Corvette C3 Owner Showcase

Randy Wise says:

Randy lives in British Columbia, Canada.

I'm really enjoying your website.  It's helping to keep me motivated as I work through my Corvette restoration.  Here's some photos for your showcase and a bit about the cars...
 
At the age of 20 years old I bought a brand new 1980 Corvette.  It's the only automobile that I've ever owned that actually made driving a car a fun thing to do.  It was white with a burgundy cloth interior.  In the attached photo is my '80 Vette flanked by Rick's red '80 and Jeff's blue '78.  This photo was taken back in July of 1980.
 
When I was engaged to be married, my future bride told me that I had to get rid of my Corvette because 'A married man doesn't drive a car like that.'  Sadly, to impress her I sold my car when I really didn't want to give it up.  Hindsight has taught me that I should have gotten rid of her and kept the car.
 
Even in divorce she swore that I'd never realize my dream of ever owning another Corvette.

 
The next two photos are of my dream come true.  In July of 2009 I found what I was looking for; a 1980 Corvette with a 4-speed manual transmission that was in desperate need of a lot of TLC.  Before buying the car I purchased its vehicle history report.  It had been broken into three times and in November of 2008 it hit a deer.  It was obvious to me that the previous owner didn't appreciate what it meant to own a Corvette.  The car was a wreck inside.   The body was damaged and the drive train and power steering bled all over the place.  I wasn't sad though because under my care that car will be reborn.
 
At this moment I'm ready to perform the body lift.  I live on the West Coast of British Columbia so once I have a few days of dry weather I'll roll the car out of the garage and lift the body unto its wooden dolly.  Then I can finish stripping the car down to the bare frame.  This will of course be a complete frame-off restoration.
 
The car is presently yellow and it had a white leather interior.  Once rebuilt it will be black on red leather.  I'm not rebuilding the stock L48 engine.  I'm opting to install a GM 350HO crate engine rated at 330 hp.  I'm still considering replacing the 4 speed with a 5 speed.
 
Along with stripping the car down to prepare it for the body lift, I've already rebuilt the entire steering column, both headlight assemblies, the heater box including dampers and ducting and the brake/clutch pedal unit.  There have been no surprises and everything is going better than I hoped.
 
I love the '80 Vette and of all the cars I've ever owned, it's the only one that I'd ever devote so much time, money and effort on.
 

1980 C3 Corvette

1980 C3 Corvette