I love the look of the C3 but I much prefer the performance and handling of the C4 and C5.
Has anyone tried to put a C3 Body on the later chassis's? If so is it something that a skilled mechanic can do at home? I realize I'll need a hoist for the body. I've done frame offs before but not mixing years. I'm very interested in doing this if it is feasible.

 

No. C4 on up are unibody with glass panels installed.

 

It is not feasible or realistic to put a C3 body on a C4 chassis as like stated above ...unless you want to spend more money on it than it is worth.

What can be done is to cut your frame and then have the sections of the C4 where the suspension is located welded on on. Much like the frames of a resto-mod where they will have the suspension out of a C4 and the body of a 1967 sitting there....and then they generally put in some LS engine.

DUB

 

http://www.sriiimotorsports.com/

Depends on how much money you have

 

This is how I'm putting C5 suspension under my C3

 

I looked at that myself, and had a similar mindset to yours...for me, it was the C2. I did a lot of research on it, owned a C5 up until a few months ago, bought a C3 roller cheap off Craigslist as my current project. From what I've seen, it's been done before, but the C5 width/length varies enough that you've got to modify the body significantly. Some people have put C4 or C5 suspensions on C3 frames..but to me it's kind of like putting lipstick on a pig.

Having spent many years in the tactical aircraft industry, it has made me aware of structural design to requirements much in the same manner that a land based aircraft is different from a carrier based one. To me, the C4/C5 performance doesn't so much come from the suspension as it does the structure of the frame. Loads are carried much differently through the structure, they have a backbone which distributes the load vice through the frame rails like the previous generations. Even the aftermarket frames which are configured for the later suspension with the older bodies are kind of a kluge, and I doubt that handling will really come close to the later models. Of course, haven't driven one, nor have I seen a good technical side by side test, so I could be wrong. So, I opted to for the existing C3 with some planned modifications.

 

Here's a 69' on a C6 platform...not for the weekend warrior!

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-platform.html

 

For what it is worth:

Trying to compare apples and oranges is pointless. So someone attempting to get a C1,C2.or C3 to be just like a C5, C6 or C7 is just not going to happen due to the variables of the drag coefficient and and the weight centerline of the vehicle and aerodynamics of the car body design itself.

Many of the earlier body designs get 'lighter' in the front end the faster they go...and the best improvement in the coefficient of drag on a C3 was when the 1980 came out.

So I can say that the many resto-mods I have worked on drive REALLY good and ...even though they are not exactly the same...they are HUGE improvement from what the factory had. Sometimes it just is not possible to get wide tires to work and the stance of the car the same unless you do serious body modifications. Which is not really in line to what I read that they OP asked if a C3 body can be put on a later chassis...becasue it would take a bit more than what a skilled mechanic at home can do normally. Because it crosses over into intense body modification and that is another profession entirely. And I know many awesome mechanics who can not grasp the concept of body work or paint.

'BackInTheGame'

Your frame looks quite impressive.

DUB

 

LIke posted above - aftermarket tube frame with modern components would be the only way to go without MAJOR, MAJOR body mods.

 

Sorry for bringing up this old of a post on my first post of the forum. @BackInTheGame can you shoot me a PM? I have a few questions about what I'm looking at here. Thanks.

 

I'm not BackInTheGame, but that is an aftermarket SRIII chassis.
http://www.sriiimotorsports.com/196382corvette.html

 

Posting to a 3 year old thread isnt the way to contact people. Start a new thread, link to this thread as reference and ask your question.