I am on my second 75. First one was untouched orig. My current one has side pipe headers and L82 valve covers. The 350 is a durable engine and these cars rarely saw 100k miles. A lot of people, even vette owners, won't tear into an engine that runs well...

 

I know many late C3's that are unmolested OEM original engined cars. I certainly don't buy into this concept that there are few unmolested cars out there. If I did not have any engine issue, I would never have torn into my OEM 65,000 L-82 stock engine with the 4 speed (3.70 gears). Karol on this forum has an OEM 78 L-82 4 speed with 110,000 miles and still going....no plans to do any engine mod/change unless the L-82 blows up, just one example.

 

I freely admit such cars are still out there.......but I would dispute the idea that they EVER ran well by the standard set in recent years.

Honestly......I have to say I couldn't understand the desire/plan to own any C3 from the emissions era that doesn't also include a plan to at the very least "tear into" the top end of the engine for an extra 100HP or better still just outright replace and start over with a complete replace ment of the entire unit. Those dished pistons limit head choices and compression ratios pretty severely.

 

Evidently the mystique of a nearly original mid year C3 escapes you. Some people buy classic cars for what they are and not what they can do. By your way of thinking a 58 MG or 70 Triumph Spitfire should be ground up for scrap. My 75 has the original engine, Quadrajet and heads and they have old school mods to make a decent performance engine while maintaining the original numbers. I wouldn't be competitive against any modern sports car and for a fact, my Wife's 2.0 turbo Hyundai would kick my *** 0 to 90. But then again, my Vette is a whole lot prettier and makes me happy.
Jerry

 

Nope it does not escape me......it's just the '75-82 years are easily upgraded and I can't imagine sticking with that crummy "as delivered" performance. Hey I own one so I'm not slamming the car at all. I just recognize the EASE of replacing that engine it came with.

Ultimately a '75-80 Corvette without a Computer and with a Carburetor is essentially the VERY same car as those C3s before it........except for the mandated in emissions regulation LACK of any discernible power.

Let's not lose track of the thread's purpose as stated in the OP.

We are ABSOLUTELY NOT talking about a 4 cylinder British sports car that would require incredible change to achieve modern power levels.....or even just respectable levels of power for a V8 Sports car with the Corvette name plate attached. That little British car is what it is and nobody expects much get up and go out of it. It's more the go cart experience you get in little car that weighs just over a couple of thousand pds.

The original question posed in the first post of this thread asked if adding performance was worth it in an L48......the answer is a resounding YES if it's in good enough shape but even f it isn't......the ability to swap it out for modern power requires no modification to speak of to the car itself and trying to compare the idea to a Triumph or MG is ridiculous.

You honestly BELIEVE there is a serious desire to relive the experience of the late 1970s and it's miserable power levels, crummy MPG and over all really hamstrung engines........I think your really STRETCHING HARD to make a point.

Ultimately TIME has fixed all ills suffered in the '75-82 models. For a very long time you had a 7 year run of the C3 where a solid argument to stay away from them was telegraphed in weak resale values.

I'd argue that today some of that perception remains and would allow a buyer to get a GREAT PROJECT CAR for small change vs the more highly valued C3s from the earlier muscle car Era.

The simple fact that most States no longer enforce emissions law on owners of a '75-82 has removed that only lingering impediment to giving a SLUG a new lease on life that includes power worthy of the name "Corvette" without much effort required at all.

Don't fight it.....just do it.......and please don't try to sell me an argument that anyone owns a stock powered '75 to 82 for the over all driving experience of a car that can't get out of it's own way.

 

BUT, the OP went on to say it needed cosmetics and was planning to part with it soon. In this case, no. You need to spend money on the car to try to maximize your resale price. Which means a Maaco paint job, redye most interior panels, seats and door panels and maybe dash pad. What he is trying to do in maxing sale price is minimize his loss. Spending time-money on the engine he is selling is a waste unless the engine is the most glaring fault in the car. Unhook emissions and timing the ignition will do a lot to change the way it feels. A better cam if he can do install himself would be the most he can justify. Pretty valve covers. Mebbe a holley more for appearance than performance. If he finds a used eddy performer for 50 bucks... this he can justify. These people talking 383 crate motors? Save that for the vette he is gonna buy next...

 

My 80 is a nothing car L48 car. I like it, and performed a full body off rebuild, so i have **** ton of money into the car. The motor is fresh and now sports 350 hp and 390 tq. Got rid of the 3.08 gears and installed 3.55 gears. Car is now a pleasure to drive. Not worried what its worth i will drive the wheels off it . lol build your car how you want and enjoy it.

 

I have the original motor in my '75. I would love to upgrade it but the dam thing runs so good. Starts great, runs great, runs cool. I don't want to mess with it.

 

Mine runs great starts great gets 20 mpg as well. once you go from 180 hp to 350 you will never look back.

 

20MPG?

How are you doing this?....... are you sure you're doing that well?

I wouldn't have believed that 20MPG was possible in a C3 without a modern Computer controlled engine and OD transmission......and even then it seems tough with the less than really good aerodynamics found in more modern design.

 

All "show" and no "GO"........ that hasn't bothered you yet?


I have to admit I admire the restraint you display so easily. God knows you probably save a lot of cash in the expense of maintaining your older ride.

Reading some of the responses here has changed my opinion some-what..... I guess I should have know that there are people who own a Corvette and really don't spend much time thinking about the performance they just want the car and accept what it came with as good enough.........that's not enough for me personally and if the car LACKED any reasonable ability to take on some actual power it'd have been sold years ago.

Someone earlier suggested the power levels should be acceptable in the same way a little British sports car and it's **** poor performance is accepted by collectors.....maybe that's true and I'm wrong.......but it also goes a very long way to explaining why I can look at a Triumph or MG in a really rare sighting these days and it does NOTHING for me. NO desire to own one, drive one or even see them really.

No small part of why I like the C3 is found in how the aftermarket is so strong in it's support of the platform.....if all we could do with these cars was restore them to stock configurations.......I'd have sold mine a long time ago and never looked back.

 

All you really need is an OD and 20 MPG is very realistic....

There are guys on this forum with 450 Gross HP and higher 355/383's with a carb getting 22-23 MPG with OD tranny's. Most of the MPG gains made in the last 20 years are from cars and engines with steep OD's..fuel injection/ECU's push those numbers closer to 30 MPG with V8's and big HP V8's like my 10C6Z06 which gets 28 MPG @ 80 MPH turning 1,750 RPM's from a 427 no less. Low 20's is very doable with a carbed V8 and and steep OD.....

I can get 17-18 MPG with a light foot at a steady 70 MPH with my 450 Gross HP 355 L-82 @ 3,200 RPM. Imagine the MPG if the engine was turning at 1,800-2,000 RPM @ 70 mph....????

 

Krystal - I've been on this forum a long time, like you. One conclusion I have drawn is that most C3 owners rarely, if ever, floor the gas pedal. If they ever do, its only for a second or two. They are just not concerned with acceleration or are deathly afraid of breaking something.

 

I agree with 90% of what you're saying... But there's a heck of a lot of those 'old MGs" and other British sports cars that are modified to a greater or lesser degree for improved performance. In fact I would day the majority of them are modified to some degree. Later larger capacity engines, heavily ported heads, and aggressive cams are very common and accepted modifications, superchargers and engine swaps not much less so. I actually find Corvette owners as a whole to be far more fanatical and fixed in an originality mindset than most British sports car owners. Fitting an MGB engine to an MGA, or a later 1275 to an early Sprite or Midget often improves their financial worth, as they become better driving cars. There are some certainly who do focus on originality, but as a whole, far more corvette enthusiasts seem to be set in that mindset.

 

I had a C5 for 5 years with plenty of go but other than opening it up on a back road now and then it got boring. I went back to a C3 because of the looks. I have headers and dual exhaust so she sounds good while cruising. And I am pretty content with that. If I had the money I would love to drop a LS motor in it and new paint.

 

This is exactly what I would do also.Headers and a great exhaust, tune the ignition with a better curve and make the carb perfect. You'll get twice the gain an intake swap would bring, and the intake gain is most likely only a gain above 4,500-5,000. $.02

 

Gee......I hope that's not true........I mean that's a shame if it is.

I'm left asking, "what would be the point of ownership in that case?"

There are but an insiginifanctly small number of C3s that are worth real money due to originality. If I owned one of the few that actually would worry me for what happens to it's value if I broke the original engine catastrophically.......I probably would only be trailering it to shows anyway or it'd be sitting in safe storage.......but for the othr 99% or more of the C3s.......run 'em. The beautiful thing about these cars is found in parts avaialblity ......you can break 'em and you can put them back together if you do at very reasonable cost.

 

Same as a lot of hobby cars, drive to a show-n-shine, get some ice cream, cruise out to dinner, and look cool.

 

Sounds nearly same as my 80 L48. Just replaced the short block with 4-bolt and forged crank; no change in compression beyond the bump with the 4.040" bores.

 

If I could take yo all back to 1980 I could show you all 4or5 L--82 Corvettes running high 12 sec 1/4 miles with stock short blocks including the stock cam.
That isn't shabby even today. Sure it won't beat a demon and or hellcat but neither will most Corvettes decades newer.
I come across mustangs Camaros and c5 Corvettes all the time and never have a problem. These cars are a thousand pounds lighter than mustangs and Camaros that means something go figure it out.
It doesn't take 600 h.p. as someone mentioned to keep up.
And please if your car is 75 and up numbers matching do what you want with it. My buddy had a 7 mile pace car he kept in an air conditioned garage since new he sold it last year for 20k he paid 12 brand new. Adjusting for inflation he is in the tank so far it isn't funny. Go out and make them your own and enjoy them.