Hello corvette professors, i have got a question
I can buy a corvette c3 1973
The car is in a poor state, but that is not the problem
The engine is a L82 and is in a bad shape
I like to restore this car, but the engine i don't like
Is it worth it to build in a crate engine ( 400 HP )and can this automatic gearbox handle this
Does this engine always fit

 

L82 has a very stout bottom end, can be easily rebuilt for 400hp goal.
the TH350 and TH400 trans are also very stout, if in good shape, can handle 400-500hp no problem.

in terms of will a crate engine fit?
it depends on the crate engine. What are you looking at, a small block 355/383? Easy fit
an LS3? Not so easy.
big blocks will fit but you would need to change some accessories

 

If your Block is not cracked or to badly worn for an overbore. If your crank and rods are still rebuildable.
Then I personally would build the engine I have. And would save money doing so.
That said I can hone my own cylinders and build an engine myself.
turning a crank I might have to job out. But that's about it.
So, depends on your skill level and the tools you own or can use.
400 HP out of a L82 with a new set of heads is a easy target.

 

How much work does the car you are looking at need...If it needs body work and paint, DO NOT buy it...Go talk to a professional paint and body guy that does corvettes and get a price...ITs going to be over 15 THOUSAND DOLLARS...no lie....and cutting corners will be visible. Sure guys here have done it themselves cheaper but it is a lot of man hours to gett the body perfect....Your best bet is to find a car with zero rust around the windshield fram and down in the body mounts under the dash

read this start at post 107...save yourself a nightmare and lost cash
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ispreloading=1


Then once you find a car, if you arent a mechanic or a very capable mechanical person, get a built crate motor with built on a gen 1 SBC block....you will be better off and not hoping to drive the car someday. It will cost the same fo r you to build one as cheap as possible, and to do it right you need the block cleaned, bored, aligned and honed. Sure you can dingle ball hone it but if the cylinders arent round you are throwing money away. Most high performing motors rely on the best heads money can buy or they have had extensive flow work done to them. Either way they are about $2000 dollars...cheap chinese heads are exactly that no matter what anyone tells you

 

Thanks Randell
If i understand you correctly, you advice to rebuild the L82 engine
So a smallblock kan be rebuild up to 400HP
I didn't that was possible, What does that cost in de US ?

 

Thanks for your reply
I have to ask some professionals to do this. this is way to difficult for me.
I have to check in holland some professionals to do this
I think i can get the engine out, but that is it

 

What I personally would do depends on if the engine is the matching numbers engine.. If it is, take it out and install a crate engine. This way, you save the matching numbers engine as this helps the vehicle's resale value. You can have fun with a crate engine and not worry about messing up the matching numbers engine. There are lots of good options for crate engines.

 

Thanks for Reply
Nice video, i Saw this one e few weeks, but very clear
I don't mind the labour, but al these pictures the showed are scary.

 

You got a lot of good advice. The rebuilt motor may cost less, depending on how many components need replacing (crank, rods, pistons, heads).

I personally would find yourself a great machine shop and get an idea. I personally would have them assemble the short block.

 

www.blueprintengines.com I have their 383, lotsa power. Plug N Play

 

This is what I did. Crating my numbers matching engine (and transmission) and going with a beefy 500HP BPE stroker (dynoed at 507), which I already have. Will install after it comes home from the paint shop. Although I would hate to mess up a $7K+ motor - better that than the original.

 

If the OP decks the block, will that remove the block VIN?

 

Most likely yes. My machinist took just enough to flatten the deck. Some of the vin remained. You can ask for them to stop short to protect the vin but most dont like to.

 

I'll be the devils advocate here and chime in with my own experience and opinion to say im happy with my 74 I bought for $2,900 in bad need of not only body and paint work but interior and engine work I had never built and engine or done interior work and youtube is where I learned to do it all as well as forums like this. I also used youtube extensively to learn to paint the car.. It was under $1000 (one thousand) for me to do my own body and paint work and that included the used compressor and paint gun from harbor freight, so lots of ways to skin a cat. It all depends on a persons situation and mindset as well as ability to learn the skills And my cheap chinese casting heads outperform the dart heads I replaced with them... I could have bought the AFR enforcers as they were in my budget... But those are literally the same chinese castings with different machine work. The truth is a large portion of parts including restoration interior parts come from china now so rather than pretend thats not the case by buying the chinese stuff through american middlemen brands I just accept it and research what I buy first. btw this car as pictured was under 15 grand start to finish up until I chose to do additional mods like the roller cam, $700 heads, 2004r overdrive trans, borgeson steering. 3.55 rear tubular a arms composite spring and coil overs all of which were more recent changes many of which havent been added to the car. with all that I likely have closer to 20k wrapped up into the car now but its been a fun enjoyable hobby learning how to work on cars in the process and theres just something about doing it yourself that gives you a feeling you cant buy..

BTW I had the l48 I pulled and replaced with a 355 I built myself on a budget of $1200.. no complaints. Of course I made upgrades over the years to it. If I had an l82 I may have tried to rebuild it but I got a great deal on a freshly machined block.


this is with the $300 craigslist dart heads and rocker I replaced with aluminum this summer. I used steel shim gaskets with 4 relief flat tops for 10 :1 compression and a .041 quench (i did not use that oil pan)


after stripping with razer blade

I used 3 different primers polyester filler primer, epoxy sealer primer and urethane primer before the pearl basecoat.



newer custom CAI setup which works well according to temp sensors.

 

Quite impressive, AD.

 

A rebuilt engine Vs a Crate engine threads have been going on since the Chevy Target Masters came out in the 1980's. Both of them are better depending on the buyer and use. But in your case I have to wonder about the Shipping costs. Where comparing the cost of Pistons Gaskets Bearings vs a complete Engine and we are shipping it to HOLLAND !

 

So seeing you’re in Holland your candidate pool for cars is somewhat limited. Here is how I would go about it.

1. Either find a Corvette specialist, fly one over, or do ALOT of research and learn how to spot the problem areas on these cars. If you chose to go about it yourself then bore scopes and micro cameras are super helpful if you decide to go about it yourself. Also taking a ton of pictures is important. I’d break it into three major categories.
1a. Frame condition: A micro camera and pen magnet are helpful. Some people are starting to fill frame rot with body filler to sell cars. If the Magnet doesn’t stick it’s full of bondo.
1b. Bird cage: Check the mounts for rot and also the windshield frame. Sometimes the t-top frame rots out too. Make sure you inspect all of this.
1c. How complete is the car to include the wiring: You’ll spend a ton on getting new interior panels, gauges, and so on if they aren’t there.

Get a price in mind of what you’re willing to spend total (be real with yourself) and divide it by 3, perhaps 4 if it’s missing a lot. That number is the MAX you should spend on a car like this and quite honestly should be more like dividing by 5 or 6 if it’s as rough as I’m imagining.

Further context: Why I’m telling you to get a number in your head is every older person on this forum has likely dealt with a project like this in their life and we can tell you first hand that a project like this will at a MINIMUM cost 2x what you thought it would if not more. Especially if you’re missing a lot of parts/pieces. Full on body or frame rot should be considered very carefully. It takes a skilled welder and body person a lot of time to fix a frame and/or bird cage properly. If it’s if the windshield or t-top frame that’s one thing. The body mount or actual frame kickups is something very different.