[Northof49]

Well, kinda 1/2 and 1/2 owned with my old man.....whatever haha here's the story.....

Never really thought much of this vintage of Corvette, and quite extensive drives of a friend's fairly stock 74 Vettes didn't better my opinion much. So one day we're hanging around at a local Chevy shop (aka some guy's garage) and this 78 silver anniversary pace car comes in on the hook.....fully restored just a year ago, but they cheaped out on the motor and it dropped a valve. Me and the Dad hashed it out over a few days and decided what the hell.....price was right too. Paint/body and interior were in nice shape, the suspension and brakes were almost new, so it was basically in need of the motor job and a serious clean/detail and some touch ups here and there.

Sent the matching number 350 (4 bolt main) away to the machine shop to repair the slight damage with a bore/hone job and check out the crank. Threw in a set of forged pistons and rods....CR around 10:1. After that, the mods list started to grow as the engine came back together....stock these things were around 200hp, so some thing had to change obviously. Here's the list from memory:

- Edelbrock aluminum heads (Performer RPM complete w/springs, retainers, hardened pushrods, etc)
- Edelbrock alum. intake manifold
- Coated headers
- Cam upgrade (forget the spec....something like an RV I think)
- Carb is some Rochester double pumper around 700-750 but I forget the exact spec
- Full dual 2.75" exhaust w/h-pipe
- Flowmasters are going on.....but it still has the stock mufflers and tips (ugly) in these pics
- Full MSD ignition system....box, wires, cap, distributor, etc
- Aluminum water full
- High volume oil pump
- K&N
- Stock TH 350 auto with shift kit/manual valve bodies
- All new gaskets, seals, plugs, lines, bushings, etc
- Repain engine bay...black bay, black block, black stock valve covers with polished tops, aluminum everything else.
- Needs new tires next....in these pics there's BFG's on the back and Goodyears on the front lol
- Motor revs to 7,000 rpm estimated around 370hp crank

So after all the parts were on the motor, the exhaust was built, engine bay prepped, in an afternoon the motor was in, fired up easily and the car drove. In the first few drives I was hugely impressed with the car.....the earlier 70's Vettes I had driven were very rattly and the suspension was noticably flexy. This 78 (apparently there were some changes in this year) with all new shocks and bushings, felt much better. The suspension is still S T I F F, but tight, and the handling is dead flat and pretty fun......especially with 12 feet of batmobile hood in front of you hahaha

Overall I'm impressed with the car and it turned out better than both me or the Dad ever expected. Absoulely everything works on it....air cond, pw/pl, factory alarm (whoa), 8-track, power antenna, etc. It's comfortable to drive, handles and brakes good and, most importantly, goes like snot. The trans shifts brutally hard with the shift kit under full throttle and will easily bark the tires into 2nd and 3rd on the highway

Silver Leather? Aww yea

Think the air cleaner lid's going chrome....undecided

That's a lotta hood

Anyways, just thought I'd share....I know this bodystyle isn't everyone's first choice, but it's definetly growing on me! Oh, and I know the stickers are a bit much, but that's the way these came and trying to keep it as orig. looking as possible. EVERYONE looks at this car, I got much more attention in this thing than the Lexus SC430 I was driving literally the same day....go figure :bigthumb: And best of all, it worked the Lex in a little race up the mountiain

 

[brewster]

That's hot, it sounds like you built it up right too. I'm a big fan of the C3 Vette's.

 

[cds01]

i have seen some nice examples of c3s and they can look damn good. yours is looking very clean. the ones i have seen with side pipes look good, but i don't know if you are trying to keep the stock look or not.

 

[Tatanko]

Good lord that's a clean C3. I looooovee C3's...and I'm not even much of a classic guy, I just like the sleek look of them. Very nice :bigthumb:

 

[Northof49]

i have seen some nice examples of c3s and they can look damn good. yours is looking very clean. the ones i have seen with side pipes look good, but i don't know if you are trying to keep the stock look or not.

Ya trying for a stock appearance from the exterior.....if not the stickers would be gonzo haha

The mechanic who helped us with it has a mint yellow 74 Vette with sidepipes....they look kinda cool, but I'm not the hugest fan, plus they melt your jeans after a good highway blast When the new mufflers go on, I think we'll just stick with two chromy's straight out the back.....hopefully can cut down the angle a bit, cause I don't like the droopy look of the stockers.

Thanks for the nice comments guys!

 

[cds01]

yeah, the one i saw the sidepipes on was a really high gloss black car with chromo side pipes. looked awesome.

 

[MaskedMilkman]

dayuuuuuuuum holmes that's a whole lotta hood!!!

sweet car btw. sheesh, i thought those old muscle car era vettes had 300+ HP..

 

[Northof49]

sweet car btw. sheesh, i thought those old muscle car era vettes had 300+ HP..

Thanks!

The early early 70's had a lot more power, but from 74 on they were really choked.....this 78 would be right around 200hp from the factory. The restrictive cats (and whole exhaust system), SHITTY stock iron heads/valvetrain are the biggest culprits. But this one doesn't have any of those problems

 

[brewster]

dayuuuuuuuum holmes that's a whole lotta hood!!!

sweet car btw. sheesh, i thought those old muscle car era vettes had 300+ HP..

After 1971 HP numbers dropped significantly on all gm vehicles, as well as other makes. The reason for this was the switch to Unleaded gas forcing lower compression ratios and also very restrictive emissions equipment.

 

[BLITZSUPRA]

Thanks!

The early early 70's had a lot more power, but from 74 on they were really choked.....this 78 would be right around 200hp from the factory. The restrictive cats (and whole exhaust system), SHITTY stock iron heads/valvetrain are the biggest culprits. But this one doesn't have any of those problems

The bottom of the barrel was '78. The only engine available was a 350 and it had 170-180 crank HP. That was a dark time in Vette history and car history in general.

Great car, I have always loved C3s, although the later '70s cars definitely need major help in the engine dept! Must be a helluva lot more fun to drive now!

 

[Northof49]

The bottom of the barrel was '78. The only engine available was a 350 and it had 170-180 crank HP. That was a dark time in Vette history and car history in general.

Great car, I have always loved C3s, although the later '70s cars definitely need major help in the engine dept! Must be a helluva lot more fun to drive now!

There were actaully two 350's available.....L-48 350's were rated at 175hp and 185hp......mine is a factory L-82 that was rated at 220hp (ooooowwww haha). L-82's have little "L-82" badges on the hood.

Thankfully for the engine, the base is good (4-bolt 350), so there was no problem finding parts for it

 

[Jim Swantko]

Sweet vette - gotta love the date on the side of the car too - my birthday (although not '78).

 

[rcsupra]

Thats really an awesome car, I like it a lot and you did a great job with the whole resto-mod route. If you keep it original looking thats cool, but if you ever want to modify it more heres some inspiration...

 

[Tatanko]

:wackit:

Nicest C3 I think I've ever seen...dual superchargers? :drool:

 

[Mr. Wob]

i love everything about that C3 except the goofy hood and chin spoiler etc. Fender flares are fine, but all that shit ruins such a nice car to me. Keep it simple on the outside. small low rise hood, stock body with flared fenders :yum:

 

[AWDLATIN]

That C3 is off the chains...

 

[brewster]

i love everything about that C3 except the goofy hood and chin spoiler etc. Fender flares are fine, but all that shit ruins such a nice car to me. Keep it simple on the outside. small low rise hood, stock body with flared fenders :yum:

And the rear spoiler, I don't care for it either. The wheels are also too big, and the tires are stretched hapri style.

 

[nolessthan150]

Thats really an awesome car, I like it a lot and you did a great job with the whole resto-mod route. If you keep it original looking thats cool, but if you ever want to modify it more heres some inspiration...

sweet mother of god.....what an ass. absolutely gourgeous

 

[Northof49]

Ya that black Vette is fuckin SICK.......I'd like to see a little less lip rear wheels (stretched tires look silly), delete front spoiler, figure out a hood solution and it would look 10X's better in my opinion....everything else can stay tho!


+ rep for everyone in my thread

 

[Amish_Kid]

Mint lookin vette...


that black one must be Batman's DD