Right now I have an 84 corvette and I LOVE the look of it, red exterior with the saddle interior, hard top classic look and I redid the interior. I would like the car to be a little faster and the 84 is not the best for that, I now know that and love the digital dash. So my questions are these:

1.) Do I sell the 84 and buy a 89 in hopefully the same or better condition to get more power out of it.

2.) Do I mod the 84 in some ways to make it faster, like a carb swap. I am not the best with all of that so I would need to figure out more information.

3.) Do an engine swap, with other engines, or could even put a 89 l98 in it. Doing this I may need to upgrade more since the 84 is "stock" compared to the upgrades in the 85 to 59, if that makes sense.

 

I think it depends. Are you attached to the 84? What kind of shape is it in? Do you have the money on hand to buy your perfect 89 if it showed up tomorrow?

If your 84 isn't like a low mile, survivor NCRS kinda care of be tempted to throw in a crate SBC with a sniper efi or similar TBI setup instead of a carb. You could of course do all this to the the motor you have, but by the times you've rebuilt it with new heads, cam, rotating assembly upgrades, etc you're likely into it for more money anyways.

What are your goals? Do you want 250hp, or 500hp, or 900hp?do you also want a manual? If you want an L98 digital dash 6 speed car, those are pretty tough to come by.

 

My 84 is in great shape, 82000 miles. I think I like it so much because I redid the interior and looking for other cars now I find a lot of aftermarket head unit, which really bother me. I want that classic red look, saddle interior with maybe like 300-400 hp tops. I like the automatic and dont have an issue with it (but am not opposed to manual) but that seems like it would be a lot more work that does not matter to much to me. I have not done any engine work before if I am being honest so I dont know how good an engine swap would go. My main concern with the engine swap is I would probably need to do more upgrades to be able to handle the extra horsepower?

 

How much would a perfect 89 go for? Honestly have not come across the one so I do not know

 

You said you were not good at stuff like carb swapping from an FI, then I would rule out an engine swap then. Get another C4 with exactly what you want and then build it from there.

 

I LOVE MY '96 LT1. Very fun to drive. The C4s don't general bring a lot of money. But the "Bang for the buck" factor is really high! I think I would sell and look for a really nice LT1 or a C5 LS car.
my $.02.

 

not a big fan at all on the c5 look, I will probably end up just keeping my 84 till I find a great 89 or just deal with the 50 less hp.

 

If it was me, I swap it for LS engine, plug and play computer or to save little pull the engine and rebuilt it has 383 Stroker, then you have some power!

While it's out throw set of headers, cause right side is bitch to install!

 

Have you considered a change in the rear end gear ratio?

 

I have owned 4 Corvettes, the most recent being an 87 and the current 93 anniversary. In the late 80's my buddy had an 84, I had a 76 L 82 and our other buddy had an 85 IROC. The IROC had such nice power the guy with the 84 Vette traded it in for an IROC. I was happy with my Stingray but mostly because I love the look. Crappy suspension compared to the 84.
Fast forward to C4's and no kids at home! 87 was not my favorite shape of Corvette but I got a great deal on it so....... It had a great jump off the line but weak midband power (L98). The 93 has much better acceleration characteristics , bites hard off the line. LT1 car.
About 10 years ago I got a crazy cheap deal on. A 2002 Camaro Z28. LS1 and 6 speed manual. Spin the tires through the first 3 gears and chirp into 4th! 29 miles to the Canadian gallon cruising the highway at 75 mph. I know you said your not keen on the C5 but I wasn't about the C4 and quickly came to love these cars. If you can get an LS1 or LS2 equipped car they are definitely in your 300 to 400 HP range and becoming more affordable every week in Canada and wheels and tires are still easy to find, LS swaps are popular so parts are available and still affordable.
I used to do alot of my own engine work on my 327 and 350 equipped vehicles but don't recommend doing a swap unless you have an experienced hand to help and guide you. All for do it yourself though
As long as you have a Vette you will be happy 😊 😊
Enjoy the road!

 

Just sell the 84 and buy an LT1 car then. Or maybe splurge for a ZR-1.