Hello all,

I am normally in the C5 forums all of the time, so it will be nice to spend a little time over here as well. I'm hoping that some of you can help point me in the right direction.

I own a '79 Corvette that my wife and I have affectionately labeled as our 20-year project. The car is complete, but the previous owner let it sit in the Arizona sun for well over 15 years. The interior is trashed, and many things (brakes, brake lines, fuel lines, fuel tank, belts, hoses, etc, etc, etc) will need replacing for the car to run safely. I don't feel the car is worth restoring, so we've always thought it would be a great custom project. On the other hand, each time I start working on it we begin adding up costs to "customize" the car, and I quickly realize it will cost two to three times more than just buying a different car that is already finished.

Recently my father approached me about turning the Vette into a track and autocross car. I had thought about this before, and I really like the idea. I'm to the point of being more OK with risking damage to the car on a track than I am letting it continue to rot away in the sun. As an added bonus I wouldn't need to worry about buying countless new interior pieces.

I realize that a '79 Corvette is probably one of the worst Corvettes to start with when it comes to power and handling, but I'm thinking it would be fun to begin with in various lower level classes.

Here's what I'm hoping all of you can provide for me:

- links to interesting and relevant articles or posts (I have been searching, but I'm not finding much)
- personal stories about building something like this
- pros and cons for using a '79 Corvette
- estimated costs for the various stages the build might go through (everything from starting out to upgrading in the future)
- anything else you can think of ... LOL!

I look forward to your replies, and I thank you in advance for your help.

LO PHAT

P.S. Before anyone mentions it, my father has spent a considerable amount of time in advanced courses at Bondurant Driving School, and I hope to get more seat time there myself in the near future.

 

I'd say a '79 is a GREAT C3 for track-use or autocrossing.

* It doesn't have a high collector value, so it would be less painful to see it endure regular racing wear and tear.
* The handling of the '79 is probably toward the top of the C3's
* A 350 can easily be built to whatever power-level you need and the rules allow
* It's still a Vette!

 

Use the C5 for that. It's already miles and miles ahead of the '79 and will probably cost you way less than trying to autocross the C3.

Sell the '79 to someone who wants a driver.

 

There are two very different opinions here. I appreciate that, and I'm hoping for some more.

As a side note, I certainly realize that a C5 is miles ahead of a C3 in all aspects of handling and performance. This is especially true when it comes to my Z06. That said, I might take my Z06 to an occasional autocross event, but I would never race it on a track.

Does anyone have information they can share on building a C3 into a track car?

LO PHAT

 

You have everything you need to start autocrossing, in fact you have too much, you could easily strip several hundred pounds of weight out of the car by taking everything out that doesnt need to be there. Now strip the motor down to just an engine, no smog stuff, egr, all the uneccesary vacuum stuff. Super tune the engine after replacing all tune up items. You now have a good starting point and you've woken up an otherwise sleeping machine. from here you can start on rebuilding suspension, changing out heads, cams yadda yadda, the bolt on horsepower that will cost you money, every item you add/modify at this point will increase HP to a much lighter vehicle, its all about power to weight ratios. Mostly, have fun with it and forget about street driving it.

Just my two bits worth, Dennis.

 

Jeepers. They probably quit building C3 road course cars before the C4 came out. Other than classic car racing, which class would you run in these days?

John Greenwood built C3s in the 70s; James Garner and others raced L88s, you might find information on the Lemans cars. Mid-70s issues of Corvette News ran a series of articles on how Greenwood prepped his C3 frames. In the mid-80s, Corvette Fever Magazine ran a series of articles on C3 mods suggested by Greenwood. You might find back issues.

Good luck.

 

Great question! I really don't know what else is available. This thread is part of my research...

The classic/vintage classes are sort of what I'm giving consideration to when it comes to forms of racing other than autocross.

LO PHAT