1978 Vette restoration

Sparky

Sparky

CCCUK Member
Hi team,
I have recently joined the club and thanks to Rob for his assistance with membership etc.
I have a 1978 25th anniversary C3 which has been in storage since 2007, I bought it from a relative in 2006 whilst living in London, moved to Herefordshire in 2007 and have only driven it once to get to it's new home.
Due to work commitments I have not had time to do anything with her up until now but as retirement looms I've decided to get her back on the road.
My Vette has a single exhaust from the headers to the back axle and the first job I want to do is change that to a dual exhaust system, I've been advised not to change the cast iron headers and so my first question is can anyone recommend someone who can supply the two straight pipes and nice sounding end boxes.
Secondly I guess that after all this time I will need to change the brake fluid and all the cylinder seals, I guess that it's an easy enough job to do but so far everyone that I've contacted can't supply the appropriate seal kits.
Any help will be much appreciated... Cheers Sparky.
 
kentvette

kentvette

CCCUK Member
You could speak to these guys re teh exhaust:
www.profusioncustoms.com

Stainless Steel Performance Exhaust in North London

Stainless Steel Performance Exhaust in North London - Profusion Customs -
www.profusioncustoms.com
I haven't used them, but I know someone who did, and he was very happy! I'd agree on not changing the stock manifolds - headers are useful at high revs only and are noisy and make the cabin very hot! I went back to the stock manifolds from headers on our '78 and it was a massive improvement. I believe that the chap who did the swap used stock front pipes from an earlier model year that still used the dual exhausts. (I'd previously had a very nice S/S exhaust made that mated to the headers, so he need to do a bit of "cutting and shutting" to join the new with the "not so new".

Can't help you with the brakes - never been into re building callipers, but in any event you want to go for O-Rings seals as opposed to the original style lip seals. Have you tried Corvette Kingdom for the kits?
 
johng

johng

CCCUK Member
Sparky, I've spent the past 3 years refurbishing my 78 which had been stored for 15 years before I got it. I had to replace the brake seals and basically everything else that is made of rubber. I got my seals (and tons of other stuff) from rockauto.com. Their prices are very good and delivery is almost always less than a week.
 
Sparky

Sparky

CCCUK Member
johng said:
Sparky, I've spent the past 3 years refurbishing my 78 which had been stored for 15 years before I got it. I had to replace the brake seals and basically everything else that is made of rubber. I got my seals (and tons of other stuff) from rockauto.com. Their prices are very good and delivery is almost always less than a week.
Click to expand...
Great stuff, I'll try them , thanks...
 
Sparky

Sparky

CCCUK Member
kentvette said:
You could speak to these guys re teh exhaust:
www.profusioncustoms.com

Stainless Steel Performance Exhaust in North London

Stainless Steel Performance Exhaust in North London - Profusion Customs -
www.profusioncustoms.com
I haven't used them, but I know someone who did, and he was very happy! I'd agree on not changing the stock manifolds - headers are useful at high revs only and are noisy and make the cabin very hot! I went back to the stock manifolds from headers on our '78 and it was a massive improvement. I believe that the chap who did the swap used stock front pipes from an earlier model year that still used the dual exhausts. (I'd previously had a very nice S/S exhaust made that mated to the headers, so he need to do a bit of "cutting and shutting" to join the new with the "not so new".

Can't help you with the brakes - never been into re building callipers, but in any event you want to go for O-Rings seals as opposed to the original style lip seals. Have you tried Corvette Kingdom for the kits?
Click to expand...
CK have the master kit but it's a bit pricy for a few bits of rubber...
 
johng

johng

CCCUK Member
It's easy to import stuff particularly if you pay the VAT and any import duty up front. Rockauto provide shipping options that do this. If you don't pay upfront you will probably have a couple of week delay and have to pay a handling fee (£12 I think) to Parcelforce. Shipping costs can vary wildly so make sure you check this out. It's also worth checking corvette.co.uk, some of their prices are quite reasonable.
 
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