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Worth restoring 1977 Corvette 4 speed?

I

iSoldier

Junior Member
I drive a Toyota Corolla daily and I was hoping to find myself something a little more sporty as a weekend driver of sorts. I have a relative with a 1977 corvette t-top 4 speed that has been sitting in their possession for years unused and no longer runs. Would it be worth the effort to resort this year and model car from a non-running state if I wanted a 'fun' car?

Money is partly an issue which is why I don't go buy a fancy new coupe despite having unrealistic hopes and dreams.

Any feedback or torches to run me out of town are welcome. Thanks! 🙂
 
Honestly, that's a bad car on merits, but it's still a Vette. It's a classic, and totally worthy of this opportunity, depends on the costs.

I wouldn't worry about hopping it up on custom stuff if the path is there to do an original restoration. On the flipside, if the thing is going to need partial frame replacement due to rust, or if enough original parts aren't able to be restored, then you might consider :

Tub the chassis (google)
383 stroker motor
new rear end
new 5-speed tranny
new wiring harness
new suspension/brakes
and of course the other misc parts you may need
 
I probably wouldn't, but its only because I like almost nothing from the mid-late 70's including that generation of Corvette.... Now if it were a '67 or something.. Heck yes!
 
The late 70's Corvettes were pretty much gutless wonders in the performance department. All the cars from those years were pretty gutless due to the EPA restrictions and the high price of oil so comparatively the Corvettes were still pretty sporty for what they were. That said, they still had the 350 V8 in them and they could easily be tweaked with some after market parts to put some performance back into them. An intake with a new carburetor and some exhaust mods would put some fire into it.

If performance isn't so much a concern, you still get that big V8 rumble and the sexy looks of the Stingray body before they started majorly tweaking it in the 80's. I would say take a look at the car and see what it needs. Some things for Corvettes are widely available and parts can be had fairly cheaply. Things commonly shared between GM platforms like brakes, ignition coils, wires, etc. Other things on the Corvette were specific and cost some scratch. Any body panels were fiberglass and can be costly to replace. The headlight assemblies were pop up and prone to failure. I would completely inspect the car as much as possible and come up with a list of parts and costs before even considering making an offer.

My pops had a 1978 Corvette and while it wasn't a tire burner, it still turned heads and made a nice noise when you stepped on the gas. I remember him spending quite a bit of time on the brakes, the parking brake in particular was giving him grief. The motor was pretty much bullet proof though.
 
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Performance isn't a huge issue as long as it has noticeably more get up and go than my Corolla, which shouldn't be an issue. The car has been stored in a garage so it should be safe from water damage to the frame. I'll check it out and take some pictures of it this weekend when I go to visit the relatives, see if I can't get an idea what needs replaced.
 
If your Corolla is relatively recent, you might have better performance in the Corolla than the 77 corvette lol.
 
iSoldier said:
Performance isn't a huge issue as long as it has noticeably more get up and go than my Corolla, which shouldn't be an issue. The car has been stored in a garage so it should be safe from water damage to the frame. I'll check it out and take some pictures of it this weekend when I go to visit the relatives, see if I can't get an idea what needs replaced.
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Sounds like you could have an unmolested example of a 1977 Vette to start with. If they just parked it and just didn't know enough about vehicles to get it started or bothered to sell it, it might just need the carburetor rebuilt, a fuel filter and some new plugs and wires to get it running. If it's been sitting for over a year, be sure to siphon out any fuel in the tank and put in fresh before you try and start it.

A rebuilt quadrajet carb can be had fairly cheaply too if you don't want to rebuild it. I just googled quick and found this place with one for $276. Not too bad.

http://www.carburetion.com/Rebuilt/datainfo.asp?Part_Nbr=4-308&Application=Chevrolet&Year=78 79
 
iSoldier said:
Performance isn't a huge issue as long as it has noticeably more get up and go than my Corolla, which shouldn't be an issue. The car has been stored in a garage so it should be safe from water damage to the frame. I'll check it out and take some pictures of it this weekend when I go to visit the relatives, see if I can't get an idea what needs replaced.
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If it really has been garage stored you might have found something nice. You're probably looking at replacing all rubber parts (hoses and tires), cleaning out and replacing all fluids (including the less commonly changed ones, like brake fluid and the differential) and a laundry list of odds and ends.

It's got a 350 which is easily the most common tuner engine. Even while crippled by the EPA you'll have plenty of very cheap go fast parts. You might want to buy better replacement parts for things that you need to replace anyways, like getting a better carburetor to replaced a gummed up one.
 
Bignate603 said:
If it really has been garage stored you might have found something nice. You're probably looking at replacing all rubber parts (hoses and tires), cleaning out and replacing all fluids (including the less commonly changed ones, like brake fluid and the differential) and a laundry list of odds and ends.

It's got a 350 which is easily the most common tuner engine. Even while crippled by the EPA you'll have plenty of very cheap go fast parts. You might want to buy better replacement parts for things that you need to replace anyways, like getting a better carburetor to replaced a gummed up one.
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With the 350, even a clapped out, smogged example from the 70s, can be a really nice runner with a new carb, intake, vortec-style heads, and headers.
 
There's going to be a big difference between restoring it and getting it to a state to run the roads reliably and safely.

You said the former, but I think you really meant the latter.

There are two major players in Corvette parts. Anything you can't find over the counter at a parts store should be avaiable through them. It's amazing how much stuff is available through them.

http://www.mamotorworks.com/corvette-4.html

http://www.ecklers.com/new_prod.asp?model=C3&level=2

They're not giving this stuff away by any means though.
 
It all depends on the current condition of the car and how much time and money you're willing to throw at it.
 
iSoldier said:
I drive a Toyota Corolla daily and I was hoping to find myself something a little more sporty as a weekend driver of sorts. I have a relative with a 1977 corvette t-top 4 speed that has been sitting in their possession for years unused and no longer runs. Would it be worth the effort to resort this year and model car from a non-running state if I wanted a 'fun' car?

Money is partly an issue which is why I don't go buy a fancy new coupe despite having unrealistic hopes and dreams.

Any feedback or torches to run me out of town are welcome. Thanks! 🙂
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Drove one of those couple months back, completely uninspiring. I think they're like 220 hp or something like that ... jimmy carter weak.
 
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The vette will be way cooler than any mustang, the epa killed the late 70's vettes, but all it takes is a new intake/carb to get respectable power out of it. Even a whole new engine can be had for ~$3k that will be pushing 400 hp. Don't try to keep it original and it won't break the bank.

It a perfect toy, not unique enough that you'll want to keep it original, but not nearly as common or trashy as the mustang/camaro. Everything on it is pretty simple and easy to work on, a great car to start on and play with.

Have someone inspect the frame, if its too rusty you're looking at well over 4k just for the frame.

Oh, and the paint can be very expensive, micro cracks in the fibreglass are very hard to get rid of, doable if you have the patience to grind them all out with a dremel and fill, very time consuming to pay someone else to do.
 
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You don't need all the smog junk in it if your restoring it. A 77 Vette isn't going to be worth much in original form so build up a nice 400+ hp SBC for relatively cheap and drop it in.

As for money, that's always an issue with resto's. Make sure the body/frame is solid as that will be the most expensive to repair. Of course the more work you can do yourself the better.
 
franksta said:
It all depends on the current condition of the car and how much time and money you're willing to throw at it.
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This. I've heard that replacement t-tops can be difficult to come by and very expensive. If it doesn't have those or if they are broken I'd look for something else.
 
I find the C3 Corvette to be the most beautiful Corvette, by far. Would be fun to drop an LS engine in there. Hmmm... 😉
 
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