New Project! I Just Bought a Corvette Stingray Convertible DIRT CHEAP

[@Papa-Bogey]

Cool start. Your “it’s finished” video popped up on my feed. I’m going to binge watch the series!

[@NightWrencher]

Nice! Cant wait to see what you do with it!

[@MH-rb7lp]

Nice find, I had a 74 for a number of years, mine was a hardtop 454 AT red on red. I like the car but traded it for a Harley... Keep the interior tan, it makes the car standout and you already have 2 cars with black interiors.

[@ozhoo]

Cherry Bomb - Disturbing the peace since 1968 🤘

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Haha definitely a nostalgic sound for me, I may have been tempted to keep them if it was a hard top

[@rea8755]

Great find!!! Hope you got the tires/rims he took off🎉❤

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Thanks! Didn't get the original wheels with the car unfortunately but I do get some new wheels a couple episodes in 👍

[@Madurbu]

Saw the Reddit post Looking forward to seeing the work you do...... .....

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Thanks! I'll be working on it a lot these coming months, I'll have a new episode out pretty much every week 👍

[@scottziegler9172]

Nice choice!! Glad to see the Chevy coming out in you! LOL!

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Going back to my roots 👍

[@bryanhallman8183]

Stock tires were a 225/70r15. Most people ran a 255/60r15 so that should give you something to go off of. Good luck with the C3 project!

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Good to know, I think I'm gonna get some original Chevy rally wheels with those big old center caps, I just love that look. I'll have to figure out a tire size that fits on those

[@thud9797]

Stock was the old GR70 size and likely Firestone radials, those things were terrible and subject of a huge recall. The metric sizing of 225 and such did not come along until 1978 but 225 does match the GR70. When St Louis first installed the 255s in 78 they clearanced the fenders slightly but on most cars they fit anyway. Awesome Vette!

[@noboltsleftbehind]

@@thud9797 Thanks, good info!

[@auteurfiddler8706]

I am in so Cal and got a 75 for similar reasons, though it is not a convert or a four speed. Some comments: A black interior in a South west car is bad but it is insane in a convertible. Unless you have fire retardant skin. You have the best color I can think of and it appears you have the optional leather seats which come with the upgrade interior. I would just clean those seats or maybe re dye them. If you want to change colors, go for white or maybe red. I like the paint color but not the "skunk strip" but it is probably painted on. Actually I might want to paint that burgundy on one of my cars. I would buy a white convertible tops, since black doesn't hold up well in the sun. You have the right dual snorkel air cleaner. There should be a different lid and rubber seals for the cowl induction. I would try to retain that. There are plenty of way to double the horsepower without getting an LS. 383 Chevy small block or do a simulated factory install of a 74 with 454, which means an iron pancake intake manifold. I can't tell if you have the stock hood. I would keep the front centerlines and buy a pair for the back that are the right size 15x8 I would avoid the steel Rally wheels since they are as heavy as a motorhome dually. You could look for the aluminum styled wheels that were common on 78 and newer C3's. There are offset trailing arms that let up put wider tires on the back. You might even be able to use the 295 tire with that. I guess you have to make changes to make videos, but if it were me I would only change the rear wheels and the strip and get a new white convertible top. You could consider a plastic rear leaf spring to same a few pounds.

[@noboltsleftbehind]

I'm gonna agree with you on the stripe, luckily it's a decal and pretty freshly stuck on, so I'm planning on attempting to peel it off 👍 I'll give my thoughts on an old school vs LS engine, if you know my channel you'll know I'm very much a modern engine swapper but I do find the debate interesting. There obviously isn't a question whether or not you can get good power out of an old engine. What keeps me from building them is the trouble that always, and I mean ALWAYS, comes with them. Never ending oil leaks, carb adjustments, vapor lock, trouble in hot weather, trouble in cold weather, trouble in thin mountain air, the list goes on. Now of course anyone can have their own anecdotal evidence that says otherwise but I've been around a LOT of small block, big block, Chevy, Dodge, whatever engines in my day (and personally owned and driven a handful) so I have plenty of personal experience on what it means to own and drive one. And unless you're really into the constant tinkering and occasional breakdowns, they suuuuuuck. They just suck man. I'd much rather spend my wrench time building cool cars than trying to figure out for the thousandth time why my carb just won't run right. And I hate, with a fiery passion, breaking down on the side of the road. Every one of my friends with old carbureted engines trailer their cars to the track. Now I'm sure there are some "carb whisperers" out there that devote their life to the sorcery of carb tuning and can get them dialed in relatively ok. But that isn't the vast majority of us, and it certain isn't me. The rest of the pros and cons I don't think are debatable, LS motors are lighter, vastly more reliable, and way cheaper. That said, I'll of course acknowledge the guys who want to keep things original for the history, nostalgia, exhaust sound (no debate, old engines sound better in my opinion). They make great putter-down-to-the-sunday-car-show cars, no question. Or trailer-to-the-track cars too. But my build philosophy is completely opposite of that. I build cars for road tripping, twisty mountain road driving, road course racing, desert drives to Vegas. Whew, ok, rant over. I'll get off my soap box now 🤣

[@tcjmods73]

Sick ! Looking forward to this. Was stoked to hear it’s gunna be an LS swap. Maybe a Chinese or junk yard turbo hehe

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Man I’m stoked to be building an LS, they’re popular for a reason! Such rad engines. And they do love boost from what I’ve seen

[@PowerfulRoman]

Sweet!

[@eekay3646]

'75 or older, no smog! I bought an LS3 Erod just for that. I'm swapping that into my 90 300ZX. The LS3 Erod is only for 95 and older, and it obviously passes smog. Expensive crate engine though....But I also have a '15 Stingray Z51 7-speed, so that's my fun, reliable car.

[@just_another_car_show]

Screw the LS lets get you a big block ;) Super excited for the project and cant wait to see it!

[@noboltsleftbehind]

@@just_another_car_show haha I gotta keep the weight down over the front wheels if I want it to have a chance against that RX-7 of yours on a track 😂

[@auteurfiddler8706]

@@noboltsleftbehind Aluminum heads on the 454 😁

[@noboltsleftbehind]

@@auteurfiddler8706 you want me to spend twice as much on a set of heads than I'm planning on spending the entire LS motor but I like where your head's at 🤣

[@auteurfiddler8706]

@@noboltsleftbehind I once saw a 74 Corvette with "454" on the hood, factory chrome letters, in the parking garage at my college and it imprinted on me. If my L48 didn't run, I would try to convert my 75 to 454 with visual duplication of a 74 454 installation. An aluminum intake on a 454 is out of the question since there is only one terrible one that is low as it needs to be, so I would have aluminum heads and an iron 1974 factory pancake intake. Did you know that after 75 you get a THM350, not a THM400 trans?

[@jamesneedham9825]

I like the wheels and tires and the exhaust.

[@olive9150]

Barry's new toy😁😉

[@85waspnest]

I loved your Mustang vids because I owned a 1968 six cylinder Coupe in the mid 1970s. During my ownership I lusted after a Corvette and a local dealer brought a beautiful black 454 to the house for a test drive, despite me telling him I couldn't afford the £10,000 (UK) asking price. Maybe he thought a test drive would convince me otherwise, which it would have if I'd had the money.....which I didn't. I'll be following the progress on yours with great interest.

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Thanks man! I could tell the Corvette was very different from my Mustang and Challenger right away. Even with old tired suspension it hugs the corners amazing. I think I got lucky to snag this one for what I did, early C3 prices are getting up there.

[@85waspnest]

@@noboltsleftbehind You did well. The C3 is my favourite shape Corvette. I agree with your idea to change the interior to black, the brown looks cheap and nasty.

[@xozindustries7451]

Cool build, I would definitely do an aluminum LS motor, like trailblazer or Envoy, or L33 from a truck. LS3 would be best but the most expensive option. Have you weighed it yet?

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Thanks! Haven’t weight it yet, but it has a full iron block/iron heads 350 now so just about anything is going to be a weight savings. Been shopping donor cars but around here they’ve been hard to get for a few years now. Catfish Camaros have become collectible!

[@numberonebacon]

It's pretty interesting how much Corvette 10 grand buys you in California. Here in NW Indiana you can get a driver's quality C3 or C4, or simple project quality C5. Word to the wise though unless you are prepared to deal with a transaxle, I'd look for an LS powered 4th gen Camaro or Pontiac Firebird as the donor car.

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Down here we have that odd cut-off year for emission inspections that makes ‘75 and older cars more valuable. Later year C3s can be had pretty cheap, especially hard tops.

[@thef71]

That's wild

[@christophermcleary8091]

Yessirrr!

[@noboltsleftbehind]

🤘

[@blackcoffeegarage]

I need those rear wheels LOL you gonna be in NorCal anytime soon?

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Haha no plans to be up there anytime soon unfortunately

[@andrewdoman6294]

Sure looks like a L-82 pretty rare in a convertible

[@mrphiscal]

Enjoy and just do a manual swap. The engine is not the top priority

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Unfortunately the 350 that's in there barely stays running and leaks a good bit of oil. Hard to enjoy when you're vapor locked on the side of the freeway haha. I'll be swapping an LS in there immediately.

[@infamousnova]

👀

[@bigospig]

Hilarious that you admittedly know nothing about carburetors, but you think the carb needs something done to it.😆

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Haha good point. I guess I know just enough to know when something is off 😂

[@MikeComberger]

What a STEAL!