New member...new ride

My name is Ed, and I live in PA. I just sold my '84 V8/5 speed S10 pickup to snag this '79 Caprice before it was too late. I needed to get out of that truck in a hurry before going insane due to the roads becoming so rough around here after this winter. I was also missing my old '66 Biscayne wagon and the various G-bodies that I've owned in the past; so this Caprice seemed like the best of both worlds........a big boat like the wagon with G-body styling! This may be the last car that I buy with the way the car market has been going. I fell in love with this car as soon as I laid eyes on it; and it is as old as I am! The interior is in decent shape; but far from perfect. It has a red interior at least. The headliner is good, the carpet is brand new, and there are no cracks in the dash. It has the factory 305 in it for now....with less than 90,000 miles on the clock. The underside of this car is in great shape; and the floors and trunk look mint. Quite honestly, the car is not as mint as it appears in the photos.........nor as straight. The paint job looks to be a quick cheap single stage deal that is lifting in a few areas around the trim due to poor prep work. At least the car is rust free. I haven't been this happy with my ride since I bought my first car! The wheels will be the first change I make.  I want to throw a set of Corvette rally wheels on the car as soon as I can afford it. I will also freshen up my old 327 small block that I pulled out of my '66 Biscayne wagon before I had to sell it; and dump that in the car......again, down the road when funds permit.

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The floor mats will get tossed as soon as I can afford another set.

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More photos can be seen here:

http://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/1/ed_fluck/other_photos/ed_flucks_previous/page17.html

btw, if this thread needs to be moved somewhere else I am cool with that. I did not know where else to make my first post to introduce myself..........and my car! LOL!

Welcome to the Forum Ed, we're glad to have you! That is a GORGEOUS car!! Looks to be in excellent condition. That's one to hang onto right there. I wish I could find one like that around here. If I could, I'd sell off my restoration project. 327 eh? I like those. I run one in my Trans Am currently.

Welcome Ed nice wheels! 327 sounds great for a motor even if the body is not perfect it still looks damn good in the

pictures.

Hey Ed, welcome to the forum! I'm glad to see you joined! Feel free to DL a copy of the 1979 Fished body Service Manual if you haven't already.

Thanks guys! I really like the '77-'78 Impala coupes the best; but would kind of feel funny back dating this Caprice and turning it in an Impala clone. Not to mention it would cost an arm and a leg! The first thing I need to do to the car at this point is change the heater core. I just noticed it leaking the other day; and was surprised to find that it was only leaking down the bottom of the firewall in the engine compartment. I pulled the carpet up just to be sure. Seeing how I know the carpet is brand new and the floor pans are excellent it would have really upset me to have it leak inside. None the less, I am not looking forward to changing the heater core in this thing. I've read that it can take up to two hours for someone doing it for the first time (not knowing where every nut and bolt is located). It has been around 2 decades since I last changed a heater core! LOL! I am going to have to do it outside too since this boat is too big to work around in my garage.

btw, does anyone have a good idea what gears are most likely in my car? I read that by '79 GM was putting 2.41's in the Caprice and Impalas.......other than the cop cars of course. I wish this thing had 3.23's in it......or something close that gear ratio.

Sweet Seventy9 wrote:Hey Ed, welcome to the forum!   I'm glad to see you joined!  Feel free to DL a copy of the 1979 Fished body Service Manual if you haven't already.

Thanks Randy! I'll have to do that........as soon as I can figure out how........and where it's located! LOL!

Well, I located the files you mentioned; but AVG keeps telling me I'm at risk when I try to run the download installer.....and that it is detecting something bad?

Here's an idea I was kicking around. If I don't keep the car completely 'old school' like it would have been had I been driving when this car came out; I may go this route.......money permitting. Of course, I am kidding myself into thinking I'll ever be able to afford this Vintage Wheel Works rims that are better looking that American Racing torque thrusts in my opinion. If I recall correctly, these wheels are around $400-$500 each in a 17" size. So, I will most likely end up with my old stand by........a set of 15" Corvette rally wheels........8's out back and 7's up front; or 8's all the way around.

Excuse my crappy photoshop effort! LOL!



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Maybe someone can explain to me why one side of all of my photos is cropped off? If you click on the photo it will take you to my Fotki page where you can see the entire photo.

blacknred79 wrote:The paint job looks to be a quick cheap single stage deal that is lifting in a few areas around the trim due to poor prep work. I haven't been this happy with my ride since I bought my first car!

I think our cars were painted by the same person. However, from 10+ feet out they still look awesome!

Thank you for sharing this car and the pics of the S-10 you had to say goodbye to make this happen as well. I dig the look with the fotochop'd wheels!

Gooched78Caprice wrote:

blacknred79 wrote:The paint job looks to be a quick cheap single stage deal that is lifting in a few areas around the trim due to poor prep work. I haven't been this happy with my ride since I bought my first car!

I think our cars were painted by the same person. However, from 10+ feet out they still look awesome!

Thank you for sharing this car and the pics of the S-10 you had to say goodbye to make this happen as well. I dig the look with the fotochop'd wheels!

Thanks for the props! I believe I put a link to my Fotki album underneath all of the photos in my initial post. You can see more photos of both the Caprice and the S10; as well as some of my past rides like the '66 Biscayne wagon and G-bodies. I like your Caprice! I wish my interior was as nice as yours is. My seats are faded pretty good.......especially the tops of them.

Howdy, welcome to the forum! Again from what others said it looks amazing in the pics, you really cant tell! Yep i can most certainly gaurantee you have a 2.41 ratio, only other option was a 3.08, only way to tell is to either have a tach to check the cruising rpms or take the diff cover off, or if your lucky if you still have the build sheet. Ive always liked the torq thrust series wheels and have been contemplating on putting a set on mine. But the heater core is fairly easy but thats coming from a person whos taking them apart 101 times lol.

GM B-Body Forum wrote:Howdy, welcome to the forum! Again from what others said it looks amazing in the pics, you really cant tell! Yep i can most certainly gaurantee you have a 2.41 ratio, only other option was a 3.08, only way to tell is to either have a tach to check the cruising rpms or take the diff cover off, or if your lucky if you still have the build sheet. Ive always liked the torq thrust series wheels and have been contemplating on putting a set on mine. But the heater core is fairly easy but thats coming from a person whos taking them apart 101 times lol.

Thanks! From the lack luster performance I'd say this definitely has the 2.41 gear ratio out back! As far as the heater core is concerned........how much of a pain in the butt is it to get to without taking the fender or inner fender off like I've read elsewhere on the forum?

Very nice caprice , i love the coupes best
best wishes from poland

Here are some more photos of the car. I wiped it down with detail spray today since it was getting dusty sitting in the garage. I did start waxing it.....got the roof, hood, and deck lid done. I'll get the sides done tomorrow time permitting. I have not been able to drive it much due to time and money.......and waiting for my new plate to show up from the state. The car currently needs the rocker arms adjusted, a heater core, and a trans leak fixed before I'll be comfortable taking it anywhere.

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It's been a long time since I last updated this thread and the car has gone through many changes......mostly subtle. I replaced everything under the car front to back......entire suspension and steering components and the rear end, put the rally wheels and new BFG's on it, a slew of NOS parts like the wheel well moldings, front bumper, header ornament, interior pieces, and a handful of nice used or new parts as well. I still have a long list of things to take care of but slowly getting there. It adds up fast too.......got around $9,000-$10,000 into the car now not counting what I paid for it.

Man she sure is clean!!!

GM B-Body Forum wrote:Man she sure is clean!!!

Thanks! It is a long process. I have all of the interior pieces I need to restore the interior but have to dye them all to match first. I'd love to find some super nice or NOS red trim pieces rather than dying the ones I have but couldn't risk not having the trim pieces at all if I held out for red ones. I have a long list of things to do to the car besides the interior.....like putting the new headers on it and redoing the exhaust system, replace the heater core, drop the front end a smidge to get it leveled out more, etc.

I spent some time (for a change) working on my '79 Caprice. I had to "build" a correct steering wheel for it (a 2 year only wheel.......since '77's came with the mid '70's era steering wheels and the horn pad emblem, grip inserts, and basic colors changed in 1980). I could not find one for sale over the past 3 years. I started with a late '78-'83 Malibu/El Camino steering wheel and then swapped the horn pad emblem and grip insert out with the correct year Caprice parts I bought off of eBay. The first photo here is how the Malibu/El Camino steering wheel looked when I put it in the car. The Malibu grip insert is like a brushed aluminum. I liked the way it looked but it wasn't correct for the Caprice, which is basically wood grain with a silver border around it.




I baked everything in the sun (inside the daily driver Subaru) in order to get it as pliable as possible. Then I carefully pried out the grip inserts and swapped them over. I had bought a junk Caprice steering wheel (that was tan) to rob for the grip insert and horn pad emblem. I had a nicer horn pad emblem that I bought since and actually used that one instead after polishing it out. It was in excellent condition when I started!

This was the Caprice parts wheel and the three Caprice horn pad emblems I had to choose from.........after polishing them all up to compare. I went with the one with the best color tone and fewer scratches or air bubbles in the foil lamination on the back side.

You can better see the steering wheel in the natural light.........I'm pleased with it.

Finally got the old worn out/painted grille out and put an NOS grille, NOS headlight retainers, and aftermarket replacement headlight bezels in. The bezels are the only aftermarket parts available and are your typical Chinese garbage despite the claim that they are exactly like the originals in fit and finish. Despite them not fitting 100% and the detail being soft (every edge of the detail on the front surface is rounded off); they still present quite well. Most people won't even be able to tell anyway.........you know how many times people ask me at the gas pumps if this is a Monte Carlo?!