suprspooky

If the brakes, tires, steering and suspension are in good shape put your $3200 into a paxton type supercharger. You'll probably need to replace the engine later but you'll have fun in between and you can put the supercharger on the next engine. Nitrous is the other route to quick HP gains. You'll need to do lots of research on the web to get 350-400hp out of a SBC (naturally aspirated, non-stroker) on the budget you have, I think you can do it without power adders but it'll take a careful build to stay on budget.

Welcome and keep posting.

derekderek

Stop. You're a 16 year old kid with a nice car. You don't know how to drive yet. You can't handle the power the car now has. Take it slow enjoy the vehicle get used to it then start considering making some changes later. Right now it's going to do all the things you need this card to do. You're going to find plenty of maintenance things to spend money on just to bring the car back to good condition. That's going to take enough time, money and energy for the time being.

GTR1999

These are the two best answers for you.

I have been down this road when my son was 18. For his HS graduation I had an original 75- L82 4speed 355 coupe for his present. It needed a full mechanical restoration and it was his as long as he did the work and paid for it. Like you he wanted more power but for a couple of months he drove the car, learned about it and then ripped it all down to rebuild.

Now I don't know how deep your pockets are but his rebuild, about 15 years ago now, cost about $5000 in parts- I know a little bit about these cars so I did some machine work and rebuilding for him. The cost for labor will be over double parts cost depending on what you actually plan on doing.

Some things to keep in mind. A 76 vette is not ever going to be a high dollar car in terms of resale value. Don't get me wrong I like them but they are not in the same market as chrome cars or C1 or C2 vettes. They were engineered for 300-400 hp and that was based on earlier cars. With today technology you can build power up 1000hp easily- but very costly. You install that in your otherwise stock 76 and go have some fun, just have a buddy with a pick up truck follow you to pick up the pieces south of the flywheel. My son broke almost everything south of the flywheel as his power level went up, he learned the car and started to run at the track. new rear tires were bald by 8k miles.

This was a good 370-400hp nice driving car right up till the day a pizza kid ran a stop sign to get a $2 tip and totaled the vette. The 2nd 75 got all the custom built parts and is solid now at 500hp, 5 spd, custom driveshaft, custom 1480 12 bolt, Offset arms, upper link kit, frame reinforcement, various exhaust from side pipes (not recommended), chambered undercar(not recommended), Flowmaster 40's, and now Bullit exhaust.

$3200 is not going to get you close to the above, in reality it is more like $30,000 and the car resale would be about $12,000 if you're lucky. Power is money, how fast do you want to go? Now if you have access to a machine shop, have all the tools and measuring tools, experience then you can save $1000's on labor but still $3,200 is not going to come close.

Drive the car, if you really like and want to marry it for life then plan and budget for it. Now having been married and having built vettes for over 40 years, I would go with building vettes over marriage but that's a whole different deal and I hope you are many years away from that!!

If you move forward check the frame for rot or lousy repair work. If you find any abort right away and cash it in.

JerriVette

Just enjoy the awesome car you and your dad got you.

You dont need to street race it.

just enjoy it as the sleek cool cruiser it is.

save your money for repairs etc and if you want to go faster down the road for your next car buy a c5 corvette...as it came from the factory....

your corvette as is sounds awesome for a 16 year old. Make sure you tell you dad that he is one of the coolest dads ever ..l

pile on the compliments because he sounds awesome!

thank him for being so great...

decades down the road you ll be glad you thanked him and told him he is the coolest dad ..

it will make him happy to hear you say that..l

trust me...just enjoy your cool sleek corvette

if the motor ever does blow...then deal with possibly a ls1 swap from a rear ended c5 if that can be installed...till then...just enjoy your corvette as a retro rad ride just as it came from the factory

DorianC3

Mmmm -

My take on this is a little different. You are 16... make the most of it.

I was 16, once... more years ago than I care to try and count. At that age there was NO WAY I was gonna save up for my final power objective. In fact, I moved forward incrementally.

I agree, please make sure the corvette stops well and goes in the direction you point it.

Do NOT pull the engine yet. You may not need to. Don't yank it just yet to do a rebuild for which you do not have enough $$$ to take you into the performance territory you are after. A crate is an option... but engine tinkering is part of the fun. So, I am suspecting that is not what you want... and $3,200 would not buy you the performance you are after.

At this point I would avoid extensive machining and prep of the block. I'd even try to get away with upgrading the engine in the car.

Let's do it rat-style. Here is what I would do: Do a compression test with and without oil squirted in the cylinders. Check the difference in PSI before and after. We are after determining the ring wear. If it is reasonable... I would bin the intake, yank the heads and visually check the state of your cylinders.

If the walls look OK, I'd buy the best cylinder heads that I could afford, probably AFR Street Eliminators with a smaller chamber. This is an investment here. You will keep these when you later dig into the short block in search of more power, say to build a 383.

$3,200 - $1,800 gives you $1,400.

With that left over, I do not think you have enough to do a roller cam conversion (try to!), so get a Summit Racing performance kit cam new.

Next, off of eBay, you will need: an Edelbrock 600 CFM (rebuild it) and a reasonable aluminum intake (clean it).

You'll need full length headers, if you don't have them.

You'll need to beef up the ignition or at least make sure it is operating at 100%

Finally, if it is an automatic; get a "shift kit" for snappier shifts and a Summit (or Jegs) converter that matches the cam. That will make a fun difference as well.

Next step: DRIVE !!!!!

Take it to the track. Push it ! Find out how much more power it would take to please you. Drive more... enjoy more. Then put it away in Novemeber to come out next spring faster and stronger.

I started out with a 250L6*... Then I found an old 400 that I threw in stock with a radiator from a donor. That was fun ! Then came ignition. Then a performer intake. Then TFS heads + mild cam. Then a Weiand baby-blower. Then AFR heads (sold the TFS heads). Then a blower cam (roller). Then a D1-SC centrifugal supercharger with methanol to keep it safe (baby blower sold). Then a mini-tunnel ram intake. Then splayed caps and a forged, "blower" rotating assembly. Then boost went up. It dynoed at 715 HP and even more TQ. That was a beast... but the years building up to it were fun and experience gained.

*not a corvette...

Oh and the trans had to follow: TH350 - shift kit - converter... then a 200-4R that I rebuilt with forged parts, etc.

In short, yeah ! Invest in some great heads. Stuff in a fun cam. Get a matching converter... and BOOM enjoy. You won't get 400 ponies, but it will be fun.

Also bear in mind that you will need gaskets, carb rebuild kit, RTV, etc. Don't forget the ancillaries.

EDIT: and correct length push rods... rockers... top quality heads gaskets.

Easy Mike

An L-82 would be bolt in with stock parts. No computer.

Bikespace

There's thousands of dollars worth of great advice here, much of it earned the hard way.

I'd add, if you can cruise in the car, go do so. Enjoy it! You'll have the coolest car at school. If the car is an automatic, seriously consider getting taking your $3200- hop-up budget, and buying a POS manual car instead. You can easily get a 5.0 Mustang, or possibly even a C4 for that. Have your street race fun in a car you don't really care about, and keep the C3 in good shape until you are really ready to tackle it properly, and with some tools and experience.

DorianC3

Always fun when someone asks how to spend $$$

Turbotrad

Whatever you do, take notes on EVERYTHING you learn. You WILL refer to those notes one day...

I bought my '69 in 2008 when I was in Navy flight school and started learning about it right away. I took decent notes at the time. Then I stored the car, went on a few Navy deployments, got married, had a kid, and moved a few times.

I am only just now re-learning what I knew about the car years ago, and teaching myself a bunch of new stuff. I am now taking thorough notes.

No matter what, when you see something done a certain way ask yourself "is that how this part is supposed to look?"

Then, do some research, ask questions, and take notes on what you learn. That mindset is how you will discover bubba fixes and/or incorrect parts. It's not just a mindset for people doing factory restorations. It's a mindset that will give you the peace of mind that you need when you are rolling down the road in an older car.

Oh, and I second the advice to thank you Dad. My son just turned two and he already loves to help me with car stuff. Pretty soon the days of him being a little guy will be long gone. Your Dad has put in a lot of effort to get you to where you are, and it will mean the world to him to hear you say how much you appreciate him.

Good luck with whatever you do and always thank those that pass along advice!

Ianis Ciolacu

Thank you all so much for your replies! My dad and I have a lot to consider now. Pictures will be forthcoming...

RIFRAFT

This sounds like a great father/son project you're diving into. As I read between the lines about your goals, it looks you're looking for a fun car to drive. And that is where you should start with your modifications. The Borgeson steering box conversion should be strongly considered. It will improve the feel of the car and increase steering responsiveness. Then look into tightening up the suspension. Replace the worn control arm and sway bar bushings. Buy the best shock absorbers you can afford. At a minimum get the Bilsteins or take a long look at the Ridetech shocks. A good set of brake pads will due for now. Go with a quality pad such as Hawk. For your engines mods; at this point you're only going to need a good dual plane intake and then headers if you want. Next I'd look into your rear axle ring and pinion ratio. By going to a higher numerical value you will be increasing the torque to the wheels without increasing engine power. If you're running an automatic transmission, take a look at a torque convertor with a higher stall speed. This will help your engine get on the torque curve quicker and allow the car to accelerate faster. The combination of axle ratio change, torque convertor and allowing the engine to breathe better will all compliment one another to make for a more (throttle) responsive vehicle.

You've received a lot of good advise from the other members and these modifications, if you are mechanically competent, should allow you to stay within your budget.

DorianC3

Personally that’s how I’d do it. In fact, that’s exactly what I am doing now with my new corvette.

zuendler

If I had the zz502 engine I now have when I was 16 ... I don´t know if I would be still alive
Of course everbody thinks he can drive such a car responsibly. But then are coming situations where you
get spoiled by others and want to show your big *****. And then the responsibility is gone and you do things you better should not...
This is something that goes away with age. Knowing limits and behavior of your self and others.

And about the question, easyest way the gain power is by more cubes.
Stroke that thing cheap to 383, put a matching cam in it with some headers and rise the compression ratio.
And if money is left put better heads onto it.

Dazaa Rafae Aman

Just to be awkward, heres a 17 year old who drives a Porsche GT3

Ianis Ciolacu

Lol

scottjamison

Welcome to the group.
I agree with the comments to start with the suspension and brakes. Otherwise with a lot of power it will not be controllable.
When you look at the different mods, understand that there is a WIDE range of costs. Suspension can go from $800 to $10,000. So be honest with yourself on what you want to do with the car and then research here and ask question to find the best solution.

I have found that the best way to search this group is to use Google. Search for what you want and include "c3 corvette". It will give you links into threads here more reliably.
For your reference, I am going to include my build spreadsheet (attached). I am a bit of a freak when it comes to planning and tracking things so this has items, costs, and links for what I used.
I will say that I went a bit overboard in some areas but it will give you some helpful information.

This is my build thread: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-corvette.html

Keep in mind also that certain changes have ramifications. For example: A big cam with little idle vacuum is going to give you power brake issues as well as headlight pop up issues. Lot's of horsepower and torque require a beefed up differential and half shafts.

Lastly, $3200 isn't going to go very far. Make good decisions.

71convertible

Go "Rat" But check brakes suspension and tires and transmission first. Remove any emissions first. Dual exhaust all the way back. New carb 600 cfm. Curve kit in the distributor. New heads from Ebay. It wont be 400hp but will feel like a different car within budget. Thats what I did with my first 1977 vette in 1982.

More than you can handle. Enjoy!!

bmans vette

Well put and nice build thread. Been subscribed for awhile to that one.