Back in the day I had a 79 L48/auto and I did what you mentioned in the first post - distributor recurve and carb mods. It made a lot of difference for not much money. That’s a nice looking car, by the way.

 

Yes, I'm sure a recurve and jetting, and with the 4 speed would be a nice cruiser. The low end torque cam and the Q-Jet would be very good off idle throttle response.

I am really looking for a L82, but the exceptional original birdcage / frame, and body I think is hard to find in a nearly 50 year old C3. Paint, chrome, and interior are also excellent.

 

If you like the color, get her!! I paid about 3k more than I probably should have for my 69 but I wanted THAT car. 5 years later, all I needed to add was a waterpump. Waaaay ahead of the game. vs

 

I had a base motor/automatic 72 coupe before I got my 72 LT-1 and the fact of the matter is that the base motor car was a much more enjoyable cruiser.

 

I had both engines for many years. One was an L48 300 HP 350 4spd with 3.36 and a W.R. muncie, and the other an LT-1 with 3.55 and a W.R. muncie. The L48 ran great, all the time, was a great cruiser, and pulled hard from off idle to 5600+. It was a great all around car and engine combo.

OTOH the LT-1 was a great car to race, it pulled real hard from 3500-6700+. But cruising around town was actually a pain. It was kind of doggy under 3500, I could easily get left by VWs! But rev it a little more and it came on like a light switch. Too hard, too fast! It taunted you to drive it hard. I almost felt like I was punishing it by not letting it have it's head. But when I did I was way over the speed limit. It was a ball of fire to race on an autocross! But not so much around town. Around town I felt like I was driving a thoroughbred, but had to keep pulling the reins back all the time to keep it in check. Not as much fun to drive there.

 

To be fair thats Basically what I said right before your post about the only differences between the 2 being tuning.. The pistons and cam are the key differences that change the power and torque..(Its also true to say the Cam effects the flow, timing and therefore "tuning" of the engine). The forged internals allow the L82 to reliably survive at higher rpms with less risk.

 

This^ is what Car and Driver more or less found and reported in the initial reviews of the cars when they came out.
Its the limitations of the engines design, displacement and effect on powerband.

 

The L-48 makes 260 hp on an engine dyno. The L-82 makes 315-320.....this is both through long tube headers.
A Comp 262 cam, long tube headers, and a 2101 Edelbrock performer make these a strong runner......anything after that, the heads are the key.

Jebby

 

That’s a pretty 73 in one of the best color combos. It’s all about condition, condition, condition and this car appears to have it in spades. Get it for $20 and you’re golden.

BTW, don’t sweat the L48. The 4sp base will have 3:36 gears and be lots of fun around town and on the highway.

 

ALSO keep in mind... even if 23K is on the very ragged edge ov value today, wait five years, hell... the way things are going this and last year? wait TWO years, and you'll have made money. It STILL staggers me that Corvettes are so slow to catch on to the muscle car madness. I mean, thats good (for me), but it boggles the mind. Even coming from a Mopar guy, Corvettes were the top ov the heap. Mopar and Ford never made anything close, and AMC's version was basically still just a (really cheap) little muscle car. My point, is its only a matter ov time before people wake up, and these things shoot through the roof.

Get the best deal you can, and dont sweat it if he makes you pay close to asking. In two years, he'll be saying the same thing we've ALL said... 'Man, if i still had that car, what'd it be worth today?'

And one good thing about an L48, is its not worth anything, or desirable. So build the **** out ov it. Its a Chevy 350. You can trip over speed parts in the woods, you can buy good street parts at the 7-11. Heads will utterly change that sucker, and SBC aluminum heads are cheeeaaap... Hell, just a full exhaust, if you buy and build smart, should get you close to 300HP alone...

 

My neighbor has a nice 76 L82 4-speed car. He says its the worst slug he's ever driven. He swears his early 80's Chevy farm truck has more power. I tried to explain to him how much can be found (or lost) with a tune... and how his 205HP 'boat anchor' is essentially a tune-up away from the earlier 250HP models, which are well over 300 rated the way he understands things. I can literally hear that smog tune when he drives it, through that goddamn disgusting single exhaust and cat. He says its not fixable. I told him to give me a weekend with his car and pay for the parts, and i'll show him something faster than his precious GT+4 Celica. He wont be convinced. I see videos ov people TRYING to cook the tires in their smog Vettes, and i can hear that smog tune, and shitty exhaust a mile away. I used to make jokes about the L82... because my first experience in one was probably even worse. Thing couldn't even spin the tires, at all. Now? Man, now i'd LOVE to buy a Vette with one, just to show people what that stock engine can do with some love...

I'd imagine because Chevy hamstrung these car so badly that in the mid-70's, the least they could do was make sure any Vette they gave to a magazine had 'the tune'. That... shouldn't be a slow car. Maybe not a 70 LT1, but still... not a slow car. But the average Vette owner? They earn this ugly rep. I swear this forum is the only place i've EVER heard ov Corvette guys actually flogging and tuning their cars.

Also also... the 60's were about speed, power, and glory... the 70's were about comfort, "class", and showing off with the engine turned off. Bad enough all these discovettes came a little porky, but people optioned them the hell out, and then added **** on top. Vettes should not weigh 3500lbs. My all steel 70 340 4-speed Challenger didnt weigh that. The early cars were more spartan, on average. That 73 probably weighs around 3250lbs. Would you go stoplight racing with your 350lb friend in the passanger seat?

 

At the bottom end it's worth $18K so $22K is not out of line, based on the pictures and what you say it's a very nice Vette that is turn key and won't disappoint. Walking away from this car over a $4K spread assuming you want the car would be a mistake. There's nothing wrong with paying a premium for something you want when there are few to choose from.

 

Ok. Trying to make decision. I wish it was an L82, but my goal is to really drive it rain or shine. Enjoy a 4 speed Vette like it was 1973.

190 net HP, but 4 speed, ps, pb, pw, air. Frame, body, paint excellent, interior very nice. If I can put a hose on it and wash and no wet rugs that's important to me.

If engine, trans all check out I'm thinking two things, I would like opinion on anyone who has done the following. And not changing cam.

Set timing to 36 all in at around 2,800 and richen up Q-Jet and just drive it.

Or, do above and add Edelbrock smaller chamber heads and intake. One that fits with stock air cleaner and cowl hood.

Thanks.

 

Nailed it. Give me a turn key base motor (L48 or L82) car I can cruise in and not worry about hawking the temp gauge or passing a gas station. I don't need or want all the Johnny Hot Rod stuff.

 

In my prior post I mentioned torque.

I will now mention REAR AXLE RATIO.

A 3.55 ratio is a pretty 'grunty' off the line ratio. Of cours a 3:70 ratio is even more stout.

3;08's are the economy ratio and give good highway cruise RPMS, but can be a bit 'doggy' off the line.

I will state CATEGORICALLY; There is NOTHING wrong with a HEALTHY L-48.

So much so that I'm looking for a 79 with an L-48 and they come only with a 3:55 and the option is the 3:70....no 3:08s allowed!
I'm certain that this combo will be a best of both worlds combo.

Unkahal

 

I believe the stock 4 speed L48 rear was a 3.36.

 

OR

Don't do anything but normal maintenance and drive the car to enjoy it for what it is. I had a 74 base engine car w/ 4-speed in the mid 90's I could drive anywhere, that car was turn key and road ready be it short or long distance.

I now have a very original low mileage 73 L82 w/ 4-speed that the original owner decided (got talked into) to throw on some Johnny Hot Rod parts (different stock heads, wrong cam, wrong intake etc.). Completely changed the driving manners of the car. I have it somewhat straightened out but a engine pull is pending to go back OEM. Bonus is I have all the original parts and/or new/NOS GM parts. My goal is to get the engine back to what it was and have the reliability it once had.

Guess what I'm saying is don't try to out engineer the GM engineers other than the BS EPA stuff they threw on the 73. Read LARS timing paper.

 

Don't get carried away it's still a 48 year old car and the T-Tops probably leaked in 1974. HAHA
I'm mindful of my 73's T-Top area when washing and don't get crazy with the hose.

 

If you somehow slip out it's location DJ, I'll take your dilemma off your hands;I'd buy it this afternoon!

Steve

 

A good recurve and proper carb refresh/re-jet can yield a solid 50hp improvement. Consider also new vacuum hoses and disable/remove the thermal temp sensors in intake, plug EGR and a K&N air filter.

You can get some more performance and better sounb with ceramic coated, full length headers, true duals and H/X-pipe to turbo mufflers. From there, you have to start opening the engine to make improvements. I started in 1997 and have reached a plateau... see my signature.