My new toy

[rottie102]

Latest addition to my collection, first "classic" car:



I'm loving it! Shocking, how much attention this thing gets! I've spent most of my day on motorways but 4 people still managed to chat me up about the Vette! Is it normal??

Now - there is a problem with it, I've kind of lost 1st and 2nd gear, can't engage them, so had to finish my journey in 3rd and 4th ( clutch wasn't happy in London ), my mechanic will check it out but if it's terminal/uneconomical to fix it, is there a P&P replacement from another car, ideally with 5 gears? 5th would be useful on long journeys...

Also, the starter motor won't last too long, but that should be an easy fix.

I've just remembered one more thing - guys, how do you secure the load behind the seats?? There's no safety at all, isn't it? A serious shunt and everything from the back flies to the front and cripples you... Is there a solution to that?

Edited by rottie102 on Tuesday 29th March 00:58

[jwoffshore]

Well, if nobody else is going to come along... Congratulations, that looks sensational in black. The interior is nice too. So many of those C3's had wehouse style interiors, but not yours fortunately!

On the 5 speed conversion, I am sure that one of the various Tremec gearboxs would fit, avaialble in 5 and even 6 speed. I think Corvette Kingdom in Norfolk do a 5 speed conversion.

[VetteG]

Rottie, as JW says give Scott at Corvette Kingdom a call, not sure where you are based in the UK but it is worth your while getting your car to Scott, he did the rebuild of my C3 including a Tremec T56 gearbox. A rebuild of your Muncie will be a bit over £500 and it sounds like you need a new clutch as well. C3's are pretty robust mechanically, lets hope that these are the limits of your problems.
You will find a huge difference with a 5 speed box, a couple of other mods you should think of are Steeroids rack & pinion steering rack and Smart Struts for your rear suspension, with a good set of shocks these mods will transform the handling.

Oh yes it would also be worth your while to join the Corvette Club, CCCUK. www.corvetteclub.org

G

[rottie102]

jwoffshore said:

Well, if nobody else is going to come along... Congratulations, that looks sensational in black. The interior is nice too. So many of those C3's had wehouse style interiors, but not yours fortunately!

On the 5 speed conversion, I am sure that one of the various Tremec gearboxs would fit, avaialble in 5 and even 6 speed. I think Corvette Kingdom in Norfolk do a 5 speed conversion.

Thanks gents

It's actually a very dark metallic blue, looks great in a sunlight.

I'm working on getting it sorted asap, can't wait to drive the damn thing!

[Darren156]

That looks absolutely stunning!!!!

I think it's made my mind up over whether to buy a C3 or C4 when I can afford one, lol

[Schmeeky]

That's beautiful! Love the wheels, they suit it perfectly.

Good luck getting the gearbox sorted, and have fun!

[stabbed rat]

That looks beautiful, I love this shape of corvette

[rottie102]

Cheers guys!

The gearbox was just a loose nut on the linkage

I've added something last week

[Darren156]

Aaarggh, that looks amazing! How much did that cost? Must have been at least a grand if it's both sides? Or just the one side?

[Schmeeky]

Cool, nice cheap fix!

Bet those pipes sound fantastic! Nice addition.

[Darren156]

Rottie, can you tell me more about the car as in the day to day sort of running costs / performance etc?

Also what are your engine specs? Is it a 5.7 Litre smallblock I'm assuming? What's the engine like in that power wise? I know in the C4 the later models produced 230BHP but don't know much about the C3.

Basically, Is it quick? lol

[VetteG]

Ah the dreaded ankle burners, they look and sound great, but be sure and warn your passengers when they are getting out

Darren, The engines vary in C3's, small blocks in the 68 to 72 erea were either 300 or 350hp, after that they were progressively reduced by emmisions requiremenets. In saying that the small block is infinitely tunable, there are several C3's in the UK with 450 to 550hp so they can trot along.

G

[Darren156]

Thanks G, I knew that the engines across America were all being bogged down in the 70's in power due to the emissions etc, but if one were to buy say a completely stock 1980 Vette Stingray with the 5.7 smallblock what do you need to do in order to get it to produce the big power it should have??? And how much would it cost, lol

Because I'm also looking at the C4 Vette as they are priced ALOT lower and the 230BHP they kick out is also, well to be frank, a bit crap, lol

This is one of the issues I've always had about wanting an American car, you can buy a facelift Jaguar XJS with the 6 Litre V12 engine which has some 330BHP, and that thing will shift, but I've always feared buying a yank tank as I fear it just wont be quick enough for me.

[rottie102]

Darren,

the sidepipes were £850 (I haggled a bit) delivered to UK from US in 5days so not too bad. They are P&P with gaskets, mounts etc.

As for my Vette - it's a 1981 so the least powerful one, apparently only 190BHP from 5.7l
My one has the bigger carb, alloy intake, headers etc so I'm expecting it to be somewhere over 200. I'll get it dyno'ed soon.
Is it quick? Id depends what you're used to. I also have a 300BHP+ Nissan 200SX and a BMW Z3M so comparing to those - no.

Is it QUICK ENOUGH? Yes. It's a manual and with the amount of torque it has you can leave every traffic lights with a long burnout.
I was considering selling the Z3M and getting a supercharged LS1 for the vette (700BHP) but decided against it. I don't feel safe enough in the vette to go quickly in it as it is. I would have to upgrade brakes, steering, suspension, seats, seatbelts etc etc. and that would mean A LOT of investment.

But the great thing about the vette is that you don't have to drive it fast to enjoy it.
When I'm on the motorway in a Z3M I'm almost never overtaken, cruising speed being ~90, in a vette I'm really happy doing 70, it feels like 110 anyway.

MPG - no idea, haven't calculated it. I have a sneaky suspicion it won't be 50+ though...

The biggest shocks for me so far are:
- how crappy the drive is when you take away the looks, the noise, the fun and the attention you get. I would risk saying that a £500 BMW E36 will be much better drive than my vette, which is in a very good condition.
- how EVERYONE loves them. You get stopped and chatted up constantly, people ignore Aston Martins, Ferraris, Porsches etc but the Vette gets attention everywhere. People let you out of side streets just so they can look at it. I haven't even driven it on the road with the sidepipes yet, I'm assuming they won't help being inconspicuous

I bought it without ever even sitting in a car built earlier than 1990 I would definitely recommend you spending some time in/with one to make sure that it's the right thing for you. Give me a shout if you're ever in London, I'll be happy to help.

[Darren156]

That's not a bad price for those pipes then mate, makes the car look even better.

The ones I've been looking at are the 1980+ shapes like yours, as ideally I'd want to get the newest C3 possible, but obviously now that G's informed me of the power difference between the newer models and older models I might have to change this, lol

I had a BMW E36 328i funnily enough, brilliant car and pretty quick, I know how you mean by not having to go fast in it to enjoy it. But it looks and sounds like it can crack 0-60's in 5 seconds flat and top 160MPH+, and I'd want it to be able to do that, haha

I've owned ALOT of cars, mostly all of them crap, lol, my current ride is a 1995 Nissan Skyline GTS N/A with a 2.5 Straight Six engine, it's got 210BHP and it's quick, but not quick enough in my opinion.

It's not that I want to break speed limits and be a holligan, but I like getting to the speed limit very quickly, lol

The wife is now saying she wants a convertible for the summer. I think she was thinking along the lines of a BMW Z3 or an Alfa Spider etc, do you think she'd be fine with a 30 year old C3 with Targa Panels? haha

[GW65]

rottie102 said:

As for my Vette - it's a 1981 so the least powerful one, apparently only 190BHP from 5.7l
My one has the bigger carb, alloy intake, headers etc so I'm expecting it to be somewhere over 200. I'll get it dyno'ed soon.

Very nice car! A couple of things to watch out for when you get it dyno'ed... Some places use Dynapaks (bolt onto hubs) rather than rollers, and there may not be enough clearance with the side-pipes - a workaround is to remove the outer cover from the Dynapak if they're happy to do that. A more fundamental problem with side-pipes and dynos is that typically the extractor fans are usually at the rear of the cell rather than at the sides...probably not an issue if you have cats, but without cats it can limit running time before the fumes become too much!

[rottie102]

GW65 said:

Very nice car! A couple of things to watch out for when you get it dyno'ed... Some places use Dynapaks (bolt onto hubs) rather than rollers, and there may not be enough clearance with the side-pipes - a workaround is to remove the outer cover from the Dynapak if they're happy to do that. A more fundamental problem with side-pipes and dynos is that typically the extractor fans are usually at the rear of the cell rather than at the sides...probably not an issue if you have cats, but without cats it can limit running time before the fumes become too much!

Thanks! No cats and I didn't think about it.
Oh well, I'll make sure to stay away and leave the process to the pros...

[roscobbc]

If you have 'lost' 1st and 2nd gear the first thing to do is to drive the car up a kerb with the drivers side wheels just on the edge (or get it on a lift) - crawl underneath and look at the gearshift rods on the side of the gearbox - get someone to sit in the car and attempt to shift between 1st & 2nd - it is not unknown for the nut/bolt that holds the 1st to 2nd gear shift arm on the side of the gearbox to come loose - if it has been like this for a while it may have worn the flats on on the output shaft of the gearbox or shifter arm which will make selection of either 1st or 2nd gear (or both) difficulty and imprecise.

[VetteG]

Rottie,
If you are finding it crappy to drive (it's a 30 year old car after all) I suggest you give the suspension an overhaul and like I saud before fit 'Smart Struts' on the rear and Steeroids rack and pinion steering on the front, these 3 things will make a huge difference to your drving comfort/enjoyment.

G

[franv8]

Darren156 said:

Thanks G, I knew that the engines across America were all being bogged down in the 70's in power due to the emissions etc, but if one were to buy say a completely stock 1980 Vette Stingray with the 5.7 smallblock what do you need to do in order to get it to produce the big power it should have??? And how much would it cost, lol

Because I'm also looking at the C4 Vette as they are priced ALOT lower and the 230BHP they kick out is also, well to be frank, a bit crap, lol

This is one of the issues I've always had about wanting an American car, you can buy a facelift Jaguar XJS with the 6 Litre V12 engine which has some 330BHP, and that thing will shift, but I've always feared buying a yank tank as I fear it just wont be quick enough for me.

I have the joy of owning a 'crap' 230hp C4.

It's got the legs on the Jag, no problem.

0-60 5.7 secs (automatic)
1/4 mile 13.92 @99.9 mph
Terminal speed - 152 mph

All tested on private test tracks. Stock apart from dual exhausts.

Real power I'd say is in the 270 hp range - I think that's realistically what a 1450kg car would need to get those performance figures.

C4 will seriously out-corner a C3 and doesn't suffer front end lift issues that the C3 shape does. But in fairness it's nowhere near such a classic shape is is relatively unloved vs most of the other Corvette generations. I'd put this down to it being complicated in the electrical department (and with age a bit troublesome with it) and it's "80's-ness" that isn't to everyone's taste.

Take one out, make your own conclusions, in fact if the first one you see doesn't turn you off completely, try a few. I've found that between different axle ratios and different "shift kits" (latter assumes auto) there is quite a bit of difference between any two cars.

HTH