If you had a Corvette...

[Ken Angels]

I picked up a NICE 73 Stingray garage find for cheap, brought it to my dad's, changed the plugs, fluids, and brakes then drove to the DMV then San Diego (560 miles)
once there i daily drove it for a while until Uncle Sam decided he needed me in Japan. 2 years of mountain "touge" in a nissan 180sx got the turning bug in me. now i ask you this...
If you has a 73 Corvette, what would you do with it? mods, engine, wheels, brakes, trans, gears, engine, L-88 fender flares and hood, anything

right now it's mostly, stock t-top auto and a 350 sbc from someone's dirt track days and i removed the a/c compressor and smog pump
i haven't been able to find a lot of reviews on after market stuff like the Sharkbite suspension from speed direct and 73 is kind of that forgotten year in the corvette world. thanks in advance, i know you guys will come through
55903 Where i found it only under a car tarp
55904At my dad's garage
55905 the only damage i found
55906cell phone picture after washing it in San Diego

[andrewb70]

If you actually want to drive it, I would recommend doing a LSx/T56 swap. Even a 5.3L will make more power than that old 350 and the overdrive transmission will make highway driving easy. For a rear gear I would stay in the 3.42-3.90 range. What gear is in it now?

As for suspension, I have no clue because I don't know Corvettes. I am sure others will chime in.

Andrew

[reedld]

If you actually want to drive it, I would recommend doing a LSx/T56 swap. Even a 5.3L will make more power than that old 350 and the overdrive transmission will make highway driving easy. For a rear gear I would stay in the 3.42-3.90 range. What gear is in it now?

As for suspension, I have no clue because I don't know Corvettes. I am sure others will chime in.

Andrew

I agree..LSX...lots of people have done it so you should be able to get lots of tips. LS1tech has a few people I know of who have done it to a C3.

Here is a good site for some C3 conversion stuff...

http://www.vetteworksonline.com/

[hifi875]

If you actually want to drive it, I would recommend doing a LSx/T56 swap. Even a 5.3L will make more power than that old 350 and the overdrive transmission will make highway driving easy. For a rear gear I would stay in the 3.42-3.90 range. What gear is in it now?

As for suspension, I have no clue because I don't know Corvettes. I am sure others will chime in.

Andrew

what he said

[406 Q-ship]

I love the idea of any Ls engine, I am not a huge fan of the T56 (due to the gearing) but a TKO would be way cool or a Richmond OD 5. The OEM Vette suspension can be tuned to work remarkably well. From my days at Guldstrands, we made some Porsche killing Vettes with very little work to the stock suspension. Give Guldstrand Motorsports a call to see how easy it would be to make the car work. One thing that must be pointed out, check out all the suspension's condidtion and repair it (there are alot of wear pieces to the Corvette rear suspension). I am not a huge fan of the Mako Shark Corvettes but looks like you got a very nice car there.

BTW did you run the numbers on the car? If it is a L48 4 speed Vette it will have a pretty good collector market for it and might be worth restoring to original.

[garys 68]

I'll tell you what I did with my 68 convertible
02 LQ9 6.0 with LS1 intake, Richmond 6 speed. You can go with any OD trans. I went with the Richmond because the gears worked well with my newly rebuilt 3.08 rear.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/02/enginetrans-1.jpg

Vintage Air so I can actually drive it in the summer.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/02/front-2.jpg

Lowered a couple inches. Unless you go with considerably wider wheels and tires, suspension mods dont get you much.
I kept mine looking stock outside. IMHO, the early C3 vette lines are too cool as is, I wouldn't add flares, etc.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/02/vette1-1.jpg

And even inside, all original gauges work. 67 Hurst shifter handle makes the Richmond look like it belongs. Only the 6 speed shifter plate gives a hint.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/02/DSCN0008-1.jpg

Starts every time, 26 mpg on the hiway, cool in the summer, and really fun to drive.

[neki67]

I agree with the above comments. LS engines are great but just an OD transmission (pref. an electronically managed one) is also a huge step forward from the old 3-speeds.

W.r.t. suspension and brakes: it's all depending on your budget. A nice forum to visit when it comes to modifying a C3 vette: www.vettemod.com (http://www.vettemod.com). Vettemod has lots of tech and mod info and some very knowledgeable moderators and members.

O and BTW & FYI; I own a 68 convertible vette. Building up to a mild PT version for me and my GF. One of the advices I got was to spend some extra money on quality sound/heat insulation. The C3 tend to get quite hot inside w.o. or not enough insulation.

[WS6]

www.vettaid.com has a lot of conversion stuff as well as upgrade parts for these cars. I would go with a 5speed instead of a six simply because the car does not need 6 gears. You'd honestly be adding money and cost for no reason. There are plenty of bolt on suspension parts for these cars as well as aftermarket frames. You can do a great deal with these cars. First thing I would recommend is to decide what you want to do and build towards that as that will dictate what you need to make the car enjoyable and yours.

[shmoov69]

Cool car, but first thing I would want to do is to bump something in front so you can put a chrome bumper front on it! Lol!

Really tho, the LSx stuff would be the bomb and would be probably the biggest and best change you could make to the car for "fun factor".


Btw. Thanks for your service!

[sokoloka]

I have a 1972 Corvette and I'm in the middle of doing a lot of what you're thinking of doing but taking it down to the frame at the same time.

LS3, TK600, Tubular A-arms, Coilovers, flares and a 1969 front clip to name a few.
Check out my build thread - unfortunately not much progress while I'm stuck in Europe.

[CreepinDeth]

I would go with a 5speed instead of a six simply because the car does not need 6 gears.
You'd honestly be adding money and cost for no reason.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/02/what-1.gif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg-Warner_T-56_transmission#Applications
Look at how many performance vehicles in the past decade had the T-56 and TR6060 6 speed manuals.
Vipers, Vettes, Camaro's, Cobra's, Aston Martin Vanquish, GTO, CTS-V.
That ALSO means.......parts abundance, and cheaper upgrades.

It all depends on what the builder is after. 6 gears with a T-56 gives you a .50 final gear with the F-body T56.
You can EASILY make use of that gear. http://www.angelfire.com/fl/procrastination/rear.html

A 27" tire, 3.73 rear gear, and the .50 final gear in the T-56 gives you 1500rpm at 65mph.
I'm throwing one in my 442 because I wanted the 3.73 rear end and 26+mpg highway.

[garys 68]

On the 5 vs 6 speed. A 5 speed TKO conversion costs the same or more than the Richmond 6 speed.
T56s are pretty cheap too but would require mode do it yourself mods and the additional cost of a hydraulic clutch.
Corvette C3 differentials are pretty expensive, so a TKOs limited OD ratios (0.63?) would have added the cost of a new rear. Same for the T56.

[Bad Bird]

* C4 Corvette rear suspension (or replace the trailing arm with two trailing links and a toe rod, see VetteMod.com)
* Jeep box integral power steering conversion (Borgeson, et al)
* Speed Direct aluminum upper control arms with improved caster and raised front roll center height.
* Wilwood bolt-on 6-piston aluminum brakes (still take the factory pads)
* Spreader Bar

That should handle pretty good. If you want more, there are frames available that allow you to run C5/6 front and rear suspension.

[Ken Angels]

Thanks for your inputs guys, i've been away doing the navy thing but at least it's giving me lots of time to think. i got a 383 in my 69 chevelle that should be 400+ horse power with out the blower. i think that with an EZ-EFI unit mated up to a tko five speed with all the goodies would work good for the conversion from auto to stick. plus the 9 to 1 compression would still be kind to me for san diego gas prices. i'll give the guys at Guldstrand Motorsports a call for some words of wisdom (thank you for that lead) but in the long run, i've been looking at the shark bite suspention, steering and c-5 brake kits that speed-direct.com offers.

there are no more drag strips in south ca so the chevelle is kinda useless to me for the time being. time for auto cross and long haul trips to the good driving roads.