5 speed conversion. My '76 was a L82 4 speed car with 3:55 gears. 80mph was not comfy.
Modern shocks are a must have, make sure the rear control arms and bearings are serviced.
Make sure the A/C works, get a good exhaust system.
5 speed conversion. My '76 was a L82 4 speed car with 3:55 gears. 80mph was not comfy.
Modern shocks are a must have, make sure the rear control arms and bearings are serviced.
Make sure the A/C works, get a good exhaust system.
pres589 (djronnebaum) said:Detail and sell. Or make it look exactly like this. Those are the only options.
That car has an interesting history to it.
https://www.motor1.com/news/98578/corvette-ferrari-le-mans-feature/
We restored another Dave Heinz car. C3s road racers were such cool cars. They were sponsored by Goodyear and painted the car to contrast with Greenwood's BFG sponsored Stars and Stripes cars.
Bilstein shocks are good option. Swap out the metal rear spring for plastic and up the rate a little. Be careful though. You sit basically over the rear and will feel everything if you go too stiff.
Front stiffener between the upper a-arms helps.
I'm going to put my 75 back on the road this year so I can make all the mistakes you can learn from me. It has a rebuilt 95 LT-1 small block and 4L60e from a 9C1 Caprice. No AC. Will convert steering to Borgeson power box. I want to make a true targa though, so chassis stiffening is in the future. Haven't decided on my recaros or the C4 seats I have. Definitely side pipes.
In reply to tuna55 :
I want to say 5 or 7k. Looking at dynamic corvettes site, front and rear clip would be 6k plus freight in fiberglass...
Step 1: Buy junkyard 4.8 LS out of 2wd pickup.
Step 2: Rent Chevy cargo van from UHaul.
Step 3: Swap the 6.0 in the UHaul van for the junkyard 4.8.
Step 4: Return UHaul.
Step 5: Run.
Step 6: Install 6.0 from UHaul into Discovette.
I want to build a budget version. I know, put my crack pipe down.
I got to work on, and then drive, a freshly restored '69 427/4sp car.
The answer is... replace ALL the rubber bushings in the suspension and frame.
I mean, the answer SHOULD be big-block, but my largest takeaway was that the chassis did not feel like an overboiled noodle. The newest C3 I had ever driven up to that point was around 20 years old, this was the first "nice" feeling one.
The big block made it fun but the fresh resto made it good.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
A big block and side pipes should go without saying.
volvoclearinghouse said:Step 1: Buy junkyard 4.8 LS out of 2wd pickup.
Step 2: Rent Chevy cargo van from UHaul.
Step 3: Swap the 6.0 in the UHaul van for the junkyard 4.8.
Step 4: Return UHaul.
Step 5: Run.
Step 6: Install 6.0 from UHaul into Discovette.
Try that and the joke's on you: The U-Haul vans are usually 4.8s to begin with.
But the 4.8 is happiest in the 5000-6000 RPM zone even with the stock cam; a more aggressive cam would make one the perfect screamer for a Corvette. Which has me really puzzled about what GM exec thought this was a logical engine option for a one ton cargo van.
In reply to MadScientistMatt :
I just looked at the online configurator, and the base engine in '21 is actually the V6, with the new 6.6 as an option. I read about someone doing the 4.8->6.0 switcheroo online, my post was obviously made in jest. It'd be easier to just go find a junkyard 6.0. I think it'll mate up with a 200 4R, which should fit nicely under the C3 floorpan. Or go all out with a manual trans conversion.
SEADave said:Crate SBC or LS. Even with the upgrade L82 engine those had barely over 200hp.
My wife's 1978 L-82 made 220 hp. The standard engine in a '75, for instance, made a whopping 165 hp.
Not a fast car, but painted lipstick red, that car got looks like very few cars can.
I'm not a huge fan of the rubber-bumper C3s, but I am a huge fan of this car:
volvoclearinghouse said:In reply to MadScientistMatt :
I just looked at the online configurator, and the base engine in '21 is actually the V6, with the new 6.6 as an option. I read about someone doing the 4.8->6.0 switcheroo online, my post was obviously made in jest. It'd be easier to just go find a junkyard 6.0. I think it'll mate up with a 200 4R, which should fit nicely under the C3 floorpan. Or go all out with a manual trans conversion.
Of course, I'm pretty sure the engine switching posts are all jokes. I just supplied an extra punch line, although it's based on my experience with buying spare engines from a U-Haul service depot. Turns out the trucks get wrecked a lot more often than they need new engines.
I've always said that some Vettes are better than others, but there is no such thing as a bad Vette. 
I got a ride once in a 327 C1 on period correct tires back when they where called Gymkhanas parking lot races. Lots of smoking tires and spin outs but it sure was fun. I was trying to win with a 2 barrel, 2 speed, 255hp 350 v8 68 Firebird Sprint.
How difficult would it be to back-date a discovette with chrome bumpers, basically make it look like a 1970 or thereabouts?
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Hot Rod garage backdated a '74 to a '69 look. Lots of fiberglass changes. Pretty cool in the end but you realize you might not want to tackle it.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
It's a pretty big project, only the doors get reused.
I think, for visual impact and general project scope control, etc etc, I would only look at changes to the front of the car. When I looked at what it takes to get the chopped flat tail of the older cars onto a serious disco C3 it didn't seem worth it.
A 4.8 with a slightly snotty cam and an NV3500 or 4L6-whatever-E (and a mild tweak to the shift points and firmness?) all sounds good to me.
volvoclearinghouse said:How difficult would it be to back-date a discovette with chrome bumpers, basically make it look like a 1970 or thereabouts?
It be a lot easier just finding a bare frame and building it up that way
In reply to John Welsh :
You would have to add a lot of power before you ran out of brakes. Well set up factory disc brakes ran LeMans/Daytona/Sebring.
MotorsportsGordon said:A set of hooker header side pipes not only do they get you more power and performer they can have better clearance then the factor out the back exhaust and can deliver better fuel economy aswell.
And I never talked to anybody who had them that didn't hate them. Or maybe they just couldn't hear well enough to understand me.
A really good channel from a young guy in Texas who does mostly C3's with some other vintage American iron thrown in for good measure. He's pretty grassroots too.
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