Adam Wartell

So, I was thinking about selling my 79, but decided against it because despite all its problems, I love it and my dad was the original owner. So there is too much history to let it go.

With that in mind, I decided to take it to a Corvette specialty shop to get it checked out, mostly to fix the leaking T-Tops, but have everything else checked too. It is about to become my daily driver, since my Pathfinder's lease is up next week.

So, the "Fix the T-Top Leaks" visit to the shop has suddenly turned in to a $2700 visit.... here's what they found:

Turn Signal Switch arm is bent, needs replacement
Door Lock electrical connectors and wire need replacement
Rear Body Mounts are rotted
Lower Control Arm Bushings are gone
Parking Brake Cable broken
Rear Strut Rod Bushings need replacement
Rear Leaf Spring hanger bushing need replacement
3 Brake hoses are cracked and rotting
Two sets of T-Tops reseal, adjust and adjust windows.
Speedo Head bad

So to get all of that fixed, minus the speedo head and body mounts is about $2700. UGH!! :banghead:

But I still love the car, right? :crazy:

Corey_68

:eek:

76Frankenstein

:eek: sounds high to me...but then, I don't know much...yet

marshrat99

Look on the bright side. Thats ALL that needs done. Some of us have lists MUCH longer. :lol:

NHvette

Be careful. I originally thought that a list like this would get my 75 back up to
snuff, but later learned that rust had taken it's toll to a greater extent than I
had imagined. I can see a future post - after bringing her in to replace the #4
body mounts - and the shop now discovers that the birdcage is rusted out
and only the #1 mounts are hanging on.

I woudl suggest using the forum knowledge and doing most of these repairs
yourself. Perhaps leaving the control arm bushings and body mounts to a
trustworthy shop. You should be able to tackle most of that list over a few
months during the winter. Good luck - and remember: That $2700 is less than
a years worth of new car payments.

:seeya

Tom78

Adam,

I saw the list and I can relate to changing control arm bushings. I had to replace the upper and lower control arm bushings on my 78 to get it to pass inspection. My dad and I undertook the project and that was a real headache. Basically we ended up disassembling the entire front end to get the things out of there :eek: , and then we drilled out the old rubber bushings to get them out of the control arms. I can tell you, that was a real pain and I'm sure you will pay top dollar for someone else to do it.

Just my $0.02

Tom

Gordonm

That seems like a lot, but labor is expensive. You don't have much there in parts just labor. Why not do most of it yourself. You will save a bundle and learn about the car. Nothing there exept the body mounts will require to much work. The front suspension is a little more work but if the lower ones are gone I'll bet the rest of the front suspension is worn out. Do it all at once and it is much easier.

Tom73

Turn Signal Switch arm is bent, needs replacement
- Not sure about 79, but on earlier models it just screws in.
Door Lock electrical connectors and wire need replacement
- Do you really need power door locks? This can be put off without any problem.
Rear Body Mounts are rotted
- Can do yourself in a couple of hours. Did the one on my convertible (which has the deck lid supports/springs mounted on top of the rear mounts) in one day. On a coupe you do not have the hassle of the deck lid mounting system.
Lower Control Arm Bushings are gone
- Get a second opinion from an alignment shop. If bad then need to be replaced.
Parking Brake Cable broken
- Easy self fix
Rear Strut Rod Bushings need replacement
- See Lower Control Arm above
Rear Leaf Spring hanger bushing need replacement
- Bolt in operations, easy dyi
3 Brake hoses are cracked and rotting
- double check condition. If bad replace.
Two sets of T-Tops reseal, adjust and adjust windows.
- main purpose of going to the shop
Speedo Head bad
- What is bad, does it not work?

tom....



[Modified by Tom73, 11:55 AM 9/25/2003]

coldwarrior2000

Turn Signal Switch arm is bent, needs replacement
If your turn signals still work, don't worry about it

Parking Brake Cable broken
You can fix

Rear Strut Rod Bushings need replacement
You can fix

Rear Leaf Spring hanger bushing need replacement
You can fix

3 Brake hoses are cracked and rotting
You can fix

Two sets of T-Tops reseal, adjust and adjust windows.
Maybe your T-Tops just need new weather-stripping.

Speedo Head bad
?

To summarize, grab a 12 pack and invite a buddy over to "drink some beer" this weekend

:reddevil

crf311

Do it yourself and save 2K. Plus you will get the experiance of working on the vette. :cool:

Adam Wartell

The biggest problem about doing it myself, is I don't have the right setup, tools, know-how or time. I'd rather have someone that works on Vettes all week long for years do the work. The labor cost is definately the sucky part!

And yeah, the amount of work to replace the lower control arm bushings is crazy! It's like 3 or 4 hours labor. Definately something I could not do myself!

BlueL36

Another thing to remember... never ask an Army barber to give you a haircut. :D

79VetteMike

I agree with everyone else. Do the work yourself. The money you are saving from your lease, you can put into the Vette. With one of those lease payments, you can buy almost all of the tools you need to pay for most of the minor maintenance you are talking about. :chevy

MN-Brent

Dont use the Vette as a daily driver.

Go get yourself a decent cheap S10 pickup or some 4 popper sedan and keep the vette for your fun toy. Especially with winter coming up.

If you start to have trouble with the vette and its your DD, you might develope a love/hate relationship that sours the experience.

My .02

Brent...