One more thing on these: they drive horribly if all 4 wheels aren't properly aligned. The front is easy. The rear is a bitch that few people still understand and know how to tackle. The vast majority of C3's you'll encounter to the street have rear alignment woes. When that finally gets corrected you'll swear the engine has been rebuilt it'll run so much better. It's really amazing how much extra drag having the rear wheels towed in or out a bit causes.
Crackers said:They're gorgeous cars, although I prefer the early cars with the steel bumpers. (As most people do apparently.)
However, I hate the way they drive.
Heavy and noodly and dog slow stock. (Even the 350/4 speed cars) As others mentioned, rear suspension geometry sucks.
I'd still have one for the right price if the stars aligned just right, but I'd also start over on the chassis/suspension.
I had a customer bring 3 of them into the shop that all had rotten frames (probably the "birdcage" thing machinebeau mentioned) before he eventually gave up on having one and bought one of the shop's split bumper second gen Camaro's we were building. And these were all California cars.
Although, you must consider the source. I am expecting to drive around a car cobbled together from 2 pieces of garbage, so....
They're all over the map. In the 90's I worked across the street from a place called Mincz Tire in Richmond, Virginia. They were always busy with Ferraris and stuff and we were pretty sure it was a drug running front. But anyhow, they had a guy who rented out their alignment bay and knew his stuff. I brought my '76 to him and he spent a full 8 hour day on it. When I got it back I couldn't believe how much he had transformed it. It felt like he'd jacked it up and slid a much better car under it. It pulled away from stop lights like it was a gear lower. I didn't realize there was anything wrong with it before. Then later on, I happened to have the opportunity to drive a friend's freshly restored '68 ragtop. What a miserable experience. That thing drove like a bus with a low tire.
I guess my point is that these things can indeed handle like true sports cars and be a pleasure to drive. But most aren't set up right. A good alignment specialist is your friend.
to anybody doubting their capabilities, look up Danny Popp's '72 and read about how he destroyed his competition at autocross.
For less than the cost of a tired C3, this right here and a set of Kooks long tubes ought to flatten your eyeballs back in your skull: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tfs-k306-515-460 I don't care if it is an automatic.
I guess where I am in life, caring more about performance than "pulling chicks" or impressing some pot bellied old men at a car show, I'd be loathe to trade even the least desirable C5 for the most desirable C3. And that statement is money aside. I mean you'd have to be a fool not to trade a '97 automatic coupe for a '68 L-88 cause the later will pull 7 figures or close to it at the Scottsdale auctions.
I get it. The C3 is very pretty, and they can be made to be a lot of fun, and indeed the interior screams classic.
Do it. Don't try to open the doors with it jacked up though.
In reply to A 401 CJ :
I get that the C5 is a far better performer all around, but at this point I'm kinda bored with modern fast cars. I've owned a car with 400hp and while it was a blast, I couldn't even get close to 10/10 with it because I would kill myself on the street. At this point I'd rather have a car that looks and sounds cool, and it doesn't need to be all that fast.
I'm not looking to impress any old guys at car shows or to pick up girls (I've been with my girlfriend for almost 8 years now). This is just for me.
What I'm really looking for is a fun project. The way it drives is almost secondary in importance to me.
In reply to A 401 CJ :
Oh yeah, alignment is key. My BMW 540it has a quirky rear end setup when it comes to alignments as well, and I've had several shops fail to align it properly until I finally found one that took a solid two hours and got it dialed in just right. It's crazy how good a proper alignment feels.
Having grown up with a high compression 427 big block on hooker side pipes I will say there is nothing in the world like a big block corvette on those pipes. But then again that engine is making upwards of 600hp,427 12 to 1 trig power with a believe the zl1/ls7 454 cam in it. And even better as it’s a convertible. It was one of the top autocross cars here back in the day. Actually it was great in the stock classes with the original l36 390hp 427 aswell. And it ran great with the race engine and slicks of a 81 can am car in the prepared class. At a big corvette event in kalispell Montana one time he beat a guy with a fully gutted car with a heavily modified small block. My dads car has full interior,th400,radio,heater and ac,power steering,luggage rack,and a hitch.
MotorsportsGordon said:Having grown up with a high compression 427 big block on hooker side pipes I will say there is nothing in the world like a big block corvette on those pipes. But then again that engine is making upwards of 600hp,427 12 to 1 trig power with a believe the zl1/ls7 454 cam in it. And even better as it’s a convertible. It was one of the top autocross cars here back in the day. Actually it was great in the stock classes with the original l36 390hp 427 aswell. And it ran great with the race engine and slicks of a 81 can am car in the prepared class. At a big corvette event in kalispell Montana one time he beat a guy with a fully gutted car with a heavily modified small block. My dads car has full interior,th400,radio,heater and ac,power steering,luggage rack,and a hitch.
That would be the dream setup. A big block with 454 cubes (or more) and side pipes. Thanks to the massive aftermarket, you don't even need an early C3 to have cool side pipes, as those can be retrofitted to any C3. It makes me wonder why people shell out big bucks on early factory big-block cars when you can build a big block to make more power and pop it into a small block car. From what I've read, the only modification needed to do that is the front subframe, everything else fits just fine.
I'd definitely want a model that had factory AC, which was thankfully more common in the later year C3's. It gets to be 110ºF in the summer here, so AC is mandatory. I don't really like convertibles so a coupe is what I'm going for.
Ads like this are so tempting: https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/d/1979-corvette-lower-price/6465816036.html
dannyzabolotny said:MotorsportsGordon said:Having grown up with a high compression 427 big block on hooker side pipes I will say there is nothing in the world like a big block corvette on those pipes. But then again that engine is making upwards of 600hp,427 12 to 1 trig power with a believe the zl1/ls7 454 cam in it. And even better as it’s a convertible. It was one of the top autocross cars here back in the day. Actually it was great in the stock classes with the original l36 390hp 427 aswell. And it ran great with the race engine and slicks of a 81 can am car in the prepared class. At a big corvette event in kalispell Montana one time he beat a guy with a fully gutted car with a heavily modified small block. My dads car has full interior,th400,radio,heater and ac,power steering,luggage rack,and a hitch.
That would be the dream setup. A big block with 454 cubes (or more) and side pipes. Thanks to the massive aftermarket, you don't even need an early C3 to have cool side pipes, as those can be retrofitted to any C3. It makes me wonder why people shell out big bucks on early factory big-block cars when you can build a big block to make more power and pop it into a small block car. From what I've read, the only modification needed to do that is the front subframe, everything else fits just fine.
I'd definitely want a model that had factory AC, which was thankfully more common in the later year C3's. It gets to be 110ºF in the summer here, so AC is mandatory. I don't really like convertibles so a coupe is what I'm going for.
Ads like this are so tempting: https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/d/1979-corvette-lower-price/6465816036.html
In my opinion all c3 should have side pipes they look much better and fill up that open space. But header pipes should be used instead of stock ones. When my dad put hooker pipes on his 69 with the stock 427 his 1/4 dropped a full second and more importantly engine temps dropped quite a bit. The hooker type pipes are pretty much the standard c3 road racing exhaust.
Also worth noting that pretty much all of the production based c3 road race vettes were convertibles because they cost less than the coupe new and had better areo then the coupes.
MotorsportsGordon said:dannyzabolotny said:MotorsportsGordon said:Having grown up with a high compression 427 big block on hooker side pipes I will say there is nothing in the world like a big block corvette on those pipes. But then again that engine is making upwards of 600hp,427 12 to 1 trig power with a believe the zl1/ls7 454 cam in it. And even better as it’s a convertible. It was one of the top autocross cars here back in the day. Actually it was great in the stock classes with the original l36 390hp 427 aswell. And it ran great with the race engine and slicks of a 81 can am car in the prepared class. At a big corvette event in kalispell Montana one time he beat a guy with a fully gutted car with a heavily modified small block. My dads car has full interior,th400,radio,heater and ac,power steering,luggage rack,and a hitch.
That would be the dream setup. A big block with 454 cubes (or more) and side pipes. Thanks to the massive aftermarket, you don't even need an early C3 to have cool side pipes, as those can be retrofitted to any C3. It makes me wonder why people shell out big bucks on early factory big-block cars when you can build a big block to make more power and pop it into a small block car. From what I've read, the only modification needed to do that is the front subframe, everything else fits just fine.
I'd definitely want a model that had factory AC, which was thankfully more common in the later year C3's. It gets to be 110ºF in the summer here, so AC is mandatory. I don't really like convertibles so a coupe is what I'm going for.
Ads like this are so tempting: https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/d/1979-corvette-lower-price/6465816036.html
In my opinion all c3 should have side pipes they look much better and fill up that open space. But header pipes should be used instead of stock ones. When my dad put hooker pipes on his 69 with the stock 427 his 1/4 dropped a full second and more importantly engine temps dropped quite a bit. The hooker type pipes are pretty much the standard c3 road racing exhaust.
Yep, that would be the plan. With the later year C3's the stock exhausts are complete junk since they were trying to choke the engines for emissions purposes, so that would go into the trash on day one. Even a bone stock late 70's 350 would probably see significant gains from getting rid of the awful stock exhaust setup.
MotorsportsGordon said:Also worth noting that pretty much all of the production based c3 road race vettes were convertibles because they cost less than the coupe new and had better areo then the coupes.
Makes sense. I don't like the sun beating down on my head in Phoenix though, so a roof is an absolute must. I've used the targa top on my C5 only once in my ownership, I'm not really a fan of going roofless.
Actually generally speaking for all vettes since 68 the convertibles tend to leak less and run quieter inside then the coupes. What u need perhaps is a convertible with the hard top roof. Greenwood even used it on his wide body race cars.
I say go for it. Late 70's C3's are definitely common and not as loved. I literally noticed two sitting in driveways during the 3 mile drive from house to the post office today. It shouldn't be too hard to prowl Craigslist and FB groups and find someone's forgotten project they need to move quickly for cheap. Especially for what it sounds like what you want to do.
This is my dad back in either 1982/1983
I'd go for a C3 over a C5 (assuming I was looking for project/classic car). Something about an old muscle car, and C3's should be able to handle OK. Maybe with some suspension love.
I'd love a pre-75 since then smog is no worry. Big block with side pipes A+
Also, don't throw things in the trash.
I worked on a friend-of-the-family's '78 and the guy was trying for one of those super duper best-corvette-ever awards. We were taking off perfectly good parts, intake manifold, alternator and windshield wiper motor comes to mind, and replacing them with other ones, simply because they had the right stamping numbers to correlate with some book which made it so you couldn't prove they were not original to the car.
So don't throw away those manifolds, take them off and sell them to an idiot for $400.
MotorsportsGordon said:Also worth noting that pretty much all of the production based c3 road race vettes were convertibles because they cost less than the coupe new and had better areo then the coupes.
I think the real reason is you could remove the full width and height windshield and replace it will a little short piece of plexiglass. Whole lot less air to push out of the way.
My 2 cents...I watched a Wheeler Dealers episode on the weekend where they spruced up a 1968 red vert. It looked great! I could totally rock that car and it would definitely be more pleasing than a C5 for me. This would be just a toy car, I assume a C5 would be much better if you were going to put significant miles on it.
frenchyd said:MotorsportsGordon said:Also worth noting that pretty much all of the production based c3 road race vettes were convertibles because they cost less than the coupe new and had better areo then the coupes.
I think the real reason is you could remove the full width and height windshield and replace it will a little short piece of plexiglass. Whole lot less air to push out of the way.
But the vast majority of enduro cars ran a convertible with a hard top roof aswell and still had better areo then the coupe.
tuna55 said:Also, don't throw things in the trash.
I worked on a friend-of-the-family's '78 and the guy was trying for one of those super duper best-corvette-ever awards. We were taking off perfectly good parts, intake manifold, alternator and windshield wiper motor comes to mind, and replacing them with other ones, simply because they had the right stamping numbers to correlate with some book which made it so you couldn't prove they were not original to the car.
So don't throw away those manifolds, take them off and sell them to an idiot for $400.
The numbers-matching people make me laugh. It just seems so silly to me to care about when a part is from. I'd rather have the best parts instead of the original parts. Like why settle for a numbers-matching 180hp engine when you could throw in a girthy 400hp big block?
I gotta be honest. I don't understand wanting a corvette knowing it won't work as a sports car. I'd rather have an Impala or a C10 if I just wanted a big block cruiser.
dannyzabolotny said:MotorsportsGordon said:Having grown up with a high compression 427 big block on hooker side pipes I will say there is nothing in the world like a big block corvette on those pipes. But then again that engine is making upwards of 600hp,427 12 to 1 trig power with a believe the zl1/ls7 454 cam in it. And even better as it’s a convertible. It was one of the top autocross cars here back in the day. Actually it was great in the stock classes with the original l36 390hp 427 aswell. And it ran great with the race engine and slicks of a 81 can am car in the prepared class. At a big corvette event in kalispell Montana one time he beat a guy with a fully gutted car with a heavily modified small block. My dads car has full interior,th400,radio,heater and ac,power steering,luggage rack,and a hitch.
That would be the dream setup. A big block with 454 cubes (or more) and side pipes. Thanks to the massive aftermarket, you don't even need an early C3 to have cool side pipes, as those can be retrofitted to any C3. It makes me wonder why people shell out big bucks on early factory big-block cars when you can build a big block to make more power and pop it into a small block car. From what I've read, the only modification needed to do that is the front subframe, everything else fits just fine.
I'd definitely want a model that had factory AC, which was thankfully more common in the later year C3's. It gets to be 110ºF in the summer here, so AC is mandatory. I don't really like convertibles so a coupe is what I'm going for.
Ads like this are so tempting: https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/d/1979-corvette-lower-price/6465816036.html
There is no subframe. There is a frame. A frame that will rival a ton dually in its massiveness and strength. If you get an automatic, which I advise against for obvious reasons, you'll need to do exactly nothing except remove the small block to put in a big block. I'm pretty sure I even reused my engine mounts. Now the tricky part is finding all the little brackety crap to get your alternator, power steering, etc to work. The factory did use different half shafts and stuff on the big blocks if I remember correctly. I'm not an NCRS type so I can't say for sure. I believe the AC equipped cars got the big radiators anyway but I could be wrong. Mine had a mid '60's 396, stock small block radiator, stock TH350 with a looser converter, and stock half shafts. It worked just fine. I probably only had about 300 hp at the crank though.
Daylan C said:I gotta be honest. I don't understand wanting a corvette knowing it won't work as a sports car. I'd rather have an Impala or a C10 if I just wanted a big block cruiser.
It's hard to find unmolested Impalas and C10's here. All the Impalas are donk cars while all the C10's have been turned into mini trucks slammed to the ground. I'm not into either of that. Plus I already have a car that can comfortably seat 5 people and cruise around, so I want something with 2 seats that's not as big and is lighter (my daily driver is 4000lbs).
Plus I just love the way the C3 looks. It could be the slowest car on earth and I would still think it's lovely. I need a car to appeal to my eyes for me to really enjoy it— I just can't enjoy a car that I don't love the looks of, even if it's a great-performing car. That's why I've kept my BMW wagon around for so long, because to my eyes it's beautiful. I bought a 1987 Porsche 944S because I thought it was beautiful too, even though I knew it was going to be slow.
Daylan C said:I gotta be honest. I don't understand wanting a corvette knowing it won't work as a sports car. I'd rather have an Impala or a C10 if I just wanted a big block cruiser.
They work just fine as a sports car and had good sports car handling for the day. Yes they don’t handle as well compared to modern ones but guess what so do all sports cars from back in the day.
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