My father and I are looking to get rid of his 2000 Mercedes-Benz 500S, have him drive his other vehicle daily, and purchase a automatic 1979 C3 Corvette with only 62,000 miles on it as a project car! The guy has been trying to sell it like crazy, so the price is pretty damn low. The body is practically dentless, but with chipped paint. We saw the car in person, it had minor issues, but it's nothing that can't be worked out before getting driven back to where we live. Now I just have some important questions that would only take a second to answer. If you can point me to the right direction, it would help a lot towards making this our project car!

1) What's the best parts catalouge for a 1979 C3 Corvette?
2) If the GM parts catalouge is overpriced, where or how can I fish around for the best deals?
3) What's the biggest, the best performing, and (if not the biggest) the most versitile drop in motor for a 1979 C3 Corvette that has the best aftermarket of parts AND that can be converted to EFI? (NO LS SWAP!!! haha)
4) Where are the places that I can source the motor?
5) What are my EFI conversion options for the new motor I choose, and their price ranges?

My father's plan is to restore it, and my plan is to turn it into a EFI powered drag beast!!! . If you guys can start me off with some good key words to start searching with, I'll be grateful! Thanks!

 

Of course it's dentless, it's fiberglass.

1. Variable - Corvette Central, Corvette America, Ecklers, Mid-America, plus their dealers which are often cheaper. You have to look & compare as no one supplier is always cheapest.
2. See #1
3. How much money do have? GM crate engines are hard to beat, warranty wise.
4. Look around, google is your friend
5. Wouldn't have it so I can't help there.

Good Luck

 

Did you check it for rust? Many have been taken by what hides under fiberglass. How is the birdcage and kickup's.

 

There are a bunch of threads on here about what to look for when buying C3. Definitely spend some time reading them because C3's can be some of the most polished turds ever, meaning, a car can look awesome but be a total POS. If the car checks out, than you have an insane amount of options available to you, I mean more than this forum can cover. There are more recipes for small block chevy motors than you can fathom. Like any vehicle, you can't just mod the motor, you have to think out the entire driveline. Get it running smooth, handling correctly and stopping safely and then you can start addressing what you want to change about the driveline.

 

I hear ya. I'm thinking all motor on 93 octane, maybe tuned with a EFI conversion from carburetor. Another guy close to where I live is selling his for $13,000, and it's in PERFECT operating condition since he does all the work himself. The C3 project car was $3,500 that my father and I were looking at, but was easily worth thousands more. We may lean more towards the $13,000 car since it has a new engine, tranny, paint job, and just about everything. It'll save us a lot of headache, and work. The owners still drives it around too.

Too bad this forum wasn't organized better. I guess that's what happens when you got a nice and big aftermarket, heh. Thanks for the help!

 

Huh?

 

if your looking to make a dragster out of you may want to contact these people http://www.rehermorrison.com/ as far as the engine goes or check out speektalk.com theres a lot of guys over there that really know their stuff. its going to be expensive so save your pennies and save your dimes.

-alex