MR.West

Hello everyone, I recently purchased an 84 vette as my daily driver. I got a pretty good deal as it has 72k miles and I paid 5k. My plans with this car is to bump it up some power, but still keep it as my daily driver. I am 17 and in high school with a part time job. College is coming up soon so time is a bit of an issue. I want to have my car doing better by August. Money is less of an issue. No GF= No expenses lol. I am still learning about cars daily so please let me know if I am misinformed or too ambitious. I have some questions for my corvette wizards in here given my current situation:

Would it be cheaper to build the engine(l-83) or swap it?
Do I keep or get rid of the crossfire intake? I hear many say to either port it, carb it, or swap it. I don't want to carb it as it is my daily
For my heads, performance and money wise, should I buy vortec heads (906 or 062) or go with 041, 186, 461 heads?
And at what point does a cam get too strong for daily driving in these cars? I am fine giving up some mpg but I do not want to risk engine failure.
Any advice or recommendations on how to learn this stuff lol, I watch countless videos on youtube.

that is all

typical boomer

Well my 17th birthday came and went a looong time ago, but I only have 10 months under my belt as a corvette owner and forum member. I would think that a well running '84 will be a girl friend magnet and will kill your hobby budget quickly. She will not care what cam it has or if you have ported the intake. She will appreciate the looks her girlfriends give you both as you cruise by.

CA-Legal-Vette

Welcome to the forum!

I have injuries more than 17 years old, but I don’t have a girlfriend either. My wife won’t let me have one. Having said that, I haven’t asked her recently.

What to do with your motor depends on your goals. Assuming reliability is important, since it’s your DD, I would only stick with the crossfire of its working well. Otherwise, I don’t think it’s worth the effort to learn and fix.

flannel_man

Keep it stock. Otherwise whatever you assume you plan to spend, double or triple it.

I went to a 383 on my '84 back in '11 cause I was already in that far for a blown head gasket and head work so for an extra grand why not. So much less to mess with staying stock, and parts are easy to find with no tuning or tinkering necessary. Plus stock and maintained they are reliable and economical fuel wise.

Oh more power? Expect transmission, diff, or ujoint issues. Different intake? Expect idle issues. Bigger injectors? Expect to pay $1200 for a tuneable ECM

The most economical way to get more power from an 84 is to sell it and buy an 85-96.

Once you start going down the rabbit hole of more power you'll constantly be finding issues (sometimes where there aren't any) and the DD side of the experience will be an old memory while you are waiting for specialty parts or a 3 day wrenching timeframe and driving a econobox in the meantime

Incorvettei

Building up an engine is expensive, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, I have $7,000 dollars invested in just my engine alone for my 86

slammin

Welcome to the forum! I agree with flannel man. I know there is a need for speed when you are young that seldom ends with age! My need involved a built 60 over 327 for my 64 Chevelle SS, then a 396 Camaro and eventually a 69 427 Corvette. Do regular maintenance, inspect the tires to be sure they haven't aged out, detail it. Save your extra dollars for your next C4. If you keep it nice, with a $5K purchase price you shouldn't get hurt when you are ready to move up. Have fun.

'78CorvetteS.A.

My question is, how does it run right now? If it's running properly, it should be the most efficient way to have the most fun with 205 HP you could have! My advice would be to give the engine a tune-up (plugs, wires, cap, rotor, oil & filter change, fuel filter, inspect/replace ALL vacuum lines & caps, air filter, PCV valve & breather filter, serpentine belt, inspect/replace ALL radiator & heater hoses, idler pulley, coolant flush & new 50/50 mix of antifreeze/water, new thermostat, Standard TS-136 coolant fan switch between #6-#8 cylinders to lower fan "turn-on/off" temperatures by roughly 25°F....please do this, trust me, etc)...then verify timing (give it a bump to 8°-10° BTDC, this will really wake it up)...and then you could verify/sync the throttle bodies, update the temperature sender/pigtail for the computer with the 2-wire version (located at the front of the intake)...if they're cork, it's likely it needs valve cover gaskets, verify proper adjustment of the TV cable for the transmission....and that's not everything, just for the engine/underhood! The point is, when maintained properly and running properly, the L83 Cross-Fire is fun, even with a stock intake....they pull nice, get great mileage (25+ mpg highway) and will bring your '84 to 145+ mph top speed! For a daily driver, this does not even address fluids in the transmission, power steering pump and rear differential, shocks, bushings, brake system (calipers, pads, rotors, e-brake system, M/C and fluid), fuel pump, tie-rods, ball-joints, U-joints, HVAC systems, TIRES, etc. Your mileage is great and not the issue, it's "time", it's 40 years old now....pretty much all the rubber components used for "mechanical" purposes (bushings, hoses, lines, tires, etc) will need replacement much sooner than later! If I were you, the first thing I would do is order BOTH FSMs (factory service manual), there's the main one and the "electrical supplement", they can be found, brand new in "physical" book form on RockAuto under the "literature" heading for your application. These are like the Bible for your '84, do not waste a penny on a Chilton or Haynes repair manual! The next thing you need to do is confirm it's safe to drive...brakes work and pads have some life left, tires are good (whole different "ball of wax"), cooling system doesn't overheat and electric fans work, etc.....Then you need to drive it!!!!! Get familiar with it, note tendencies, any vibrations, how does it shift, how does it stop, ride, feel, run, etc!? Start collecting parts, break-up your "to-do" list into jobs you can get done over a weekend! This is very important....it will keep your '84 on the road (daily driver), and your motivation level high...the last thing you need right now, at your age, is a "Corvette in boxes"!!!! Take it slow, refresh/renew as you can, and ENJOY driving your corvette!!!! There's ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with '84s....the previous 10-ish model years (base L48s and the '82 L83) ALL had LESS HP than the '84 and were light years behind in handling ( coming from a guy who loves C3s and C4s)! At your age you have time and ambition.....but likely lack the $ it will take to crank-up the HP, so spend the $ you do have on making it safe, reliable and performing as new! Appreciate it for what it is for now, and later on, as your ability, knowledge, experience and bank account grows....then, when you have a "bond" with the car...
show everyone what a L83 Cross-Fire is capable of!!!! Good luck, and I'm very thankful that at your age you bought an '84 Corvette and not a Honda Civic!!!!!! Welcome to the club!!!!👍

ex-x-fire

Don't just put vortec heads on, swap the whole motor out for a vortec 350, I'd adapt a truck tbi unit in place of the crossfire. You original wiring will hook right up. The truck tbi unit lets you run a carb style intake which eliminates the restrictive intake. Truthfully, I wouldn't start this project if you're heading to college soon. Your gonna need a reliable car for school and a 40 year old hot rod wouldn't be my choice.

mskc3

At 17, working part-time, AND starting college soon.....

I think keeping a 40-year old Corvette on the road as a RELIABLE Daily Driver will keep you broke and humble enough without venturing into the world of modifications.....

Hate to kill all the fun, but the reality is that an old Vette put into daily use will break and it will need repairs.

Between, Repairs, Maintenance, Gas, Insurance, and going out enjoying being a 17-year old .....Your part-time money will be getting stretched thin....

Instead of soaking THOUSANDS into mods consider doing the boring thing and start a repair/maintenance fund/savings account to keep that beautiful ole c4 alive, healthy and on the road....

An 84 with 70K on the clock is not use to the demands of a daily driver and it will be needing your time, energy, effort, and most importantly your $$$ to keep it on the road as a reliable daily.

But, Hey I'm just an old man that has some teenage kids that know much more than I.. so, I will tell you what I tell them......."Go ahead and do what ya want as you're going to anyways"...LOL....

Anyways, ENJOY your 84, I Would have killed for one when I was your age!!!

conniekalitta

Did you end up going for the auto or the 4+3? It has little to do with your engine question, but the 4+3 brings up a whole other maintenance issue on the agenda, which is the fact you now have TWO transmissions to get fluid for. Its a fun conversation starter at parties... has yet to land me any dates, however.

Regardless, I'm not much older than you and I'm in university for engineering. This means I also do not have much money to modify the car. Luckily, my personal taste aligns with the best thing to do (in my opinion) which is to keep it bone stock. They left the factory a certain way because, chances are, the GM engineers doing all their designing and testing probably knew a bit better than I do. They tested all their parts to be reliable enough as long as they weren't messed with too much. If you have the money, sure I could advise you to modify it to allow for some extra power, but as people have said before, it quickly spirals into a vortex of funds.

My personal advice, for now keep it stock and see how far the reliability and MPG takes you. At the end of the day, it's America's sports car, and you should be proud to drive it around. And at your age? It can provide some invaluable experience.

VeryUnoriginal

Hell yeah dude! I got my '93 in high school. Also be careful if you plan on taking it to college. For some reason at least where I went the other students didn't appreciate the car and beat the living hell out of it. It was vandalized multiple times and the school police were pretty much useless in terms of actually doing anything about it. Anywho, from someone who did what you're doing a little over a decade ago, I would highly recommend putting off any kind of big mods until you have a backup car as others have said. It's a fun can of worms but once you change something you'll find issues and it's not worth banking on a 40 year old slightly modified car to be your only vehicle. I would keep it fairly stock and make it as reliable as possible until you have a cheap beater to rely on. Welcome to the club man, it's fun and I think you'll really enjoy the car. Be safe and don't do anything too stupid!

ThickLizzyVetteswerv

We all know what it's like to get a fun car and immediately start envisioning upgrades. That's what men do.

Like everyone else here, though, I will suggest leaving it stock for now and let any efforts be to simply keep it in top top shape. The best way to learn how stuff works is to jump right in and do it. Having youtube and forums as a resource today is an amazing asset!

Sinking money into upgrading the stock crossfire engine will never pay off, either financially or probably even power-wise. At some point you can build a whole separate engine and swap it in if you remain committed to keeping that particular car but given where you're at in life now, I think you're better off just enjoying the pinnacle of 1984 GM for what it is and saving your urges for modification for later on.

Remember: the greatest strength of these cars is their handling ability, not their straight line acceleration. That's true even of the later cars.