Engine options?
Thread Starter
1st Gear
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Engine options?
I am considering buying a c3 Corvette. This lady is selling it for $1000 to me. It does not have an engine. And has been sitting around for ten years. (any buying advice is great) but the engine is a bit of an issue. What would be the easiest and/or cheapest engine to install on it? (If you could include transmissions I'll probably need one) but I've searched threads but everyone talks about LS swaps or engine crates. And that doesn't really fit the budget of a college guy lol. So anything is much appreciated, I'm planning on getting it in good condition within 2-3 years. But like I said. Literally anything is appreciated. I don't want to do any fabrication that would be too major. I'd prefer something that could just kind of slip on in with a wiggle and a jiggle. But that's tough to find cheap. Thank yall!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 3,255
Likes: 687
Cheap and easy typically don't go play well together. I've over 10 LS swaps in various vehicles. An LS swap is great but not the cheapest. My thinking is totally inspect the current engine. Compression check and other common checks (igniton, carb and cooling system) to determine the engine soundness. It may come out good or it may be junk. If it's junk another small block assuming it's a small block car is going to be the cheapest and really the easiest.
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 18,665
Likes: 2,564
There has to be more wrong with it then just a missing engine to sell it for 1K.
Does she have the title for the car?
Have you seen the car?
Exactly what year and what engine did the car originally have?
What happened to the original engine?
Need more information and pictures if available to see what is really going on here.
Does she have the title for the car?
Have you seen the car?
Exactly what year and what engine did the car originally have?
What happened to the original engine?
Need more information and pictures if available to see what is really going on here.
Last edited by MelWff; Mar 5, 2019 at 05:04 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 13,082
Likes: 3,399
From: SW Florida.
this sometimes happens. old guy pulls the engine. he gets older. next thing you know the heirs have an engineless car to deal with. it could be worth 10k as-is. it could also be overpriced at free. what city-state are you and the car in? i assume it is local to you. and what year is it and is it auto or stick shift? that affects what trans you are looking for. 2 things to do right off. hook up battery and see what comes to life. that will require hooking up 2 big hot wires where the starter is supposed to be. and step on the brakes hard and see if they hold pressure or pop and spray brake fluid. also, was car stored indoors or outside? you sound like you are not afraid of this type of work.
Last edited by derekderek; Mar 5, 2019 at 05:57 PM.
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 152
Likes: 0
From: Williston Florida
I agree with the comments others have made - it will be hard to adequately respond to your questions without additional information. But, you asked about engine (and transmission) options. Probably the cheapest (and likely easiest) is to use a 350 chevy engine. You didn't give the year, but it likely came with a TH350 or TH400 automatic. Is it in the car? Again, relatively easy to find, inexpensive and easy to get in the car. Things to consider... be aware of rust issues around the windshield and in the lower drivers and passenger side kick panels (bird cage). It is possible to repair, but difficult and costly. How many other items are missing? Everything can be bought for it... but at a price. Vendors on this forum could be a great resource for you. I've also found people on this forum are willing to share their time and expertise - depending on where you live, some might be close enough to help you. Good luck.
NCM Grand Opening Veteran
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 20,979
Likes: 384
From: South of giving a damn
St. Jude Donor '11, '17
College kids & $1000 Corvettes do not work well together. Where are you going to work on it? How are you going to pay for it? It's been sitting for 10 years, inside or outside? Covered or exposed? It might be worth buying and properly storing until you get on your feet, but without details who knows? Face it, this car will take $15000 - $25000+ to turn it into a reliable daily driver.
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 789
Likes: 129
From: Los Banos CA
College kids & $1000 Corvettes do not work well together. Where are you going to work on it? How are you going to pay for it? It's been sitting for 10 years, inside or outside? Covered or exposed? It might be worth buying and properly storing until you get on your feet, but without details who knows? Face it, this car will take $15000 - $25000+ to turn it into a reliable daily driver.
My 'college kid' works on his 79 in my 2400 square foot shop. We bought his 79 for $1500 (with running engine), put around $3K into it (including painting it ourselves), and he drove it thru high school, and now drives it on the weekends when he's home from school (although since then, we've also rebuilt the trailing arms & diff, and upgraded the tranny to a 200-4R). OP didn't give us much info on his specific scenario - he just wanted to know the easiest/cheapest engine to put into it.My suggestion would be to watch craigslist and the forum for somebody selling a base 350 and tranny that they removed for an LS swap. Depending on the year of vette, it would have came with either an TH-350, TH400, or 4 speed manual transmission (or 700-R4 if it's an 82). You could also post a 'wanted' ad here in the forum - somebody near you might have something just sitting collecting dust.
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The old style sbc are easy to come buy, easy to rebuild and cheap relative to LS motors. Plus you dont need to buy expensive conversion kits. I would look for a motor on c list or face book market place. You can do a compression test on an engine stand and replace the most common seals without tearing it completely apart. Put a decent but not ridiculous cam in it and maybe some cast iron vortec or old dart heads on it ( either is cheap even with a new valve job) .Maybe about $1500 into it with a flat tapped cam. Better would be a grand more for a roller cam.
If you get lucky you can find a decent high mileage Ls motor for under $500 but would need an intake, carb and install kit which would be slightly more than the cheapest refresh on the sbc, but would be a great place to start since they have good factory heads and a roller cam already
Throw it in , break it in and see how it runs. That would be the cheapest way to go other than just buying the whole motor and dropping it straight in. A complete rebuild will be about 4 grand with good parts and flat tappet cam.
If you get lucky you can find a decent high mileage Ls motor for under $500 but would need an intake, carb and install kit which would be slightly more than the cheapest refresh on the sbc, but would be a great place to start since they have good factory heads and a roller cam already
Throw it in , break it in and see how it runs. That would be the cheapest way to go other than just buying the whole motor and dropping it straight in. A complete rebuild will be about 4 grand with good parts and flat tappet cam.
Last edited by Rescue Rogers; Mar 6, 2019 at 12:19 PM.