Just curious here.. Taking into account wrecking yards (where there are a heck of a lot of good newer cars these days) is there a certain vehicle that has a drivetrain in it that could be taken out and installed easily in a C3 to give great performance and suit the car without changing much more of the original setup?

 

ZZanything and 700R4 .....

 

I'm doing the LS thing.They are making it easier.

 

100% true

 

Thanks, but what about Engine AND Transmission?

 

The Corvette is unique enough in a bunch of little ways that nothing worth having now will work without some fairly extensive mods. Of course, "extensive" is relative to your parts availability and mechanical abilities. Back in the 60's and 70's if you needed an engine/trans combo, just about any Chevy setup would work. A few brackets, cables, and wires were the difference.

Now it is vastly different. Carbs changed to fuel injection, a computer controls about everything, accessory mounting changed dramatically, and now it takes a significant amount of time and money for an average Joe to start swapping new parts for old parts. One of these days, some vendor will offer a kit to swap a newer engine and transmission into a Corvette that addresses all the things that make our cars unique, but it will be expensive.

For now, unless you really want to take on a major project and let your car sit in the garage for months or years until all the bugs are worked out of your efforts I would find a complete engine (junkyard or crate) and transmission from a similar year Chevy and build/rebuild it to your liking. Simple and very few changes will be required. Even switching transmissions from your TH350 or TH400 for a newer 200 or 700 series requires some fairly significant changes with cables, brackets, shifter mods, lockup controllers, etc. For the average hobbyist, it is a challenge.

Plan carefully and think long and hard before pulling the trigger on this project.

 

My '79 is getting a "heart & lung" transplant. That is the original 1979 190 HP 350 L48 and turbo 350 are being replaced by a roller cam, roller rocker 350 HP hopped up 350 with a 700R4 overdrive transmission.
I can't wait for the transplant to be done, so I can have a Corvette that hauls ***! Hopefully it will be completed by this coming weekend!

 

By 'plug and play', I imagine you want a computerized, FI set up, with an OD transmission, like the 700R4. If I had to go this route with an automatic car, I'd do my best to stay with a first gen SBC, like the one in our Corvettes.

You already have a fuel return line, so you can run one of the new Holley or Demon Fuel Injected carbs and these are supposed to be 'plug and play'. Secondly, the 700R4, is probably one of the easier transmissions to put in a C3, versus a 4L60TE or later models.

Finally, you can install a serpentine belt set-up for the first gen SBC's and a friend of mine gave me a little nugget of knowledge about that. The 1988 and 1989 V8 Caprice's came with a Serpentine belt set up on them, that with very little modification, bolts right on. You do have to run that particular water pump as it actually rotates backwards from a regular First Gen SBC, because of how the belt is routed. You'll also have to get a smog pump delete idler pulley to eliminate the pump. I just purchased mine from Jegs for $53, as this is the route, I'm going with on the new engine I'm bolting in. The PN is 809-10129569 and it's made by Chevrolet, through their High Performance line. If you're running headers, you'll have to make spacers for the exhaust bolts, where the Caprice brackets hook up to the stock exhaust manifolds and go with longer bolts, but this is the only minor annoyance you'll have.

If you go to the junkyard to pull this, bring it all back! Bolts, washers, everything and take pics, so you know how it goes on the block. I'm doing this, this Friday.

 

Wonderful write-up. And pretty much what I was looking for. What engine are you bolting in? Keep the suggestions and successful projects coming.

 

No problem, happy to help out! I'm bolting in a First Gen SBC, just like the original L48 that's coming out of it, but this one is a four bolt main. Not that it makes a whole lot of difference, it's mainly because the block is hanging out in the shop and we can build that up, while we pull the other short block out. A two bolt main block can support up to 500 horsepower, though many will state that 400 hp is the limit, but I've yet to see or hear somebody breaking a two bolt main block yet.

The aluminum L98 Corvette C4 heads that are on the L48 now, will be sent out with the new block as well and they are going to mod the heads to accept 2.02 valves, versus the 1.94's that are on there now.

 

PM gdh, he's in Orangeville and currently installing a new ZZ in his convertible. With one of those coupled to a Bowtie Overdrives tranny, you're set. You're already miles ahead with that $1000 beauty in the driveway.