Welcome to the addiction, Looks like you have already been busy. There is a wealth of information both here on the Corvette forums. The search feature is your friend. It is unlikely there is anything that has not previously been covered. In particular look for the “solutions” sticky at the top tech sections. Member “Dynomite” has done spectacular job of compiling and indexing just about everything. Parts wise you probably already know that
Www.JerrysGaskets.com is our go to place for parts of all kinds.
Good luck and see you in BG.
H