Well , here she is ... nothin' too special, I'm going for a stock look. I have been mechanic-ing on this car for about five years now as I have had time and funds. It was ready for pick-up by a junk truck when I started, got it restored to near new condition mechanically, still needs some attention on a few cosmetic things.




Now that I have the car back in order so that it's a dependable ride, I can start dumping some money on performance upgrades. I'm shooting for 350HP/500 ft-lbs at the flywheel (starting from 225/330). It has a .060 over 350, which I think comes out to a 355.

With Clevite 77 bearings, it should be capable of handling 6K RPM. Stock is 5500 max, but the intake won't allow any more flow above 4800, so for practical purposes you can say it tops at 4800 stock. The long block has plenty to spare as it sits, all I need is more flow in and out. With good flow up to 6000, the intake upgrade alone I believe will be worth 40-50 horses, cam/headers will make up most of the rest, heads will get me there. If the cam/heads and bolts-ons don't do it, I'm sure tossing in a Procharger will.

I figure this will be a tolerable regular driver but will still have enough to smack down most any typical fare I see around these parts, and thus will represent the Vette community adequately.

nice car man i like the white

Thanks man! I like the white also obviously, and the good thing about white is that it hides flaws pretty well. Up close the paint is weather worn, from ten feet away it looks pretty good. I'll probably want to get it reshot at some point, right now I'm more interested in power.

I like it.

And your point is well made about white. Black is gorgeous, but I don't think I'll ever buy a black one again.

Thanks Ace! Black looks great on a Vette also, gives it a sinister look.

Just looking at your picture there that finish is so shiny I think I can see my reflection in the photo.


Seems like it would take up a lot of time though to keep it that clean with the black, I see what you mean. I'm too lazy, I'll stick with white.

looks good man! you got a good platform to build on

BTW I like the SinistR look

Mic the way your car sounds I think your license plate is appropriate!

Thanks for the thumbs up. It still needs a lot of work, the photos came out very well, doesn't look nearly so clean in person. I'm getting it there a little at a time though.

I saw that trick you did with the wheels on your car domain site, I would like to try that. Yours were already stripped though. Do you know where to get that "airplane stripper" stuff? My wheels look awful in direct sunlight, I need to get the clearcoat off them bad, but I have been afraid that paint stripper will ruin the aluminum underneath.

I took off the rears today to spray some stop-squeak on the brakes, found it wasn't the brakes after all, it was the half-shafts. I found that the hubs were wobly, tightened the spindle nuts up and it is amazing. Rides like a different car, took out almost all of the vibration I was getting at highway speed, and now when the I hit the brakes hard the car stays in a straight line, no crazy steering under braking. And the squeak is gone. Best mod I've done, never got so much improvement out of tightening a nut!

So I took it out for further evaluation and a restored and modded Olds Delta 88 tried to jump on me on the on-ramp, an S curve type. I blasted him with a 70 mph spring out of the second turn, handled like a dream, I couldn't believe it.

360. Nice car

Thank ya' there 84, that's good to know!

You can go to Autozone to get airplane stripper, becareful though its strong stuff. I used it to strip my roof and trunk lid and it was actually eating away at the gloves I was wearing. I would recommend the chemical handling gloves you can get at places like Home Depot instead of the latex gloves you can buy at Autozone or Pep Boys.

Thanks Ventura!

I found this stuff at Home Depot, a citrus based stripper, it worked good. I had to do several coats, but it finally got the old clear coat off. It is called CitriStrip I think. I have the rears done, they look MUCH better without the clear coat. Now I just need to get the fronts done. But with this 95 degree weather 98 humidity I'm not much for outdoor projects right at the moment.

But thanks for the tip, I will try some of this aircraft stuff also for the next time, to get the real stubborn crevices, might be easier.

you can use the paint stripper in a paint can from autozone. i heard this will take it right off. spray it on and wait a few mins then wipe off and your done

Thanks Mic I will see if I can find some of this stuff. Right now it is so hot out I don't much feel like doing any outdoor projects though.