Three Legged Corvette

Did I mention that Stella lost a 'hubcap?' I don't think I did. Yeah one night we were driving around downtown (I think it was 4th of July) and we heard an awful noise while turning onto a side street. We chalked this up to driving over a sewer cap (silly rabbit) but in hindsight I'm pretty sure that was the moment we lost it.  We're currently contemplating the pros vs. cons of buying a single replacement hubcap to a new set of four with some of the remaining money in the Vette fund.

Oh and she's filthy again. Haven't washed her since we moved in and I can't show her off around town until she's looking her best. ;)

Welcome Home

My husband and I recently bought a house after living for almost a decade apartment-to-apartment.  We had a very short list of must-haves when it came to house-hunting, but one thing we knew we wanted was a third garage space for Stella.

I've got to hand it to this car.  She stuck it through for a year sleeping under a tarp in the driving rain and wind.  She spent the winter months in a stranger's one-car garage which she shared with a motorcycle, tools and various lawn equipment.  Constantly exposed to the elements, she grew filthy quite often, and received tow threats from our apartment management for having leaky fluids.

It was a difficult year.  I've always wanted an old Stingray like Stella, but it was always with the thought in mind that I'd have a safe place to store it.  As it happens, I found Stella before I found my house, but I guess all is well that ends well.  I can't say enough how happy it makes me to have a home for her now, where the passage of time won't take quite as large of a toll on her as it did outdoors.  

I think she likes it. :)

Well That Explains a Lot!

We took Stella out for the 4th of July downtown to see fireworks.  We had to park several blocks from where we ended up watching the show, but nevertheless it was a legendary night of Stella-love.  With the city streets packed full of people of all ages, we received countless shout outs and hoots/hollars as we drove past.  As per the usual, children loved Stella best and I asked Mike why he thought that was, considering they don't know anything about make, model or horsepower.

Mike: "Stella looks like a big Hot Wheels car."

Me: *STARTLING REVELATION*

;)

Dream Sequence

I've often had dreams in which Stella makes an appearance, much like I've had dreams about Mike, my family members, and my job.  But last night I had a dream that was so detailed and complete that I had to record it here!

I was at my parents' house and for some reason Stella was being stored in the garage (in my dream Mom and Dad's garage was set up like a workshop at the mechanic, though this is not how it is in real life).  I was sitting in the living room with the family when I noticed an older black man with a baseball bat coming up the driveway (no stereotypes intended--my subconscious is apparently a little racist! >_<).  His mannerisms scared me and I ran to the door, shouting at him to go away--and surprisingly he did, but only to the house across the street.  When he reached our neighbor's house he used the bat to smash in their front windows and go inside.

Meanwhile, as I'm watching from the front window of Mom and Dad's house, I'm freaking out and shouting at my Dad to call the police.  Dad calmly explains that we don't need to do that because we can "see everything from here and keep an eye on him."  Apparently I am the only one concerned about the safety of my neighbors in this dream!

Time seems to go by with little detail, and like many dreams I have, I know things are taking place without witnessing them actually take place.  I know that I've been obsessed with watching this strange man inside my neighbor's house, I know my family is not as concerned as me, AND.... I know they've STOLEN STELLA. *HORROR*

The intruder now has invited several of his friends over to stay in my neighbors house, where I'm sure they are breaking all kinds of laws while my family and I watch.  But when I start seeing them racing Stella up and down my dirt road (and in my dream I can vividly see her, red with a black stripe, lacking her historic license plate on the nose just the way she is now, squealing tires and flying dirt and rocks off behind her), I go completely insane. I start begging my dad to finally call the police before they "kill her."  I was very dramatic in this dream though I'm sure if this really happened I wouldn't act much different.

Dad agrees that it's time to call the police and seems confident that we'll be able to get Stella back because we know exactly where she is.  I don't witness the phone call, but I somehow know that the police agreed to come have a look, but only twice a day at certain times.  If Stella wasn't at the house where the intruders were during those certain times, they'd drop the case.

I hadn't seen the intruders take Stella out in a while, and I started thinking that the battery probably died.  HAHAAAA SUCKAS!! >:D  

[This part deserves a little background information, because I'm not sure I've discussed it in the blog previously.  Basically, each and every time we go out driving we have to reconnect the battery, and then disconnect it when we return.  If we don't, the battery will literally drain overnight, leaving not even enough juice to turn the interior lights on the next day.  Luckily, the battery is located just behind the driver's seat, rather than under the hood, so it takes only a few moments to hook it up each time.  Last year we panicked numerous times when we would come out and turn the key.... to nothing.  We eventually realized that battery power was leaking profusely somewhere, even when the car was turned off.  Because we couldn't find any device that seemed to be soaking up battery life, I developed the hunch that the battery cables were probably bad, and simply leaking battery power out into the surrounding area.  It's common in a car this old.]

Anyway, in my dream I thought that this had happened.  I go to check it out and sure enough, the intruders couldn't figure out why they couldn't get the car to start.  They threatened me into explaining what was wrong, but I told them I needed to get some tools to be able to fix the problem.  They let me go and I call the police at that point, telling them to come over quick because my stolen car was at my neighbors house!

I didn't see the rest of the dream in detail, but I did end up getting Stella back.  I remember that I felt very accomplished with myself because it seemed like Mike and I had earned the right to drive Stella by figuring out all the tricks to keep her on the road, while these strangers hadn't done any work and therefore were too uneducated to handle her.  I guess that is true to a certain degree in real life (although I'm sure most people would've checked the battery), but I do have an underlying sense of pride when it comes to Stella.  You can't just hop in and turn the key like any other car, because she's simply not like any other car.  In reality it's more of an annoying series of mechanical things, but in my dream it was more of "a car chooses its driver" kind of thing. I liked it. ;)

So Hot She Melts Plastic. Literally.

After replacing the radiator last fall you can imagine my (pissed off) surprise when we realized that the vette was leaking coolant yet again.  We noticed it initially by the smell the first few moments after start-up (it smells almost exactly like maple syrup as it burns off the engine), but later it became more obvious by the green puddles it would leave behind.  Luckily, the leak was slow and Stella had bigger problems, so we kept an eye on it and let it be. 

After her wheel was repaired we started to get more serious about fixing it, which was apparently a good thing, seeing as though the leak became significantly worse shortly thereafter.   

We spent some time under the hood with a flashlight and found this guy (above) to be the culprit.  A no doubt original water-heater control valve, which connects two hoses carrying coolant and also taps into the vacuum system.  Oddly enough, we were relieved that it wasn't a hose, as that would've been more difficult (not to mention messy) to replace.  After doing some research, we were able to go to the local AutoZone and buy a new, plastic replacement valve for about $10.

We also had to replace both clamps which attached the hoses to the valve.  To save ourselves a headache, we ended up buying metal clamps with plastic turn-key bolts.  The turn-key bolts would be easier to maneuver in such a tight space and also eliminate the use for tools, so this seemed fantastic to us.  We reconnected everything and took it for a test run.

Good news:  No more leaking coolant!! The water-heater control valve was indeed the cause of the leak, and Mike and I managed to replace it completely on our own without messing something else up. And we did it all for less than $15! Score!

Bad news:  The engine is so hot that it melted the plastic turn-key bolts of our new clamps and started to melt away the exterior of our new water-heater control valve.  Oh shit.

Now, most people might get a little frustrated at this point, but not Mike and I.  Mostly, we were both just so relieved that the burning smell we noticed upon our return trip was not another CATASTROPHIC PROBLEM.  

Today we went back out and zip-tied the radiator hoses to the exterior part of the engine compartment, well away from the engine block and anything else which would get in excess of 200 degrees.  We fired her up and took her for another spin.  This time, no more leaking coolant AND no more burning plastic! Success!!

Everybody Loves Stella

We finally got Stella back after three stressful weeks at the shop.  The list of parts which were required to fix the rear wheel and surrounding mechanisms was lengthy and sad. The mechanic replaced the right wheel bearings, spindle, knuckle, outer side U-joint, bolt at the bottom of knuckle, right rear caliper, rear brake pads and rear rotors.  Wow.  I can't believe that this poor car drove us as far as she did with so little to work with. The shop, which I spent much of the three weeks bitching about to anyone who would listen, ended up shaving more than $600 worth of labor off our final bill.  Why? I like to think it's because  they like us (or feel sorry for us!), but probably it's because they know they aren't finished with Stella yet. ;)

We found her parked just outside, filthy dirty, with hardly any coolant left in her radiator and a dead battery.  Mike tried valiantly to jump her (see below) but there simply wasn't enough juice to get her going, so we had to recharge.  For an hour we sat next to her in the sweltering heat, waiting patiently for her battery to charge on the pavement outside. We finally got her back on the road and home safely, though her engine started heating up near the end from lack of coolant.  I feel like she's hurt bad, but at least she's home safe with me now.

This repair is only outdone by the total engine replacement which took place last year in August.  At that point we had only owned Stella for about three months or so, and everyone thought we were nuts (some even told us so!).  Much to my honest surprise, this time around was much different.  During my brief moments of doubt, the moments when I seriously considered the possibility that I wouldn't be able to continue rehabilitating this car, every single person I confided in told me I should keep her.  Every single one. Friends, family and coworkers alike seemed distraught that I was even entertaining the idea of selling her now, after all we'd been through together.  My mother, whose looming judgement once almost scared me away from buying Stella in the first place, said it best:

"Right now you should enjoy whatever Stella has in her to give you.  Continue making her better so she'll one day be able to give you more."

Somewhere along the way, and somehow without me noticing at all, people fell in love with Stella.  I guess it wasn't just my life she changed forever.

~~

Broken

It's been an onslaught of bad news from the shop, which shouldn't catch me off guard anymore but somehow still does.  They've had her for two weeks now, and almost a week longer than they promised it would take.  After awaiting her parts to arrive, the mechanic (Bill) realized that he didn't have the proper tool he needed and he had to order that as well.  Apparently they called all over the Lansing area looking for both parts and the tool, with little success.  Mike said they had to order from California. 

Without the invoice, I don't know exactly what needed to be replaced, but on Wednesday (the day AFTER it was supposed to be finished) they called Mike to come into the shop to discuss the 'complications.'  Basically, we were told that this car has had absolutely ZERO preventative maintenance done throughout its lifespan (nearly 40 years).  As a result, the mechanical parts that attach the wheel to the frame of the car are deteriorating so badly that they've basically frozen themselves together.  Things that are supposed to pivot don't pivot.  Things that are supposed to glide against one another don't glide.  You get the idea.  

Stella is in terrible shape.  Anything that hasn't already been replaced by Mike and myself (and that list grows longer and longer, luckily) needs to be replaced, eventually.  

All this bad news meant more parts, labor and of course, more money.  The bill, which rivals the cost to replace the engine last summer, will more than clean out the account we had put together since last fall to pay for repairs this summer. I don't mind spending that money--that's what it's there for--but now we go forth into the remainder of the season without the financial net below. 

And then Mike tells me the bad news.  

"Wait, all that stuff before was the GOOD news??"  Yeah that's exactly what I said.

He tells me that the driver's side rear wheel and affiliated mechanisms are in just as poor a state as this passenger rear wheel which we are currently paying to have rebuilt.  The only difference is that the mechanisms on the drivers side haven't quite begun to snap apart yet, but that could go at any time.  

ANY.  TIME.

That could mean a year from now, or next week.  And for the first time since owning this machine, I feel defeated. I want to do what is right by her, but I can't.  I simply can't.  At least not this summer.  Mike tells me all this while I'm at work, struggling to remain focused, and it's all I can do not to break down and cry.  Stella's health is deteriorating faster than Mike and I can afford to keep up with her (and I already spent one House Fund on her last year--much as I love her, that won't be happening again).  I faced a sad reality and a tragic choice.

A). Sell her and cut our losses

or 

B). Take her off the road for a year or more until we have the funds to do what needs to be done

My heart usually rules in my decision making, but unlike a lot of people, my brain ALWAYS gets a say. Always.  Logic and reason were telling me to sell her, even if only for parts, while my heart screamed "NO!"  In the end, it was Mike who convinced me of the right thing to do.  For him the choice was never a choice at all.  We love that car like a child.  Maybe no one else can understand that, and maybe it's irresponsible and financial suicide, but it's nevertheless true.  

We don't give up.  That car is alive today because of us--we've invested money and soul into her. And I find myself grateful that Mike is as batshit-crazy in love with this car as me.

Because the driver's side wheel hasn't had any symptoms of being on the verge of suddenly falling apart, Mike feels confident (at moments more than me!) that we'll be safe driving her.  Next spring we'll have the proper funds to do the same to the driver's side as we did the passenger.  But we won't be driving her NEARLY as much as we have been.  No more highway travel, and no more 2 1/2 hour joy-rides through the countryside.  Once a week or biweekly, and special occasions only.  And, if we notice anything going sour, we park her the remainder of the summer.  Period.    

I still don't have Stella back, and I still don't know if there will be any more bad news.  This car is bound to have some good karma eventually.... right? :(

My Chrome-Wheeled Child

If the extent to which I baby, worry-over, and adore Stella is any indication of how I will be with real children someday, I predict I will be of the over-protective, freak-out-at-their-every-strange-noise variety.  I also somehow manage to be constantly watchful of her slightest hiccup or sneeze, but yet somehow miss important symptoms of illness when they appear.  I guess I'm making all the normal mistakes of a "parent," if an inanimate object such as a car could ever be considered a child.

  We've had Stella out of the garage for over two months now, and I've been bragging about how awesome she's been and how we haven't had the slightest problem with her whatsoever.  Which makes me an idiot, by the way.  Tempting fate is an unfortunate (and unwanted) trait of mine. 

So we were driving along (on the highway because all terrible Stella-related drama occurs with cars going 70 mph 2 feet away from us) and everything is going just fine.  Then I hear a strange noise, kind of like the noise wind makes when your car window is cracked (which ours were) but it was different than it had been previously.  I ask Mike about it, and he faithfully checks the gauges on the dash to make sure everything is okey-dokey.  And of COURSE it's not!  The temperature gauge, which normally sits at about 200 degrees, was way past that in the 300+ range, past the part of the gauge that's red and BAD.  I tell Mike to pull over while he optimistically tries to figure out what's wrong.  "Just PULL OVER now before we melt another engine," I say.  

So there we are, sitting by the side of the road (again) with the hood up.  I hear a crazy noise coming from the coolant overflow container, and we realize that the sound is the coolant boiling.  Because it's that hot.  I'm thinking we get it towed so we don't damage anything, but Mike is confident we can get it home safely.  So we start her up, pull into traffic, and like a miracle... the engine cools off.  We drive around for a good half an hour, trying to stress it out enough to overheat again (I know I'm an idiot, covered that already!) but it never did.  It's as if it NEVER HAPPENED.  The next day Mike checks the radiator and the damn thing has almost no coolant left.  

I then proceeded to spend the next 3 days blaming myself for almost blowing up my brand new engine by being careless. I'm a terrible mother. :(

By the time I was finally feeling better about myself, the next problem happened. 

Shortly after getting ALL her maintenance fluids checked and topped off, we started hearing a squeaking sound coming from the rear passenger tire.  Having had squeaky wheels before, we thought it was a problem with the steel wheels/chrome hubcap system we've got going on.  Last time it happened we had the tires rotated and it took care of it right away, but when the squeaking turned into a clanging noise, I started to get a little concerned.  

Because Stella doesn't have a computer like most modern cars, there are only a few rustic ways to tell if something is wrong:  1) One of the gauges is off its normal value, 2) Something smells funny, 3) Something sounds funny, 4) Smoke,  or 5) Something feels different (my favorite).  The 'clanging' noise was accompanied with a sort of shifting beneath my seat, which was just barely noticeable.  Something was moving back there that shouldn't have been, and it was something that came into the frame of the car from the wheel.

We get the tires rotated (ever optimistic, my husband and I) and drive around to see if it changed anything.  The noise is gone and everything seems to have miraculously fixed itself. Again. Gotta love antique cars for being mysterious like that. So after about 20 minutes or so I smell something funny.  Something burning.  The last time I smelled that smell the engine collapsed on us on the side of the highway.

I had another 'PULL OVER NOW' moment.

I lay on the dirty ground in the middle of the road, peering up into Stella's undercarriage because I'm either A) Crazy or B) I love this car so damn much that I no longer have any sense of shame/reason/logic.  Faint, barely noticeable puffs of smoke are coming from the wheel bearing mechanisms behind the rear passenger tire.

*sigh*

We call a tow man to come get us and spend 45 minutes sitting in Stella in the setting sunshine.  Which was wonderful (no sarcasm!) even though I knew something serious was wrong.  A total ASSHOLE tow guy helped us get her to the same shop that replaced her engine last year, and we waited by the phone for 2 long days for the bad news.

Because let me tell you, when Stella breaks, it's never a little thing.  She holds on and doesn't complain until something truly horrific happens.

The shop calls us on the 3rd day and gives us a quote (which promptly makes me hit the roof) and tells us the damage.  The passenger side rear wheel lost its rotor, spindle and wheel bearing simultaneously.  The driver's side rear wheel also needed work done on the bearing.  Essentially, Stella lost her hind legs.  The legs that do all the work in a rear-wheel drive vehicle.  The legs that push the weight of the car and quite literally do all the heavy lifting. 

I humbly realize, once again, that I'm the only one that's loved her for a very long time. 

So she sits in the shop alone right now, her battery probably drained days ago, awaiting new parts to arrive.  They need to keep her until Tuesday and I'm without my needy, slightly handicapped, chrome-wheeled child for the first time since winter.  

There is a great sadness inside of me.

Licensed

It's here!! Mike and I have been looking forward to getting a personalized or "vanity" license plate for Stella for quite some time.  But I only wanted to get one if we could get some letter/number combination that would spell out her name, and we were lucky to have found one available! Can't wait to see how it looks!! :)

Happy Birthday

Because I can't exactly remember what day we officially bought Stella (seems out of character for me, huh? I KNOW!), I decided to just think of her 'birthday' as the day we have to renew her license plate.  As luck would have it, that day is also my husband's birthday!  I don't want a mere car, much as I love her, to steal my beloved Hubby's special day, but I got Stella a little something-something for her birthday anyway. Have to wait for it to come in the mail though.

PICTURES TO COME! ;)

Stella Meets the Family

Since Stella's engine broke down on the highway less than a year ago I've been reluctant to take her on long trips, lest something catastrophic should happen again.  Mike has driven her alone much farther than we've driven her together--taking her as far as Grand Rapids and Lake Michigan.  I guess I should probably have more faith in her--after all the engine is brand new and the previous engine lasted for 30+ years.  Even still, I struggled for several days before finally deciding to drive her the 50 or so miles to my parents' house near Flint, where she had never been before.

 
It was a gorgeous Friday afternoon, not a cloud in the sky, and perfect weather for driving.  And, just like my husband reassured me many times before, Stella did just what she was meant to do and she did it well.  We made it to my parents' house without a hiccup.

I've been wanting to take her home so baldy for quite some time.  I can't describe it, but there's something special about having her parked in the driveway where I used to play with sidewalk chalk as a child.  Where I learned to ride a bike, where I was picked up and dropped off for school dances, and where I parked my first car.  Home is where I first fell in love with sports cars, and not only Corvettes but Camaros, Mustangs, and especially Firebirds (which aren't even made anymore!).  Looking out that living room window is where I saw my first Corvette Stingray, driven by a neighbor guy who lived two doors down from my parents.  I remember dozens of times sitting on the couch and hearing that car coming, looking up and watching it creep past.  I remember posing in front of it in my tennis skirt and polo one afternoon when he'd parked it in the street.  It was a hideous color, but you can't hide beauty like that.

I felt sentimental, standing in the driveway taking pictures with my family.  As I kid I had dreams.  As an adult I drove one of my dreams back to this childhood place.  That's what Stella is to me--a fulfillment of a dream.  I hope that old Corvette makes my parents happy too, if only for that reason.

Mom and Dad saw Stella a few short weeks after Mike and I bought her, but my sister Kristen got to meet her for the first time during this visit!! :D I was very excited for her to see Stella in person, especially after giving me the lovely scrapbook for Christmas which I've enjoyed so much since. You can bet that these pictures will make it into those pages, and I can imagine looking back at them years from now, maybe with my own children someday.

Even Colby-Jack, my family's adorable cocker-spaniel, got a picture with Stella!  Although I'm sure she was a little too noisy/smelly for his tastes! ;) 

Stella Loves These Roads

If this old car could talk, surely she would tell you how much she loves to drive.   Every road seems to compliment her in some way, whether it be the city roads where she can be admired, or country roads where she can stretch her legs. The simple act of being inside her to witness what comes so naturally is a joy I indulge in whenever Mother Nature allows. 

Season 2

Unexpectedly, it's mid-March and very unseasonably warm.  Michigan usually has at least 3 more weeks (usually more!) of cold and snowy punishment for all the summer sin we northerners got into last year. It's been a very strange winter anyway, and then about two weeks ago it just randomly became spring-like.  When we put the Vette away for the winter back in November I had every intention of not bringing it back until the first week of May, and I was totally okay with that until about two days ago.  Two days ago I got out of the gym, rolled down the window of my regular car, and stuck my arm out in the breeze.  And then I thought of Stella.  Once that happened the beautiful sunshine and the warm breeze killed me slowly, hour after hour, until I knew I couldn't waste another single nice day hanging my arm out the window of any normal car.

It might snow again, but who gives a shit?  I miss my beautiful car and this kind of weather is what she was built for.

So today Mike brought Stella home from Steve's garage, where she's been safe from the harsh elements for over 4 months.  It's probably premature, but I'm not going to complain about an extra month of Corvette therapy.  I pulled into my parking lot, saw her parked in our (new!) carport and instantly got a shit-eating grin on my face.  It's simply incredible how much I missed her.

We went for a drive and I was reminded of all my favorite parts.  The engine start up, and the growling noise it makes while idling at a red light (much smoother, I'm proud to add, since we dropped a new engine inside). The way it jumps when you stamp down on the accelerator when the light turns green.  The whoosh of the enormous fan in front of the engine, which can be heard over it all when you go a little too fast. ;)  The heads she turns each time we take her out. The smell of leather, heat and exhaust.  Over the winter while I worked on the scrapbook my sister gave me, Mike had brought several receipts from inside the glove box which smelled like that.  I remember smelling them over and over, taking myself back to moments like today.  Moments which I couldn't have until warmth returned.

And I was happy.  So, so happy.

As usual, we've made lofty plans for season two.  We've saved money all winter and hope to replace the seat belts and the transmission.  We also want to repair the leak in the brake line.  Once that leak is gone, and the transmission is replaced, we will have stopped all fluid leaks.  That doesn't seem like a big deal, but to me the idea of a 36 year old car not leaving a drop of oil, coolant, or brake fluid behind on the ground is an achievement.  It's like coming to a milestone and looking back at the distance you've crossed.  Stuff like that makes me feel so good about it all.  Just like when I admire the smooth, flawless grumble of the engine since we've replaced it--so much better than before.  Slowly, slowly, we're making a difference--making her better.

I have a little photo shoot with Stella currently in the works. I KNOW THAT'S CRAZY.  But whatever. :D

From the Parts of Lesser Corvettes

One morning not too long after we purchased the car, I woke up crazy-early and couldn't go back to sleep.  To kill time until Mike got up, I started looking for a website to order the "Corvette" letting which is missing from Stella's rear fender.  I opened up Google and searched for '1976 Corvette Stingray rear fender emblem.'  This is what I got in plenty:

And I was at once completely confused, because having memorized every inch of my new hot rod, I knew that Stella's rear end did NOT look like that!  This emblem was all lower-case letters which were also connected to each other, so that when centered it would look like this:

That rear end doesn't look a thing like the one on my '76.  Instead, each letter in the word 'Corvette' is it's own individual piece (not connected) and capitalized.  I had this picture which I had taken of Stella to compare to:

You can easily see that the spaces where the letters go are definitely not connected.  After doing vast research, it became clear to me that Stella's rear fender was not the rear fender of a 1976 Stingray, but of a 1974, or more likely, a 1975 Stingray. It wasn't until '76 when the rear emblem became lower-case and connected as in the top picture. Distraught, I started entertaining wild and crazy notions, like maybe Stella isn't a '76 at all and the guy we bought it from had been mistaken!  Luckily, when logic set in I realized that the title lists it as a '76, and therefore a '76 it is.

Well, mostly anyway. ;)

Since that day Mike and I have discovered several oddities which suggest that our Vette is more like a patchwork quilt.  The ULTIMATE CORVETTE, if you will, made from parts of lesser Vettes. ;)  The rear and front fenders have both been replaced, which is also why the headlamps don't go up and down simultaneously (whoever put them back in did a less than admirable job).  Also, while clearing the brake lines of air pockets one mid-summer day, Mike discovered that Stella had two bleeder valves per rear brake (the 1976 only had one bleeder valve per tire).  It wasn't until earlier years, 1978, that the rear brake structure acquired the second valve.

Luckily, the one feature which could most easily distinguish a '76 from other models was not changed in Stella, despite having parts from both older and younger Corvettes: the steering wheel (which is hands-down the least desirable design for a wheel among collectors).

When straightened, the '76 steering wheel has two spokes on either side (4 in all), positioned almost perfectly to obstruct the driver's view of the speedometer and other important gauges on the dash. It is my belief that this is probably what makes it so unpopular (the '77 adopted a different wheel design much to the relief of Corvette-lovers).  Many owners of '76's swap out this wheel design for either an older or younger model, but I have no interest whatsoever in doing such a thing.  Despite its poor design, this odd steering wheel is part of what makes Stella a '76, and I want nothing but to admire her more unique features.

These oddities might not win Stella any "pretty car" trophies at car shows, but they certainly make her stand out from the crowd for me.  It has been beyond exciting discovering her piece by piece, learning her story little by little.

The Moments

I remember the very first drive I took in Stella with Mike was the night we bought her.  After taking me for a spin on the highway (going at least 100 mph, I'm sure), we stopped at the local Cold Stone Creamery to get some ice cream.  I remember parking it and walking into the building as if it were yesterday.  A couple walked out and the guy instantly said to us, "Nice car."

And I melted into a puddle of goo.  Why?  If you only knew how many times I've said that to other people with Corvettes throughout my entire life, you'd know exactly why.

There are two reasons why I love riding around in Stella:  1) It makes me happy beyond my wildest dreams and 2) moments like the one we had outside of Cold Stone. The 1976 Corvette Stingray is among the 3rd generation Corvette, or C3, versus today's modern C6.  The C6 is beautiful and eye-catching in it's own right, and I have never seen one in my life that I haven't taken a quick second to admire, but the C3 generation I think was Corvette's finest time in history.   There is something mesmerizing about the long, low profile of a C3 that draws attention in a instant, even from people nearby who couldn't really care less about cars.  Everybody looks twice.  Maybe they don't smile, maybe they don't toss me a thumbs up or even acknowledge us.  But they look a second time, if only for an instant.

Occasionally, usually at least once 9 out of 10 times we take her out for a drive, someone will notice enough to actually say or do something to compliment Stella.  My favorite times involve kids--children are so uninhibited in their reactions.  They don't know or understand why they like it.  They don't know anything about make or model or horsepower, but they see those huge wheels, those sweet curves, and that racing stripe and they inherently know it's awesome.  And they tell us so.  Either by laughing, smiling, jaw-dropping, pointing (most often while pulling on Mom or Dad's pant leg) or just shouting out "That is SO COOL!!"  They give Stella well-deserved praise while I can't stop the shit-eating grin from spreading across my face. I seriously live for moments like that.  There are some days I take her out for a drive only because I want to experience a moment like that.

I enjoy other moments too, like that time a motorcyclist pulled up behind us and chanted "That is a sick car." over and over to his passenger.  Or times when people pay more attention to us driving by than to the traffic light or the car in front of them.  Or when people shout to us as we drive by, asking us what year it is or just saying "Nice!"  Another favorite was an old Native American guy we drove past while cruising around downtown, who did nothing more than give me a thumbs up and a smile.  Or when a trucker complimented us on keeping it original in our restoration.  Those are the moments I missed during the weeks she was in the shop with a broken engine.

They're the moments I miss so much right now.

Stella Gets Some Christmas Love!

My sister Kristen really out-did herself this year in the gift-giving department!  Knowing how much enjoyment I get from Stella, she had a scrapbooking book custom-made for me with a beautiful picture of Stella on the front!!  Now I can document the restoration process to look back on fondly over the years!

I've already started working on the book and I plan on adding new pages each year to show what progress we make each season.  It will be a nice way to display all the many (and obsessive) pictures I take of the car, as well as paperwork and other information from repairs we make as we go.  My favorite part of all, it gives me a way to spend time with Stella during the long separation from her over the winter (I haven't even seen her since before Thanksgiving!). Now I can drool over her pictures to keep me occupied until the snow melts and she can be back home with me again! :D

Here is a great close-up shot of the book cover.  Kristen chose a perfect picture--you can see every detail, from the reflection of the trees in the body panels to a tiny stone stuck in the tread of her rear tire!  Thanks Kristen for a truly personal and much-loved gift!! :-D

Love At First Sight

I'm happy to have found this photo gem which Mike captured of me standing next to Stella the day we first found her.  This was only moments after pulling over spontaneously just to 'have a look', which of course eventually turned into something much, much more.  I know decades from now this will be the picture I'll use to describe the moment I fell in love for the 2nd time in my life. Lucky for Mike, it was only a car. ;)