C3 body (and frame) on a C5 drivetrain?

I know you can buy frames completely ready to go with all components from C4's for C2's but I don't know of seeing any frames C2-C3 with C5 component locations... I'd imagine the transaxle/torque tube might not fit under floor & the rear on a C2-C3. Dunno, but a good question :-)

Oscar Ericks> Hi,

Oscar:

I know that such things exist as I saw at least half a dozen early vintage C1's & C2's with LS1 or LS2's transplanted under their hoods at Hot August Nights. I saw an absolutely perfect 63 split back coupe sitting next to a beautiful 55 roadster, both with such a setup. Thought I was going to cry. IMHO, it makes about as much sense as putting a Ferrari engine in a Pinto. I know, I know... Some of you guys will argue that they run better, make more power, are easier to get parts for, yadda, yadda, yadda... I just don't agree. I guess I'm a purist at heart. If you want a new car, go out and buy one. Don't "F" up classics!!

Good hunting!

TomC '90 ZR1

I saw a company selling these conversion frame setups, they run $20-25k I asked ..... "why would a guy spend $30k (adding a little for labor) to a $30k car to have a $30k car when he's done ?" This guy almost went berserk .......said you have a $100k car when your done blah blah blah , I got a kick out of that one. Anyway with a little more insight I have found that in some cases of broken,rusted,damaged beyond repair frames or replica built not original cars , the frames may have their place. Butt like you said not on a purists car

kickstart

Ric, who carries the C4 frames and components for the C4-C2 swap? Thanks.

By the way, are you still hunkered down for Katrina? I hope all is well.

C2 & C3.

The California market is turning prices insane. There are those who buy the modified Corvettes are unreal prices. As such, others think that is what they are worth. Look at the Orange County Chopper crap. $50,000 - $75,000 for custom bikes. Insanity. We used to build custom choppers for much, much less. The thing that differentiates our work from theirs is buyers. They get buyers with more dollars than sense and buy something because you say it is worth that much.

The ProStreet Resto cars are getting big bucks in Calif and so many think that is what they are worth. The problem is there is a big difference in what something costs and what something is worth. I could charge you $2000 to strip the paint off your Corvette, but that sure would not increase the value of your car by $2000. In fact, try selling it with the paint stripped and you'd find "worth" is now much much less.

And the hot rod magazines live for this stuff, so readers think it is gospel. Never forget the Hot Rod Mag article on the '66 Chevelle all restored with the L88 454, Muncie M22, Pioneer stereo, Leather interior, etc. etc. Restored? They didn't know the meaning of the word.

My basic feeling has always been this:

Those that survived, preserve.

Those that are special, preserve or restore.

Those that have not or are not, enjoy however you want.

I hate to hear of the 1963 xxxxx that sat in Grandpa's garage since 1978 and is perfect except for 25 years of dust and dry-rotted tires and someone decides to tub the rear end and add hydraulics, etc.

There are enough copies of any car out there, if you want to rebuild and redesign your own car, take the one that needs new fenders or someone had yanked the engine already or whatever.

And as sacrilegious as it seem on this group, not every old Corvette is worth restoring. But taking an unrestored survivor with the original engine and ripping it apart to stick in a 406 or a 502, a C4 or C5 suspension, well, that just really hurts.

Take the one that has no drivetrain, has the rusted out frame, has the NOM or no engine.

I have often thought hard about in a few years, finding a '63 Corvette with the rusted out frame, dropping it on a mid '70s automatic frame, slide a 383 or an old 302 in it, stick in a six speed, and then have a fast, economical classic daily ride.

I didn't mean to touch off an argument about the merits of upgrading parts versus restoring. The C3 I have had no engine nor various other parts so in my eyes it's basically a body that needs to be placed on something. Now I need to decide if it's worth the effort because I'm really sick of seeing the body hanging from the rafters in my garage.

Yes, in retrospect I should have bought a running C3 (or C5) and been done with it. Sigh, hindsight.

Tom > The California market is turning prices insane. There are those who buy the

You'll get that with any group, most make up their minds as to what you should do by what they know and think they would do. It would have helped if everyone knew you had a "body" hanging in the closet that you were thinking about making some changes for your own personal machine. Personally I think it's a great idea, what could be finer that the style of the C3 with the punch and ride of a C5/C6. I'm running into the same thoughts as I restore my "highly collectable" '50 Chevrolet coupe. The labor is about the same as is the parts, but when I'm done it's my car ether way. Not a good performer, not a high yield antique if an antique at all. Just a car that I wanted and not many other people will be willing to pay what I have in it.

If you have the money, time, and need to get a divorce, go for it. ;-)

Thanks Dad!

If you read my post a couple of items down, you see my philosophy on cars and yours doesn't violate that. If you had said "I have this 435hp '69 convertible I want to convert to C5 suspension," or you said "I have my Mom's '68 convertible with 15,000 original miles on it", then you see where that goes against it.

But most C3s are not worth the effort to restore except for personal satisfaction. As such, most are also not going to be missed if you put C5 on the front, a 12 bolt Chevy in the rear, a blown 502 under (through) the hood, and painted it metalflake purple. (I'm not too incline on the purple, but maybe you would be.)

Again, if you said you had a mint low mile '79, even with 54,000 of them built, that wouldn't really be right. But a '79 that is on its second or third engine, probably missing half the original parts, and so on, sure, why not make it run like a C5. I remember a black '78 brand new at Bloomington with a ZL-1 in it, I believe. Might have only been an L-88 but I believe the excitement in the crowd was that it was all aluminum. Car only had a few hundred miles on it. It was not rare, not special, nothing, so why not enjoy it how he wanted.

============================== There are two converted C1's local... and I looked at few converted C2's at Carlisle this weekend and to tell you the truth I LOVE these things.... IMHO best of both worlds as far as Driving goes... Great looks with modern comfort and relaiability...

BTW... The new ZO6 looks a hell of a lot better up close and personal then any of the pictures I have seen.... those rear fender flares when viewed from the front of the car just knocked my socks off... car really has a "Bad Ass" look...

Bob G.

64 & 72 Rag Tops 76 79 & 95 Coupes Did not find a "green" (wife wants a green one) C5 6 sp Z06 or Ragtop to buy.at Carlisle.so still looking...

IMHO best of both worlds as far as Driving goes... Great

I think everyone agrees with that .... just not on a "cherry" kickstart