sc2dave

About a year ago, I bought a '71 with a '74 or so body. I want to swap it out to a '71 again. What's an inexpensive place to buy these parts? Also, what am I looking at in regards to swapping it out? If it's too hard for me, what am I looking at for a shop to do this? Thanks. I'm in the L.A. area. used parts are also welcomed.

Easy Mike

I'm a bit lost. Do you have a 71 with 74 body parts, or a 74 with a 71 VIN? Any remaining visible vestiges of the 71 or will this be a complete rebody? Pics would help. Cost would be anybody's guess at the moment since we don't know how involved this project might become
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sc2dave

Ok. I bought a 71 with a '71 vin number, and I guess they switched the body around to a 74. I want to switch it back to a '71 body again.

20mercury

IMHO, no cheap way to do this and a major project, but doable if you are very determined.

I think you need a donor like this 68, but a 70, 71, 72 Corvette:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...wall-back.html

also check out glenn454 in Georgia on ebay and George in Spring Tx who is in the parts for sale section here. So, you will likely have to look pretty much all over unless you are lucky.

Glas Ra videos can educate you on how to do:
https://www.corvettecentral.com/sear...***+glas+ra+cd

Good luck and you might consider selling what you have and looking for another project which could be cheaper overall.

theandies

So you have a '71 VIN but you have:
No wiper door
"Rubber" front and rear bumpers
Front 1/4 gills that are not egg-crate style
No fiber optics light monitor system
I'm sure I'm missing some stuff but these are the most obvious.
If you have a '71 VIN then I think sometime during the cars life someone replace the front and rear end caps to "rubber."
Just too many unknowns at this point to estimate cost.
Pictures would be nice.

CA_WxMan

I remember seeing a thread about this car when you first got it and were interested in changing the front clip.
Did you ever make the swap or is it still wearing the '73/74 front end?

As for buying a rear clip, you can check with some of the same places that were referenced for the front clip, like J&D Corvettes or SoCal Vettes. You could also keep your eyes open on Craigslist. I know that there are a couple of guys that advertise Corvette projects and parts. I think one of them is in the Lancaster or Victorville area.

If you want to drive a bit, there's a place up in Livermore, CA called Big City Corvettes that sells on Ebay.

You might also consider looking out at other areas on Craigslist. Sometimes you can find a deal by driving outside the SoCal area.
I have family in Oregon, so I look at the OR/WA craigslist pages for things that I want or need whenever I'm travelling that direction. Right now, there's a complete 70-72 rear clip in Salem, OR for $1400.

If you do swap out the front and/or rear, I'd be interested in buying your old fenders with the flares for a '75 convertible that my son and I are working on.

Good luck with your project.
Chris

derekderek

Least expensive would be to buy the last 6 inches to a foot of a 68 to 73 body and graft it to your 74 body. They also sell a bolt-on version that replaces the 74-up bumper cover. Nice looking but not identical to original. Post pics of your car.

TWSTDMETL

This website (MidAmerica.com) is everything Corvette 53 till present and aircooled vw's. I go there first to look for what it is I need, check the price, and if I can get the same parts at a local auto parts store at about the same price without waiting for shipping, I do that. I know you're probably looking for parts cheaper than at an online supplier but it's a good General place to start looking for the parts you need and if they're available or not. Sometimes it'll generally just give you the proper verbage to go out searching the rest of the internet with some words you may not have tried yet. Good luck fellow Vetter.

derekderek

Double check the VIN plate on the windshield. Double check the frame of the car. Make sure it doesn't have bumper shock mounts.look for the fiber optics on the dash for the light monitors. And the other things that would make it a 71 as opposed to a 74 car. It's possible this might be a 74 that somebody has put a 71 VIN number on. And if you buy all whole 71 body and put it on that frame, it's not legal to take the VIN tag off the windshield pillar and put it on to the other windshield pillar. So if you're going to do that it would be best if you bought a body that has a title and use the new VIN number. It's possible what you have is a stolen 74 and somebody pop rivet of the 71 VIN number on.So check the engine code in Vin derivative on the engine compared to the VIN on the title. Same with the transmission Vin derivative. If they match each other and don't match the title, you may have a problem.