Randy Hammitt's 1976 Silva Maco Corvette

I purchased this car in October 2004 from Sarasota Florida. The owner had the car for 10 years prior to me getting it. My wife and I took the trailer 700 miles to Florida on a Friday and returned back to North Carolina on Saturday.

The car had set idle for several years. The previous owner had stopped driving the car due to a faulty left rear wheel bearing. The city had him move the car out of sight, where it sat ever since. He had removed the interior, exhaust, starter, and several other items over the years. He had to reattach the trailing arm just to get it to roll on the trailer. Upon inspection, this car has the Silva "short tailed" kit. After some research, I have only found 4 of these cars. One belonged to John Silva and was stolen and never recovered. On a 70's poster there is a brown/gold one which is unknown of this date. The third is in kit form that I found back in 1990 when I bought my Motion Shark. It was sold, still in kit form, in the summer of 04. This is the fourth car. As of this writing, I have no other info on this car, but the search goes on...

The car started life as a 1976 coupe. It was white with red leather interior, auto,ps,pb,A/C, Tilt, stereo, rear defog, and power windows.

When I got the car home, I started to inspect the condition. The floors were rusty, as has become all too common on 76 & 77 models. It had some rust also in the wiper area and down the left side of the cowl area. The frame is surprisingly solid with all the usual places being intact.

This kit has some unusual features. The hood is different in that the scoop area is stock looking only much taller, with the usual maco box missing. The front fenders aren't quite as tall and peaked like the motion early kits. The car has an aluminum fuel cell and the side markers are slots along with the front turn signals. It has a unique front hinge system also. The short tail has individual small windows between the slats. Also reversed side gills similar to the motion phase 3 cars. One further strange thing is that this kit appears to be molded in color. Red. Never seen that before on a shark kit.

I rebuilt the starter, and alternater and installed the header/side pipes along with a working carb. Surprisingly the car fired right up and has a healthy beat with no smoke or rattles from the 350. It has an aluminum intake and the numbers are missing from the pad, suggesting that the block has been decked. Looking through the sparkplug hole, flat top pistons are also installed. I have removed the drivers door and installed a new latch and repaired the lock hole. New bushings were put in the hinges. Also the rust has been repaired on the cowl area, and the drivers floor replaced with aluminum. I will update progress with text and pictures thanks to our Mod, David. It is my goal to have this car on the street within one year from purchase. Remind me of that....

Long, Long Before (2004/06/05)

Long Before (2004/10/06)

Few Days Before (2004/10/12)

On the Road, the Day After (2004/10/16)

Load & Unload

2004/10/15 - Load 2004/10/17 - Unload

Progress

Forum Info

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