Hey Fellas,

I have a 1979 Vette that is all original with the exception of a new interior. As far as I can tell, the car is not any special model Vette, just basic 350 under the hood w/auto transmission. It has 44,000 miles on it and still runs fairly well. I know the regular Vettes did not come w/a ton of power back in 1979. And, the 29 year old engine is obviously not going to run the same way it did decades ago. Having said that, it starts and drives okay for the most part, but, the motor is a snail. The car feels like it may have 120 HP. Slow as dust.
Mechanically, the car needs the following:

A long overdue tuneup including fuel filter, spark plugs, wires, etc.
The car has a vaccuum leak far as I can tell since the headlights are slow to come up. It also needs a front suspension rebuild, bought the kit for that. It also has some grinding noise comm from the rear end during turns. Someone mentioned that it could be the side yokes????

My intentions are to keep the car for 5 - 6 years then sell it for a another Vette. I do want the car to be fun to drive and it is not at the moment.
I have two options with this car:
1. I can just do the tune up and hope for big improvements.

2. I can rebuild the engine and increase the hp output in the process.

My questions are:

1. Would the tune up make a big difference in output?

2. What would need to be done to the motor during the rebuilding process to increase the horsepower of the motor? How much would it cost. What can I expect? What type or brand of parts to buy and where is a good place to buy them from? I wouldn't want to pass the 300 HP mark.

I have searched around and I really haven't seen any good advice yet. Any feedback you provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

it all depends on your desired horse power, my girl friend drag car that she is getting has about 550hp but its also 13.5:1 and runs race gas but it was built for about 5000, if touy get some nice heads, a decent cam, nice intake and a 650 or 750 carb you can spend any where from 1,000 to 10,000. thats what is nice about small blocks.

look at http://www.summitracing.com/ , http://www.jegs.com/ and http://www.northernautoparts.com/

How fast do you want to go, and how much money do you have, always comes into the question;
Always step up if you can, i'd go with a 300HP or so at an affordable rate, 2500 bucks will get you there. That will scoot along fairly quick, and you will suprise a few, however if you can afford it, you can go all out .

save up about $500-1000, get yourself a Hollanders Manual that'll tell you what GM parts you can swap out of what to fit your Vette, go down to the local junkyard and pick up one of the the 427s or 454s every junkyard has lying about what came out of some:party: truck;

pick up a parts manual from one of the big mail order houses, buy you a 750 or so carb, slap it on top and drop that rascal in at your local shop;

trade your 350 slug to cover the labour costs and i garontee you'll skedaddle like Madonna through a church in no time!

If the engine only has 44000 miles on it then there is no point in a rebuild unless you are getting noise from the engine. Take it to a shop tell em you want the smog removed, an edelbrock performer rpm air gap manifold with no egr, an edelbrock performer 650 cfm carb, a mild camshaft, and a 2400 rpm stall torque converter. This will definately make what you want out of the car. A big block conversion is probably too much work for what you want out of it. You can easily get these parts for under 1000 bucks and with labor probably under 2000 depending on how bad shops rape people in tampa.

Also depending on how out of tune the engine is, a tune up may make a decent increase.

If you are going to rebuild the engine I would at least clearance and stroke it to a 383. Its definately worth the extra money if you are in there.

Depending on how quickly you want this project turned around you can always go a crate motor. It's inexpensive, you can pick and choose hp range. But, rebuilds are fun...they are also time consuming. I did that on one Vette and did a crate motor in the other one. I had more fun more quickly with the crate motor. :burnout:

Vengence rd.com will give you all you need plus some. Was in Atlanta other day and we looked at a new 08 being totaly modified, twin turbo, rpm trans and rear, 1200 to rear expected, good grief, friend bought a 08 from them while there with 825 miles on car, motor modified, big cam, exhaust, stainless headers and all, 6 speed, lowered one inch, 505 rear wheel HP, before picking up, computer controlled Nitrious, 150 max, off between shifts, progressive back on, 655 rear wheel HP, mercy again, 40000 picked up, 42000, with added mods....

Hey Fellas,

I have a 1979 Vette that is all original with the exception of a new interior. As far as I can tell, the car is not any special model Vette, just basic 350 under the hood w/auto transmission. It has 44,000 miles on it and still runs fairly well. I know the regular Vettes did not come w/a ton of power back in 1979. And, the 29 year old engine is obviously not going to run the same way it did decades ago. Having said that, it starts and drives okay for the most part, but, the motor is a snail. The car feels like it may have 120 HP. Slow as dust.
Mechanically, the car needs the following:

A long overdue tuneup including fuel filter, spark plugs, wires, etc.
The car has a vaccuum leak far as I can tell since the headlights are slow to come up. It also needs a front suspension rebuild, bought the kit for that. It also has some grinding noise comm from the rear end during turns. Someone mentioned that it could be the side yokes????

My intentions are to keep the car for 5 - 6 years then sell it for a another Vette. I do want the car to be fun to drive and it is not at the moment.
I have two options with this car:
1. I can just do the tune up and hope for big improvements.

2. I can rebuild the engine and increase the hp output in the process.

My questions are:

1. Would the tune up make a big difference in output?

2. What would need to be done to the motor during the rebuilding process to increase the horsepower of the motor? How much would it cost. What can I expect? What type or brand of parts to buy and where is a good place to buy them from? I wouldn't want to pass the 300 HP mark.

I have searched around and I really haven't seen any good advice yet. Any feedback you provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
you may find its better to go to a crate motor with desired horsepower with as much as 50,000 miles of warrenty, than to pour about the same money into yours by the time you buy heads ,cams ,pistons ,carb. ,manifold ,etc cause your motor doesnt have any place to start if you want power. i put Patriot Performance stroker 500HP in my 81 and I LOVE IT

Hey Fellas,

I have a 1979 Vette that is all original with the exception of a new interior. As far as I can tell, the car is not any special model Vette, just basic 350 under the hood w/auto transmission. It has 44,000 miles on it and still runs fairly well. I know the regular Vettes did not come w/a ton of power back in 1979. And, the 29 year old engine is obviously not going to run the same way it did decades ago. Having said that, it starts and drives okay for the most part, but, the motor is a snail. The car feels like it may have 120 HP. Slow as dust.
Mechanically, the car needs the following:

A long overdue tuneup including fuel filter, spark plugs, wires, etc.
The car has a vaccuum leak far as I can tell since the headlights are slow to come up. It also needs a front suspension rebuild, bought the kit for that. It also has some grinding noise comm from the rear end during turns. Someone mentioned that it could be the side yokes????

My intentions are to keep the car for 5 - 6 years then sell it for a another Vette. I do want the car to be fun to drive and it is not at the moment.
I have two options with this car:
1. I can just do the tune up and hope for big improvements.

2. I can rebuild the engine and increase the hp output in the process.

My questions are:

1. Would the tune up make a big difference in output?

2. What would need to be done to the motor during the rebuilding process to increase the horsepower of the motor? How much would it cost. What can I expect? What type or brand of parts to buy and where is a good place to buy them from? I wouldn't want to pass the 300 HP mark.

I have searched around and I really haven't seen any good advice yet. Any feedback you provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
i suggest to go online to Jegs.com look at thier crate motors from $3000 you can get about 350 hp and a 36 month warrenty swap out on a weekend

If this motor has 44,000 and runs good all this motor needs is some good heads,intake,carb and new exhaust probably 2.5 inch. That will really wake it up and run perfect on pump gas. Basically new top end kit. Jegs and summit offers bolt on kits of this nature or shop around for used and save big bucks.

What advice I have read in here has been basically good advice given thoughtfully by gearheads with a good idea of what it takes to get the job done!:beerbang: Here's to you all:friday: !! My vote goes for a crate motor like the GM RAMJET 350 PFI Performance Parts Crate Assembly....9.4:1 comp ratio and full roller rockers with a MEFI controller and you get tire smokin torque and good fuel mileage. Pretty well turn key motor---add fuel line and battery (and any accessories like A/C ect) and your good to go for $5200 bucks (plus labor to install if you don't do it yourself....is easy ....and fun).
Then you can keep your original 350 and when you sell it you can use that as an added selling point that you have the original motor INTACT!!:toocrazy:

Good Luck!!