Good morning,

I have a '73 Coupe with a 350 and TH400.
Under the hood of my car is very stock and very date correct.

I want some upgrades, nothing major, cylinder heads, camshaft, timing chain, exhaust headers.
Every time I start shopping for new parts, I can't pull the trigger.

I have such an appreciation for any car with original parts that is still running and functioning 40+ years on.
My car is a cruiser, date night with the wife, after school drive with my son, or just take it out because I LOVE driving it.

I do plan on buying another car, probably a 66/67 Lemans or Galaxie, 4speed big block.
When I get that car it's for me, I don't care about if it is numbers matching or date correct, or original. It's for me to enjoy, to drive, maybe even as a daily.

Knowing I plan to get another car, I just find myself having a hard time changing, original, functional parts on our 73.
Of course I could keep the original parts, and I would if I did some upgrades. It's not as if the car itself is completely original, it would not be tagged as a survivor. However it wouldn't ever be mistaken as a restomod.

Anyone else here have a car that is so close to original or stock that they cannot bring themselves to start mods?

 

Eric I feel your pain!!!!’ I actually look to bring my cars closer to originality in the work I do to them. I enjoy seeing a car as it left the factory and making sure everything works as it should. But to each their own.

Truthfully though. As long as all your upgrades are reversible and you keep everything you take of the car and time and money is not a deterrent especially if you are doing the work yourself have at it. You can simply reverse everything you have done when the time comes.

Good luck. Ike

 

Nice. I had the exact same struggle not long ago. I have a 73 coupe as well. 64k original miles. I have a mechanic who says he can make it “hot” but I feel young again when I ride in it and it won’t be the same I said. He said Vortec heads whatever that is. He did say he can get it from being quite slow to like 300 HP while poking exactly the same. He said basically with better more up to date parts. I decided to leave it alone because the compression test shows its doing fine. If it goes I will have it rebuilt ti the 300 HP because I want to keep the look and classic feel. What I did was I bought a Cadillac CTS V for that part of me that needs speed and kept the vette as is. I guess I thought about why I bought it in the first place and it was not for power. Good luck with your decision.

 

After my wife got a 79 auto that is too nice to mod, I bought my 80 4-speed specifically to do whatever I want to it. The original engine is my albatross, but I won't let it stop me.

If you can't enjoy your nearly-stock chrome bumper car the way it is, pick up a later car, either with a 4-speed, or plan for a 5 or 6-speed swap, and make it into the car you want!

 

I wouldn't own one of these cars bone stock....there is just too much stuff over the years that is so much better and many do not compromise the "character" of the car.......
If you do your homework, you can build a very stock looking engine that makes over 400 horsepower with zero exotic parts.
My own 72' is how I want it to be.......to me it is the stock car on steroids, and when parked keeps the classic theme of a chrome bumper Vette.

If I owned your 73' it would have 2k worth of upgrades within the first few weeks. Bone stock to me is beans unless it is a Blue Chip L-88,L-71,L-68, LS-6, LS-5...etc.
I don't even think an LT-1 is enough pedigree really to want to keep it NCRS ready......the LT-1 is a massively fun car to modify as when certain mods are made to it....it is the same car but MUCH faster.....
I had a 69' L-68 427.....I loved it, but couldn't really do anything to it without dinging the value of it......so I cashed out and got something half the price that is not such a burn to modify.
Anyway...ALL of these cars should have headers and real exhaust, mini starters, modern shocks and rubber, urethane sway bar mounts, blocked heat risers, and proper curving of the distributor.....if you had a stock one with these mods you would never want to change it back......it is that much better, all of the experience times ten.
Remember, back then a good majority of these cars didn't make it home from the dealer without mods.......

Have fun with your 73' however you decide!

Vette

 

I really love hearing from everyone, their opinions, and what they have done with their cars.
Ultimately I know I won't change anything on my 73, because I know I am getting another car that will be heavily modified.
The 73 has had a lot of good suspension work, true dual exhaust, properly tuned and runs and drives great! It won't light your hair on fire, but it is a blast to drive.
My wife drives the car too, and one day my son will, I want to know they will be able to handle the car, and enjoy it.
However, because I don't have exactly what I want yet, I get that itch, ohhh the itch, to start changing this one..lol

- Eric

 

My opinion - you will never put parts you take off back on. I have numerous original parts that I know will never go back on the car and I still have a hard time selling them. Once you go down the swap road you will discover that it is a one way street.

 

" Once you go down the swap road you will discover that it is a one way street." Absolutely correct!

Been working on my 75 for too many years. Every time I read about new improved parts I think about changing things out More parts for the shelf that may go back on (not) . I finally got it to the point of taking it around the hood but decided I needed a steroid system (old original system going into a box, why > because I may need it one day... My Son Is trying to talk me into a EFI system, and I want 2.02 aluminum heads by AFR...Stop the madness...I might never get done.

 

Check into basic 1.6 ratio stamped rocker arms that will work with your engine/heads,
It's a fast way to get a little more pep out of the engine and only requires removing the valve covers and original rocker arms to make the improvement.
Label each original arm as you remove them for easy re-installatlon later on.

 

Stock is cool too. Words of wisdom from Uncle Tony to provoke some thought.

 

If its not broke don't fix it. Johnny Hot Rod parts are not going to get you further down the road any faster, maybe stop light to stop light.

 

LS swap.. I swapped my 73. I used an 04 GTO LS1 and T56 trans.. IMHO it's a perfect combo.. My son and I are getting ready to swap another.. We are doing his 80.. Same combo but with a Holley wiring and ECU..

 

One major factor to sell my 73 was because it was so pig slow..what a disappointment
You can mod it with heads intake cam headers etc and make it look stock. I dont get nostalgic about every car leaning on the horn or riding my bumper sorry they are that bad stock.

 

Eric
My opinion, which means nothing, is it sounds like you and family like the car as it is but sometimes feel it's not as fast as the next guys. You like it but want to be like the other guy, pretty common. Your use of the car is street use and that's what they were intended for, You already know you want your own fast car and that is not the 73 vette. If its running fine, you enjoy it, and you plan on a non vette hot rod the only money I would put into it is gas. Get in fill it up and go out for the day, who cares if it's not the hottest car in town you have it and others don't.

I talk to guys everyday about their cars and how they're building them. There's nothing wrong with those who want 600hp and want to push their car to the max nor is there with guys like you who want to drive and enjoy it as is. I have a 72 with about 300hp now and it's fine, I rebuilt the engine 14 years ago and just get in and turn the key and go. Yeah a new car will be faster, most of them, but I don't care. My son has 710 hp in a car that beats you up after 20 minutes. He likes it and built it that way because thats what he wants, I don't drive it and he is bored with my ole 72.

Mild power changes won't affect the drivetrain unless you are going do a lot of burnouts and hard launches but you go into major power increases you will snowball into rebuilding everything South of the flywheel if you use that new power to the max. That means more down time, a lot more money, and the end is it worth it? Only you can answer that but I am happy with my obsolete car with 300hp and once I build my 69 again it will also be setup around 350hp and street driven.

Again just my opinion, yours is the only own one that counts, the guys here will spend your money real fast.

 

 

GTR1999 great thought and I agree. I wonder what everyone does with these 500+ hp cars if you are not on a track????

Are they suitable for the street? Traffic jam??

But as always there is a place for everyone. I think you just need to decide what that is. Ike

 

Well high power pump gas engines can be street friendly and again nothing wrong with them but you have build the car to accept them. All depends on what you want. I always drove mine, daily for years. 300hp was always enough for me but my buddy 40 years ago was like my son, a racer. 400-450hp was a lot back then and he would proceed to break everything south of the flywheel. Parts were cheaper and usa made then but still I drove mine everyday while his was on stands most of the time, but when it was on the road it was pretty fast - right up to the next broken part!

 

Very well said

Ain't that the truth

 

Gary is completely correct, except you won’t just be upgrading everything from the flywheel back.
Once you start down the black abyss of high performance on a C3 you will be upgrading everything from the radiator to the exhaust tips.
Suspension, chassis, steering, cooling, electrical, brakes, everything.
If I could start over, I would ditch my 73 and purchase a Factory Five Racing Cobra Coupe and build it from the ground up with all new parts.
If you love your 73, keep it stock or slightly modified.
Don’t go big performance on a C3 unless you have the budget to support it.

 

Same situation I am in. 73 L48 auto. Has 87000 miles on it, mostly matching numbers, excellent looking driver. It smokes a little when I first start it. Kind of embarrassing at cruise ins. A couple A couple of years ago I had a mechanic try to put umbrella seals on the valves, but he said they would not fit,so he just put new o rings in it. Did not help. Engine seems to leak from everywhere. So I have been looking at new heads , mild cam, and intake. I have been advised by other "experts" that putting new parts on old bottom end is trouble. Total rebuild of original engine not worth it, drop in new crate motor and store original for future rebuild. It runs perfect ,even though can get beat by minivan loaded with whole family. So this spring I picked up a 2014 Z51 7speed to get my speed jollies. That worked. I decided to keep my 73 just the way it is,and spend the winter hunting down the leaks and new gaskets where needed. I have owned this car since 1988, and never intend to sell it, Too many smiles to miles. Enjoy your 73 anyway you like it. By the way , I have only been on the forums a short time. But any time GTR1999 gives advice I reread his thread a couple of times so it sinks in . Worth its weight in gold. Thank you Gary.