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Post by rpoz78 on Sept 11, 2023 20:03:09 GMT -5
Just found this site and registered my pace car - 3107 It was purchased by my father in May 1986. From the paperwork I have, it came to California from Texas. This was his dream car and for my 18th birthday, after only having it a week, he let me drive it as my gift. I will never forget looking down, realizing I was going 90mph and my dad saying "She's smooth isn't she?" When he passed away unexpectedly in July 2000, I kept the car. I'll be it's grateful keeper until it's time to pass it to my 21yo son who ADORES it. Hi mickid. Sorry about your dad. I just got my first grandson and can't wait to take him for a ride.
What options does it have (engine, trans, radio, etc.)? How many miles on it? Jeff
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Post by rpoz78 on Sept 11, 2023 19:05:08 GMT -5
Hi, My name is Pete looking for a 1978 Pace Car that my half brother owned he sold it to me but the title was not transferred until I sold it in Alexandria Indiana in around 1980 I have some photos with Michigan tags but have no idea how to find it without vin. Any ideas, even hoped web Sight could reach out to 78 owners to see if any were purchased at Foust Chevrolet Alexandria Indiana it had around 450 miles when sold 1978 L82 automatic no CB Hay Pete I'm not sure how to find it without the VIN Sorry
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Post by rpoz78 on Sept 11, 2023 19:03:17 GMT -5
Looking for my Mom's pace car,VIN 1Z8748S900765 L82/Automatic, Gymkhana Suspension, Shwartz Creek, MI
This is all in the info I have on it and not sure how old it is. Hope it helps in some way
Jeff
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Post by rpoz78 on Sept 11, 2023 18:55:14 GMT -5
Picked up 1Z8748S900181 a few months ago and looking for additional information on it. L82 engine automatic 3 speed. 24K miles but have some questions. Needed new A/C compressor and tach not working. Ordered new circuit board for tach and am doing a bunch of other maintenance. Has working radio with 8 track. Haven't tried the cassettes but it did come with 3 classics. Replaced a couple of fuses and fixed the radio antenna and power locks. View AttachmentI can try to answer any question you might have. You can email me at gutshot409@gmail.com
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Post by rpoz78 on Sept 11, 2023 18:35:03 GMT -5
rpoz78, I recently purchased my 78. VIN 902248, L82. Not sure on which radio as it has been replace. AT, cruise. Unsure on other options or what was standard. Residing in Iowa currently. Built H04. Any help would be appreciated or further info needed please contact me. Doc Doc All 1978 Corvette Pace Cars came from the factory with the rear spoiler installed. The front air dam was not installed at the factory because the car sits so low it couldn’t be loaded on the auto carrier (semi) without damaging it. It was dealer installed.
RPO Z78 - Limited Edition Pace Car
Standard Equipment:
In 1978, when RPO Z78 Limited Edition Indy Pace Car was ordered, the printed build sheet listed a number of limited edition items. For example, RPO Z78 was called “Appearance Package, 25th Anniversary, (Limited Edition)”. The RPO’s included with that defined the Pace Car and included RPO D88 for red Accent Stripes, D75 for the Rear Spoiler, D80 for the Front Air Dam Deflector, DL6 for the Limited Edition Pace Car Decal set and CC1 for the Glass T-Tops. Below is a list of all the other convenience options that were standard equipment on the Limited Edition Pace Car.
A31 Power Windows C49 Rear Window Defogger D35 Dual Sport Mirrors AU3 Power Door Locks C60 Air Conditioning N37 Tilt/Telescopic Steering Wheel UA1 Heavy Duty Battery UM2 AM/FM/8-Track Tape Player Stereo U75 Power Antenna U81 Dual Rear Speakers Y58 Aluminum Wheels ZX2 Convenience Group With all the above set as standard equipment, that didn’t leave much for the customer to choose from to make his/her Pace Car their own. There was only a choice of six options available: change the L48 engine to the L82, change the standard M20 wide ratio 4-speed transmission to either the M38 Turbo 350 Hydra-Matic three speed automatic or to the M21 close ratio 4-speed, add FE7 Gymkhana suspension, K30 Cruise Master speed control (not available with manual transmission), ZN1 Trailer Package which included the FE7 Gymkhana suspension, and change the standard UM2 AM/FM Stereo radio with 8-Track for the UP6 AM/FM stereo radio with built in Citizens Band. Hope this helps Jeff PS: you can email me at gutshot409@gmail.com
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Post by rpoz78 on Sept 11, 2023 18:03:48 GMT -5
Bullitt65 All 1978 Corvette Pace Cars came from the factory with the rear spoiler installed. The front air dam was not installed at the factory because the car sits so low it couldn’t be loaded on the auto carrier (semi) without damaging it. It was dealer installed.
RPO Z78 - Limited Edition Pace Car
Standard Equipment:
In 1978, when RPO Z78 Limited Edition Indy Pace Car was ordered, the printed build sheet listed a number of limited edition items. For example, RPO Z78 was called “Appearance Package, 25th Anniversary, (Limited Edition)”. The RPO’s included with that defined the Pace Car and included RPO D88 for red Accent Stripes, D75 for the Rear Spoiler, D80 for the Front Air Dam Deflector, DL6 for the Limited Edition Pace Car Decal set and CC1 for the Glass T-Tops. Below is a list of all the other convenience options that were standard equipment on the Limited Edition Pace Car.
A31 Power Windows C49 Rear Window Defogger D35 Dual Sport Mirrors AU3 Power Door Locks C60 Air Conditioning N37 Tilt/Telescopic Steering Wheel UA1 Heavy Duty Battery UM2 AM/FM/8-Track Tape Player Stereo U75 Power Antenna U81 Dual Rear Speakers Y58 Aluminum Wheels ZX2 Convenience Group
With all the above set as standard equipment, that didn’t leave much for the customer to choose from to make his/her Pace Car their own. There was only a choice of six options available: change the L48 engine to the L82, change the standard M20 wide ratio 4-speed transmission to either the M38 Turbo 350 Hydra-Matic three speed automatic or to the M21 close ratio 4-speed, add FE7 Gymkhana suspension, K30 Cruise Master speed control (not available with manual transmission), ZN1 Trailer Package which included the FE7 Gymkhana suspension, and change the standard UM2 AM/FM Stereo radio with 8-Track for the UP6 AM/FM stereo radio with built in Citizens Band.
Hope this helps Jeff
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Post by rpoz78 on Jun 12, 2020 6:20:08 GMT -5
Hi Bigblockjon,
All 1978 Pace Cars VIN’s have the 9 as their eighth digit of their VIN’s with two exceptions. These two are actual Pace Cars, used at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway along with two other Pace Cars with the 9 as their eighth digit VIN numbers 9000001 and 900002. There was only four 1978 Corvette Pace Car at Indy in May of 78. VIN number 1Z8748S416658 is sitting in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Museum. This car was a pre-production pilot line car, pulled from the production line and modified to Z78 (Pace Car) configuration. It saw service at Indy, used by the Chief Steward as the Pace Car during practice sessions and during qualifications. On May 28th the day of the race, it sat at the head of pit row so it could be used as the backup Pace Car if the designated Pace Car broke or could not be used for some reason.
VIN number 1Z8748S400006 is owned by a Chevrolet Dealer in Kansas. The Dealer purchased it at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Palm Beach, Florida on April 11th, 2009. It has a scrap title and the purchase price was $29,700. This car was used by the Chevrolet Engineers as the prototype to develop the production Pace Cars. Chevrolet used it for promotions and it was used at Indy as one of the three Parade Lap cars before the start of the race. After the race, United States Auto Club (USAC) officials used it as a Pace Car for the rest of the 1978 Championship Car series racing season.
All other 1978 Corvette Pace Cars have the 9 as the eighth digit in their VIN. The VIN’s ran from 1Z8748S900001 through 1Z8748S906502, putting total production (including the two non-9 VIN cars) at 6504.
Now as for cloning… in 1978, Dealers were getting as much as $25,000 to $30,000 for a car that had a sticker price of $14,000 plus. It has been documented that one Dealer was asking $75,000 for his Pace Car. There were multiple examples of people purchasing base model Corvettes (sticker priced in the $9,000 plus range) and cloning the Pace Car then reselling them as pace cars. I personally saw one at a car show two years ago when I took mine, the VIN had been removed. Cloning or just painting a 78 Corvette to look like a Pace Car is not uncommon. I've seen several examples of these with the owners not claiming it as a pace car, they just liked the paint scheme.
I hope this helps.
RPO-Z78
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Post by rpoz78 on Jun 2, 2020 20:38:16 GMT -5
Pacecar78, The tops of the fenders are bonded to the lower side of the fenders about 2 inches below the body line. (The rear quarters were bonded in the same place.) These bonding locations always crack. This sounds like what is going on with your car but would need pictures to be sure, but if your car has the original 42 year old paint most likely that is what it is. It may be just starting and that's why they look like pits. Again, with out pics, I'm just guessing but this is typical of C3 Corvettes. Jeff
PS:Any chance I could get the last 4 numbers of your VIN and a list of options. I have a spread sheet and am trying to find as many of the 78 PC's as I can.
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Post by rpoz78 on Jun 2, 2020 20:27:25 GMT -5
Pete, So far I have found 932 of the 6504 Pace Cars. Can you give me the last 4 numbers of the VIN? I'll check to see if I have any info. Jeff
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Post by rpoz78 on Oct 23, 2019 23:07:58 GMT -5
Hay all, I have a weird hobby and I could use your help with it. I've created an excel spreadsheet with all 6504 Pace Car VIN's including the two non-Pace Car VIN cars that were at Indy. In place of the engine code in the VIN I have an x until I figure out the engine. Then I change it to either an L or a 4, depending. I'm tracking the options on each car (There was only six, engine, trans, interior, radio, speed control and Gymkhana Suspension) as well as City, State, and build date code on the trim tag.
I'm also trying to figure out through this process how many VIN's were assigned each day. I know GM averaged about 135 per day but I'd like to get real numbers. By searching the internet I have been able to find 887 cars that I could connect a VIN, but a lot less build dates. Probably another 100 without the VIN. I know I wont be able to find them all as some have been totaled over the years but I'm trying to find as many as I can.
If you'd like to help, you can post your info to this thread, preferably with pictures of the VIN and Trim tag.
My car is an L82/M21, with Leather, Gymkhana, and CB, currently 29,433 miles.
I look forward to possibly hearing your story about how you came to own such a work of art.
Thank you and GOD Bless
Keep on Livin' the Dream!
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Post by rpoz78 on Oct 20, 2019 13:24:03 GMT -5
Did you ever find it?
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Post by rpoz78 on Oct 20, 2019 13:16:52 GMT -5
In 1978, GM used Monte Carlo's and Camaro's as "Festival Cars". I'm not sure on the number of festival cars GM sent to Indy but all the festival cars were Monte Carlo's and Camaro's. One more thing... I believe all the Monte Carlo's were white, I'm not sure on the Camaro's. And of course there were the four (well documented) Corvettes.
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Post by rpoz78 on Oct 20, 2019 13:07:56 GMT -5
1101 is not the build date. The build date will be a letter and a two digit number. You can find it on the Body Number and Paint Plate tag located on the drivers side upper door hinge pillar just above the top door hinge. In the upper right hand corner of the plate, on the top line of writing, in line with the word CHEVROLET will be the Build Date Code. The Code's are as followed for the 1978 Pace Car: The letter indicates the Month your car was assigned a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Yours will be either: G for March, H for April, or I for May. These were the only months the Pace Cars was built. The two digit number that follows the letter is the day of the month the VIN was assigned. That date is the date people consider the build date when in actually the car was build within a day or two of it receiving a VIN, not including weekend or Holidays.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll see what I can do to help answer them.
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Post by rpoz78 on Oct 10, 2018 14:43:00 GMT -5
Jill If you have not gotten an answer yet...open the drivers door, on the door frame, above the upper hinge on the fire wall should be a trim tag riveted on. In the upper right corner is the date code. It will be a letter and a 2 digit number (Ex;H27. In this example, the (H)designates the build month, (H) for April 1978. The 27 is the day of the month. So in this example, the car was build on April 27th 1978. Here are the codes for the Months: A = Sep, 1977, B = Oct 1977, C = Nov 1977, D = Dec 1977, E = Jan 1978, F = Feb 1978, G = Mar 1978, H = Apr 1978, I = May 1978. I won't bother typing out the rest because 1) you see the pattern and 2 you said your car is a Pace Car and GM didn't build any after May 1978. Hope this helps. Jeff
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Post by rpoz78 on Aug 24, 2018 18:54:54 GMT -5
Of course I've looked on the internet already but I'm looking for recommendations. Satisfied customers.
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