Car decision comin up fast..

[Grayeagle]

Ok.. job purty much in the bag, this fall I have to get a ride that is fun to drive back-n-forth to work.. tinker with ... and bracket race on weekends next year.

Figure I am old an slow enough nowadays to enjoy a 'Vette (always useda tell friends when I was old an slow I'd get a Vette..cause they're sleds anyway)

'96 Vette ..or '68-69?
Cost about equal (~30k), old one offers more diversity and better value appreciation as the years go by if I don't screw it up too much

Older one is easier to modify by a long ways.. not much smog requirements an lotta aftermarket parts out there for it.. easy to make it 'go'

Newer one, well ..the '95-96 Vette's are about bottomed for value, I *think* they are goin to go up in price purty dramatically over next 5-10 yrs. . bein the last years of that body style, they got alla bugs out of 'em and they are decent rides.
Doesn't require much in the way of mods to get 450hp out of 'em (bolt on centrifugal supercharger, all under the hood, will do it) ..dana 44 rear will hook it with some decent rubber on the back.

Gonna look for small block automatic roadster .. dont wanna mess with a clutch Anywhere a small block Chebby is, a big block will bolt right in.
(and Scott Schafiroff makes a 472 cube small block ..prolly cant use it in the late model vette and still pass smog tho

I am leanin towards '69 vette roadster ..nice chrome roll bar, bit of hot rod motor beef, definitely dana rear, and small stock lookin sticky tires ..prolly 12 second ride when I am done, may dip into 11's ..dunno.

Definitely wont sound like a 4-banger fart cart -evil grin-

-GE ('old school', and lookin forward to it)

[eagl]

The older vettes are aero limited to around 150...  A guy down the street from me growing up had some limited edition vette stingray looking car (can't remember year) and he said the car was geared for a top end of around 135-140 because above that it was undrivable.  Aero forces were the problem but I don't remember if it was the front or the rear that lifted first.

Anyhow, the later model vettes are much better for high speed so that's where I'd personally start.  After watching some guy put $50,000 into a Z-28 to push it to 200+ and then seeing it launch airborn at about 180 then land on it's roof, I think aero considerations are fairly important

Later vettes were designed with the aero package in mind from the beginning, so the newer you get, the faster it'll safely go.

BTW, the dealer gave my Dad a disclaimer when he bought his Z-06 3 years ago...  It read that Chevy was not liable for wrecks if the lower chin valence was broken/damaged and not replaced.  Apparently at top speed, the Z-06 goes airborn if that part is not in place.

[Maverick]

I assume you are going to be into drag racing. FWIW I think you'd be far better off getting a small "work" car and then build up the racer for real rather than compromise the entire situation.

[Masherbrum]

Originally posted by Maverick
I assume you are going to be into drag racing. FWIW I think you'd be far better off getting a small "work" car and then build up the racer for real rather than compromise the entire situation.

Agree 100%

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

If you want to run a C-3 (68-82) then a 69 is a good choice. Forget the Dana 44. You want to talk to Alf Weibe, and get his complete Corvette rear suspension set up. And Tom's Differentials makes a center section that accepts a 12 bolt Chevy set up, it is bullet proof.  Alf Wiebe's stuff is not for a daily driver, or something you want to run in the curves.

A C-3 car with Guldstrand's stuff will be as fast on top end and through the curves as you'll want to go. You can also look for an old Chevrolet Power Manual, and it will tell you all you want to know about prepping a Corvette.

Yes, you can get big inch small blocks, but a nice aluminum head big block cannot be beat for sound, torque, and the cool factor.

If you want a seriously brutal muscle car style Corvette, do a C-3. If you want an all around Corvette, do a C-5.

[Grayeagle]

Thanks for your opinions ..

Yassir .. it's gonna be a compromise car .. more on the 'touring' side than the tubbed out Pro Street side

An aluminum head Rat *I* think will do the deed nicely.. if I can get the rest of the drivetrain to put up with it

Figure 10" converter, manual shift, . . prolly 4:10's in the back.

For those who may not know ..my last project car was a 3020 lb '71 Duster powered by a tunnel-ram 440, 8" converter, 4:89 gears with tubs an 13x31's out back.
I drove it back an forth to work, an bracket raced it .. for over 15 years.
Never broke a single part on it. (replaced rear axles when they started showin a bit of twist .. after 10 years
Ran a best of 10.27 at Pomona long ago when I was tryin for their Pro Gas program (dint make the cut that day, but was a blast tryin! .. then I put the mufflers on an street tires an drove back home)
I am a certified gearhead .. I approach a project car as systems modification .. everything has to work together.. I dont slam a 600hp torque monster into a 6-cylinder drivetrain

I like the '69 Vette due to more leg room, bigger engine bay than the mid-60's, and the little shark grills on the side have chrome inserts .. will look very nice against a cherry red or medium-dark blue
Want to do a roadster, weather is great here and a chrome roll bar will look sharp.
The '427' hood looks great on 'em, too.
Mountain motor small block kinda appeals to me, but I am sure I can put together a nice Rat motor that will run on pump gas and loaf along at 70mph and perform the 'mission' better. A lil stroke magic on the new ones really boosts displacement, too
My old L-88 powered '64 Chevelle useda cruise great at 80 ..just onto the cam and smooth (it would lope badly in 4th at 60 ...600" lift and 332 duration ..with 4:10's inna back ..would do that) The 13:1 compression made it wind like a small block, and most folks thought it was -evil grin-.

Will see if I can find the bits ye mentioned Virg

-GE

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

Like I said, Alf's stuff is not really meant for street use, I'm sure it would be harsh, and not nice in the corners. But the stuff from Tom's will save you the hassle of fooling with adapting a new center section. I'm sure Mark Williams will do a nice set of half shafts for you with 1350 series joints, may as well get them to do a drive shaft as well.

Eagle makes some sweet rotating assemblies, I'd stay with 4.250 stroke if you use a passenger car deck block. There's all sorts of aluminum heads out there, you don't need the big ones though. We make 600HP in the stocker, and use a two bolt block from a 77 C-30, with a stock steel crank and unported rectange port heads.

I'd suggest rectangle port heads, as you could stand to kill some low speed torque to make it hook up and not break stuff. You can push 11.5:1 with a big enough cam, and if you want to run 4:10's and a 10" converter you can do that. You could use the 401 castings from Chevrolet and flat tops with a 4.350 bore and 4.250 stroke and have good compression at zero deck, if you angle mill the heads to 100cc's like we do. A nice reverse pattern valve body on a 400 will do the deed, if you get good parts in it.