Blk98Bird

In light of the untimely demise of my trans am last summer, I'm now thinking of starting a stingray project. I've always loved the looks of the C3 corvette but the performance was lacking a bit compared to what's currently out there.

That being said, I'll probably be looking for a rolling chassis to stuff an LS1 and T56 into with a buddy of mine. Of course this car has to be faster than my previous, so I'm now at the point where I need to start thinking about heads/cam choices.

I want the car to run 11.9s or better on motor, but retain as smooth a ride as possible. Basically, I want to make as much power as I can before running into traction and drivability issues (wow, doesn't everyone?). I've driven lopey cars before and they were fun but I want this one to have the manners of a nice quick sports car rather than a baby-eating dragster.

I liked the 4.10s in my t/a but felt they were slightly aggressive for my city driving so I may try going with a 3.90 this time around. Most of the car's spirited driving happens on the highway so if I had to bias the power band, I'd say mid to upper rpm range. I kind of like the idea of letting the gears handle the torque down low and then feeling the kick in the *** as the car winds out and the cam begins to peak.

Based on this, what kind of specs would you guys recommend? I'd like to build this car as a package on paper before doing the actual work, unlike my TA which was done kind of by the seat of my pants .

I should add that I may also throw a 100 shot on the car so that I can hang with the Z06 guys .

edit: what am I looking at for injectors? I'm going to be doing an external fuel pump setup most likely because I hear in-tanks don't play so well with un-baffled gas tanks.

Thanks

SuprJames

I'm going through my '72 now. I went with a supercharged LS6, sidepipes, and some really fat meat in the rear. Engine combination is up to you. There are a ton of options out there, but if you have any questions about the conversion let me know.

bczee

iTrader: (12)

SuprJames.. great project you got going there.. It would look killer if you able to drop the stance down a bit..!

Carshopinc.com

iTrader: (5)

We carry the c3 conversion mounts in stock, these will place your motor trans combo in the correct position for the shifter to sit in the stock console.... Your goals are very obtainable with a mild cam...
That blown vette is awesome!

c3 mounts

SuprJames

There is still a lot of weight out of the car in that picture. It drops way down when everything is in the car. The picture of it without primer it's sitting about right. Has 1,000 lb. of sand bags in it to simulate the weight!

bczee

iTrader: (12)

That what I thought my chevelle swap would settal down.. I used 1 1/2" drop spring, B-body spindles for another 1" to 1 1/2", which should have been about 2 1/2" to 3" drop.. but after all was done after putting the fenders, hood and interior back on.. and that is with 2+ boxes of Dynamat and full heater/AC equipement, I was back at stock height and had to cut the spring another 1/2 coil.!! LOL

But hopefully yours will work out.

SuprJames

Ya, I figured 3,200 lb. weight (at least) and added sandbags to make up the missing weight so that we knew where to position the flares. Tried to balance the car out using the stock weight distribution and EZ scales under each wheel.

nitrovette

iTrader: (13)

I ended up cutting 1 1/2 coils off my vb&p 460 springs to get it lower,also run 10 inch rear spring bolts.I just cut another half coil off when i put the suspension back together this week.Ill be taking weight off the car this time when it goes back togther so i anticipated itll be sitting higher again.
As far as blk98bird not wanting traction issues,with my 3.70 gears low first gear in my 700r4 i have no traction,and now with the new cam,head work etc.. I guess ill be looking for 335's next.

ChevyChad

iTrader: (50)

How much are those mounts? I tried looking on your website to find out, but your website is incredibly difficult to navigate and find what I was looking for

Carshopinc.com

iTrader: (5)

http://carshop.carshopinc.com/produc...458/C/S%202372

ChevyChad

iTrader: (50)

Thanks. So $50 just for the plates? Or do they include the mounts with them?

Hotrod406

iTrader: (6)

Here's mine. I made my own plates because I'm using the stock 4 speed. Speedhound on the Corvetteforum makes headers for these.

ChevyChad

iTrader: (50)

Ya, saw yours on corvetteforum HR406 Very impressive! I really wish someone would step up to the plate and make some sidepipe headers for LS1 applications! I'm not too thrilled about buying a $1000 set of headers and then hacking them up to put LS1 flanges on them

SuprJames

Me either not to mention notching your frame for the O2 sensor unless you want it sticking out the top

ChevyChad

iTrader: (50)

Oh man, I hadn't even thought about the O2 sensors yet... I haven't even begun working on my 69 yet... Dang, that sucks!

Blk98Bird

Thanks for all the input guys! Been busy with work so haven't had a chance to reply back, but have been reading.

Good to have a source for the mounts. We may just go ahead and make our own but may not because for the money, it saves a lot of PITA in my opinion.

After doing a bit more research I'm thinking of looking for an LQ4, doing L92 heads, and cam is still up in the air.

Question for those of you doing the project now, or who have completed it: how fat of a tire can we fit in the rear without having to tub the thing? I'll probably want different wheels anyway so I'm not worried about fitting something on the stock rims.

If 3.70s are having traction problems I might have to rethink the 3.90s. I know I had pretty decent traction with 4.10s in my T/A on nittos, but the power levels were significantly less than what I'm going for here.

ChevyChad

iTrader: (50)

From what I've read on corvetteforum, I believe 275's are the widest you can go with just minor modifications... You may try a search on that tho in the C3 tech section on CF, as different people seem to have different results...

Blk98Bird

Figured I'd throw another question in here for those of you with a similar setup.

Have you driven both the C3 and Fbody? How would you compare the handling characteristics? I know I'm looking at 70s/80s technology vs. the newer setup in my sig but just wondering what I can expect. I figured with the much lighter weight and better balance of the C3, a decent suspension setup may put me past where I was before.

I'll add that right now, I'm not planning to pick up one of the newer C3 frames that take C4 or C5 suspensions.

Blk98Bird

Ok thanks, I'll check into it some more.

That's not a bad starting point though, because I did pretty well with a 16" 245 Nitto.

Moving to a bigger 275 and possibly the BFG drags would give me a lot more room to play I would think.

Blk98Bird

Btw, your projects look awesome guys! You've got me drooling over here since I haven't even begun to get the ball rolling!