akstreker

well let me keep it short i got a 76 vette i never had one before but i have dreamed of having one for some time. Besicly if anyone can give me some help or advice about some problems im having. Which are as following
1)lights dont go up 2)I got no idea were the hazard light swich is 3) turn signals dont blink (but i think its just the flasher thats messed up) 4)door open light is alwayz on 5)dash dosent light up when the lights button is pulled out 6)heater dosent work.........basicly this car is a big electrical mess i have no idea why it still hasent cought on fire but thankfully it didnt........Also they guy took off all the smog equipment and i need to put it back on so for only thing i know is missing and from were are the cat back converters is there anything else that is part of the smog equipment???

ill be very happy with any tips or sugestions hopefully ill get his mess working thank you every one in advance :chevy

daniel77350

well I can answer some...the headlights, sounds like a vacuum problem. That is considered the headache on these cars, but I found it to be sorta easy once you understand how it all happens. I had a website that helped, but it seems to be missing. Maybe it'll coem back later, the address is:
http://www.members.home.net/awsvette/vacuum.htm#top

as for the dash lights...try turning the pull out switch clockweise(I think it is)...Im not underminding your intellegance, but sometimes the hardest answers to find are the most obvious...

PS. welcome to the forum, and remember, c3's wave :seeya

Daniel

Carl in LA

Sell it... A '76 is a car with no special appeal other than being a member of the linage of the greatest sports car in the world.

I speak the truth... unless this car has really some other redeeming characteristics think about you're up against before you start dropping big bucks into the car. I can report that there are many other Stingray vettes out there for what you probably paid that will be in much better condition and a much better starting point - All this unless you enjoy working on the car as much as you do driving.

How can I say such brutal things??? I'm $16k into a major rebuild of my own '76 and in the end I'll still have a car that I have to go get smogged three more times between now and 2006! And I started with a clean original (worn-out) car with everything intact. It all depends on what you want to do with your Corvette.

BTW - These are the best kind of problems... deciding what to do with your Corvette Stingray!!!!!!

daniel77350

Carl, brutal but honest. My '77 is a money pit as well. But I must ask, if you where looking for a car to save money, why'd you buy a C3?? :jester one of those desil jetta's will save you gobbs of money, but theres no fun in that.

akstreker; don't let all these stories about cost around here scare you. The people that pour tons of money into these cars are the ones that seem to buy NOS as apposed to trying to salvage whats there. Granted welds are not very pretty on some items, but given the cost to replace, its all in the eye of the beholder.

If I would have bought my car, I would have paid about $5,000 for it. I've put about $4,000 in it since then, and I estimate another $1,000 and it will be in damn good condition. So I didn't go for the $1,200 sportsman II heads, or the $2,000 TT 2 rims, or the $250 cam and lifters, or so what if most of my "replacement parts" are slightly used, etc....its things like this that get the resto cost way up there. There are also nickel and dime items like inner door handles, and quarts clock conversions. They seem cheap, but when you add it all up, you get the high price tag. Granted my car, when finished, won't win any awards, but the average "joe-gawker" will not notice the small details like "thats a griffin universal radiator for $180, as apposed to the stock unit that goes for $300 new". or "your clocks not working". Well they may notice that one, but that's a typical problem with any old car...

These car's are expensive yes, but if you know when to say when, and what you can repair as apposed to replace, you can do it for the same price as one of those little ford focus cars...

thats my .02 cents
Daniel
PS. Why buy a perfect car? It won't need any work. whats the fun in that? :jester

moosie982

Daniel 77350, you said it all, right on, right on :cheers: Peace,,,,,,, Moosie

MikeC

If you buy cars as an investment, you aren't very smart(I rethought what I was actually going to say there). Very few cars are ever sold for more money than someone put into restoring it.

I bought my car because I love vettes, I now have more money sunk into it thatn the car is worth, and guess what, it still needs some body work and a new interior and a new frame. Guess what else, I'm going to sink money into it until I get it the way that I want it.

I believe that akstreker bought the vette because he wanted it and he doesn't really care about the value that he will get out of the car when sold.

As for your problems, AK, Your electrical system sounds like its really screwed up, might be wise to invest in a new harness, the smell of burnt fibreglass is awful.

akstreker

well i should have said that there are some good points of this car its got a brand new rebuilt chevy327 of a older vette(almost no miles on it) i cant quite figure out what it is or what is modifed on it, the previous owner named me lots of stuff that flew in and out of my head right away. also its got a shift kit(which sadly i dont even care about much couse want a stick shift).
No rust, paint messed up in some places and like i said earlyer a big electrical mess and no smog equipment but on the bright side the interior is 60% new the rest i will work on...
plus its not that esay to find cars in San Francisco like these no one wants gas killers :jester plus i got it for 3500 seems like a good deal id get some pix but my camera aint working... P.S and i did realy get this car because i love C3's rather have had anythig under 73 but to pricy. Maybe some day


[Modified by akstreker, 3:54 AM 12/28/2001]

daniel77350

my sis and bro in law are in san fran...I havn't been there because I too hear about the lack of vettes. :jester

Actually Im trying to go next summer.

Anyway, I agree, go through your harness with volt meters and amp meters and repair where needed. Its just wires, not like its a computer car. If you mess something up, its not hard to repair, you just have to look past the 50 wires, and see 1, the 1 your working on. it takes focus younge grasshoppa :jester

You can do it! he he

Daniel

tnt76vette

Carl in LA: your brutal testimonial reminded me of the Budweiser Beer commercial; "Know when to say when." No further comment necessary.... :eek:

akstreker

lol well this is my first vette i have delt with Japanes cars i own a CRX but realy never had to deal with electrical systems plus lol from what i just figured out that the hazard swich is totaly missing and the powere lock components not to mention the horn but it dose sound like a good idea to buy a new electrical harness didnt even think of that P.S daniel the link you gave me for the head lights dosent seem to be working :jester


[Modified by akstreker, 4:08 AM 12/28/2001]


[Modified by akstreker, 4:12 AM 12/28/2001]

jerryp58

Probably one of the best things you can do is get yourself an Assembly Instruction Manual (AIM) for 1976 (about $20). It'll have a picture of just about everything that makes up your car.

There is also a booklet specifically on the vacuum systems (about $5). It explains how to track down vacuum problems and has some diagrams of the vacuum system. There are basically a couple of T's, and some switches all connected by vacuum line. The most expensive part of the system is the headlight actuator (big can right behind the lights that costs about $100 each), but I think both would have to be bad for both lights to stay down and that doesn't seem likely. It could be a spring or adjustment problem too.

BTW, the AIM and vacuum booklet should be available at most of the catalog vendors (listed here on the forum & elsewhere on the Web), or on eBay.

I think '77 might have been the first year for the "printed circuit board" (laugh-able by today's standards), but that can be a fragile thing and can cause a lot of dash problems. Grounds are also tricky on these cars and can cause very odd problems. I'm afraid, I'm horrible at electrical systems so I can't offer much for those problems, but I'm sure others here can.

I think it was '62 to '68 that 327s were put in Corvettes. I'm not sure if any '76s had smog pumps on them or not (my '77 apparently did not). If it did have the smog pump, a bracket for the 327 might be tricky, but I'm not sure at all about that. Other than the pump I guess there's the PCV and EGR valves.

I just put a shift kit in my TH350. If you can't have a manual, it's gotta be the next best thing. If it doesn't have an adjustable vacuum modulator and it shifts at a low RPM, you may want to put one in (about $20). It lets you adjust the shift points up or down the RPM range. I think the adjustable modulator works great with a shift kit.

Hopefully, some of this will help and BTW, Welcome to the Forum :seeya

jeffnles1

Welcome fellow 76 owner. Like many on the forum, I have more money sunk into my my 76 than I'll ever get out of it. But like most things, you don't really lose money until you sell and I don't want to sell just yet. I enjoy working on it I enjoy driving it and, within reason, I don't mind spending some money.

Your headlights sound like either a vacuum problem (chase the vacuum lines and replace if bad) or bad actuators. Since both have problems, I'd check the lines first as they're probably bad and a lot less costly than the actuators.

The dash lights could be a simple fuse. Get a wiring schematic and check where the fuse is. Do other electrical things like the buzzers and your cigarette lighter work. A lot of these components share the same fuse.

Heater doesn't work, are you talking about the blower or hot air? If the blower isn't working, again, check the fuse box. There's also an in-line fuse out between the distributor and the fire wall which controls the high speed blower motor.

If the blower is working but it's not blowing hot air, check to be sure the cutoff valve is opening (it's on the passenger side down kind of below the AC compressor. Follow the heater hose that goes from the intake manifold back to the heater core. The cutoff valve should be in that line somewhere).

Don't get discouraged. You will probably put more money in it than it's worth, but don't feel alone. A lot of us are in the same boat.

Jeff

akstreker

yeah i bought some crapy assembly manual it didnt realy help much i would blame that on it not being year specific i just orderd a new one, got to watie 2 days but i realy apreshate the tip about the smog lol dosent have to be perfect cuz thouse guyz at the smog cheks are flexible :D when it come to making extra money. But unless i wanna kill or poison myself. I got to put the smog equipment on :jester

AJ

If you are interested in my Vacuum troubleshooting section... I moved it to: http://www.corvette-101.com

Tim H

These problems sound easy.
I could fix them in a weekend.
Try buying one thats been on fire,no intake,carb, distributer,non-working heater,bad radator,water pump.fuel pump,oil pan full of water,no starter and all the under hood wires burnt off at the plug.
I had this running and driving in 11 days.
Then stripped the paint off and had it painted and been spending money every week and don't care how much I put in it cause its what I want until I find something I want more!!!!!!

akstreker

god bless you man and your site its sad how people make you buy the gide for a fairly simple thing to fix. :chevy

GOTVETT

Let's face it the first vette is gonna be the most special you will ever own. Even if it is a money pit! Or you build it up as a weekend crusier or go the full restoration route. After my wife passed away. I found my 78 at a engineering inspectors house who's air conditioning went. Not running for a while, needing brake work and the owner having bad knee's, well 3000 dollars later I had a '78 anniversary coupe with an L-82 4speed,and 45k miles. Even though i have put in 3000 more into it and she willl take as much as i give her. I still am the first one of my family to own a vette and my younger brothers sons go nuts when I drive it over there and my best friend drools with envey even though he could afford on but the wife won't let him have it. Fear Not! for you are on your way to getting off the porch and running with the BIG DOGS! ENJOY!

Blues77

Keep your vette. I dont understand why the money issue comes up all the time. Spending 30,000 for a new car and loosing money right when you put the key in the ignition. 500 dollar car payments. If I could put that into the vette each month! My car has just about every common vette problem, but its getting fixed little by little. And dont let Bubba scare you, his fix's are usually better than the "right" ones. The electrical stuff is the hardest part ( at least for me). Check around for obvious loose wires, and study those wiring diagrams. Sorry for the vent. Good luck

woodworkr

I agree with alot that was said here. I bought my 76 to make a dependable, what was a daily driver and now weekend driver. To me the mid year rubber C3's fit the bill. The earlier chrome cars were just a bit pricy as was said. I put a good amount into my 76 that I know I will probably never get back, even though the C3 market is beginning to move a bit. That year allowed me to do most of the work myself, having restored two 68's which for the most part is the same car.
If I wanted to get an investment trailer queen Corvette in my mind a 67 435hp coupe with side exhaust in Marina blue :D
Just my .02
JoeB

KenSny

What's really going to be a big expense is getting all the smog stuff back on the engine before you can even get it registered. Arn't you glad you live in California? If you have patience you can get the electrical stuff fixed yourself, just get the AIM and a set of Helm's books for your '76 (total outlay about $100) and dig in like the rest of us.

BTW: I lived in the S.F. area (San Jose, Sunnyvale, Redwood City) until '74. It sure is pretty country north of there.....


[Modified by KenSny, 9:37 AM 12/28/2001]