknown. The interior courtesy lights also don't work. The weatherstripping is in very good condition. FRAME: The frame is straight and solid. It had an issue with rust at the rear frame rails (very, very common with this vintage Vette). I had it repaired and now its good to go for another 37 years! The birdcage structure is rust free. I posted a couple of pictures of the undercarriage, but I don't have access to a lift, so the detail is limited. OTHER MECHANICAL SYSTEMS: The exterior lights, wipers, etc. all work. The pop up headlights function as designed. The side windows operate a little slowly, and the glass on both sides is scratched up a bit. The windshield appears new. There are no back-up lights when you shift in reverse, as all four tail lights have been modified to work as stop/turn/running lights. It is missing the spare tire and the jack. Actually, I have a tire in the carrier, but it doesn't have a rim to go with it. The jack is somewhat problematic. I have a subwoofer mounted in the jack compartment, so there is nowhere to put it even if I had it. I think that a small bottle jack will fit in the spare tire carrier with the spare, should you decide to do it. I have AAA, so I haven't gotten around to remedying that situation. Colors from the owner. Built date is I05. 63,000 miles. May 25, 2009. |
