Hi Ben, I like what you did here. You repaired a customers vette to his specifications, expectations and cost budget. You took a car with a worn out engine that might have been making all of 90 hp and put in a motor putting out 380+ on the dyno, so probably now 330 to 340 at the rear wheels. All for a price your customer could pay. This is a big win. The fun factor increase for this car just went up like a SpaceX Falcon rocket. This corvette is a driver, not a restoration. I have no doubt you had a detailed set of conversations with the customer about what his options were and guided him on making the best choices for him. By delivering a well executed budget end product, I bet you have acquired future work and income from this customer and possibly some of his friends. There is a difference between repairing customer cars and your own cars. Your time has economic value. So does the customers available funding. And another corvette stays on the road. Good job.

What’s crazy is someone out there was super proud that they saved that original fan shroud at one point in time

Not his car, not his money, not his choices. Thanks for showing us the process, appreciate it a lot

For all those saying keep it original, these cars were slow and boring and will never be worth much... but great lines good suspension and can bolt in an awesome engine.

Idk how your channel has never popped up on my KZfaq feed but subscribed, love vettes an Camaros

Alot of people don’t like the paint but i love it

I gonna keep this video in the watch list for this winter when I drop a 327 in my 78. Can't wait to have a good engine in the car!

Great video Ben.....you never fail to be interesting in all your videos as well as very informative. Thanks buddy!!

Thanks for the video. Always like seeing your work.

I really appreciate your calm and thorough narratives. Kudos!

You did great! Proud of you.

One of the best videos I've ever seen. Well edited and explained 100%. Thank you very much

Good video, I like you’r work ,and manner. I’ve seen the same color on an other C3 corvette once before. At that time thinking the color was a custom paint job. Nice to see you taking correct mechanical care of this corvette.

I did basically the same thing to my Brown Met. 76 glad i did she chirps 2nd gear now. Thanks Ben keep it up. Great video!

One of your best videos!

Man I love this guy. Glad I found this channel.

Im an old fart and would have rebuilt the matching engine, but great video!

GREAT video! Im about to start an engine swap on a stock 81 and this helped me tons.

Thanks for the great video

Great "How To Video" Thanks for taking the time to make and share this video. Very well done. I got many chuckles from the arm chair critic's comments. I purchased my one owner 79 L-82 last year for the love of its classy looks and to also remove a Corvette purchase from my "Bucket List". It's a warm sunny day cruiser from May until November. I spend my long Canadian winters doing my priority things on her. Complete renewal of rear suspension, U-joints, spindles and bearings, differential stub shafts and so on last winter. This winter's projects I'm working on are a complete rebuild of the front suspension and steering. A new aluminum rad and electric fans. Replacing the 2-1/4" pipes with 2-1/2" back from the ceramic coated headers and working over my transmission crossmember to let the pipes run straight back until after the crossmember to make room for the 2004r transmission I have on the bench that will be rebuilt strong enough for a future engine up grade of fresh Vortec heads (on the bench) and Edelbrock manifold and maybe a different camshaft. My goal for this is for lower rpm's on the highway, fuel savings and respectable power. It will never be a ground pounding drag car nor a numbers matching Vette but rather a reliable money hungry Classic which will always present herself well. It will be passed on to my son. All original parts will be kept if anyone wants to have a #s matching car. lol.

Well, I'm a purist, enjoyed the video, would've enjoyed more if old motor was sent out for rebuilding, internals, had the heads worked, original carb, and most importantly A/C, cause now it's just a 76 non matching #s Vette, I'm sure anyone over 50 feels like me, at least store the old motor, carb, and pollution stuff, so possibly the next owner has options, I'm not even a Chevy man, but a Vette deserves some respect

Very cool. I have an ‘82 C3 and these cars really turn heads.

I just bought a 76' Stingray, trying to keep it right, LOVE this video

I did same thing in 1987 to my 74 vette but it had a 454 in it and for a second I didn’t think the engine lift was going to hold it .. good video

Great job. Every car has a story. This is just another one to add to the pile.

You work hard, sacrifice a lot of family time to get the job done,do a fantastic job & your tutorials are 2nd to none, no crap music a lot of content, you Sir are a great video presenter & have a lot of patience...this corvette get's to live & i like the car as stock, not bubberised up ...keep it up Ben..if i lived in your area i'd get a corvette so you could work on it & get it back to stock...love the corvettes.

*Ben, finally!!!!! Great job on yet another decent KZfaq video*

LUV your long videos. keep them coming.

A 35 minute Corvette Ben video? Is it Christmas?

I hope the owner goes through the process of rebuilding the motor. That would be a huge selling point to have the original motor - even if the crate motor is in the car.

Love to see a follow up video with everything fine tuned like carb exhaust etc. and see how she does fully opened up rpms!

My '75 has basically the same set-up, runs great and a lot of fun.

Your vids are interesting tbh and it’s educational for me for when I get to buy one of those C3

Sweet looking engine. Exactly the same power ratings (389hp 412tq) I had from my N54 BMW straight 6 after a little tune. That was a quick car and a fun amount of torque and power. So this should be good for a older vette that you just want to have fun in.

Great video. Keep them coming.

Just came across this video. Nice presentation. I've had 8 C3 Corvettes over the years, from mild to holy shit. 74/75/76/77 Corvettes are pretty much the low point for Corvette resale (other than maybe a 1984, but that is what makes them interesting for a project. I have to say though, that first, this car had the L-82 engine, which actually had decent potential. I bought a bone stock 76, L-82, 4 speed car. Changed to headers with a full dual exhaust, including dual CATS. Re-worked the stock Quadra-jet, added a better HEI, a performer manifold and the car went 14.0 @100 on regular Comp T/A tires. The bottom end on the L-82 is a good piece, including 4 bolt mains, and a steel crank. Heads are not bad. Cam is small. Just for the heck of it, I put on an NOS 100 shot and it went 13.0 @110. Fun car....this was back in 1996. I did ultimately replace the engine, as I didn't trust the rod bolts, and it had developed some excessive crank end play. Put in a Pro-flow injected, aluminum head, roller cam 350 with a Richmond 6 speed. A lot more of everything, but big $$$

I hate when people do these projects in different videos and you sometimes end up getting them out of order. You tied the whole project into one video just continueing it on separate days. Made it easy to watch and follow the project. Well done and yes I actually always liked that color on a vet.

Looks good I swapped in a blueprint 396 stroker in my c3, sounds great and goes like hell :)

Super satisfying video to watch. If I were the owner of that car I would have done two things differently, I would have kept the old engine and I would have upgraded to headers and duel exhaust.

Oil usage is common on older cars that are not driven much, and the oil is not changed often enough. The oil control rings get stuck in the ring grove because of the waxes in the oil. The thicker the oil, the more wax is in it. Also short trips wreak havoc on engines, plus it could have overheated, taking the temper out of the rings. I can't stand finding hacked up aftermarket wiring for alarms and other accessories. That is always the first thing I remove, as it always causes other problems. Plus I hate scotch locks and crimp connectors... I solder and shrink wrap everything. With the alternator, the voltage did look low, but remember voltage will increase as amperage output decreases. The other carburetors you have, just need a good rebuild. There always rebuildable, unless the casting is cracked or broken. Great video... Thank You.

Great result Ben

Great video, I love vettes. Makes me laugh when you read the negative comments on how this should of been done or this is what I would of done or why would anyone ever do that..This was done between him and the owner, it was the owners final decision. If you would of done if different that's great then do it but what matters is it came out nice and the owner is happy. Again good job👍

Great project brother, wish you the best.

Beautiful car

I've looks around a few places on youtube to even get familiar with such an awesome car. My grandpa happened to be put into an early grave, damn cancer. but he has a 77 stingray we were beginning to work on I want to help keep it running good and in shape for my grandma since she's got enough on her mind. Just learning as much as I can. This smoke is a pretty similar problem in his.

Good work sir.

Hey bud, just subbed, been watching the Caddy vids, got a soft spot in my heart for 49-69 Cads. (I had a 69 SDV and my bud had a 49&52 waaay back-he has a 53Coupe now, I have a 67 Galaxie500 2dr) Anyway, I do enjoy your show, and this Corvette build is no exception. Alright, I wasn't gonna do this, but, he shoulda built the L-82, those are 4 bolt main and steel crank motors! I know, customer's car, customer's decision, just my $.02 Thanks fer takin' us along....more Cadillac! Keep up the great work, also enjoyed the resurrection of the old Merc...

It's funny to see you have the same engine hoist, Jack, Jack stands. Lol Harbor freight has some decent quality tools. I bought a Dannmar lift 2 post fits in my 10' ceilings. Can't lift all the way up but man it saves you a lot of bending and crawling around on a cold dirty garage floor. Great job. Peace

Great job

Excellent video!

Super cool video

Cool to see someone show what really happened when you put in a new motor

Great video.

I really liked the video! Great job!!

I had a ride in one of these when it was only a few years old, and it was already a disappointment, with valve tick and rattles. I love them regardless, and proper h.p. would be so exciting.

Thanks for this vid. I would not have dropped in a Blueprint engine and bolted it up to the original exhaust, which is probably robbing power from it. Should have gotten some headers, and a dual 2.5" to 3" y pipe, and a 3" cat, and a decent muffler. The exhaust manifolds should have put in a corner of the garage. I like how you showed what was involved in replacing an engine. Might want to look at getting a shiftworks kit and dropping in a built 200r4 now. getting ready to do the same to my 86 firebird Lg4. This gives me a better idea what will be involved now. Got all the valvetrain in my closet.

That your wife cares enough to know about your tools is awesome.

The gas gauge.....we can fix that later.. haha! Great video, nice work!

Great video

The Corvette c3 - pure art on four wheels!

Good job 👏 👍

I put a crate motor in my 75 Stingray, and tossed the numbers matching original. Reason being? I'm gonna croak in probably another 20 years, so I could give a crap about numbers matching. It's a way better car with the crate motor.

dang good lookin car!

Got a tonne out of this vid...ready to start on my 73 coupe 350 4spd. I have had it for 30 plus years..ready for a new heart..🙏🙏🙏

Nice video keep up the good work

Honestly this video made me chub. I love these classic vettes.

I enjoyed watching your video, and learned a lot! I would pay you to put new 5.0 in my Mustang if I could afford it lol!

great video.

Very nice video. Although back in the day, we would have added a couple cans of STP and called 'er good!

Great job!. Not sure if you know, but you can put the rear of the car up on ramps and the nose will be itched down. The you can lift the engine and transmission as an assembly from the front of the car. it also makes it so easy to put everything back in. I have done so many C3 engine swaps. tell your customer to get the original L-82 rebuilt. Keep the original 9:1 heads with 2.02 intake valves, just rebuild them as original and that motor is worth money to someone in need of one.

I just did this to mine. I removed both ft tires, had on Jack stands and put the hoist on the pass side. Not to bad.

That is a beautiful car, surely worth the new engine....Too bad the original one couldn't be rebuilt and beefed up a bit, but I know that would be a major undertaking....And I'm sure this new one will run rings around the old engine even in its best condition...Wonder if John will keep the numbers matching engine, just in case someone down the road wants to return the car to stock form....

Yup I’m with some of these other guys, nice LS 3 would be sweet

That shroud could be a work of art if you mount it on a block of wood & stick it in one of those artsy fartsy galleries..lol

Man, I love the sound of a small block Chevrolet.

Ready for a refresh. Valve seals too.

Nice car. I had a similar issue with my '72. If you revved to 3,000 or beyond it would smoke like that. Eventually the motor came apart.

You can double the horsepower on SBC with a Thumpr high energy cam flat top pistons and vortec heads and the air gap dual plane edelbrock manifiold,headers and magnaflow mufflers!

you forgot headers!! thanks for making this video..

I installed a 350 HO crate engine when my original blew on the freeway (1976 Camaro).

if you want to learn this was great ! i had same vette same paint and tools , the problems and solutions were real . like real life situations are tks

First time I've seen someone break in a roller cam.

Wow, that Vette shook the ground loose at the 3:35 mark. Break neck acceleration at it's finest. Smoking like a BBQ.

…………...yeah Ben, when you initially started up John's 'vette it DID smoke blue right away ...........so the rings look like they might be done. I missed if you mentioned how many miles it had on it but it appears to have had a good life though. Oh, when you put it in drive and drove it a bit it really let out some blue smoke. Time to buy some oil by the case. :)

in 1976 the corvette had no power 180hp i believe, so i am glad you changed out the motor to one with more power.

In '85 I bought a 72 Chev C10 Step side pick up. Member of the family for nearly 30 years. Sure, one plug would foul (#3) but never smoked like the C3. Was told get to that point, Rebuild.

Really a how to guide when buying and older car. The other is to reverse in a tight circle to check rear end.

you should have done that same test under load again to show no smoke with new engine great vid

That's a very good thing put all new engines in old 1960s cars

Good video. with 250 criticisms​.

Having owned a 79 with a 60s LT1 engine lightly massaged to around 400 HP I can say this. They are fantastic looking cars IMO and the stock performance IN ALL WAYS do not do the shape any justice. If any car deserves a resto mod it is these cars. These are like the perfect car for an E-rod and THEN whatever is possible within a reasonable amount of spending to make it turn and stop to handle what a current SBC of around 400-460 H.P makes. My 79 with an old-school 350-400 hp small block and most everything else stock besides some bushings and replacement parts was scary in all other ways besides running it from 0 to whatever the MPH was at the end a 1/4 mile run. My car ran with stock Toyota Supra's , Grand Nationals and My friends Anniversary Turbo Trans Am with the GN-X set up. A little bit of modernization on these cars that are really 60s tech/chassis/platform and an engine with around 400 HP makes a cool retro car with timeless IMO styling that wont try and kill you if you use it more like you would a modern car. Any more HP then 400 you would need a lot of $ to make it stop and handle to be reasonable beyond going straight and fast. They can be had relatively cheap and therefore are a good car to make a street 'hot rod". If you don't like the shape of the C-3 I don't know what to tell you (the 80s cars might be for a certain taste but are lighter then the 70s cars and not without charm but these or my 79 with the more practical bubble back are some of the only 60s "muscle cars" built throughout the 70s and not overpriced and don't have rusted body panels for obvious reasons. I don't think an E-rod type of engine makes you lose much if any of the feel of a sixties car and you can just put a carb crate motor with bigger secondary's for a more stock feeling. With the release of the C8 and previous corvettes I think a 400 or so HP set up is fine for that nostalgia feeling because going much higher to compete with modern performance its just easier cheaper and safer to buy a used c-5 c-6 or even C-7 and throw some boost at it if it isn't a boosted model.

Haven't watched to whole video yet, but just seeing the beginning I can relate. I just got a 69 vette last summer...uses 1 qt every 300 miles(now it's about 1 qt every 500 since cleaning up the carb), but mine actually has NO SMOKE coming from the back like yours does! Weird...and it's a mystery to many who have looked at it. Had someone follow me and say it does smoke a pinch a downshifts, but not as much shifting up. The car did sit for 10 years(2002-2012), then the next owner had it 5 years and only did 1,500 miles. I've done 4,500 in the year plus I've had it and it has shown signs of improvement, but it's a mystery and wondering if a re-build is in the future...but I'd like to understand more about why, before even thinking seriously about doing the re-build. For now, I'm just driving and observing. Yes, some of the plugs do get some oil around the base(mostly plug #3,4,5). I just hate not knowing the exact reason!!!

i would go through the old motor myself and use it in a project car!

I can't believe you didn't see that PUFF of blue smoke when you started it....nice looker though....I had the same vette.I test drove it after I bought it and realized I was toooo tall and my head kept hitting the T-tops,so I sold it,for 1K more then I bought it for...lol You could rent that Vette to the NAVY as a fogger...LOL

nicely done, I would have changed the front seal in trans being I had the engine out but that's just me.

It's cool that it still has the Monza steering wheel 1976 only.

lol! I would've assumed the owners no.1 complaint would be lack of power with those sorry excuses for a boat anchor they called a power plant in those poor things back then. after the early 70s, ugh,gutless wonders needing major power,glad you're giving it some life at speed. lol! bubba ingenuity. thanks. ☆☆☆

a way to test for engine ring blow by ,is to hold your hand over the oil fill hole on the valve cover .if you feel a pulsing of hot air ,you have massive piston ring blow by

High Five! Harbor Freight - LED! I might have about 20. :)

I wanted to see it go!!!!!