Hey I just bought a 68. The car has no motor and has a rebuilt Borg Warner 4speed(which I will be selling.) I want to drop in a new motor with a 6 speed.

The guy before me did all the necessary body work. Along with rebuilding the brakes, and new brake lines, suspension, rear end and rack and pinion steering.

Yet I have so many questions. One of the first things I want to tackle is the interior. I would love ideas on how to do the interior. Is it possible to bring in the interior from a c6 or something along those lines.

I am in the Dallas area, are there any shops people would reccomend for restoration?

 

Do you want to restore it or build a custom? I have a C2 Coupe in the shop 1hr north of Dallas. The shop is reasonable and very reliable. You dont have to look over their shoulder every minute. All work is photo documented, and posted on the web for inspection. Look up ARC by Ray in Gainesville Tx, (940) 668-0336. They mostly restore muscle cars and old classics. I am working in SE Asia and a lot of trust is required to build such an expensive car from afar. Ray Wall and his son Tory have earned that trust.
There is also a large pile of Corvette parts coming off my car you can kick thru, lol.

My 65 Coupe Build:
1. Dart/AFR SBC 427 with Inglese 8 stack EFI
2. Tremec 6sp
3. Street Shop Chassis
4. Baer 14" Big Brake Kit with hydroboost
5. Aldan coil overs and C4 suspension
6. Aluminum Radiator and rack and pinion steering.
7. Corbeau A4 leather seats and custom interior designed by Ray.
8. 18" custom offset wheels TBD.
9. ISIS wiring system and Dakota Digital Instruments.


Visit the shop and inspect their work. It is top notch and their prices are very reasonable. In any case good luck with your build and welcome to the brotherhood.

 

Thanks, I am very familiar with gainesville, I need to go up there anyway, my grandparents are due for a visit.

I would like to go custom. I want a big horsepower daily driver to come out of this build. That might be too much to ask, but I am a big believer in actually driving my dream cars.

 

I am building exactly the same type of car. My motor is 556hp/580tq and this will be my daily driver. I have done 2yrs worth of research and will be happy to share what little Ive learned. Lots of guys are going with LS motors, I can give you the pros and cons. Ive also ordered all of my own components and know which vendors are good and bad.

In any case check out the shop and you will see what I am talking about. If you want to go totally LS modern, Tory is one of those high tech guys and will not steer you wrong. I am trying to build a modern car with an old school look. I also plan on tracking the car occasionally. Another good reference is look at some of the C2 resto-mods. They are kind of a comfort touring cars with very nice interiors etc. You can mirror their interiors and add a little more testosterone under the hood, lol. The best bang for the buck motor right now is the LSA. $11k for 556hp, is a steal. Go to lateral-g.net or pro-touring.com and you will see this motor going in a lot of custom builds. The motor can be tweaked for a lot more hp if that is your goal.

In any case welcome to the "Dark Side" of the forum, lol. The word custom can be a dirty word with the "original, numbers matching" crowd, lol.

 

1st what's the budget? What's the build time? Be realistic. Can you exceed it by 50% or more? Then form a plan within the budget. What are your wants? What do you really need? Would investing in a rendering save money in the long run? Plan ahead. Usually the longer the build takes the more changes you make and then the more money you spend. Exceeding the time frame and the budget turns into an incomplete "project car for sale". I'm not trying to be harsh just trying to have you see all the aspects of "building a car". If you want 500+ horsepower there are lots of ways to get there. The same thing with an overdrive transmission. Do you want comfort items like A/C and a killer sound system? Do you want to upgrade the stock brakes or do you want "big calipers and rotors"? Are you going to be satisfied with all the rebuilding and body work that has already been done? Think about "everything" that's involved with building your "dream ride" and then you will get more specific answers. For what it's worth IMCO I think there are more important safety related and drivability related issues to tackle before worrying about the interior. Figure out the drivetrain and suspension 1st and see where that takes the budget. Good luck going foward. Welcome to the forum. There's a lot more expert and experienced information here than I can offer.

 

I suppose there are many ways to build a car. A lot of guys start with a build cost sheet. Some start with an artist rendering, which is very common on the other forums I previously mentioned. Me, Im just having fun, and I havnt found any big complications. It started with a mental image of what I wanted in a car and it is slowly coming together part by part. I agree that the interior is probably the final phase of a build but to each his own.

Whatever you do have some fun. If things cost more, slow the build down. Dont compromise on components just take more time to build it. This is supposed to be fun, I think!

 

I know that starting with the interior sounds strange. But I know that the motor and transmission will cost me an arm and a leg so I want to start with something I can both afford and do myself. And I will actually be starting with paint most likely. I have a general idea of where I want to go with the car but when I posted about the interior it was one of the areas of the car I was unsure about.

As far as safety goes I know that the guy before me rebuilt the brakes and put brand new suspension in it, so until I can get it somewhere to figure out what the quality of the work that was done to it so far I won't know where I need to go. Which is partly why I was asking about shops.

Money is of little or no issue for me. Not becuase I have a lot but because I want to take the time to make this perfect, I don't want to cut corners to get it on the road faster. I will try to do as much work as I can myself to save money.

Btw after looking at tons of pictures on this forum I think I will go with a mostly stock (but new) interior with some sort of racing seats and a much better steering wheel. And yes I will be going with a great sound system but I have amps and speakers already so it shouldn't be too big of an issue.

I take all advice and criticism people have to throw at me, I do need to draw out a plan, starting with an inventory of what all I currently have.

 

In a perfect world the build should start with frame, suspension, brakes, wheels and steering. It's the "skeleton" you build the "muscles" on if you will. If you want a high HP, high G-force car and intend to use it, the 1968 front wheel hubs should be replaced with later ones which have larger/stronger bearings. The stock posi will not live long under 500lb/ft and modern drag radials... it needs strengthening. Ditto the half shaft u-joints, and a slew of other details you can find by searching here and reading about similar builds..

It's your car but I think interior design/procurement is quite low on the priority/finance scale at this point since you don't even have a complete drivetrain planned, or budgeted yet. Start with some thought, some reading and some reasonable dollar figures in mind before you spend penny one on mods.... taking that time will save you seriously as the build progresses.

 

Are you worried at all about having that big of an engine in the front of the vehicle from a weight distribution stand point. Because I have been considering that engine as well before posting this, but part of me wants to take a 350 or something smaller and build it up to that level of hp. It seems like that would make for a better overall vehicle. But I don't know, thoughts??

 

My motor is the same size as a 350. In theory, my motor weighs less than a 350. The advice about frame, suspension and drive train is spot on. For my car to have bigger hp, other components had to be strengthened. If the seller rebuilt stock brakes, steering, etc., then you should match the build, with a motor in the 400ish hp range. Or you have to tear out the new stuff or build up some of the components.

I bought a C2 with custom chassis and all new components. I had to tear out much of it because the car was not built for 500hp. In the long run, I still saved money because of a discounted purchase price. You may find that 400ish hp is enough. You can get a nice 383 SBC or go with an LS3, with either giving you mid 400hp.

I started my build using a new Z06 and new ZR1 for my cost and performance goals. I have exceeded the cost of a Z06 but should finish the car at ZR1 cost. My car cannot ever perform like the new cars with all of the on-board computers, but it wont get embarrassed either.

Research, costs nothing and has been the most fun about the project. Check out those other forums where you can follow a 100 car builds at any given time. Take your time, ask questions and enjoy yourself! Check out those C2 restomods, forum members are building some beautiful cars and have lots of good advice.

 

I agree about the suspension and will definitely check out that shop in gainesville and see what they say about the supsension and frame both in what was done to it and what needs to be done to support my hp goals. Now that LSA you mentioned you said was a great bang for the buck motor. This LS3 looks like a great option unless there is something that I am missing.

http://paceperformance.com/i-7739382...-shipping.html

And is this the transmission that you are putting in?

http://paceperformance.com/i-5160024...nsmission.html

 

The LS3 is a great motor and is the most popular swap in a resto-mod. I bought the T56 Magnum strip transmission from Pace. You may want to check out Turn Key Engine Supply also for an LS motor. There are lots of LS components besides the motor required for a swap. The Turn Key motors have everything. This is not an endorsement.







I went with a SBC but with computer controlled EFI. I wanted an old school look with some modern simplicity. It did cost much more than an LS motor, other than an LS9. I dont want to pay for dyno tunes every time the motor sputters. 90% of all the car build forums will recommend an LS motor over a SBC. I went against the grain for my own reasons, right or wrong. Im happy with my decision! The shop also didnt have any problem with the T56 Magnum Swap, but does require me to buy a new drive shaft.

There are also lots of nice BBC motors, many with aluminum blocks. Lots of guys are running 502s and 540s in their vintage C2s and C3s. It is all a matter of choice. I can see you are already having fun picking out motors and transmissions, enjoy!