Want to LS Swap Your C3 Corvette?

Need inspiration for your LS swap? The V8 Speed & Resto Shop is documenting a sweet LS3 swap into a vintage 1969 C3 Corvette.

You may know the folks at the V8 Speed & Resto Shop from their V8TV syndicated television show. If not, the V8 Speed & Resto Shop is “a full-service Classic and Muscle Car restoration center” based out of Red Bud, Illinois. They routinely perform “everything from basic maintenance on Classic and Muscle Cars to complete frame-off rotisserie restorations. Cars built in our shop have been featured at the SEMA show in Las Vegas, the Trans Am Nationals, the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals, on various magazine covers, and have won numerous awards all around the country. Vehicle Transport is available to bring customer cars to the shop for work, or we can always find cars to build.”

They also have a growing YouTube channel where they share and document various customer builds.  Which brings us to the featured Monza Red 1969 C3 Corvette Convertible. This car’s owner brought the car to the V8 Speed and Resto Shop to perform an LS3 swap. But unlike so many LS swaps out there, there wasn’t a kit on the market to help do this swap. And there are numerous other challenges like vaccuum-run accessories, analog gauges, and an off-center transmission tunnel with which to content.

If you’re thinking about dropping an LS or LT powered engine into your C3 Corvette, this series maybe helping in outlining the scale of the work if you take a similar approach. Or perhaps it’ll simply serve as inspiration as you research and dream.

Part 1

In Part 1 of this series, the team gives an overview of the project’s goals as well as this 1969 Corvette’s current flaws and issues.

Part 2

In Part 2, the team replaces a few older vacuum-run accessories with newer Detroit Speed versions, and then they begin the process of cutting away the transmission tunnel to make room for the larger six-speed Tremec transmission.

Part 3

In Part 3, the V8TV team fabricates the new transmission tunnel and install the new LS3 powertrain along with the fuel system.

Part 4

In the latest episode, the V8TV team installs new Willwood brakes, new digital gauges, a vintage A/C system, as well as an audio system and new sidepipes. The job is now complete and they reported the customer flew in to pick up his Corvette and drove it 1,000 miles to get home.

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