No I'm not crazy.
But I am getting closer to retirement and I'm starting to want to give away my old cars to my kids.

My '68 Corvette convertible was born as a 327 300 hp car, with 3.36 gears and a Muncie 4-speed.
But the original engine was long gone.
The story goes that the motor blew when the car was about 6 years old, and then it was parked beside a barn where it sat for many years.

I bought it and restored it. Not having the original engine, I built a monster 427 race engine for it, throwing every trick and modern technology at it, no cost spared.
And it is as quick as it is dangerous.

I want to give the car to my daughter, but I don't want to give her a death trap. So I'm selling the insane 427 and I want to go back to a small block.

I could build up a generation I 327, but improve performance over original. If I could find a date-correct 327, it would be better.

But what about an LS motor? There is an LS version of a "327", which is run in Silverado's and is very powerful. I had a 5.3 in a late model Silverado and it was very quick for a 5000 pound truck.

What needs to be changed to fit an LS in a C3, if I were to go that route?
Cutting or modifying the frame is NOT an option. If that's what it takes, I won't go there.

I'm not going to pretend I know about the swap because I don't. I just know it's been done multiple times. This is on another site but had great info:

The official C3 LSx swap thread https://www.digitalcorvettes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105822

Thanks.
The temptation is very strong to put a 327 back in it, warmed up with modern technology. AND...it would be closer to correct, plus much simpler to build.

Still thinking.
The main thing is, it has to be reliable since my daughter's getting the car.

I have to agree with your way of thinking.

Many years later... Life has been crazy.

Here's what I've decided on the 68 Corvette.
It's not the car for my daughter. She only drives, and can't work on anything mechanical. Plus, this is too much car for her. I also have a 68 Firebird with a 455 and an automatic TH400 that would be a lot better for her.

My son will get the Corvette. He is a mechanic, and a former body and paint guy. Whenever he wants it, I told him to come and get it. In the meantime, the 427 will stay in it. He wants it as-is.

I was running 100LL aviation fuel in it, because it ran great with that. But due to new laws, you can only buy Av-gas with an aircraft tail number. And race gas is far more expensive.

I need to change the gas tank; it rotted out. I'm waiting for the weather to get reasonable, so I can get it done and pull it back in to the garage. The clear coat failed on it, so I have a lot of sanding to do.

Cheers.

I think you made the best decision on who gets what. I hope they both enjoy their cars for many, many years.

Glad you got the swap done. But definitely a good decision to choose the one who can handle the car better. My daughter wants to drive my Vette but so far she's not ready.

Bearcat- Glad you got logged in!!! Welcome back!

The fix for the gas problem on the 427 is to update the fuel system to use E85. 101 octane and pump available. It isn't super carburetor friendly... EFI? I would also consider a 5spd manual conversion. The OD will help a TON.

A friend FL has a 67 Roadster, it was born with a 327, 4spd and 3.56 gears. Well, at about 440k miles(!), they rebuilt the car with a 502/502 RamJet injected big block and a TKO 5spd with friendlier 3.30-3.40-ish gears. On the highway, it gets 25 MPG!!! For real! And is strong, yet easy to drive.

I haven't seen them since my last Sebring trip, that was 2019, thanks to a bad knee, COVID and unemployment, well, I haven't been back. But they bought that Vette as a very late model used car in about 1969.

They flat out drove the wheels off of it (440k miles!!!! I just had to repeat that number!) and then did a total restoration. That was, gee, 20-25 years ago. The last time I talked to her (2019), they had added another 150k miles to the car. They live near the Space Coast(moved?) and drove to Corvette events and such all over Florida and used it as a daily driver. Utterly reliable and great in traffic.

If anything has failed, well, they still got tons of life from the restoration. If it means anything, if I had the $$ and the opp, I would buy that car, no questions asked. It was DONE RIGHT.

You would have seen it at the Corral when you were there. It is a Marina Blue roadster with side pipes and a big block hood. The hood was needed to clear the RamJet intake! They typically parked it in the Corral in front of the billboard, next to the tent.

The Firebird is a great option for your daughter, if only because it should be tamer... but, I would do some mods...

I like the LS conversion idea. The E-Rod, LS3 package is all but plug and play. Toss in a modern 4L80E and she gets a 100% modern driveline with overdrive and 435 REAL horsepower. It will smoke that 455. As much as I love the old Poncho 455, it won't spin past 5500 RPM and any HP rating from pre-1972 is full of bullshit anyway. Besides, with the OD auto, it will get mid-20s on the highway. I would suggest a nice 3.33 or 3.42 rear gear. Drops the RPM down to about, or below, 2000 at 80mph. That's the trick.

Another option is the 6spd automatic, used in the Camaro, and light trucks... 6L80E or 6L90E. Double OD, but either way, they have locking torque converters. Our 2012 Escalade has one, and on a road trip to/from Denver in Jan 2024, we averaged 20 MPG. In a brick sled that weighs 5700 lbs, that's impressive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_6L_transmission

You have the luxury of getting a motor from a big SUV, the 6.2 and 6spd auto from an Escalade might be a lot cheaper, even if it requires a rebuild. Take the engine/trans and harness and start retrofitting. All options worth exploring.

Oh, if she is into manuals, the TKO 5spd is great.

There are tons of adaptor kits available, too, to fit the driveline in the car. I found this link within 5 minutes, so a little more searching will find what you need.

https://www.brphotrods.com/mm5/merchan ... QBC4Xs3H_N5BoCLccQAvD_BwE

I would also upgrade the braking system and better tires, at least. Hotchkiss has a ton of suspension products for this car:

https://www.hotchkis.net/search-by-veh ... 52&yr=1968&md=595&sm=1611

Personally, I have always liked the Firebird over the Camaro. Much better looking and, originally, much better thought out.

Quote:

How old is she? I drive my bothers 67 L71 when I was 16!!! Now, I was with him and he properly scared the shit outta me first - only car where you can watch the gas gauge DROP!!

And when I did drive it, it was real slow and careful.

Find a quiet neighbourhood and let her go for it.

Manual or auto? I had a lot of manual experience by then and it wasn't a problem. 450 lb-ft of torque makes manuals real easy.

I'm not putting a 17 year old in a 650 HP car no matter how quiet the neighborhood.

if I had a daughter and she drove like me she'd be getting a 2 cylinder old Yugo

You all are missing my point... Let her drive the car under extreme supervision. If you trust her enough to keep the car, then you trust her enough to drive it at a slow speed.

My brother took me out for a morning exercise drive. He would, on a Saturday morning, go into the bowels of his development and run the shit outta the car. Then drive it home. Maybe 30 minutes? Kept the carbs from bogging and the plugs from fouling.

After he scared the hell outta me, he then said, "wanna drive it?" Uh, yea (like I would say no?). I drove that thing like it was made of ice.

I let my teenaged great nephew drive my C6 a few years back. He was VERY respectful.

The only exception? My niece... she drove my 1992 Prelude Si into a tree back in 1994. I must add, she was 20 and she had her future husband with her. I hoped she would show restraint, hell, I expected it. She paid for that, both through a long term guilt trip and via her wallet.