Corvette Blasphamy
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From: Everett WA
Originally Posted by birdsmith
By "get her over the mountains" do you refer to the Pali?? They're not THAT bad- I drove gutless rental cars over the Pali w/ no problems. A C3 Vette is roughly 3300 lbs, swapping in a V6 would take 100 lbs. off of that, and if you get one out of a late Camaro or Firebird w/T5 behind it the tranny will also be lighter than the TH350 or TH400 that came out. Making the driveshaft and/or shift linkage fit would probably present some issues though, depending on your skill/patience. But if you can get past the sacrilege (or blasphemy or whatever) issue I would think such a combination would work pretty well- I've driven a couple of those old V6 5-speed F-bodies and they're actually fairly good runners. Good Luck!
The car needs work though , I'm looking at long term keeping this car as a daily driver. Spend a little money now to get mpg up, maybe sacrafice some performance, but still be able to drive my baby 15k miles a year when gas hits 5 or six dollar a gallon. Don't laugh its reality in Europe.
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From: Everett WA
Originally Posted by hensen1954
You said " get her over the mountains ".........
this does not sound like an overdrive job - it sounds like a smaller engine with carefully chosen gearing all the way through. May I suggest you also look at some older straight 6 engines.
Just an example and nothing else but my use and ownership of a lot of 1980's BMW straight 6 engines.........
BM is heavier, is shaped like a brick but if you drive half sensibly with either auto or stick - can get towards 40 mpg Uk - 30+ mpg Usa gallon.
Engine is first generation injected 3.5 litre - about 220 bhp.
this does not sound like an overdrive job - it sounds like a smaller engine with carefully chosen gearing all the way through. May I suggest you also look at some older straight 6 engines.
Just an example and nothing else but my use and ownership of a lot of 1980's BMW straight 6 engines.........
BM is heavier, is shaped like a brick but if you drive half sensibly with either auto or stick - can get towards 40 mpg Uk - 30+ mpg Usa gallon.
Engine is first generation injected 3.5 litre - about 220 bhp.
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 171
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From: Central Ill
Originally Posted by I'm Batman
This might be a good time to install fuel injection, rather than a V6.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 3,758
Likes: 3
From: Surrey
I fitted an OD trans (th200-4r from BTO) & it's saving me HUGE amounts of cash in fuel costs. But we get raped in the a$$ every time we fill up, so spending on the OD trans makes good economic sense (in a couple more years it would have paid for itself in fuel savings). Problem with OD is that you need to be above 55-60mph to be able to use the OD gear. She'd have to do a lot of miles to recoup the costs (same as for fitting FI, unless you can get a FI system cheap).
A simple option is to get the engine fully set up & then pay to have somebody set up the carb using a wideband O2 sensor (as mentioned in another post
). I wouldn't be surprised if it's running on the rich side.
If you're considering fitting a V6 (sacriledge!), why not look for one of the 80's Calif 305's? (LG4?) They must get better economy (I'd hope) & there must be a few kicking about unwanted. Should just drop straight in there & you'd at least have a Vette that still sounds like a Vette.
Modify the carb to permanently lock out the secondaries. Shouldn't matter if it's just used for cruising & it should help with the economy
A simple option is to get the engine fully set up & then pay to have somebody set up the carb using a wideband O2 sensor (as mentioned in another post
). I wouldn't be surprised if it's running on the rich side.If you're considering fitting a V6 (sacriledge!), why not look for one of the 80's Calif 305's? (LG4?) They must get better economy (I'd hope) & there must be a few kicking about unwanted. Should just drop straight in there & you'd at least have a Vette that still sounds like a Vette.
Modify the carb to permanently lock out the secondaries. Shouldn't matter if it's just used for cruising & it should help with the economy
Racer
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 270
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From: Gananoque Ontario
If you're really set on a V6 I would look at a 3.8l. That engine was put in nearly every GM platform made since the late 80's, and should be pretty cheap to find at a wreckers. An F-body 5 spd or auto should be a direct bolt on. And if you really want to get wild Pontiac Bonnivilles and GTP's came with a blower.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,753
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From: backwoods upstate ny
i had a 90 full sized chevy van with 4.3, no o/d...aero like an open parachute,weighed 4500 lb....would run with traffic on the open road, got 18 mpg but i never do jackrabbits....current beater is a 94 s-10 blazer 4-door 4x4 with 4.3 vortec and o/d...aero a bit better, not much,weighs 4100 lb, gets 24 mpg....my 68vette/L89 got 11 mpg if driven ''normal'', 3 mpg if you played with it (gas cost then was only 3 minutes of work per gallon)
my current beater also has an exhaust leak--sounds like a old jag--i like it
buy a wreck and get engine, o/d trans, fuel tank & pump, and ecm + harness....buying piece by piece will cost too much
my current beater also has an exhaust leak--sounds like a old jag--i like it
buy a wreck and get engine, o/d trans, fuel tank & pump, and ecm + harness....buying piece by piece will cost too much
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Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: San Diego CA
Honestly, you really don't see much savings in gas mileage from V6s. Look at the gas mileage difference between the V6 and V8 camaros, about 2mpg tops. People get nearly 30mpg with LT1s and LS1s already. The key to better gas mileage is gearing and better engine management. You can get 20mpg with the TH-350 and an L-48, with some upgrades. You can get 25+mpg with an OD, fuel injection, and the same upgrades. Hell I get 20mpg on my '81 with an M4ME and TH-350, but I've had it rebuilt, the carb tuned by lars, a different cam, and the emissions crap removed. Change her car to true duals and you'll get 2mpg more easily.
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 11,872
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From: Waterloo ontario Canada
Originally Posted by IMA66/74
I have seen a few turbo Buick swaps into Vettes......get the six but still have the power.......
No I think a modern V6 would make a nice swap.
The 4.3 is the low tec truck engine.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 111
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From: IL/IA
As others have said, I'd convert to Fuel injection (Really not that hard, Accels makes some great distributor signal packages and edelbronk has a bolt on fuelie intake. Or just convert to a LS1/LS2 and put a 5/6 speed behind it.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 281
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From: Brookfield IL
Why isn't fuel injection a more common upgrade on these cars? I hardly ever see a thread on this forum where someone is converting to fuel injection. It sounds like going FI improves power and fuel economy. Is it just that people are more familiar with carbs, a carb setup is much cheaper than FI, or people like the more original style of having a carb?
Just curious-
Just curious-
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 872
Likes: 3
From: Cortlandt Manor New York
For the money you are going to spend to ruin a perfectly good Corvette buy an old beater with a 4 banger in it and park or sell the vette. If you put a six in it you will ruin any value that there is in the car and you will find the car underpowered and still getting lousy gas millage because the engine will be working above its capacity.
It is worse than blasphemy it is a waste of a good Corvette.
It is worse than blasphemy it is a waste of a good Corvette.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 23,831
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From: Springfield MO
St. Jude Donor '07
Originally Posted by Driftwood
Why isn't fuel injection a more common upgrade on these cars? I hardly ever see a thread on this forum where someone is converting to fuel injection. It sounds like going FI improves power and fuel economy. Is it just that people are more familiar with carbs, a carb setup is much cheaper than FI, or people like the more original style of having a carb?
Just curious-
Just curious-
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 111
Likes: 0
From: IL/IA
Originally Posted by Driftwood
Why isn't fuel injection a more common upgrade on these cars? I hardly ever see a thread on this forum where someone is converting to fuel injection. It sounds like going FI improves power and fuel economy. Is it just that people are more familiar with carbs, a carb setup is much cheaper than FI, or people like the more original style of having a carb?
Just curious-
Just curious-
Racer
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 281
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From: Brookfield IL
I don't know anything about FI systems. But if you're saying that you can hook a laptop to it and play around with the setup parameters-- that sounds cool to me. And if you could also load custom timing curves-- that would really let you tweak the performance.
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 4,071
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From: San Diego CA
Originally Posted by Driftwood
I don't know anything about FI systems. But if you're saying that you can hook a laptop to it and play around with the setup parameters-- that sounds cool to me. And if you could also load custom timing curves-- that would really let you tweak the performance.
You can't program a custom timing curve with an HEI with a laptop...
