Hey everyone, I recently inherited my father's 1981 corvette, and am very excited to get working on it. The thing's in terrible shape. The best thing about it is probably the transmission which was replaced 7 or 8 years ago. Its basically a junker, but a well-loved one. I'm in love with this car just as much as my father was, and would like to restore it to showroom quality.
I know this is one hell of an undertaking. I mean, its been sitting in ohio for years, the chassis is starting to rust and god knows what else. Thank Harley Earl for fiberglass. Its getting stripped to the frame. The frame will be stripped and repainted. You know what happens from there.

So I have a couple of questions...

First: What's the best place to get all the parts I'm going to need for the rebuild of the whole thing. I know Eckler's has everything I need.

Second: Are there any good corvette mechanics in Ohio that could overhaul the engine and tune it for performance? I can handle the rest, but the last engine I rebuilt was on a Jeep CJ-6...that's practically childs play compared to this vette engine, so I want someone professional to do it.

Third: The damn thing was built with an automatic. Unacceptable. What's the trouble in converting it over to the 4 speed?

That's about it for now. I'm trying to work up a financial plan for the cost of the rebuild right now before I start on it.

Luckily my friend lets me keep it in his garage.

Thanks for your input.

J3d

PS - Don't let the paint job fool you.

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i appreciate what you are undertaking,i recently completed a '71 roadster that took me 12 years.i was never in a rush to finish the project,i enjoyed every thing i did and that was,well,my way....i can offer a comment about parts retailers,get knowledgeble,there are more inferior,incorrect parts being passed off and it happens because of ignorance on part of customer.it is that pure and simple.in the beginning,i was aware of the need for originality in replacement parts but trusted that the part i was buying was correct.it didn't take me long to realize my ignorance and i steered clear of those suppliers.i was satisfied with dr rebuild,volunteer vette, al knoch interiors (i think the best).there are many out there,talk to other vette people and be fussy,it's your vette and the more effort and money you put in it to be right will pay off...have fun....jc