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Happy Wife Happy Life- 78 Corvette "resto"


coltboostin

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10+ years ago, I hid a ring in my wife's favorite car which was in her words an "Old School Stingray" Corvette. Specifically, this one was a 1978. If you know anything abotu C3s, they look cool, but really theya re total shit LOL. And this one I traded for a 98 Civic, so you can imagine, it was not the best, but it looked OK from 10 feet away.

 

Thankfully, she said yes. :) Unfortunately, that car needed a lot, a LOT of work to make nice, 10-15K ewteen paint/body/eletrical. problem is, 10k back then bought you the nicest C3 on the planet. I'm not into losing money if i can avoid it, so I ended up selling it. The wife has stuck around, but has been giving me shit about it ever since...because no matter how beat that thing was..I sold her "dream car"!

 

Fast forward-this year we are coming up on our 10 year anniversary, I finally found another 78 that was priced well and worth having. A perfect runner that had all new running bits and honestly just needed paint. And, it just so happens I know a body guy that owed me a favor :)

 

So we did the work and painted it Valloire White Pearl, and have been enjoying it ever since. Its not fast, but it looks cool and shit and makes all the right noise (tiny cam, full exhaust) and wifey loves it. This will probably be the only car that stays in the garage for a long, long time.

 

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Every vette is cool..I've always liked the c3 owned a red 79..like you said not fast but I loved it.

A few years later i went to look at a black 82 collectors car, it was gorgeous, we had a young son so the wife waited while I drove it.

 

I got back and talked to the owner for a while. On the way home, I talked to the wife about it and finally asked, "well what do you think"?. Her response, "it looks like the batmobile".

I was appalled . No matter what I said I couldn't get her to accept the car.

 

Years later I kinda got her back. Owned an 05 350z that she loved..after owning it for a while I put it up for sale, when the buyer came out my wife asked, what's going on. I said I'm selling the z . She was not happy

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Years later I kinda got her back. Owned an 05 350z that she loved..after owning it for a while I put it up for sale, when the buyer came out my wife asked, what's going on. I said I'm selling the z . She was not happy

 

Ha! She will learn. :)

 

 

Ls swap it.

 

Honestly, it runs so well now i have no desire too. Its her car, it starts and drives perfect. Thats its job for now. Another OD gear would be nice, she is pretty wound up at 75mph.

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Very nice. The more I look at the c3 the more I like it. Big plus if the wife like it

 

Couple years ago when the C7 first came out the wife asked my why dont I buy something like that. Needless to say we were at the dealer the next day. As soon as she sit in the car, she asked where’s the back seat...so close.

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Honestly, it runs so well now i have no desire too. Its her car, it starts and drives perfect. Thats its job for now. Another OD gear would be nice, she is pretty wound up at 75mph.

 

200r4...same dimensions as a TH350 and you should be able to reuse your same driveshaft.

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Nice score. I saw it in the background of pics in some of your other threads and was curious.

 

C3s get a lot of hate because they don't live up to the "corvette expectation" and because most of their production was plagued by strikes and poor build quality, but they really are a great car for the money. lots of curb appeal.

 

AS Tim mentioned the 200r4 trans swap is probably the best upgrade you can do to the car. The hard part about a 200r4 is finding a core. IIRC from when we did it to a friends car years ago, you'll need a TH400 trans mount and maybe a different yoke for the trans to mate to the drive shaft if you have one of the aluminum case diffs but it's an off the shelf part. Shiftworks makes the shifter kit.

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Thanks guys! And thanks for the info on the 200r4. Not too pressed about it yet as she does not even like taking it on the highway lol, but its good to know this is aviable.

 

 

And I agree that "all Vettes are cool" and I defiantly did not used to think tha way. My C6z smacked me hard with that dose of reality lol. I have owned a C3, C5, and C6 now. Really enjoyed them all for different reasons. Rode/Driven/Raced c2, c7, C8 and they all have somthing to offer that is pretty unique to Corevetts beyond otherr cars from their same generation.

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