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Just picked up a 74 with the standard 350 and a Muncie 4 speed and only 31k miles. It was never really driven but not exactly babied either. The price was great and I couldn't resist. The paint was hazy and everything was dusty but it has cleaned up great. Just really digging into it, all fluids, filters, plugs, wires, ignition... etc
After changing the fuel filter I had a small piece of the old improperly seated clear plastic gasket clog up the carb so I could get a good glimpse of the waterfall... Pulled the Rochester apart to remember the crude genius of a carb. My last carb (on a car) was a 71 Nova I owned in high school in 1990!
There are a few transmission leaks. The rear seal and shift linkage seals. I'm planning to get into real soon. I plan to dig around for helpful hints on that here before starting. I think that should be fairly simple.
I bought it because it looks great and everything on the car works amazing, not for speed... but what are some of the simple mods I can do for a little power gain?
.... any other thoughts or advise for this beauty that has mostly been sitting still for 43 years?
Small block Chevrolets are a great candidate for increased HP for any price range you have allotted.
Aftermarket aluminum heads/intake, cam/lifters, exhaust, etc.
Congratulations on your new car..looks great.
Congrats! Nice find! I would suggest to get it cleaned up and drive it a little before making any big changes. With that low miles it may be better to keep it bone stock as a true survivor!
For a quick seat of the pants bump retrofit some 3.70:1 rear gears in there! Getting a L-48 to putout decent power takes some effort. Some guys might suggest to mothball that motor and install a crate engine. Do not let impulses drive decisions is rule #1!
Nice score. Good looking survivor.
I am picking up in three weeks a '77 L82 which has sat for 25 years in a garage. It is similarly clean (although lots of spider cracks in the red paint).
Maybe shocks & springs might make it feel better to drive? That is where I will start anyhow.
As mentioned above, I'd drive it and enjoy it for a while before making big changes. Don't be too surprised if you have to replace a lot of rubber parts like hoses and seals. Just deal with them as they crop up. None are that big of a deal and as long as you keep up with them, they won't dampen your enthusiasm.
I had to chuckle when you mentioned the leaking transmission. I swear that these started leaking at the factory That's what they do.
Set your initial timing and change your timing advance curve to achieve 36 degrees total advance (with vac advance temporarily disconnected) by about 2,500 rpm.
Also make sure your carb's secondaries open fully/
Congrats!!! Great looking 74. I bought mine 4 years ago with about 4800 original miles on it. It also sat in a garage for 33 years as the owner died and his wife did not want to mess with it. I already had a prior survivor so I was not going that route again. Its a good car to do what you want to make it. You will have to change a lot of the rubber. I did. Is your car AC?
I changed the intake and carb, it already had headers. First thing I did was to change it to HEI with new wires. Also had to replace the radiator and heater core. Not a screamer, but a lot of fun. Good Luck!
Last edited by red topless gator; 12-27-2017 at 04:45 PM.
Reason: changed
Just picked up a 74 with the standard 350 and a Muncie 4 speed and only 31k miles. It was never really driven but not exactly babied either. The price was great and I couldn't resist. The paint was hazy and everything was dusty but it has cleaned up great. Just really digging into it, all fluids, filters, plugs, wires, ignition... etc
After changing the fuel filter I had a small piece of the old improperly seated clear plastic gasket clog up the carb so I could get a good glimpse of the waterfall... Pulled the Rochester apart to remember the crude genius of a carb. My last carb (on a car) was a 71 Nova I owned in high school in 1990!
There are a few transmission leaks. The rear seal and shift linkage seals. I'm planning to get into real soon. I plan to dig around for helpful hints on that here before starting. I think that should be fairly simple.
I bought it because it looks great and everything on the car works amazing, not for speed... but what are some of the simple mods I can do for a little power gain?
.... any other thoughts or advise for this beauty that has mostly been sitting still for 43 years?
Now that's what I call a clean example of a 74 Corvette.
The car looks so correct I would just put a 74 radio and steering wheel back in it for a factory look, (what ya have looks fine too) tune it up and enjoy the hell out of it.
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-‘18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23
NCM Sinkhole Donor
Originally Posted by dosoctaves
Congrats! Nice find! I would suggest to get it cleaned up and drive it a little before making any big changes. With that low miles it may be better to keep it bone stock as a true survivor!
Congrats on your find! She's beautiful (and that color is scarce). I'd leave it alone and keep it stock...But that's just me. Enjoy!
Really good looking car. I had a new '74 the same exterior color.
The emblem on the gas cap is not "odd", because NO '74 had an emblem on the gas cap. Someone added that one to the car.
If that car still has original paint, you should consider having it judged as a survivor car by Bloomington or NCRS. And, until you decide if you want to do that (or not), don't make ANY changes to the car except for maintenance work.
You have a really nice original unrestored looking 74 there. The engine and interior ( except for the steering wheel and radio) look untouched I agree with 7T1 about keeping it the way it is until you decide to have it judged or not. Thanks for sharing.
Tooch
I've had mine for 5 years now, definately not as nice as yours, mine had 95K on it when I bought it. As I am not a purist, I decided to update mine as I go. It's totally up to you.
These things leak, a lot. I have replaced the oil pan and tranny gaskets, Rear main seal, dip stick tube leak, rear end still leaks, will get to that when I upgrade to 370/373 gears.
You may find the steering on these cards is really loose. I bought a rebuilt control valve, twice, they are crap, if you need to change it, then go with steeroids or something nice and new. I also added a spreader bar at first. 100% improvement.
I changed my points and condenser to Pertronix with a new coil...makes a difference.
Next is probably fuel injection, FiTech most likely.
Good luck with yours, however you want to proceed.
12-27-2017, 12:18 AM
my new 74 with 31k
That's what they do.
Congrats on your find! She's beautiful (and that color is scarce). I'd leave it alone and keep it stock...But that's just me. Enjoy! 
