87 Vette resto

So this Vette has kind of been in the family for about 27 years. My uncle owned it while he was in the Air Force and told me stories about driving it on the autobahn while stationed in Germany in the mid 90s.

Around 2002 my uncle retired in Tampa. I was stationed nearby as a recruiter and remember visiting him and seeing the car on ramps and under a car cover in his back yard. He was supposedly just replacing the fuel pump. Well I moved away to my next duty station and didn't visit him again until around 2014 when I moved back to Florida. To my surprise the Vette was still under the cover on the ramps. Lol. I asked him what was going on with it and he said he was about to scrap it. Tha statement was followed by how much do you want for it and a cross eyed look from my wife. I came back about a month later with $500 and brought it home. 
 
The car has around 69k original miles and the interior is in great shape. It's the outside that needs a lot of attention. That car cover stuck to it like glue. Shortly after bringing it home I replaced the fuel tank, fuel filter, fuel pump, and spark plugs and it started right up. I called my uncle so he could hear it run and I'm not sure if he was excited that I fixed it for $200 or if he was regretting selling it for $500. Lol. These are all pics from when I first bought it five years ago. 

I was stationed in Georgia the last three years I was in the Army so coming home on the weekends didn't really allow too much time to mess with the car. Unfortunately it sat until recently and. Since I didn't fill the gas tank the fuel pump and sending unit went bad again. Just ordered the parts along with a catback to replace the rusted out one I removed. Fingers crossed I have it up and running next week. The cats are gutted so it should sound pretty good. 

Love the style of this C4 so it's the route I want to take with this one. Probably not so "stanced " though. 

https://youtu.be/GBBQ3LxyZVM

Very nice! Other than the cost of tires, I'm not sure why you don't see more C4s made into track day weapons.

Tiny eggs anyone???? Found these under the hatch. 

In reply to Zoldier :

Spider maybe.  Are they kind of spiky? If so they might be a brown or black widow 

Just burn the car down, its safer that way.

Put them in a terrarium and see what hatches!

M/T, sawblades, and $500 hellyes! Nice score

MadScientistMatt said:

Put them in a terrarium and see what hatches!

Lol. They're in the shop vac.

So my wife bought me the kit to fix the gauge cluster back on 2016. Since I'm waiting for the fuel pump and exhaust I decided to tackle that. Didn't quite get to it but I did replace some bulbs. Didn't have the right LEDs so I basically made them. Looks much better. I'll get to replacing the film on Monday. 
 
Cluster out. It's in good shape but the sun faded the screens so you can't see the revs on the tach or the speedometer while driving. 

Testing the LEDs before I fully commit. 

 

not the same LEDs but I was able to take off the plastic bottom and insert them into the housing for the cluster  

some more testing to make sure they worked in the car  

left two bulbs are LED and two on the right are factory halogen. 

 

Full LED

Oh damn, that looks good.

Drained the gas tank of this old gas. Once the new gas got in the lines it started running much better. Got the new catback installed and it sounds good for a stock type exhaust. Noticed the cat and precats were gutted. Once I figure out how to post vids I'll put one up. 

Do you have a youtube account?  Its usually the easiest way for me to post vids.

I'm enjoying this thread, and getting terrible ideas. 

Mr_Asa said:

Do you have a youtube account?  Its usually the easiest way for me to post vids.

I do. I'll get it on there and post the link. Thanks. 

subscribed.  i have a similar vintage L98 C4 in similar condition.  florida hasn't been kind the paint or interior, but it's cheap thrills.  love mine, good luck with your project!

That dashboard is giving me Knight Rider flashbacks.  Love it.

Well. Looks like Mother Nature wants me to do something else today other than work on the Vette.  Was hoping to trace the loose connection for the gauges so I can get the interior put back together. Looks like I'll be busting out the chainsaw instead. 
 

Oh damn. Looks like it didn't crush anything of value though, so that's a plus.

What a cool car, and even cooler that you know the car's story

In reply to Zoldier :

We were on the tail end of that storm down here in Tampa and it was pretty bad, I can imagine what it did further up.

If I were to get a c4, I'd really look for an 87. Sweet car!

Getting back into the garage today but before I do I thought I'd share another use for race seats. Apparently chickens loves them for laying eggs. It's obviously been a while since I look in the Mustang  

In reply to Zoldier :

Real question is.. how old are the eggs

Love it!

Some good progress today. 
 

this was the situation this morning. Harness was all cut up behind the radio and the gauge cluster was in and out. 

 

and now after a short test drive. Hard to tell in the pics but the gauges are working perfectly. Engine light came on and I'm hoping it's because I used 87 octane that I had in the garage. It has a hypertech chip that says to use minimum of 92 octane. I'll fill it up with 93 when I get a change and see if that takes care of that. 
 

anti lock light is on. I have pads in a box of parts my uncle gave me so I'll bleed and replace those tomorrow. E-brake doesn't even hold.  

at least we're up and running.