Project Green Monster | 1971 Corvette C3 Small Block 4-Speed Build

Brian

Jeep Fanatic
Well, it is no secret that we build different cars at our shop for fun. Last year we rebuilt a 1970 Chevelle SS with a 454. If you watch our tool channel, you would have seen it over and over for a year. This year we decided to take on a different project that had a bit more meaning to us. This car is darn near the exact car my father rebuilt when i was two years old and sold when Iwas 4 or 5. My father still has a picture of my pointing at the car going down the road and crying when he sold it.

This is not my only Vette, we have a C6 Grand Sport and a C7 Base, so I figured this would be a cool car to work on.

If you have not figured it out yet, I love cars, and this car went from a mild rebuild to a pretty wild motor build with trans and gearing. We are removing the old power steering and upgrading it to get a more modern feel. The suspension is moving to carbon fiber, but from the outside, this will look like a stock Corvette. It will not sound like one at an idle!

Here is our kick-off video and I will try to keep this updated as we rebuild it. If you really want to stay up to date, subscribe to this channel.

[video=youtube;sMiP8oLOPpE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMiP8oLOPpE[/video]
 

Pthorpe84

Moderator
Staff member
That is one sexy Stingray....love the color too....don't see that variation often. What is your total power output goal? Are you planning on any chassis reinforcement?
 

Brian

Jeep Fanatic
[video=youtube;_c44PgVkaRg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c44PgVkaRg[/video]

Engine is out, planning on a 475-500 hp 383. I want to fit it under the Corvette stock hood so I am sacrificing about 100 hp because of the parts I need to use to save room.

We are going to be doing a lot with brakes and rear suspension to make it work. The frame should be pretty sound since this is the same frame that held the 425HP big block. We did some hidden gussets in the rear, but only for more rear suspension parts.
 

Brian

Jeep Fanatic
Here is the install on a major power steering upgrade to all C2 and C3 Corvettes.

[video=youtube;iviZ0fpEnBk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iviZ0fpEnBk[/video]
 

Pthorpe84

Moderator
Staff member
Pretty cool video. I didn’t realize they used hydraulic assist in those.


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Brian

Jeep Fanatic
Pretty cool video. I didn’t realize they used hydraulic assist in those.


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Yeah, the gearbox is basically a manual steering box and there is an actuator that connects to the bottom of the pitman arm that when pushed one way or another sends fluid to the hydraulic cylinder. So as you can imagine, if you hit a bump with one tire and it pulls you one way, the cylinder will get pushed the other direction. What a poor design that stuck with Corvettes from 1963 to 1982.
 

Pthorpe84

Moderator
Staff member
Is that common with other sports cars? I love cars, but don’t know jack when it comes to them.


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Brian

Jeep Fanatic
No, most sports cars have great steering, especially when you think of Corvettes since they are a road car, not a straight line car. Heck, even most cars with power steering were a bit ahead of the Corvette by 1967, but Corvette opted to keep the same frame in 1968, so they kept the same steering with it up until they made a frame change in 1984. The late 70's were not good years for cars.

The problem we see now is that people want to put a lot of power to old cars without changing the steering, alignment due to new types of tires, brakes and in many cases the drivetrain. Many think that cars in 1970 were fast. LOL.... They raced them a lot, but a base Mustang GT would outrun the top of the line stock Chevelle SS big block back in the day. When people want to adhere to "stock or factory correct" the cars suck to drive.
 

Pthorpe84

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks for the info. My dad had a couple Chevelle’s when he was teen. Loved the car. But I don’t think he ever did any racing...just picking up chicks lol.


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