1979 vette needs work..what should I do?
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3rd Gear
Joined: Mar 2006
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1979 vette needs work..what should I do?
I have a two owner vette that has 92, 000 miles on it, but needs work and not sure were to start. I have a transmission leak that needs repair and an engine that has not run enough, so now it smokes. Would love to have more horse-power and maybe more low end, but not sure where to put my money. Would love to have 300 horses. Should I rebuild the engine L48 or just put in a crate engine. I have read somewhere that the stroker is the way to go. I used to have a 69 GTO with the 400 in it and would love to have that setup in my vette. How important is it to keep the orginal parts vs. what you want out of the car? Does the new automatic 4 speeds hook up to the engine that I have? How about the 400 transmission instead of the 350? Is that the way to go? Can anyone anwser these dollar question? I am also wondering if I should just sell the vette and buy me one that is already fixed up? The one I have needs painted too.
I would appreciate all your comments.
Thanks,
Lon
I would appreciate all your comments.
Thanks,
Lon
Tech Contributor
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 15,176
Likes: 3,994
From: Connecticut, USA
Lon,
I'm asked this type of question a lot from guys rebuilding their vettes or from 1st time buyer,so I'll offer my opinion for what ever it's worth.
First 79 vettes are not going to be high dollar cars for sale. They were one of the highest production vettes and I think the highest on the c3 run. That doesn't mean they're a bad car but you should consider how much money you sink into it in case you decide to move on and try to recover your expense.
Sounds like it needs drivetrain attention and also sounds like you haven't looked at the suspensions or differential yet. If the car has been maintained then maybe you don't have much to worry about but if it't like a lot of the late c3's it has been driven without much done to the drivetrain.
You can very easily drop $4k on an engine, $1k on tranny, $2k on the rear end and suspension,etc this is without any removal labor. If you can do the work then maybe it will add up to what you want but if you have to pay a Knowledgable shop it will double your costs.
If you are not familar with these cars then I would check with a local vette club to see if there is someone there to offer a look. Once you get the car in air and look it over you can make notes and figure out if it's something you want to "marry" and rebuild.
Now if it just needs attention like seals, tuneup, belts, hoses that's a different story.
Good luck, look before you spend.
I'm asked this type of question a lot from guys rebuilding their vettes or from 1st time buyer,so I'll offer my opinion for what ever it's worth.
First 79 vettes are not going to be high dollar cars for sale. They were one of the highest production vettes and I think the highest on the c3 run. That doesn't mean they're a bad car but you should consider how much money you sink into it in case you decide to move on and try to recover your expense.
Sounds like it needs drivetrain attention and also sounds like you haven't looked at the suspensions or differential yet. If the car has been maintained then maybe you don't have much to worry about but if it't like a lot of the late c3's it has been driven without much done to the drivetrain.
You can very easily drop $4k on an engine, $1k on tranny, $2k on the rear end and suspension,etc this is without any removal labor. If you can do the work then maybe it will add up to what you want but if you have to pay a Knowledgable shop it will double your costs.
If you are not familar with these cars then I would check with a local vette club to see if there is someone there to offer a look. Once you get the car in air and look it over you can make notes and figure out if it's something you want to "marry" and rebuild.
Now if it just needs attention like seals, tuneup, belts, hoses that's a different story.
Good luck, look before you spend.
