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Old Feb 26, 2014 | 09:22 PM
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St. Jude Donor '14
Default Need a vette dude!

I can do suspensions, paint, glass, carpet and wiring...but I'm not a motorhead...I have a 1979 basket case with lots of room to do what I want. Only drivetrain I have is the rear end. No motor, no tranny, no driveshaft.It HAD a 350/195hp.
I am asking for "simple" configuration, that a mechanical inclined guy without motor experience needs...motor, tranny, rear end if necessary.
Looking for near 400 hp with auto. Weekend cruiser with a bit of excitement...I'm 58....lol
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Old Feb 26, 2014 | 09:39 PM
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Originally Posted by hereigo
I can do suspensions, paint, glass, carpet and wiring...but I'm not a motorhead...I have a 1979 basket case with lots of room to do what I want. Only drivetrain I have is the rear end. No motor, no tranny, no driveshaft.It HAD a 350/195hp.
I am asking for "simple" configuration, that a mechanical inclined guy without motor experience needs...motor, tranny, rear end if necessary.
Looking for near 400 hp with auto. Weekend cruiser with a bit of excitement...I'm 58....lol
Any small block chevy gen1 will work... 350's are abundant, 383's are 350's with a 400 crank and have a lot more tq... great upgrade... I'm running a 427sbc... you can easily get 400hp out of a 350, and 450hp out of a 383,,,, i guess it just all depends on the amount of money you want to spend... as far as the transmission goes, I'm not a auto guy so ill leave that to them.. but a 4 speed richmond or munci were stock and fit great, if you want to spend more money you can upgrade to a TKO 600 or something along those lines... the suspension on these cars stock suck, imho.... put $1000 in upgrades there asap, again, imho... lower springs, harder, sway bars, Bilstines... keep the stock rear... it is unique to these cars with its IRS. A crate motor is the simplest and fastest and probably most economical way to go... and has a warranty.
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Old Feb 26, 2014 | 09:44 PM
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here is a link to a thread of a friend of mine here, his name is Jeff.. he got a 383 that dynoed at 432hp for $3700

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...int-383-a.html
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Old Feb 26, 2014 | 10:01 PM
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Car has front and rear sway bars, already trashed shocks and have Willcox front and rear rebuilt parts. Thinking composite rear spring with better shocks. Are you suggesting larger sway bars?
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Old Feb 26, 2014 | 10:36 PM
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Originally Posted by hereigo
Car has front and rear sway bars, already trashed shocks and have Willcox front and rear rebuilt parts. Thinking composite rear spring with better shocks. Are you suggesting larger sway bars?
If you go composit spring, which is a great move, you will need bilstine sport shocks to control the much faster reacting composit spring. Front and rear sway bars need to match corecrly ... What od are they?
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 12:51 AM
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Seeing how your basically starting with no motor, ignition, starter, alternator, no brackets, drive pulleys, ect. No transmission, driveshaft, ect....why not do what I'm doing? LS it! And if your worried about getting it going, it's pretty much plug and play these days. You can order a engine tune on the internet and swap one faster than you can make a tuna fish sandwich and eat it. Like changing a video card driver on your computer. Get an LQ4, cam change and a set of LS2 heads and you'll be pushing 475-500 hp everytime. Then you have the benefits of either a great overdrive automatic transmission or a great overdrive standard, both of which will allow you to run a lower gear without giving up low rpm highway cruising. In a nutshell, these days you can have your cake and eat it to.
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 01:10 AM
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Honestly I would buy a complete car and part that one out . You will be much further ahead and at 58 be able to drive it before your 68
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 06:47 AM
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Good possibility...Pat. By the way, I grew up in Jenks and love your half of the state!
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 06:50 AM
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Diehard, too late, got the bug and have purchased thousands in tools and parts. Body is off.Media blasting has begun...
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 07:19 AM
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Originally Posted by hereigo
...I'm not a motorhead...
Learn to be a motorhead. There has been enough written about the small block Chevrolet to fill a section of a library. History of it; how to identify it; how to rebuild it; how to hot rod it; etc. Get a couple or three of the How To books and start reading.

Old dogs can learn new tricks. Bifocals are the only thing which slow us down.
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 07:54 AM
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Perfect time for LS conversion.
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 10:18 AM
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why do an LS conversion? Gen 1 parts are the most available and lest expensive of all motors.... and if your talking HP im somewhere around 650hp with my 427 gen1 and I was around 475+hp out of my 383 gen1........
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 10:30 AM
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Originally Posted by Easy Mike
Learn to be a motorhead. There has been enough written about the small block Chevrolet to fill a section of a library. History of it; how to identify it; how to rebuild it; how to hot rod it; etc. Get a couple or three of the How To books and start reading.

Old dogs can learn new tricks. Bifocals are the only thing which slow us down.

WOOF....WOOF !


(Translation: )


or....at least buy the plug'n'play drivetrain and install it yourself.......(for the bragging rights.....LOL)
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 07:41 PM
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Easy Mike, are you suggesting building up from a short block? Crap! All those itty biddy numbers....
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 07:47 PM
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Doorgunner, first I would like to thank you for your service to our country in preserving our freedoms. I have been following Mrjlr's posts on his Blueprint motor. Looks doable with my skillset....
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Old Feb 28, 2014 | 03:57 PM
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Well Pilgrim, pick up a wrench, you're burning daylight.
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Old Feb 28, 2014 | 07:26 PM
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My 1973 was going in for more minor upgrades when I found out it needed a lot more.

I ordered Gymkhana front and rear springs, matching sway bars, new shocks, Prothane bushing.

I went to ATK for a 375 HP 350 with aluminum heads, roller cam. I had the manifold, Quick Fuel 680 and a few other parts for my original plan.

http://high-performance-engines.com/...duct_Code=HP89

I had the Turbo 350 trans rebuilt, new converter and shift kit for less than $900.00.

Motor and trans dropped into to place in about 20 minutes, headers were on in the next hour......Then again I have a friend with friends and a shop.

Pay attention to the critical task I had of holding the lift in place....





Karsten
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Old Feb 28, 2014 | 10:32 PM
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You held the lift expertly!!! I may be capable of that task.
When these guys speak of all the small numbers..cam specs and lift whatever, I get lost. I need someone to tell me exactly what I need, crate engine with what?
Would like 400 hp, 5 speed manual would be nice. Car was auto before all drivetrain was stolen. I have stock rear end so tranny mod would be better than redoing rear end...Right?
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Old Feb 28, 2014 | 10:36 PM
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Yes I am...guess I am getting ahead of myself though. I am just now blasting parts on frame and such. Most likely be 3 to 4 years before i need an engine.I like to plan ahead. And I like to have all the parts here before I need them. I was warned to not buy an engine until I need it due to warranty issues.
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Old Feb 28, 2014 | 10:42 PM
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Originally Posted by hereigo
When these guys speak of all the small numbers..cam specs and lift whatever, I get lost. I need someone to tell me exactly what I need, crate engine with what?
Would like 400 hp, 5 speed manual would be nice. Car was auto before all drivetrain was stolen. I have stock rear end so tranny mod would be better than redoing rear end...Right?
The real bottom line is all you need to do is decide on what cubic inch engine you want. After that, there are several people on the forum that have been extremely successful figuring out the rest- heads, cam, compression and carb size. You don't have to look very far to find them.
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