Hello all.
I live near Cape Girardeau, MO, having moved here from central MN some 20 years ago, but hope to move to Casper, WY, when I retire in 3 or 4 years.
Through circumstance I got involved in heavy Construction Quality Control, with most of my jobs on new power plants.
That means I work mostly away from home for long periods so don't have much time to work on any major car projects.
Several years ago I got the bug for a Corvette, one of the few "hot rods" for lack of a better term I'd never had. I had a good selection of classic & muscle cars back in the 60's & 70's which has included Mopar (66 426 Hemi, 70 Challenger RT S/E 440 Six Pack), Ford (64 Galaxie XL 390), and of course Chev (61 Impala bubble back, 66 El Camino SS 327, 67 Camaro SS 396 / 375 hp, 68 Nova SS 350), most of which were "enhanced" at least mildly. About 5+ years ago I was able to get back into the game in a moderate way with an 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC into which I've swapped a moderately built 351 Lightning motor, a beefed 4R70W electronic trans with stall, and other upgrades. Most major parts were used, collected over 3 years, and I did all the wrenching myself incl building the motor, trans, and rear end.
I have always admired the Shark style Vette's, and have never had a convertible. So several years ago, not knowing much about the unique rear suspension, I bought an 81 that had all the factory options along with
a new leather interior and paint. Unfortunately that masked significant problems with the rear suspension and problems with the body including body mounts and a rusted out driver side door post.
Not having any time to work on it since I bought it and over the first 6 months was able to get under it and discover the extent of the problems, it has sat in storage since. I did quite a lot of online research when I started finding the problems, but of course then it was too late. Now I'm hoping to retire in 3 to 4 years and, while laid off inbetween projects (I work on a contract basis one job at a time) I've had time to review all the info I found before and develop a plan for upgrading it mechanically to incude basicaly a mild top end & cam upgrade to the engine, installing an improved 200-4R and mild stall, rebuilding and upgrading the rear suspension and all the brakes, hopefully installing a rack and pinion, possibly upgrading the front suspension, installing a 6 link on the rear, and rebuilding the differential & changing gears. My wife and I hope to do some traveling with it when I retire so am planning it with an eye for getting good gas mileage but still with some decent throttle response and improved fun factor, besides suspension and brake and steering upgrades to more modern technology. I do all my own work, and am always looking to expand my knowledge base on procedures and products.
Thank you for accepting my membership. I look forward to continuing to learn and to post my planned upgrades for review and comment.
I live near Cape Girardeau, MO, having moved here from central MN some 20 years ago, but hope to move to Casper, WY, when I retire in 3 or 4 years.
Through circumstance I got involved in heavy Construction Quality Control, with most of my jobs on new power plants.
That means I work mostly away from home for long periods so don't have much time to work on any major car projects.
Several years ago I got the bug for a Corvette, one of the few "hot rods" for lack of a better term I'd never had. I had a good selection of classic & muscle cars back in the 60's & 70's which has included Mopar (66 426 Hemi, 70 Challenger RT S/E 440 Six Pack), Ford (64 Galaxie XL 390), and of course Chev (61 Impala bubble back, 66 El Camino SS 327, 67 Camaro SS 396 / 375 hp, 68 Nova SS 350), most of which were "enhanced" at least mildly. About 5+ years ago I was able to get back into the game in a moderate way with an 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC into which I've swapped a moderately built 351 Lightning motor, a beefed 4R70W electronic trans with stall, and other upgrades. Most major parts were used, collected over 3 years, and I did all the wrenching myself incl building the motor, trans, and rear end.
I have always admired the Shark style Vette's, and have never had a convertible. So several years ago, not knowing much about the unique rear suspension, I bought an 81 that had all the factory options along with
a new leather interior and paint. Unfortunately that masked significant problems with the rear suspension and problems with the body including body mounts and a rusted out driver side door post.
Not having any time to work on it since I bought it and over the first 6 months was able to get under it and discover the extent of the problems, it has sat in storage since. I did quite a lot of online research when I started finding the problems, but of course then it was too late. Now I'm hoping to retire in 3 to 4 years and, while laid off inbetween projects (I work on a contract basis one job at a time) I've had time to review all the info I found before and develop a plan for upgrading it mechanically to incude basicaly a mild top end & cam upgrade to the engine, installing an improved 200-4R and mild stall, rebuilding and upgrading the rear suspension and all the brakes, hopefully installing a rack and pinion, possibly upgrading the front suspension, installing a 6 link on the rear, and rebuilding the differential & changing gears. My wife and I hope to do some traveling with it when I retire so am planning it with an eye for getting good gas mileage but still with some decent throttle response and improved fun factor, besides suspension and brake and steering upgrades to more modern technology. I do all my own work, and am always looking to expand my knowledge base on procedures and products.
Thank you for accepting my membership. I look forward to continuing to learn and to post my planned upgrades for review and comment.