Whats HOT for 2005?

[C3RVETTE]

Looks like C3's will be sought after even more!

 

[photovette]

Would increased popularity help raise or decrease aftermarket parts prices?

 

[craig32]

Raise, of course! Law of supply and demand. . .

 

[Daryllawman]

You just can't beat a C-3....I have only owned one C-4 and two C-3's....I got some oks on the 88 but not nearly as much as the 77 * 79.....The Color Red helps also...

 

[C3RVETTE]

I have/had all 3 body styles! I currently have a G-body Cutlass,and a 79 Vette,and recently had a 77 F-body Camaro,and a 77 Vette.

 

[Ripp 73]

I think all generation Corvettes get the looks from other cars. When people see them they know right away what the car is. Right now you can get C3's pretty cheaply and all of them minus the 1982 are computerless making them pretty easy to work on. No need to worry about ruining the computer on board. As far as bang for the buck I also feel the C4 is the best buy, but it is also a little more involved sometimes in finding a problem. Either way, I think all Corvettes are sought after by someone. Every Corvette has someone's name on it, the hardest part is just getting the two together.

~Ripp

 

[81 Corvette]

81 are computer controlled as are teh 80 cali vettes.

easy enough to work around tho

 

[photovette]

Everything is relatively cheap on C3's except painting them. Why is that?

 

[Ripp 73]

I didn't realize that 81's and some 80's were computer controlled. What did the computer monitor on those years?

 

[C3RVETTE]

I didn't realize that 81's and some 80's were computer controlled. What did the computer monitor on those years?

must of been pretty basic stuff,being over 20 years ago.:ugh

 

[dfw81shark]

All I have running that is computer controlled is the carbeurator. I know my Th350 is a C model which is supposed to use a computer to control lockup, although mine has never worked. I don't know if the same computer controls that or not.

 

[craig32]

Everything is relatively cheap on C3's except painting them. Why is that?

You must not have an Eckler's catalog!! I needed an a/c duct, they had them listed for $80!! That's like a $40/foot piece of tubing. The paint is expensive because of the name on the back. Actually, the cost of paint went through the roof because of environmental crap, it's gonna cost me about $500 just for paint to redo my car. Also, they get stripped instead of sanded, a lot of labor intensive work. Apparently I'll be doing that myself!
Craig

 

[C3RVETTE]

There is NOTHING cheap as far as parts for C3's! If you mention "Corvette" the parts prices are automatically increased at least ad 50%

 

[81 Corvette]

the 80 cali and all the 81's computer controlled the torque converter lockup, distributar advance, and something on the carb, that i forget.

 

[photovette]

Not cheap? What can be cheaper to maintain and replace than the drivetrain of a shark? You guys haven't kept newer cars long enough to have to replace things much out-of-warranty I guess. I promise you, the only C5's and C6's you will see daily driven thirty years from now will have C3-like drivetrains grafted in--it'll be the only way it'll be affordable to keep them running.

 

[Stallion]

Cheap wasn't the first word to come to mind. But I put the money into her with no second thought. She's my pride and joy and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Our Sharks really are amazing cars. Nothing like them.

 

[C3RVETTE]

Not cheap? What can be cheaper to maintain and replace than the drivetrain of a shark? You guys haven't kept newer cars long enough to have to replace things much out-of-warranty I guess. I promise you, the only C5's and C6's you will see daily driven thirty years from now will have C3-like drivetrains grafted in--it'll be the only way it'll be affordable to keep them running.

I just had the belts,water pump,plugs,wires,etc,etc replaced on my sideways mounted V6 in my 99 Mitsu. Galant...$800 in parts,$700 in labor.But you have to disassemble the top of the engine to get to them.I paid $1700 for front & rear dual mount composite springs for my 79 Vette,just parts

 

[pasvorto1]

Getting the seats redone... $1,000

 

[WayneLBurnham]

Most vette parts ARE cheap!!!

Try buying old mopar parts...wow....

Some vette parts are absurd...try a fan shroud for a '75! (I made one out of lexan rather than pay that much...)

But body panels, suspension parts, drivetrain parts....wow...cheapest thing out there for vintage cars. Not only that but most of them are higher power or other performance options. While the recovered seats are high, for example, you can buy every single body panel for only about twice that! A simple DOOR for a Mach 1 mustang can easily go for a grand. The body parts are so cheap it's usually worth just replacing them after significant damage rather than repairing them.

The paint costs are also due to the high expectation levels of the standard vette enthusiast, who often don't blink at $5-10K for paint. The same under $500 "good enough for a few years" MAACO type job can be had for vettes just like most mid twenties street performance people have always gone for. $2500-3500 can buy you something a lot better than ever left the factory.

As far as this performance thing for C4's...PLEASE!!! They DO handle great, but with the right upgrades, the C3s are as good and the earlier ones don't have the same weakened aluminum rear end section that is shared in weakness by the C4s.

As for the REAL performance aspect - POWER! - only the latest versions of the highest end C5's and soon to come C6 Z06 even get into the same league as the early C3 bigblocks, even factoring in the most efficient drivetrains. Putting one of those big blocks or an even more common more powerful newer stroker big block into any what, pre-79 (or is it pre-77?) C3 is as easy as any other engine swap, except for a change to the steering linkage and I believe PS mounts.

Aside from worrying about the always weak factory Dana 44 and even 36 center sections (which are still stronger than the aluminum versions), a C3 can easily have a 600hp medium big block dropped in it and run fine unless you do constant heavy launches. 600hp engines push C4 (and even C5&C6) frames and drivetrains to the breaking point at even very conservative uses.

Look at the condition of most exotics like Callaways and even ZR1's that were actually driven. It's common knowledge at vette shops these "higher powered" specialties - which at best reach 65-70% the power of a decent big block - end up needing enormous work quickly as every part has been pushed to the near design limits of the C4 platform, unless they were rarely or sparingly used. On the other hand a higher powered - and much higher torqued - big block C3 is not generally in much more "ragged out" shaped than a 75-77 small block with the weakest engines ever put in vettes.

For even midpowered applications, all of them need the strongest half shafts and especially outter and inner axle stubs as well as the center section, but these are of a common concern on all IRS vettes and don't favor one generation over another.

I do think the best bang for the buck on an all around sportscar is a nice mid year C4 ragtop, but god help you when you even want to change a distributor "cap" and wires.... I was stunned when I recently saw this. A leaking valve cover gasket is an undertaking worse than pulling the heads on an earlier small block. At $7-10K for a really nice one, the car handles like a dream and has at least decent power, but modifications are far more difficult and expensive, with many fewer options.

Likewise it is hard to beat the "bang for the buck" of a $20-25K 3-4 year old C5 with it's exquisite handling and more than acceptable factory power levels.

For all around street and highway performance and simple power though, the C3 is the best choice - especially for the modification purposes of a home garage car builder that 15-20 years ago, at the end of the terrible "crappy Detroit product era", would have gone for a '70 Camaro or a hemi Cuda.

 

[C3RVETTE]

?:ugh