1975 Corvette Convertible with LS1 and T56
01-30-2013, 06:53 PM
#1
1975 Corvette Convertible with LS1 and T56 Year: 1975
Make: Chevrolet
Model: Corvette
Price: $19000
Mileage: 62500
Private or Dealer Listing: Private Listing
Location (State): KY
Color: Red
Transmission: Manual
LS Engine?: Car has LS engine
-Body/Chassis/Suspension/Brakes
The body itself is in very, very good condition. I have receipts from the PO showing that new bumpers front and rear were purchased and fitted before the car was painted…unfortunately , for reasons unbeknownst to me, he fitted a 1976 rear bumper with the cursive script instead of a stock 1975 bumper. An L88 hood was also fitted at that time. All other body panels appear to be in very good condition. The frame is in excellent condition, with no areas of rust that I can find (with the exception of some very minor surface rust which has been wire-brushed and painted. The birdcage also appears to be sound, with no rust issues found behind the kick panels at the body mount location.
The car is lowered in the rear on 8” bolts and in the front on brand new springs with a coil cut out. The shocks were replaced by the PO in 2003, but only have a couple thousand miles on them. The car also appears to have new front brake calipers and brake lines, as well as new power steering lines. The rear brakes are also in good shape and could be new as well. I recently rebuilt the parking brake assembly on both sides, and it functions as it should. There are VB&P adjustable strut rods in the rear suspension. The rest of the chassis and suspension appears to be largely stock, but in good shape. The car rides and brakes well with no issues. It also drives and steers well, although I need to have an alignment done after lowering the car.
-Paint
The car was painted in 2003, and I was told the color is a “Hummer burgundy”. The paint is in good shape, and shows well, with some minor blemishes, but overall very good for a driver car. It does appear that the PO skimped a bit on the prep work, because in areas where there are chips, you can see the stock red color shining through. You can also see a bit of the original paint in areas the rear decklid weatherstripping, but it’s in areas where you can’t see . There is a small spider crack in the rear bumper on the right side near one of the brake lights, and a significant chip above the PS headlight that has been touched up. Other than that, the paint really does look very nice, and I routinely get compliments on the color.
-Engine/Exhaust/Fuel Delivery
I will just start by saying that, all told, I have close to $10,000 in the engine and trans swap alone. Now that we have that out of the way…the engine is a stock LS1 out of a 2000 Trans Am with roughly 60k miles on it. Before installation, I replacing the timing set with an LS2 unit and also replaced the oil pump with a stock LS6 unit. Oil pressure is always over 40psi at idle cold. The air intake setup is a very simple silicone elbow with the MAF mounted just after a K&N style cone filter.
The current is exhaust is merely a set of F-body Pacesetter longtube headers…so yes, it’s loud. I have the stock O2s installed in the longtubes and they are working perfectly. However, I currently have on order a custom set of 304 stainless steel sidemount headers and sidepipes in high polish finish, made specifically for an LSx into C3 Corvette conversion. This exhaust is simply a work of art. I will have just under $3000 into the exhaust alone…
Fuel delivery is supplied via the stock tank using a Warlboro 255 external fuel pump with a C5 Corvette filter/regulator. Fuel lines are stainless braided lines running the length of the frame, tucked up nicely out of the way before connecting to the LS fuel rails on the driver side of the engine.
-Transmission/Clutch/Rear End
The transmission is the T56 6-speed, also out of the same 2000 Trans Am with roughly 60k miles. The clutch is a slightly newer stock unit that I had in the shop with roughly 35k miles…it operates well with no issues. The clutch is operated by a new hydraulic unit that I purchased from Custom Image Corvettes…it is on the stiff side, but I like the feel of it. The stock trans crossmember was replaced with a custom T56 crossmember for swaps into a C3 that I also purchased from Custom Image Corvettes. The rear end is a stock ’75 unit, although the gears have been upgraded to a 3:55 set. I had the stock driveshaft shortened slightly and had new U-joints installed to complete. The transmission shifts smoothly, and there is no grinding in the gears or slippage of the clutch.
-Interior/Electronics
The interior is in good shape, with new carpet and some new trim pieces, as well as a newer convertible top. The dash itself (upper pad, LH lower and RH lower) is in good shape, but appears to have been dyed black from a tan color. It has held up pretty well (especially the upper pad), but there are some spots where the tan had showed through slightly, so I redyed it again before reinstalling. The lower console and parking brake cover are both in decent shape and show well. The center gauge cluster was a new unit that allowed for a CD player to be installed…the CD player was broken when I got the vehicle, so I replaced it with a new Kenwood unit that is iPod/Pandora capable. The remainder of the stereo system is a set of Rockford Fosgate component speakers in the kick panels with component tweeters on top of the dash, and a pair of Polk 6x9s in individual boxes in the cargo area (these can be removed quickly). The door panels and seats are white…the door panels are in excellent condition, and the seats are in good shape with some minor wear but overall show well. The car is equipped with power windows, which do go up and down fine, but could use to be rebuilt and have the tracks cleaned.
The speedometer and tachometer are Autometer Sport Comp units that are electric and run off the LS1 PCM. Both operate flawlessly, and look very good…very close to the stock center gauges. Use of these gauges did require that I install LEDs for the indicator lights (high beam, parking brake, and turn signals). I didn’t like the look of the indicators around the gauges, so I mounted them on both sides of the CD player, where they blend in a little better. The SES light is installed on the lower left side of the dash, where the lever used to be to open/close the lower vent. The center gauges are still stock, but all operate and function appropriately with the exception of the clock, which runs intermittently.
Asking $19,000 in it's current form with only longtube headers...you would need to complete an under-car exhaust on your own. Asking $22,000 for the car with the custom headers/sidepipes that are still on order. I am open to offers, but I will say that I have no intention on selling the car cheap just to make a quick sale. If it doesn't sell for a fair price, I'm happy to keep it and enjoy it for years to come. Only trades I would possibly entertain is a C5 Z06 or a C6 Z06 plus cash on my end.
These pics are a little dated, but the car still looks largely the same. The only things that are now different are that the wheels have been painted back to silver instead of body color, and the gauges are now the aforementioned Autometer speedo/tach instead of the stock units. I will have new pics up just as soon as the weather will allow...
Thanks for looking!
These pictures are the manufacturer's pics of the custom exhaust I have on order...THIS IS NOT MY CAR IN THE FOLLOWING PICS!
Last edited by -Q-; 02-06-2013 at 11:02 AM.
Trending Topics
1975, 35, 4, c3, conversion, convertion, convetable, corvette, crossmember, elbow, ls1, silicone, swap, t56, transmission
