How's it going all. I'm an old school shade tree mechanic. A passion for cars and...well...more of a passion for working on them. Wrenching is my life. About a year ago I rescued a carcass of a car which barely resembled a 1979 C3 corvette ($300, yup). To me, it was a hidden gem that needed some polishing. Ok, a lot of polishing. But hey, I have the time and tools so WTH. I started with documentation, Service Manual, Assembly Manual and a few wiring diagrams. I also stumbled across another parts car 1981 C3 ($800, yup 3 hours away so U Haul for the win). I settled on using the 1981 as the main car and have been using the 79 to complete the build.

I got a killer deal on an 1996 LT1 engine and 4L60e transmission, so yeah, jumped on it. I've helped with several Engine Swaps and the Gen2 LT platform never scared me. Optispark is more than manageable (well in my My opinion it is). Other things to-do - um...almost everything. Jeep steering Box upgrade, Mounting Plates being fabricated as I type and Front clip removed so, will need t figure that one out as well.

Looking forward to getting her up and running. Lot's of work to do but I am enjoying it. Summer slows me down as it is HOT, LIKE SUPER HOT in Kern County during the summer and no available Garage at this time. Guess that's long enough of an intro (sorry, talking cars is exciting). Looking forward, as well, to your threads and picking your brains. Have a great one

Started this YouTube channel on the build: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxp...R0VUaHD0y9NtUQ

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome.

 

Welcome to the forum. Your story with the car is a good one and I’m going to move this over to the C3 General section so that other C3 owners can enjoy your progress so far.

 

I see cool cool, thank you for that

 

Welcome from Massachusetts

 

You have talents that I do not possess. Enjoy synthesizing the two cars.

 

Welcome fellow So Cal dude. Unfortunately, here in CA, I would not consider either of these cars worth fixing up. Find yourself a '75 or earlier hunk of junk and use the '79 and '81 for parts. You want a smog exempt car, something you can modify the way you want and keep the state off your back. You can go with the LT-1, but you'll need to make it OBDII smog legal, have the state certify it, and still have to get it checked every two years. Just advice from a local.

 

I agree find a rough 75 or older to eliminate the smog check hassles. Thank former governor Arnold for repealing the rolling exemption that started in the 1990's.

 

I agree, CA Smog laws suck for us car guys. However, I actually have done a smog legal swap before. In this case, I did some research and contacted the local referee station. Same rules apply since 2019 so I think I got it. I have already obtained the Smog pump, Vapor canister and solenoid, and the wiring for it, Also am sourcing the CATS (2 for the 96 MY) and , as an extra, I pulled the dash from a 97 Camaro (digital Odometer) so that I can have a proper cluster though I do have the option of after market Gauges as well. There are some small details they look at but nothing that can't be over come. It's not as scary as you may think. Well, that was my experience at least. I'm sure there are more nightmares than success stories. The hardest part is fitting the components for inspection. But, that's what is swap is all about. Mock up, clamp, Cut, Weld - repeat.
Also, I actually did try sourcing a 75 when I had acquired the 79. nothing came up for half a year or people wanted some crazy amounts. Seems easier (to me) to just work with what I got. The 81 price was too godo to pass up.

Appreciate the comments though, I understand the apprehension towards this swap in CA.

(wait did I just trigger a fail event by saying "I got it?!!" - CRAP!)

 

Welcome! Please keep us posted on your project!

 

Welcome to the Forum Mate! I'm glad they don't even have emissions testing over here. (Australia). Not even for new cars. Of course it's against the law to modify anything here. But with no test stations. We just get away with it.

 

Welcome to the CF

 

Well, good for you.
I probably would not want to put up with the smog checks every 2 years any more. I was really glad when the 75s and earlier got exempted. I can appreciate you taking on the challenge though. BUT really, personally, I'd be looking for a 75 or earlier with the good deals you got on those 2 you already have.

 

Here are a few pics of the cars arriving or being towed by me 2021. A pic of my shop (haha) and why its hard to work on it during the summer. Pics of the chassis prep work and one of the engine In.

 

Subscribed and watched a few of your videos. I've no electronics brain, so much was lost on me, but looking forward to the mechanical bits ahead.

 

you are doing a 94 LT1, with efi and ecm? cats too? no emissions problemo. they allow newer. and only have to pass 79 or 81 specs.

 

I'm swapping in a 96 LT1 Corvette engine and 4L60e trans. 96 is OBD2 so that, for me, makes it easier to diagnose during and after build. The way it works, in general, is you register the Engine Change with CARB. If you do everything correctly (can be a headache), then they sticker your car as an ENGINE CHANGE to whatever you swapped in. So in my case, moving forward, each time i take it for a smog it will be tested as a 96 Corvette C4. and I'll have to adhere to any regulations that apply for that model year, in respects to the SMOG at least.
Hmmm...I may be making it sound more simpler than it is. It is a challenge. And it is frustrating at times. I don't want to make it sound like I have all the answers or it's a walk in the park. Apologies if I was making it sound as such. RULE NUMBER 1: Take my time and no set completion date.
One of those "it's the journey...blah blah blah" kinda things - LOL

 

This should be fun to watch.
I’ll be following along.

 

A lot better shape than I expected. THe cars around here have completely rotted paint, frames barely have metal left on them and no motor or trans for $5000. You got a great deal. keep the thread going and add pics as you can