Ok, my question is this, I am brand new to cars.. don't know a thing about them but am trying to get into it a bit.

How much would it cost me if I were to find an old chevy, late 70's say, to completely gut it and put in new everything? Im talking everything new as far as the mechanics work? so the car would basically be brand new on the inside of an old shell? engine, trany, etc....

a 350 with all the works, not talking about modifying engine compartment to fit a 502 or anything, but just keeping the 350 in there, a new 350...

 

Assuming you don't know anything about cars and have to pay to have everything done? About $20,000.

You're better off buying a newer used car.

 

Well, I am asking this because, and I know this is a camaro site, but I want to buy a late 70's model Vette and replace all the old junk it has with brand new parts... I want it faster and better than those 77's came with.. so I figured I would just gut it all and start from scratch... instead of mixing some new stuff with old 30 year old parts. I would want a new, better engine, which would, im sure require the replacement of others.... The thing is I want a 77 Vette, but I don't want the hastle of old crappy Chevy parts going out on me and having to repair it all the time, and I would love a uber fast 350 in there so it would be somewhat unique and not the old 210 hp junker they used to have

 

id say find an old camaro around the years 75-81 i guess, that's not in too bad of shape if you want an old one
like, not too many miles, not many problems if any
that would be your best thing to do
you could learn to mod it first, figure out how everything works, and get it running pretty fast
then, i'd say your next car could be a resto if you wanted
i would think that would work out better so you can learn all these things over time rather than start with a piece of junk and resto it all at once
and with all the parts you'd have to replace if you wanted "brand new" quality in an old one, is just not worth the money imo.
but yea, i think 75-81 are probably the cheapest camaros out there or if you wanted 3rd gen style, all those go pretty cheap

edit: check out this site: classic-camaro.com
it has a bunch of old camaros that you could find
nastyz28.com (go under classifieds) has nothin but 2nd gen camaros for sale

 

vetts cost more to rebuild due to higher prices and if you want a reliable car then put a fuel injected engine in it

 

The cheapest way would be to find something that's already been built, or something that's been restored, in which case you can swap the original motor for one that makes more power.

 

Yup, buy an already restored car or start on something cheaper and easier to learn with.

Late 70's Vettes were dogs, it wouldn't take much to be faster than a stock one.

 

Yea really all you would need is a cam and heads to make a respectable motor out of one though. They had those huge cc chamber heads so they didnt have any compression. Put in a more aggresive cam and bump up the compresion then your running pretty strong.

 

dont let us stand in your way though, if you're dead set on gettin a 77 vette, go for it man
most think it would be easier to start with something in less need of money and labor, but it's your call
if you really want it, go for it
and i agree with darthiroc, i think they do have potential as a stock motor to be pretty damn fast

 

thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it..

If I decide to get rid of my '99 SS and go for an old Vette, I will probably look for something decently restored or just really well kept and supe it up from there... I would have to toss a new engine in it, just for fun though probably...

My goal is to be able to sell my SS and basically purchase an old Vette and upgrade it for the same or less than I am paying on this beast right now... don't know if it can be done, but it would be fun as hell...

 

i go with Erick.. save your money and buy something nice .. ready to drive and enjoy .. "general rule" guys allways sell thier cars for less than what they have in them and never get thier labor back .. in fact right in the year one catalog that sells the parts says u can usually get half your money back and forget your labor ..

 

If you're expecting this "renewed" old car to drive as nice and be as dependable as your 99 SS, give up right now and keep the SS. To achive that type of driveability and modern day electronics, ride and dependability you're going to need to invest some serious coin into the vehicle... especially if you plan on paying someone to do it. I'm talking six figures easy....

Here's an example off ebay... this car cost the owner well over $100k and now he's selling it for a lot less.

Badass 69 Camaro