Timmy Briseno's 1976 Corvette Stingray

Story and photos by Timmy Briseno @1776corvette

At fifteen years old, I purchased my 1976 Corvette in March of 2010 as my first car. 

I bought it from my neighbor who had purchased it from the original owner in 2002-2003. He only drove it maybe eight hundred miles in twelve years and agreed to sell it to me if I took care of it and fixed it up. 

I agreed and paid him half and worked the other half off at my first job the following summer.

I drove the car for two and a half years with a new crate 350 I installed, replaced the shin-searing side pipes with full Flowmaster 40s, and got the bumpers installed and painted to match (the car came with them unpainted and uninstalled).

Coolant Expansion Tank Aftermarket Caps

I think I've replaced the coolant expansion tank cap three or four times in the last six years.

Reproduction caps are not expensive at around $7 plus shipping charges each. However, when you multiply that amount by three or four, the real cost becomes clear.

I am not questioning the design per se, since they look almost identical to the originals, but I do question the quality of the materials used.

For the record, I also have an aftermarket coolant expansion tank which has performed great since I replaced it several years ago. However, the caps always fail in the same general area. I've tried repairing them with mixed results.

1973 Corvette Collection in Orlando, Florida

The moment I spoke with John on the phone, I knew he was a brother from another mother. We had so many things in common when it came to Corvettes that it was sort of surreal talking with him. We both grew up in the 1970s and the moment we saw a C3 it became a mission of sorts to own at least one. He beat me by a handful of years getting the first one. He owned his first C3 at thirteen. I bought mine at nineteen. He's a perfectionist and so am I. I've owned six C3s over the years, he's owned probably sixty. Okay, I have a ways to go but you get the idea. And he only buys Corvettes with manual transmissions! I contacted John since he had a Craigslist listing for his 1976 Corvette Stingray, and after a few text messages and a phone call, I made an appointment to drive down to Orlando to have a look. The '76 is a low-mile beauty that drives like a new C3 Corvette. I made a video about it, of course. But the '73s made such an impression I asked him to share the story with my subscribers, and he does so in this video.

How To Restore a 4-speed Manual Transmission Shifter

A few years ago, my Vette developed an annoying rattle that appeared to be coming from the shifter.

I did not consider the possibility that the culprit was telegraphing the rattle somewhere other than the originating point, and after a fruitless search for the reason, I just gave up and decided to consult a few professional mechanics who, unfortunately, were as confused as I was.

One of them suggested the factory 4-speed shifter was probably going bad and most likely the cause of the rattling sound. So out came the old shifter and I got to spend $200+ buying a new one.

Once the "bad" original shifter was on the workbench (see photo), we inspected it and—after accumulating dirt for 40 years—it looked like it was ready to be replaced, even though my car at the time, only had approximately 44k original miles since rolling out of the Corvette Assembly Plant in St. Louis, MO.

Well, the 4-speed shifter had absolutely nothing to do with the rattle. The culprit was a missing $3.75 spring, ironically called the Clutch Fork Rod Anti-Rattle Spring.

How to Restore Your Steering Wheel and Make it Look New

This late-model C3 Corvette steering wheel had seen better days. 

But since the seller at the swap meet only wanted $10 for it, I decided to buy it and try a steering wheel rescue of sorts. Even though I've never fully restored a steering wheel.

The leather was a dried-up mess, and you could easily chip it off by scraping it with your fingernail. Leather pieces were missing and what was there was cracked and discolored. Not only that but the spoke paint was chipped along with some rust.

I guess ten bucks was not really cheap considering the horrible condition, but I had a plan...

In this video, I show you how I brought it back to life and service for under $50. Step-by-step.

This is a long video as I felt it was necessary to include as many details as possible. And when you see its original condition you will understand why.

I hope you enjoy the steering wheel restoration video!