Paint & Body Special Section
An item on the '74-and-up Corvette that is considered so significant that it is a defining feature is the urethane bumper arrangements. Designed to meet the new federal crash standards phased in during the '70s, the bumper arrangement represented a major change in the Corvette. Beginning in 1973, on the front only, and then appearing at both ends for 1974, these urethane bumper covers were innovative for their time, hiding a massive impact-absorbing system behind them. Gone were the elegant chrome bumpers of earlier Corvettes. Undeniably, the change had a major impact on styling, though arguably the form created by GM was very attractive in its own right. Still, the change is significant enough for a distinction to be made, separating C3 Corvette types between "chrome bumper" and "rubber bumper" cars, with the former considered more coveted.

Paint & Body Special Section
One of the potential problem areas for someone looking to install a hot engine in a mid-'70s Corvette is a definite limit on available hood clearance. The price of that sexy, low hood line is that very few custom intake systems will clear beneath it, and, certainly, none of the really high-rise, race-style intake manifolds, even with a small-block.

Paint & Body Special Section
Any paint job involves decisions, and one of the most important decisions you will make in painting your Corvette is just how far you want to go. Here, there are extreme ends of the spectrum. There are plenty of quickie paint shops that will scuff the existing exterior paint, bust out the tape, and spray away. That barely rates as a bare minimum pproach. On the other hand, perfection means pulling the body off and down to a bare shell, stripped of the last nut and bolt, and kicking off the paintwork from there. Most of us will end up somewhere in the middle. The condition of the car plays an important role in the decisionmaking process. Indeed, if the car is otherwise mint and is being resprayed in the stock color, a scuff and exterior respray may be quite acceptable.

Planet Color's Paint System
While we could have refinished our project C3 in the original color, the fact is, our factory white was a little subdued for our custom Corvette cravings. If the ambition was pure stock and correct, this would have been the only choice. True, we could have strayed from original, but held within the constraints of the OEM palette; however, in this build we had already overstepped the boundaries of resto, with leanings well towards custom. So why not a custom paint? Planet Color has become quite a force in the custom paint world, with a staggering selection of color and additives, which can be used in combination for an infinite number of trick paint effects.

This Makes All The Prior Work WorthwhileOnce the car is stripped, the bodywork done, the primer applied and blocked to perfection, it's time to lay down the final hue. The color coats are the pay-off, where all that work and effort are rewarded with a finish worthy of a Corvette. Really, once the proper foundation is laid with diligent work to this point, applying the final color coats is just like adding icing to the cake. The process of building our project C3 is ongoing and real, and as it is, the main body tub still isn't quite ready for the final finish coats. However, our paint plan has always been to spray the removable panels individually and off the car, allowing full coverage of the edges and jambs without seams. This is a common technique in painting top-level show cars, but taking this approach comes with its own set of caveats. Foremost on that list is ending up with a perfect color match from panel to panel. There are two main factors here: the paint and the application.

Prepping For Show-Quality Paint
It has long been said that a paint job is only as good as the prep, but that leaves out the answer of just how to get there. A decent paint job will take a fairly intensive amount of prep work-undeniably hard and skilled work. Raising the bar and going for the ultimate glamour finish seen on a show-car takes exponentially more of the same. For the paint work on our project Corvette, we substantially disassembled the car, stripped off all traces of the old finish, and primers. We were fairly well invested in effort before even lifting a spray gun. We were well past the point of no return here, and there was no way we'd compromise the job now with a hurried prep job. No, the goal here is to make the car's body as straight and sharp as a pin, for a flawless look once the color is applied.

Vette-Rod/Resto-Mod Corvette builds are on fire today. As many people are discovering, you can have the best of both worlds with these Corvettes. The current trend is to have the look of a classic Corvette with all the creature comforts of the late-models, while blending in the performance and handling of a C4/C5 caliber car. The result is cool, early-Corvette styling with 21st century drivability.

This month, we're revisiting the Keisler Project Maximum Overdrive '65 coupe to cover a Vintage Air in-dash air-conditioning system install. In our previous stories on this Vette, we talked about the virtues of the General Motors Ram jet fuel-injected crate engine coupled to Keisler's Tremec five-speed conversion. The Ram Jet and five-speed clearly brought this souped-up midyear into the 21st century. All we needed now for total creature comfort would be a dependable A/C system that looked like it was factory installed.

There's no denying it-the iPod is a great little gadget. it's no wonder it's so popular when even an "old fogey" like me has one. I have all my favorite tunes and albums (over 2,000 songs and still counting at this point) on my little white 30-gigabyte iPod, along with some home videos I shot and a plethora of digital photos. The amazing thing is all of this fits into my shirt pocket and barely creates a bulge. Even more amazing, I still have over 10 gigabytes of storage space left for more tunes, pix, and flix.

Working on your Corvette in your garage should be a fun and relaxing experience; something you look forward to and enjoy doing. But nothing puts a dampener on a good time like getting injured; that's no fun at all. So that's what I'm going to focus on this month: how not to get hurt working in your garage, and what you should have within easy reach if you do.

Everybody knows that fuel gets converted into power. Power equals energy. So it stands to reason that if you can cram more fuel into your engine and burn it efficiently, the result will be more power to the pavement. It used to be you could just bolt a bigger Holley carburetor onto a stock or aftermarket intake manifold to take advantage of your newly installed cam and headers. But if your Corvette is equipped with electronic fuel injection, it's not quite that simple.

You've decided to buy a '97-'04 C5 Corvette. Could there be a better time to do so? Making sure the car you buy doesn't turn out to be a horrible mistake is always a challenge. Have no fear - Corvette Fever is here.

All shark Corvettes have dual-reservoir master cylinders that, in effect, act as two independent braking systems. If the front brakes fail, the rears will still operate and vice versa. Obviously, this is a good thing. With age and use, the master cylinder will eventually wear out and will need replacement. Fortunately, this is a simple task that can be performed with basic hand tools. This procedure will also apply to any Corvette that uses this same basic master cylinder setup.

The new Z06 is an amazing value for the dollar. The new SuperVette packs 505 hp and offers a relatively quiet ride until you stomp the throttle. After experiencing this new car's jolting performance, it's not hard to come to the conclusion that this car cannot be improved. Well, leave it to the tuners to take the best to an even higher level.

If the LS1/LS2/LS6 engine family has a shortcoming, it has to be the rocker arm mounting, which doesn't allow for adjustment. Non-adjustable rockers have become standard in virtually all late-model pushrod engines, largely because they reduce the amount of labor, skilled or otherwise, required to assemble engines. But what is an advantage for an engine manufacturer is usually a decided disadvantage for vehicle owners and performance specialists when they modify an engine for increased power output.

If you've had your C5 or C6 six-speed Corvette for a while, you may be tired of the loose, long-throw feel the OE shifter delivers. The shifter on the C5/C6 is remote mounted to the torque tube with the linkage connected to the transmission with one linkage rod. The torque tube connects the engine bellhousing to the rear-mounted transmission and houses the driveshaft down the center of the tunnel. This allows the shifter to be rigidly mounted to the driveline so the only variable is the shifter. OE shifters are long throw and are setup loose for the masses due to varying tolerances. This makes some shifters feel even looser than others. There is a solution though.

This is the second installment of a two-part article on removing the engine from your C5 Corvette. This process is required if you want to perform engine modifications to your C5 Corvette beyond installing a different air box or adding a cat-back exhaust system. As was discussed in the first article, pulling the engine on the C5 is a little different than what most enthusiasts are used to doing. This is because the most thorough way to do it is to drop the engine, torque tube, transmission, front and rear suspension, and other components that make up the "spine" of the C5 Corvette out from under the body structure as one unit. In fact, the body is lifted off the drivetrain system to access the engine.

Do you want to greatly improve your night vision? Do you want to really light up your driving world? No matter where we live, all of us can certainly appreciate extra automotive lighting choices. There really is no safety device that's better than prevention and that includes better lighting options. High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights are now being installed in many high-end vehicles from the manufacturer for just that reason. This improved light "movement" has paved the way for aftermarket companies to begin retrofitting HID headlamps into other high-end vehicles.

While exterior upgrades may receive all the compliments, restoring a car's interior is generally the most gratifying upgrade for Corvette owners. After all, where do you spend most of the time?

There are many ways to enjoy the Corvette hobby today. It would be hardto miss the fast growing trend of modifying earlier-model Corvettes toimprove handling, braking, comfort, and performance, as well as toreflect your own ideas and style. The examples in this issue give anidea of the variety of approaches.

Did you ever wonder where your Corvette came from? Or who bought it originally and who's owned it and for how long? There are several ways to obtain the history of your classic Corvette. While previous owners of your car might not be important to you now, you might want to know if the car is rarely equipped or was owned by a famous automotive executive or Hollywood celebrity. Many rare and one-off cars have sometimes sat in backyards and decrepit garages unrestored for decades until someone took the time and trouble to find out their history. Many of these cars, once restored back to their former glory, have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Wouldn't it be cool if a famous person owned your car at one time?

Over the years, we've done quite a few interior restorations with pleasing results. Then, along comes the C4 Corvette with a whole new set of problems to deal with. Sure, while the '77 and later sharks started using more plastic than ever before, the C3 plastic material seemed tougher than the C4 interior pieces. Since the flat-dash C4s are approaching their 20th birthdays, many of their interiors need help.

While it may not be apparent when you're enjoying driving your Corvette,the seat you're sitting in will wear out with time. Just like balljoints and tires, seats see a lot of wear and tear over the years andare one of the few parts that age even when the car is not in use.Especially on hot, sunny days (or frosty cold nights, for that matter),seat surfaces are exposed to a lot of direct sunlight, which causes themto fade and crack. Seating surfaces often need to be replaced,especially the leather-clad seats in C3 ('68-'82) Corvettes.

It's the jewelry on your car. Certainly, replacing the old emblems onyour Corvette can make a big difference in how it looks. Moreimportantly, old and worn emblems and badges make your Corvette look alot older and mistreated.

If your Corvette coupe still has the original rear-hatch assist rods inplace, chances are they aren't up to par after almost 20 years ofservice. In the case of our '86, both assist rods needed to be replaced (Zip Products PN l-1113Rear-hatch assist rod with rear defroster),not only because they didn't keep the hatch open, but there was asignificant amount of fluid leaking from the rods. Time for a change.