Hey guys,

My brother's new goal in life is to buy a C3 Vette. He wants to buy one that is in relatively good shape(mostly concerned with body and interior) and from there he wants to drop a new engine in. The engine wouldn't be anything insane like a 427 C5R block, but he wants something with reasonable power and TQ, say about 300 hp. The other thing is that he can't do this work himself, he would have to pay to have the engine installed.

He thinks he can do all this for around 10 Grand (CAN), and I am telling him he is drastically underestimating how much the engine and installation, let alone a C3 in good shape, will cost.

What say you Corvette Forum C3 experts, which one of us is out to lunch????

Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

I havn't been down this path but have explored it...

Seems that 300hp has a wide range from 3,000 to 5,000. Found a speed shop that would do the engine swap for $1,000.

He will be able to find C3s from 4,000 to as high as you want to go... One needing an engine and from one of the lower price years (say 80 or 81) are going for about $3,800 (vettefinders.com).

As long as his transmission is in good condition and he doesn't mind a trashed (or atleast worn) interrior without a perfect paint....then he could come in under $10. Will take some research and shopping around.

my $.02

Ed

 

I'd say he has little to no chance of getting it done for that. I'm at about 11 grand (US) and haven't done anything to the engine or suspension yet.

P.S. I'm doing all of the work, except for paint, myself.

 

80texasC3,

I assume you are talking in USD?

Thanks for the info guys, keep it coming!

 

fuzzy on the exchange rate but i assume it's still somewhere around .7:1, correct? if so, i doubt seriously he can pull it off. granted, he could potentially find a shark that is in beautiful shape except it has a blown motor and pick it up cheap, then buy a bowtie crate motor and find a shop, or knowledgable friend (it's really not that hard), to install it. but talk about the stars aligning. good luck. figure a good baseline would be $10k US and your probably at the low end of reasonable.

 

Yeah that is definitely what I was thinking. Maybe in a perfect world he could pull it off, but very unlikely.

 

Start looking at the lunch menu. Unless he's willing to wait a while and do a LOT of looking he has a slim chance of pulling it off. Most Vettes in the price range he needs to be at need a lot of work of some kind, interior, drive train, etc.

 

Unless you can do the work yourself on these old cars or have lots of spending $, you souldn't get one. If you want to drive an old car, it takes a lot of maintenence.
For me, half the fun (well maybe a little less than half) is doing the work. I wouldn't let anybody touch my car except for maybe an engine build.

 

he's probably so gonna get raped on the engine & install that he will never be able to drive the car...to pay off the bills he will probably have to sell it and then he'll be paying for something he doesn't even own.

Bad move if you ask me.

 

 

Thanks guys, that is pretty much what I have been telling him but he just brushes me off. I am going to show him this thread and maybe he will change his mind.

 

I've been doing all the work myself and there is no way when I'm done I will be under $10 canadian with the price of the car.

Steve

 

I can't say how typical my situation is, but I'll summarize it for you and your bro, just so you have another real life example to compare.

I bought my '81 in '93 for $US 11,000. It had 67k miles, with all the high-value options and a desirable color (yellow, camel leather, glass tops, 4-speed, factory AM/FM/CB/cassette, roof panel carriers, aluminum wheels, air, etc.) It was in very good mostly original condition. The paint was in 20-foot condition. Had to replace the radiator as soon as I got it home. That was $250. Had crappy tires on it. A set of BFG's installed was about $350. Wouldn't pass the smog test without a new cat - $150 installed.

I spent about $US 3,000 putting a crate motor in it. That was a Summit Racing 355/330hp long block for about $US 2500 plus clutch, intake, water pump, fuel pump, roller-tip rockers, shop fees for surfacing the flywheel and media-blasting the exhaust manifolds, and all the little stuff to put it together and install it. No labor expenses.

At about 80K miles, I had to re-do the brakes, four sleeved calipers plus soft lines plus pads and minor stuff. About $700 or so. No labor.

At about 90K miles, there was a vandalism/attempted-theft incident. Broken glass top, goobered-up door lock, screwed paint on door and rear quarter. Insurance would only pay to fix the top, the lock, and paint the door and quarter. I had to pony up the other $1200 to paint the rest of the car. Plus about $300 for new weatherstripping.

At about 100K miles, I realized a half-shaft U-joint was toast. Tear-down revealed that both outer UJ's were bad, and so was one wheel bearing. That became a pair of rebuilt trailing arms from Van Steel with new rotors, poly bushings, SS shim kit and SS park brakes. About $1000 after shipping.

Further tear-down of the rear convinced me to redo the entire suspension. Rear spring was shot, strut rod bushings were bad, etc. New composite rear spring, rear sway bar, Smart Struts, front springs, 4 Bilstein shocks, poly front end rebuild kit plus piecie-parts, $1400. The new suspension was so nice, it needed new tires to make it work. A set of Pirelli's installed was about $500.

I don't think I'll add up those numbers. I don't want to think about it right now. The car still needs a new interior. Driver's seat is shot, carpet is bad, door panels are starting to go, and the arm rests are held on with oversize screws and epoxy. Did I mention that it really needs a set of Dynomax headers and true duals?

Somebody stop me, before I spend again!

 

Might be better off getting a vette for about 8K and put 2K into the existing engine and etc. to get the hp he wants.

 

Considering that he's not able to do the work himself he should look for something that's already been modded to his tastes. Typically, unless it's something real exotic (BB swap, LS1, etc.) the price probably wouldn't be more than a stock one, maybe less.

 

No way for 10K Canadian. Better off looking at a nice C-4, especially now that the C-6 is out. That is doable, and C-4's are not gonna go down a whole lot more. I'd look at a late 80's or early 90's.

Hans

 

I have to totally disagree with most people here and say it should not be a problem. I see the '79-81 vettes all the time for less than 5K. 5K should get a reasonable engine installed from a reputable shop.

10K out the door should get a driver vette with a decent engine in the first place. I spent a long time looking and got my driver for $7000 4 years ago. I have done a lot of work on it since then, but mostly to the brakes, cooling and suspension. I would put a price on all the parts at about $2K, maybe $3K. Quick math, yeah about $3K in parts so far. That has been over the past 4 years- My car has never left me stranded.

It can be done. Your brother would just have to have a lot of patience and not buy the first vette that came along that was cheap and needed an engine! I looked at at least 2 dozen vettes before I bought mine.
Food for thought.

No way will he get a show car that just needs an engine for that price, but mine has leather seats that are still nice and a 10' paint job. The center console cut with what looked like a jig-saw for a din radio didn't bother me as it was covered with a radio before I ever drove it once I got the car home.

Cheers!
~Kevin

 

Being a cheap kind of guy myself, I think it can be done...first cost. Tell him to find a running model and skip the new engine idea.

As some of the other threads mention, he will spend lots more on it later, due to either necessity or desire. And you need to know a little about these beasts before buying the first one that fits the budget (or plan to learn with your money along the way...like I did... )

 

The problem with just buying a 5k corvette that looks like a good deal is, all the safety parts still need to be replaced. The brakes are going to be old, and suspension and steering worn. Spend all your budget on an engine and your now down sh#ts creek without a paddle. You have a fast car that cant stop, cant turn and cant handle the ruts in the road. Not a good trade off in my opinion. Not to mention when something does happen, there are no more funds left for repairs. You should never spend money on go fast stuff until you have a tight, safe foundation to build on. Some of this stuff wouldnt be too much of a problem, but he doesnt know how to work on the car himself. Now something that would only cost one of us 200 in bushings and balljoints for the front suspension now cost 1000+ in aprts and labor to do the same work.

 

I do agree with lostpatrolman-

Saying it CAN be done and saying it would be a wise thing to do are NOT the same thing.

Your brother would be better off getting a C3 on the cheap- driving it while underpowered (any C3 in his price range pretty much will be) while fixing the brakes/suspension/steering if needed. Not many of them out there for sale that don't need at least something in those 3 departments. Cheap to fix if you can do it yourself. If not, the parts are cheap but the labor will be really really high. Front end rebuild the cheapest estimate I got was $1100 NOT INCLUDING THE FRONT CALIPER REPLACEMENT I NEEDED OR PARTS!

Thankfully that stuff is really not hard to do, just time consuming.

Once the car drives fine use a winter to have the engine/tranny done.
Will probably end up more than $10K but will be much safer and ultimately more fun in the long run.