1978 Chevrolet CORVETTE STINGRAY

This unintended complete restoration took on the form of an actual journey. It was a voyage through uncharted waters by a man and his family. One where they unwittingly worked through what became an all-encompassing project; a project that tested them individually and also tested their mettle as a cohesive family unit. The restoration covered a period of almost 15 years from the time of purchase through to registration, a time when hope rose high and lived on a dream to own and drive a Corvette. This was a real restoration of a very special vehicle, my 1978 Corvette.
I have written a book of this full restoration. It is a chronicle unlike any other restoration story let alone one focused on a Corvette. There are many books from the ‘How to ...’ point of view and others that detail the technical and performance characteristics of the Corvette. Many people take on a restoration and some too pay others to do it for them. Others take on such a project and never finish. It is not a simple process. It is not something done over a weekend as the glossy reads may allude, and there is no experienced team that’s got your back when things go wrong.
My story is unique; it is a tale told from the perspective of an inexperienced regular enthusiast, one unintentionally thrust into the unknown hoping to wake fulfilled from the dream. It takes the reader from the beginning through to the finish line and lets the reader in on the emotional roller-coaster and how various actions and decisions impact upon the restoration and the restorer. It tells the real story of what it is like to perform a full body-off restoration; the ups and downs, the pitfalls, the wins and the losses. It is also the story of a father who agonises over the various decisions made to realise his dream and the impact these might have on those around him.
Vehicle enthusiasts exist around the world and this story embraces this universal sports car. It has appeal to countless readers from around the world. Even those from its origin in the USA would know many cars are taken down under and wonder at how they fared considering the different regulations especially conversion to Right-Hand-Drive. My story also tells what customers of restoration businesses really think. For those that have been through it, they will know they were certainly not alone.
I’ve finished the restoration of my 1978 Corvette now. It was a long journey crossing the fields of life changes as it went. I started to write this story in the latter stages of the restoration when there was light at the end of the tunnel and I could actually see, positively, that it was really going to happen – that I would realise my dream of owning and driving a Corvette.
At first I wrote sections that glorified what it meant to me alone. But as I moved through the project’s milestones I knew there was much more to it than that. I had kept notes throughout and reading through these I could see that I had the full chronology of events, I had every detail. I began to see that it was something not previously written; the story of what this journey was really like. That it was not something that people would normally see.
Of course the focus had always been of this magnificent sports car sitting in the garage ready to be taken out for a run at every owner’s whim. But that was the end game; what happened before that and in between. There were some people, very few, who knew what lay ahead. But mostly there were those who owned Corvettes who urged me on without the slightest appreciation of which of the forked roads I would need to choose.
In writing this story my hope is that it is a joyous read; that of triumph and accomplishment sometimes against prevailing difficulties that are thrown our way. My hope too is that it is informative, that it opens the eyes of those looking at going down this road themselves. I felt there was a need to know the reality of it. With open eyes the challenges that may arise can be faced willingly and accepted from the very beginning.
I still have a nervous apprehensive feeling whenever I take the car out for a drive. Some of it comes from knowing what it meant to get here; some from the knowledge that it is almost a forty year old vehicle, from an era when the word technology was not widely applied to its inbuilt systems. The journey in the end was worth it. But now I know, as others will, that there are other routes to this destination.
I hope you are interested in taking a look at my work.