The machines themselves must have had a manufacturing defect as most drivers opted to change it quite early into its usage. Wheel wells are prone to rust on any car or truck, so check there first. Sounds like you did have a bump steer issue there, . This design worked great for the most part, and was fairly easy to repair when it broke. In this video I talk about the ten things you need to know when buying your first C3 Corvette. Not only does this kill the cruise control, but usually led to corvettes being driven without turning miles for years before anyone would either bypass the box with a longer single speedometer cable or go through the hassle to replace the transducer. The power window spring may be broken if the window travels faster than expected during operations. Are you after a daily driver, project car, or Concours vehicle? Which Cadillac CTS Years to Avoid and Why? Also test the brakes, making sure it feels keen and powerful. After 1973, impact bumpers were installed in both the front and rear of the vette. The overheating has been commonly tied to replacing the stock radiator fan and fan shroud with an electric fan. While it was an interesting concept for the time, it worked off of vacuum and was controlled by a transducer box that was attached to the speedometer cables. Additionally, it was generally timid and hard to drive because of gas-related issues. Getting your mechanic to deal with it sooner than letting it fester for weeks is essential. If you think about it, C3 Corvettes represent a great value for driving fun. Make sure you know what you are buying and its within your mechanical ability to restore. OK, I'll add my 2 cents of experience from my 260,000 mile '75. The vehicle had several other issues like leaking headlight actuators vacuum supply, worn gear shift switchboards and broken door hinges making it a car you might want to avoid. In the automotive world, Corvette is a name that is synonymous with unique sportiness and dynamism. With corvettes, usually the first thing to go was the original paperwork. By eliminating the rear window storage shelf, the resolved window increased the vehicles back cargo space by one inch. Denis. It also had a unique colour, RPO D84, that made it stand out from many other vehicles of its time. Off comes the combination valve. 19057 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Red78, Jan 13, 2011 . Corvette C3 (1969 model year) The 1969 model year was prone to developing engine problems, giving drivers a lot of technical difficulties. Send Private Message. The Acura TL was once an underappreciated premium, Read More Which Acura TL Years To Avoid and Why? Chevrolet Corvette C3 specifications. 59566 Views 31 Replies 13 Participants Last post by 73 L82 VETTE . Versus Ferrari F8 & Lamborghini Huracan Evo Cammisas Ultimate Drag Race Replay, Ultra RARE: Colin Chapmans Lotus Eleven + 327 Corvette Stingray with 4-speed | Barn Find Hunter Ep. The 1973 C3 Corvette got 5 out of 5 consumer ratings based on the cars.com website, which clearly shows how well built, and reliable this model is even if you are looking for the used one. These models had fewer issues, were safer and gave a better performance. Front cross-member weld cracking, I've had mine fully welded and gusseted. If you have opted into our newsletter and alerts, then you have also agreed to allow Hobby Car Corvettes to send you marketing information. As most classic car buffs have learned, the majority of old cars come with their own lists of little things that have stopped working or gone missing over the years. Now, let us look more closely at the C3 Corvette years-. C3, Remember to avoid the following C3 Corvette released years if you are looking for a decent used car: All these mentioned years C3 Corvelle models are infamous for having engine troubles, Crankcase Ventilation/PCV valve, brakes, power window, interior, exterior, electrical and transmission-related problems. Engine normally starts OK but . If you plan on using the seat belts, I strongly recommend replacing them with new ones. Information For Car Owners. Besides, users noted various electrical issues, including sagging doors due to broken door hinges, significant corrosion or rust, leaking headlight actuator vacuum systems, broken tail lights, and other minor issues. For a little more cash you can get yourself a four-speed to further enhance your driving experience. Inspect the headlight and ensure they are in working order. This site is for Corvette C3 enthusiasts and has lots of information pertaining to Chevrolet Corvettes built between 1968 and 1982. It is one Corvette that cannot be forgotten in a hurry because of its great value and fun. I have a 79' L82 350 engine and I can't keep it from over heating. A popular one was for ice and drinks to be stored in its place. Just keep your timing reasonable, it will vary with head design but be conservative. The worst C3 cars in the list have been claimed to have issues, including new engines with only 180 horsepower and no four-speed manual transmission, a tendency for the engine to tumble but not restart, poor engine performance, or engine halting. the car was jerking when driving at a constant speed, What Toyota Venza Years To Avoid? News, auctions, events, vintage racing and more. One of the most common mechanical issues is the engine-related troubles that almost all C3 model users had to deal with, where they encountered engine overheating due to the replaced stock radiator fan and fan cover with an electric fan. All of them were V8 engines, starting . They offer lots of different options depending on what look you are going for. Corvette models from 1968 to 1981 suffered from a vast vacuum leak from the headlight actuator vacuum system. Working amazingly!! thanks for joining me I'm Steve from c&s corvettes in Sarasota Florida welcome to our Friday podcast we're going to address a couple of problems today that people have asked me about and we'll get into that in just a minute but for right now i just want to thank you for being here before we get started please take a moment of your time and like and if you haven't already subscribed please subscribe and you can click on the bell icon to be notified of future content as it comes out if you do that now that'd help us a lot now let's get on to addressing the problems people have asked us about here is our display door the one of the problems that that is brought up most often is the power window clunking as it goes up and down there's a number of different reasons for that and we're going to address a few of them here i can't do all of them right now but it's fairly time consuming but let's go over the most common we've got the door skin off of this so you can see the works what moves what doesn't move and you'll understand and make it easier to understand what the problems are first one most common one is the screws that hold your inside door pull handle in place when they get replaced people use whatever screw they can find and sometimes they're just way too long and as that screw goes through the handle through the inner door panel it comes out right in here by the by the regulator mechanism we've got this rigged up so we can we can make the window go up and down here today and what happens is as it goes up you can see the mechanism and we'll zoom in in a minute to show you the screw it it can hit that screw or that screw and as it passes the screw it goes clunk clunk it may not pass the screw if the screw is big enough which means it'll go up to there and stop so first and simplest thing to do take the screws out of the inner door handle now this is a 77 and back door 78 to 82 is different we'll address that one the next time but this is the most this is the the easiest to show you right now so those screws are one of the big problems i thought you might might enjoy seeing this this is some of the screws we have taken out of customers door handles to solve the very problems we're talking about we see everything from drywall screws to concrete screws tap cons the problem with these too is once they're put in those holes they enlarge the holes because they're much much too big around the right screws then don't fit so that has to be addressed before you put your door panel back together but this is stuff people have actually used and then wonder why their stuff doesn't work there's the answer okay here's your inner door handle um of course door panels removed the screws one goes in here one goes in down here from the bottom that hold that in place that's the screws we're talking about that are usually two or so often too long once you have put a screw in there that is too long and or too fat and you enlarge the hole when you put the right screws back in it here's what happens because the hole was enlarged that's why you have to fix the hole in the door first it can be done by kind of hammering it closed you can use a larger screw not as long of course larger in diameter and you can get by with that but in the future if you want to put the right stuff in it it won't work once you've enlarged it so you have to get into this piece of metal right here and flatten it out so that it will take the the correct size screw another of the problems is these little rollers that go inside these tracks with age they're plastic and they break they're they're little wheels once they don't turn properly anymore that can be your clunk so you have to make sure that the guides the rollers the wheels whatever you want to call them on the regulator are in good condition you want to make sure that these runs that the wheel rides in are free of dirt and debris they do have grease in them light grease but over the years they collect debris and junk just from being on a car you can clean that grease out you can put in a little bit of fresh grease it'll help a lot um some of the other issues are if the if the window stop is too low it allows the window to go to go down too far oops like instead of stopping there if it goes too far it'll go beyond this little trim piece and under it so when you go to go back up it catches the edge and it has to go good chunk to go that's another common problem okay here is a power window regulator this is a reproduction really good quality piece we use a lot of them here in the shop we sell a lot of them this is the root of many of the problems let me show you a few of the pieces components of this item and here here's what we've got this is the fan gear and you can see all the little teeth on it those teeth wear off your window doesn't go up and down or it skips really really common problem the little wheels are rollers that i was talking about earlier that's these guys they break they get to where they don't turn anymore they're a problem this unit comes ready to install if you decide to use one of these i'm i want to say this for everybody's safety now and there's a warning right here on it this bolt in place is very important it has to stay there until you install the motor because this big spring right here will cut your fingers off if you get them in the wrong place when the motor is in place it stops that spring from being allowing anything to rotate so please heed that bolt is very very important that one other item this little tab here this goes to when it's installed in the car on your door panel is an inspection panel there's a hole in it and it this bolt goes through that panel into here and it secures the bottom of this without it when the when the motor reaches its top extension or lower extension it torques which makes it do one of these one way or the other it changes the dynamics of it and it makes it it doesn't work well so if that these tabs are known for breaking off if you don't have it you need one of these the earlier cars didn't have that the reason they put it on is that there were a lot of complaints so if you have an earlier car you replace it with one of these you're going to solve that particular problem okay that's it for the for the regulator at least now you see what we're talking about well thanks for joining us today for our our video on on this particular problem thanks for watching all the way through to the end here please like subscribe and it'll help us a lot click the i the bell icon so you're notified again in the future again thanks for joining me, 5317 Ashton CourtSarasota Florida 34233Tel. One we found. The 1981 C3 Corvette got 4 consumer ratings out of 5, and 100% of users recommend this model. To launch them, the Bowling Green factory decided to provide a multiple-paint alternative on nearly every vehicle produced during that first year. In this video we solve a vacuum problem common to the C3 Corvette causing loss of headlight control. Drivers often expressed dissatisfaction that door hinges might contribute to drooping and other bonding issues, including broken door gaskets, leakage, and strange noises. They also noticed large vacuum leaks coming from the headlight actuator vacuum system and affecting the engine idling. So few days ago I for some reason connected the brown wire of the alarm . Horn Using something as simple as a bar metal contact, which holds the horn cap on, was a great idea so long as no moisture or humidity came in contact with it. The Chevrolet small-block V-8 is a consistent performer that is inexpensive to maintain, and while the C3 is perhaps a little nose heavy, it still handles reasonably well. C3 Corvette. The most common mechanical troubleshooting issues reported against this years C3 Corvette were engine overheating, improperly operating or damaged PCV valve, and PCV grommets not being sealed properly. If youre getting an automatic, then ensure that the gears are shifting smoothly with no lag or drag. Headlight actuators can be a problem, there are now some good seals made that cure the problem without replacing the complete unit. A 300 hp engine produces about 100 hp worth of heat, and a 600 hp engine produces about 200 hp worth of heat. Run a 160 degree thermostat. Check inside the vehicle for the optional upgrades that may come with the car, such as headrests, the steering wheel condition, and whether the tilt-telescopic steering column is operational. 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