Just got my first Corvette - a 71 LT1. After having the pleasure of owning over 50 German / Japanese / Aussie sports cars, this LT1 by far has been the most exciting & visceral to drive. Beyond addictive to drive. These cars are extremely underrated.
To make a long story short my buddy had a 69 vet with a luggage rack on the back with the side pipes. We pulled up at Marie’s Pizza and Chicago to pick up a pizza and a van back over the hood party’s over love your channel keep up the great work👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I Believe The "Bridgehampton Blue" Color Was Named After The Now Defunct Race Track Called Bridgehampton Where SCCA Trans-Am Series Raced in '69-'71 Seasons...
Awesome Video, Kevin ! It certainly brings back a lot of great memories for me. I would like to clarify some of the comments about the, "Air Injection Reactor" smog pump. Certain engines not necessarily built to California emission specs did in fact come with the infamous smog pump prior to 1975. The 1970-1972 LT-1 is a prime example. I live in Ontario, Canada and I bought a bone-stock 1971 LT-1 coupe in Ontario Orange in 1973 and it did indeed come with the factory smog pump, probably because the 780 Holley carb created excessive exhaust emissions that were considerably higher than the standard L-48 350, rated at 270HP with the Rochester Quadra-Jet carb, but the L-48 did not come with a smog pump, as a friend of mine had a 1971 L-48 that was bone-stock . My LT-1 was sold new by Maurice Carter Chevrolet-Oldsmobile in Hamilton, Ontario and I had purchased it from the original owner. From what I recall from visiting the Chevy dealers back in those days, starting in 1973 all new Chevys with V-8s came with the power robbing smog pumps. Something else worth mentioning about the smog pumps was that in order for them to work, the carburetors were considerably enriched from the factory, in order to have a certain amount of unburnt air/fuel mixture leave the combustion chambers, which made the engine burn even more gas, shorten spark plug life and produce less power in order to, "lower emissions". The design intent was that the pulses of pressurized air injected into the exhaust manifolds by the smog pump at each exhaust port would react with the still hot, unburnt air/fuel mixture in the exhaust to totally complete the combustion process, resulting in lower emissions. They were definitely a stop-gap measure.
The 1970s were a nightmare for car owners who had to deal with gasoline shortages and rapid increases in prices for cars and other items such as insurance and repairs. The emissions controls combined with increased weight due to 5 mph bumpers hurt both performance and fuel economy. In those days only Mercedes-Benz and a handful of other cars had fuel injection and the carburetors which most cars used became more and more complex and troublesome which continued until the late 1980s when electronic fuel injection became standard replacing carburetors forever.
The 70-72 Vettes are the pinnacle of the Stingray design, the sharp edges, thin fiberglass, front and rear chrome, just spectacular, world class. Thank you Zora Arkus-Duntov. As for quoting original Hp numbers, who cares, there are few to none of these Vettes in circulation with the original 50 year old motor not rebuilt in some form or another!...most pushing close to 400Hp!...Cam, Higher Compression Pistons, Intake, Exhaust, Carb...Coil...there's your 400Hp!
+John Friend , Not quiet correct. 71 was the year when horsepower for the Corvette was published in gross and net. 330 is gross and 275 was net. In 72, the net horsepower dwindled to 255.
+John Friend...That's not true...as GM in particular, re-printed later '71 literature indicating net horsepower ratings. To say horsepower ratings hadn't actually dipped until '72 is just arguing semantics. Actually, there's no real differences between '71 & '72 powertrains other than part no.'s.
It was not named after the town of Bridgehampton, it was named after the race track that was in the town of Bridgehampton. A lot of history there. It closed in the 1980s. It’s currently a golf course.
I had a 73 350CI, it had more than enough power, i put in a duel point distributor , and Hooker headers, the Car handled like it was on rails and still was very quick, my buddy had the Vette 454 CI, what a brute to steer, but FAST
There was no detuning for new emissions reasons, 71 was just the year that GM chose to make all cars capable of running on the new unleaded lower octane fuels making their way into the market and aside from a compression drop from 11 to 1 down to 9 to 1 and the resulting 40hp loss, the LT-1 was unchanged.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Back in the day, my '70 LT was Marlboro Maroon w/dark saddle interior & pwr seering, c/r Muncie. With 3.73 gears (or was it 3.70?), it still got 19 mpg on the hwy trip to Indy. FYI, "Bridgehampton" Blue didn't refer to the city per se, but to the RACETRACK located in that city, as did most of the Corvette colors' names (Lyndale, Marlboro, Sebring, Mossport, etc., etc). Sadly, many of those tracks are now long gone...
WOW. Don't get me wrong, got nothing against Bridgehamton Blue, but a '70 LT1 in Marlboro Maroon over dark saddle looks like a million bucks, IMHO. Bet that Muncie rock crusher was a lot of fun to row on the HWY to Indy too! 🏁✌😎 Is it May yet? Can't wait for the INDY 500 🏁✌😎 Gotta run and Google some pics of Marlboro Maroon LT1's, bonus if the Rally wheels have F70-15 Firestone Wide Oval tires 👍 Redline, Whitewall or Raised White Letters RWL makes no difference to me...all old school cool, being a vintage 1969 model myself!
@@paulandrewforget1694 Muncie in my '70 LT was a close ratio, but not, I'm pretty sure, a "rock crusher". I think those were reserved for LS-6/RPO/off-road type applications. Marlboro Maroon was only used in one previous year, 1967. It had the ability, under certain lighting situations (I do specifically remember streetlights), of almost taking on iridescent aspects. The OE tires are Goodyear Speedway GT's, raised white letter. When '73 Vette w/aluminum whls & Firestone 500 Wide Oval radials appeared, I tried an OE set. What a disaster those tires were! The belts were alive! The car could almost not be kept in the traffic lane. They IMMEDIATELY were taken off, and my original whls & tires put back on. You may not remember the Firestone 500 radial debacle, but it almost ruined Firestone. With 11.0 to 1 compression, the LT didn't like the crap-quality pump gas of the mid '70's & '80's, so I'd fill up at the airport with 100/130 avgas. It satisfied the octane requirement, but the mileage dropped (different specific gravity ?). Car still today as it was, with less than 11K miles, never been driven since day one in rain or snow or unimproved roads. Is all original, except for removal of smog pump & assoc. eqpmt. (stored, not discarded). The 2" OE exh manifolds were replaced (again, stored) with 2-1/2" '63-'67 hi-perf/FI manifolds. This actually makes a performance difference (mild).
Joseph Stabile Thanks for sharing! I remember Firestone's exploding on Ford Explorers. It was a PR disaster for Firestone/Bridgestone and FordMoCo. At 52, I like to cruise to DQ or take the wife to the Orange Julep on Decarie Blvd in Montreal for the classic cars & hot rods on a hot summer Friday night. I don't drag race or do burn outs, I like my Firestone's. Diane's Jeep came with Michelin Latitudes from the dealership, switched to a set of Firestone Destination tires, handling, braking, wet weather traction improved...don't know if you ever experienced hydro planing, but those Michelin's were terrible. Goodyear's are great. The last set of BF Goodrich Radial T/A's on my '79 L48 225/70-15 drove me nuts, the RWL's kept turning brown....so CanadaWheel.ca suggested a set of Cooper Cobra's...so far, so good! Got to be careful these days with cheap Westlake Chinese tires flooding the market...don't think Goodyear or Firestone make anything in 225/70-15 or 255/60-15 if I trimmed the front fender wheel wells for clearance...Period correct reproduction tires are too expensive for my wallet from Zip!, Mid America or Eckler's, unnecessary since my malaise era Corvette Dark Blue '79 isn't going to win NCRS, barely having enough power to get out of it's own way! 😂😜🙃 PS: avgas? That's awesome! I work for kleen-flo VP Racing Canada...octane boost! I don't leave home without it.
@@paulandrewforget1694 As my '70 LT was a "Sunday" driver, I never felt the strong desire to switch from OE. To be sure, bias ply F70 tires were a limiting factor on car's capabilities, but, to give them their due, they were/are very predictable (ergo, safe), and they were rated for 120 mph continuous. This alone made them unique for the era as ratings of that sort were only available in racing tires. This speed rated tire for Corvette was a Zora Duntov required specification. Just turned 71, I've lived the late '60's muscle car era, and experienced the sea change in tire technology. Polyglas (belted) tires were transformative to street/road traction, but were heavy with a harsher ride. The true "conversion" (a little, road to Damascus analogy) were the BFG Radial TA's which, with their fabric belts, provided quantum, revolutionary advancement in traction, handling, ride, all season performance. From '72 forward, they've been, in all their iterations, my "go to" tires for my muscle cars: '67 Vette, '68/'69 Firebird TA, '70 GTO RA, '74 F'bird TA. 70 LT, being a "Sunday" car, remained essentially "stock". Now, the value is highest for originality, and urban driving conditions have changed drastically from 50 yrs ago, but I do think the LT would look & perform beautifully with a set of '82 Anniversary model Vette wheels with current Radial TA's. Btw, in my experience, Radial TA's easily surpass Goodyear Eagles for performance.
Power Teams in 70 M20 wide rstio 4-spd 3.55 std, 3.36 or 3.70 opt -or- M21 close ratio 4-spd 3.70 std, 3.55 or 4.11 opt M22 Rockcrusher would have been ZR1 only with available ratios of 3.08, 3.36, 3.55, 3.70, 4.11 or 4.56.
And they could be very easily modified. I'm a Mopar guy but I always thought that Chevrolet built the best high performance small block engines. The L79 327-350 horsepower, 302-290 horsepower(waaaaay underrated), and 1970 LT1 350-360 horsepower engines are my personal favorites. A bone stock 1970 LT1 actually made 425 horsepower at 6000 rpm on an engine dyno
How inexpensive muscle was Lt1 package 500 bucks hell a good Holly double pumper can exceed that today but who knew ? When I think about all that 💪 muscle to be had back then I dream having a time machine and got going back to let's say 1968 and take a bunch of cash along buying and bringing back some of those dream cars to the present . But we are forced to buy what is available today. The shocker is you better take along 40 or 50 gees to get one tire Shredder . Great vids keep them coming.
What always surprised me about the C3 was just how small it was inside. You think American Iron and you think huge big block boats like an Olds 442, Charger or a Riviera. The C3 feels like it was designed for short, small people like me. 5'3", 145lbs, the C3 fits like a glove. Anything over 5'8" and it's cramped. My friend is 6'6" and can't even drive my '80 Vette, he can barely fold himself into it.
That's a California edition Corvette, They didn't put smog pumps or any other emissions equipment on corvettes till 1975 in the rest of the United States.
Cristo - I can't seem to reply to you directly, but no, the LT1 wasn't born with anything aluminum except the intake. It was basically an L76 in a 4bolt, 350 block. The LT1 cam was still mechanical but revised over the 30-30 for drive ability. Same 2.02 heads.
I like to say Corvettes were sports cars up to 1962. Then in 1963, it became a muscle car. Somewhere around the 90s it turned back into a sports car again. 🤷
They actually weren't de-tuned but tuned up. An LT-1 corvette was actually faster than a big block because of the weight transfer. Big block vettes immediately overcame the tires, those wonderful bias plies. But what what do I know, I was there......
john thonig - I had the original 900 kawa 2 stroke. The reason you don't see any for sale is everyone who had them died. One of my fondest memories though was a friend of mine whose dad was a firefighter in Denver. His dad died on duty and my friend inherited a 68 427 3 deuce vette. Yikes did we have fun in high school. That thing would break rear shock mounts it had so much torque. Carry on soldier!.......
@@heavenstomurgatroyd7033 An original Kawasaki KZ900 was a 4 cylinder, 4 stroke. The 750 triple 2-strokes were the largest displacement of that type. And dying on one the first time was the worst.
Whoa ! Least U Were in Car While Rolling ,Instead of Watching it ROLL !! UR The Expert But Wasn't the 70.5 Camaro Z- 28,Have 2 H.P. Ratings,One @330 & 1 @ 360 ?? CCOA Must Have Been Screaming, If the Z-28 Have a 360 H.P. Version ??!!They Always Insisted to GM,That There Vettes.Were KING OF CHEVY ON H.P. I MAY BE WRONG.As Always We Love UR Videos & Knowledge of the MUSCLE CAR MARKET!!!
Several pieces of misinformation in this video... many discussed already. Compression ratio was lowered in 71 in order to be able to use unleaded gas. Horsepower ratings were changed from Gross to Net in 72. I ordered my 70 LT-1 in December 1970, it was built Feb 6, it was sitting at the dealer at least a week before Feb 28 which is when the dealer could actually sell it to me. It was a Marlboro Maroon convertible, black top, Light Saddle Custom Interior. I happen to still have the build sheet for that 70 LT-1. Someone below said Dark Saddle... nope... not available till 71. I was selling Chevrolets 71-74. In 73 you could get light OR dark Saddle, and I ordered a Mille Miglia Red with Dark Saddle Custom Interior Coupe. Same person said theirs had Power Steering... nope, that wasn't available on LT-1s till 71. Many years later I had an Ontario Orange 72 LT-1 coupe with factory a/c. So, I had one of the first and one of the last LT-1s. In 70, shortly after buying mine, in Illinois, I drove it to Florida for Easter. Florida already had unleaded gas. That LT-1 did not like that gas. I even took it to a Chevrolet dealer service department in Daytona Beach and they couldn't figure out why it was running so poorly. Oh, and the specs tag in the engine compartment showed timing specs different than the service manuals. So who knows? I know I'd rather have a 71 or 72, just to avoid that high compression problem. I was recently at a gas station in Scottsdale that sells SUNOCO gas for those engines. $9.799 per gallon. As for the 3 speed transmission... NOPE. In 70, 4 speed, posi and 300HP were finally standard. As for horsepower and torque ratings for Chevy small blocks, Google Motor Trend September 2009... you might just be surprised.
Must be a Ca car since it has a smog pump for 1971. All other states did not have them till 75... Who installed the mufflers on that 71? Take it back and have them do the mufflers correctly..
All Corvettes beginning in 68 had smog pumps. For 70-up with some engines, they were able to get by without one. But all high performance engines, ie: LT1, LS6, L82, etc had smog pumps.
'Detuned a little bit?'...a slightly lower compression ratio?' From 11.0:1 (on the LT-1) to 9.0:1......that's a BUNCH! Wrong about your trans. info. here as well. 1969 was the final year for a 3-speed trans.,....NOT 1970.
Really messed up on the installation of those mufflers! They should NOT be visible!...much less installed in that ridiculous manner! Another bit of incorrectness is that 1969 was the final year for 3-speed Stingray's...NOT 1970.
Does anyone know how the white lettering on the tires work? I've watched 3 different '71 vette videos in a row and all three have different white lettering on the tires. I'm restoring a '71 and would love to know which is the correct lettering on the tire.
Doesn't look it and they are not lined up right, that was the best part of the factory setup as well as the unique Corvette sound. I swear back in the day you could hear a Corvette coming not by it's loud exhaust, it just had a certain sound to it.
There seems to be a lot of redundancy lately with cars primarily Mopars, where are the Supercharged Avanti's, the Amx, the 409 impalas , and I can name many more that are never mentioned. I'm tired of seeing Cudas and corvettes and Camaros.
@Sherry Setliff Only a slightly lower compression ratio, 425 horsepower and 475 pound feet of torque was pretty damn close. I doubt you and I being your average everyday driver couldn't tell a difference.
No 71' was Gross horsepower 72' was net horsepower that 350/330hp would have been pushing 400hp if it was gross HP and not with a 350. In 72 the 350cu. In was rated at 255 net horsepower which was the final year of the Lt1 engine the standard 350 was rated at 200hp net.
+Christo Kinieriem no. the LT1 had iron closed chambered heads 202 intake valves screw in studs and guide plates and iron 4 bolt main block forged crank and pink forged rods.
For the LT1 Corvette & Z28 there were minor differences. One example was while, the Intakes were the same, the exhaust manifolds were different. Another difference was the engine codes. In 1970 the engine code for the Corvette LT1 was CTV & CTK, while the engine code for the Z28 was CTB. The exhaust manifolds for the Corvette were the 2” ram-horn while the Z had exhaust manifolds dumped at the rear of the engine. Another difference was the Z had a 4 quart oil pan while the Vette had a 5 quart.
When you talk about the change from gross to net, why not then give the conversion. Perhaps it can only be estimated. But if 330 is net, gross would be around what?
Yes, the Corvette LT-1 is the same engine as in the Z/28. Maybe the carburetor is different and you could also get the Z/28 with automatic transmission unlike Corvette but the engine is the same. Also in the first year it was rated at 10 hp less guessing due to the different exhaust manifolds, the 70 version was rated at 360 hp vs 370 hp in the Corvette, the remaining two years I believe were the same.
Just got my first Corvette - a 71 LT1. After having the pleasure of owning over 50 German / Japanese / Aussie sports cars, this LT1 by far has been the most exciting & visceral to drive. Beyond addictive to drive. These cars are extremely underrated.
The curves on the C3 Vette are still gorgeous by today's standards. That Bridgehampton Blue is stunning. What a fantastic car all around.
Very very true statement 🇺🇸👍
I had a 1971 LT1 Warbonnet yellow Corvette convertible with a white ragtop. Very impressive small block. Of course I wish I still had it.
One of the most beautiful and iconic car ever made!
That gen corvette has to be the one of the most beautiful cars of all time …the curves and the sleekness 👌
I was sitting here watching this at like 2 am really seriously trying to absorb info and when he rolled off at the end I lost it 😂
The most beautiful Vette ever ❤️🇺🇸❤️🇺🇸❤️🇺🇸
Had one. Ran like a bat out of hell.
I watch this every few weeks I have a 1972 ontario orange lt1
Beautiful car.
Kevin is a perfect person to narrate. Funny and knowledgeable!!!👍
To make a long story short my buddy had a 69 vet with a luggage rack on the back with the side pipes. We pulled up at Marie’s Pizza and Chicago to pick up a pizza and a van back over the hood party’s over love your channel keep up the great work👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I Believe The "Bridgehampton Blue" Color Was Named After The Now Defunct Race Track Called Bridgehampton Where SCCA Trans-Am Series Raced in '69-'71 Seasons...
Yeah I was surprized they got that detailed wrong
Almost all Corvette paint colors in the 60's/early 70's were named after racetracks.
Removable back window too..... BEAUTIFUL and CLASSY car!!
Awesome Video, Kevin ! It certainly brings back a lot of great memories for me. I would like to clarify some of the comments about the, "Air Injection Reactor" smog pump. Certain engines not necessarily built to California emission specs did in fact come with the infamous smog pump prior to 1975. The 1970-1972 LT-1 is a prime example. I live in Ontario, Canada and I bought a bone-stock 1971 LT-1 coupe in Ontario Orange in 1973 and it did indeed come with the factory smog pump, probably because the 780 Holley carb created excessive exhaust emissions that were considerably higher than the standard L-48 350, rated at 270HP with the Rochester Quadra-Jet carb, but the L-48 did not come with a smog pump, as a friend of mine had a 1971 L-48 that was bone-stock . My LT-1 was sold new by Maurice Carter Chevrolet-Oldsmobile in Hamilton, Ontario and I had purchased it from the original owner. From what I recall from visiting the Chevy dealers back in those days, starting in 1973 all new Chevys with V-8s came with the power robbing smog pumps. Something else worth mentioning about the smog pumps was that in order for them to work, the carburetors were considerably enriched from the factory, in order to have a certain amount of unburnt air/fuel mixture leave the combustion chambers, which made the engine burn even more gas, shorten spark plug life and produce less power in order to, "lower emissions". The design intent was that the pulses of pressurized air injected into the exhaust manifolds by the smog pump at each exhaust port would react with the still hot, unburnt air/fuel mixture in the exhaust to totally complete the combustion process, resulting in lower emissions. They were definitely a stop-gap measure.
The 1970s were a nightmare for car owners who had to deal with gasoline shortages and rapid increases in prices for cars and other items such as insurance and repairs. The emissions controls combined with increased weight due to 5 mph bumpers hurt both performance and fuel economy. In those days only Mercedes-Benz and a handful of other cars had fuel injection and the carburetors which most cars used became more and more complex and troublesome which continued until the late 1980s when electronic fuel injection became standard replacing carburetors forever.
That is such a gorgeous car. I love the color. I have never had the opportunity to drive a C3 Vette. It looks like a lot of fun.
The 70-72 Vettes are the pinnacle of the Stingray design, the sharp edges, thin fiberglass, front and rear chrome, just spectacular, world class. Thank you Zora Arkus-Duntov.
As for quoting original Hp numbers, who cares, there are few to none of these Vettes in circulation with the original 50 year old motor not rebuilt in some form or another!...most pushing close to 400Hp!...Cam, Higher Compression Pistons, Intake, Exhaust, Carb...Coil...there's your 400Hp!
Very good taste and good with words..you are absolutely right.
I agree! '70 - '72 were the best years for Corvette.
Just discovered your videos. They’re great. Nice mix of enthusiasm - without being goofy - and learning. I’ve subscribed. Can’t wait to watch more.
That ended perfectly!! Kevin, do more ot these "natural" videos....
The Corvette c3 is a masterpiece of art on four wheels!
My dad has one and we need to repaint it but it’s REALLY fast and the same color with wider tires and lowered
I totally agree with you 👍🇺🇸
Great video! I love my 71 corvette.
Another nice ride, like the blue. Funny guy! ;-)
Look at that beautiful piece of artwork especially at 1:42.
I had a72 egg crate grill I own a15 the 70-72 are still the best looking Corvette years and l love my 15
Very true statement 🇺🇸👍
The change from gross to net HP ratings was 1972, the only change for 1971 was compression ratio.
+John Friend , Not quiet correct. 71 was the year when horsepower for the Corvette was published in gross and net. 330 is gross and 275 was net. In 72, the net horsepower dwindled to 255.
+Martin Bernoulli 72 was also the last year for the aluminum manifold. The 73 was cast iron with EGR.
+John Friend...That's not true...as GM in particular, re-printed later '71 literature indicating net horsepower ratings. To say horsepower ratings hadn't actually dipped until '72 is just arguing semantics. Actually, there's no real differences between '71 & '72 powertrains other than part no.'s.
Yeah, in '71 GM cross rated engines in both gross and net, the lt1 was rated at 330 hp gross and 275 hp net.
72 was also the last year for the factory 4.56 axle ratio (ZR1 only), only 4.11 left as the lowest after that.
It was not named after the town of Bridgehampton, it was named after the race track that was in the town of Bridgehampton. A lot of history there. It closed in the 1980s. It’s currently a golf course.
I had a 73 350CI, it had more than enough power, i put in a duel point distributor , and Hooker headers, the Car handled like it was on rails and still was very quick, my buddy had the Vette 454 CI, what a brute to steer, but FAST
Sexiest Corvette generation ever built 👍🏻
Very nice car,and great to see a review of it.I have a 71 conv in Nevada silver.
There was no detuning for new emissions reasons, 71 was just the year that GM chose to make all cars capable of running on the new unleaded lower octane fuels making their way into the market and aside from a compression drop from 11 to 1 down to 9 to 1 and the resulting 40hp loss, the LT-1 was unchanged.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Back in the day, my '70 LT was Marlboro Maroon w/dark saddle interior & pwr seering, c/r Muncie. With 3.73 gears (or was it 3.70?), it still got 19 mpg on the hwy trip to Indy.
FYI, "Bridgehampton" Blue didn't refer to the city per se, but to the RACETRACK located in that city, as did most of the Corvette colors' names (Lyndale, Marlboro, Sebring, Mossport, etc., etc). Sadly, many of those tracks are now long gone...
WOW. Don't get me wrong, got nothing against Bridgehamton Blue, but a '70 LT1 in Marlboro Maroon over dark saddle looks like a million bucks, IMHO. Bet that Muncie rock crusher was a lot of fun to row on the HWY to Indy too! 🏁✌😎 Is it May yet? Can't wait for the INDY 500 🏁✌😎 Gotta run and Google some pics of Marlboro Maroon LT1's, bonus if the Rally wheels have F70-15 Firestone Wide Oval tires 👍 Redline, Whitewall or Raised White Letters RWL makes no difference to me...all old school cool, being a vintage 1969 model myself!
@@paulandrewforget1694 Muncie in my '70 LT was a close ratio, but not, I'm pretty sure, a "rock crusher". I think those were reserved for LS-6/RPO/off-road type applications.
Marlboro Maroon was only used in one previous year, 1967. It had the ability, under certain lighting situations (I do specifically remember streetlights), of almost taking on iridescent aspects.
The OE tires are Goodyear Speedway GT's, raised white letter.
When '73 Vette w/aluminum whls & Firestone 500 Wide Oval radials appeared, I tried an OE set. What a disaster those tires were! The belts were alive! The car could almost not be kept in the traffic lane. They IMMEDIATELY were taken off, and my original whls & tires put back on.
You may not remember the Firestone 500 radial debacle, but it almost ruined Firestone.
With 11.0 to 1 compression, the LT didn't like the crap-quality pump gas of the mid '70's & '80's, so I'd fill up at the airport with 100/130 avgas. It satisfied the octane requirement, but the mileage dropped (different specific gravity ?).
Car still today as it was, with less than 11K miles, never been driven since day one in rain or snow or unimproved roads. Is all original, except for removal of smog pump & assoc. eqpmt. (stored, not discarded). The 2" OE exh manifolds were replaced (again, stored) with 2-1/2" '63-'67 hi-perf/FI manifolds.
This actually makes a performance difference (mild).
Joseph Stabile Thanks for sharing! I remember Firestone's exploding on Ford Explorers. It was a PR disaster for Firestone/Bridgestone and FordMoCo. At 52, I like to cruise to DQ or take the wife to the Orange Julep on Decarie Blvd in Montreal for the classic cars & hot rods on a hot summer Friday night. I don't drag race or do burn outs, I like my Firestone's. Diane's Jeep came with Michelin Latitudes from the dealership, switched to a set of Firestone Destination tires, handling, braking, wet weather traction improved...don't know if you ever experienced hydro planing, but those Michelin's were terrible. Goodyear's are great. The last set of BF Goodrich Radial T/A's on my '79 L48 225/70-15 drove me nuts, the RWL's kept turning brown....so CanadaWheel.ca suggested a set of Cooper Cobra's...so far, so good! Got to be careful these days with cheap Westlake Chinese tires flooding the market...don't think Goodyear or Firestone make anything in 225/70-15 or 255/60-15 if I trimmed the front fender wheel wells for clearance...Period correct reproduction tires are too expensive for my wallet from Zip!, Mid America or Eckler's, unnecessary since my malaise era Corvette Dark Blue '79 isn't going to win NCRS, barely having enough power to get out of it's own way! 😂😜🙃 PS: avgas? That's awesome! I work for kleen-flo VP Racing Canada...octane boost! I don't leave home without it.
@@paulandrewforget1694 As my '70 LT was a "Sunday" driver, I never felt the strong desire to switch from OE.
To be sure, bias ply F70 tires were a limiting factor on car's capabilities, but, to give them their due, they were/are very predictable (ergo, safe), and they were rated for 120 mph continuous. This alone made them unique for the era as ratings of that sort were only available in racing tires. This speed rated tire for Corvette was a Zora Duntov required specification.
Just turned 71, I've lived the late '60's
muscle car era, and experienced the sea change in tire technology. Polyglas (belted) tires were transformative to street/road traction, but were heavy with a harsher ride. The true "conversion" (a little, road to Damascus analogy) were the BFG Radial TA's which, with their fabric belts, provided quantum, revolutionary advancement in traction, handling, ride, all season performance. From '72 forward, they've been, in all their iterations, my "go to" tires for my muscle cars: '67 Vette, '68/'69 Firebird TA, '70 GTO RA, '74 F'bird TA. 70 LT, being a "Sunday" car, remained essentially "stock". Now, the value is highest for originality, and urban driving conditions have changed drastically from 50 yrs ago, but I do think the LT would look & perform beautifully with a set of '82 Anniversary model Vette wheels with current Radial TA's. Btw, in my experience, Radial TA's easily surpass Goodyear Eagles for performance.
Power Teams in 70
M20 wide rstio 4-spd
3.55 std, 3.36 or 3.70 opt
-or-
M21 close ratio 4-spd
3.70 std, 3.55 or 4.11 opt
M22 Rockcrusher would have been ZR1 only with available ratios of 3.08, 3.36, 3.55, 3.70, 4.11 or 4.56.
The LT1 had plenty of power for what this car was intended. Even the base 350 at 270 horse power was plenty fast enough for the road!
And they could be very easily modified. I'm a Mopar guy but I always thought that Chevrolet built the best high performance small block engines. The L79 327-350 horsepower, 302-290 horsepower(waaaaay underrated), and 1970 LT1 350-360 horsepower engines are my personal favorites. A bone stock 1970 LT1 actually made 425 horsepower at 6000 rpm on an engine dyno
@@jeremythompson9122 GM guy here and I'll admit the Mopar 340's did a great job as well.
One Thing the L T1 engine loves is a set of headers. I say that referring to a stock spec L T1. Not one that has been recammed and so on😊
@@jeremythompson9122 1970 LT-1 was rated by the factory at 370HP.
@@northerniltree
Yep, he was thinking Z/28 where due to different exhaust manifolds, the 1970 LT-1 engine in the Z/28 was rated at 360 hp.
Even a 68 400 Firebird would be refreshing along with some GTO's
I had the 370 horse LT-1
That's a pretty Vette!
Basically, this is the same engine that I had in my 71 Z28.
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nice Vette
nicer ending
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and tonite guys are driving home in their brand new...
Kia...
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LOL 🤣👍
How inexpensive muscle was
Lt1 package 500 bucks hell a good Holly double pumper can exceed that today but who knew ?
When I think about all that 💪 muscle to be had back then I dream having a time machine and got going back to let's say 1968 and take a bunch of cash along buying and bringing back some of those dream cars to the present .
But we are forced to buy what is available today. The shocker is you better take along 40 or 50 gees to get one tire Shredder .
Great vids keep them coming.
Bridgehampton was a road racing course on Long Island, sadly it's long gone!
What always surprised me about the C3 was just how small it was inside. You think American Iron and you think huge big block boats like an Olds 442, Charger or a Riviera. The C3 feels like it was designed for short, small people like me. 5'3", 145lbs, the C3 fits like a glove. Anything over 5'8" and it's cramped. My friend is 6'6" and can't even drive my '80 Vette, he can barely fold himself into it.
Love those c3s..sports car andmuscle car they are!
I love the 68 427
Great Vette
Cool car
nice ending lol
That's a California edition Corvette, They didn't put smog pumps or any other emissions equipment on corvettes till 1975 in the rest of the United States.
Hi Sam, All LT-1's had smog including the 70-72 model years. I have a 72 and am an NCRS member with the judging guides. Cheers.
Cristo - I can't seem to reply to you directly, but no, the LT1 wasn't born with anything aluminum except the intake. It was basically an L76 in a 4bolt, 350 block. The LT1 cam was still mechanical but revised over the 30-30 for drive ability. Same 2.02 heads.
I like to say Corvettes were sports cars up to 1962. Then in 1963, it became a muscle car. Somewhere around the 90s it turned back into a sports car again. 🤷
Yes i Agree, but For Me All Generations of Corvette, The Most ' Muscle Car Looks ' of All Corvette is Corvette Stingray C3
They actually weren't de-tuned but tuned up. An LT-1 corvette was actually faster than a big block because of the weight transfer. Big block vettes immediately overcame the tires, those wonderful bias plies. But what what do I know, I was there......
john thonig - I had the original 900 kawa 2 stroke. The reason you don't see any for sale is everyone who had them died. One of my fondest memories though was a friend of mine whose dad was a firefighter in Denver. His dad died on duty and my friend inherited a 68 427 3 deuce vette. Yikes did we have fun in high school. That thing would break rear shock mounts it had so much torque. Carry on soldier!.......
@@heavenstomurgatroyd7033 An original Kawasaki KZ900 was a 4 cylinder, 4 stroke. The 750 triple 2-strokes were the largest displacement of that type. And dying on one the first time was the worst.
i seen these cars run low low 14,s with skinny tires and 3.55 gears. moving out with 9.1compression
Mike Pinder You SAW
COOL!!
Whoa ! Least U Were in Car While Rolling ,Instead of Watching it ROLL !! UR The Expert But Wasn't the 70.5 Camaro Z- 28,Have 2 H.P. Ratings,One @330 & 1 @ 360 ?? CCOA Must Have Been Screaming, If the Z-28 Have a 360 H.P. Version ??!!They Always Insisted to GM,That There Vettes.Were KING OF CHEVY ON H.P. I MAY BE WRONG.As Always We Love UR Videos & Knowledge of the MUSCLE CAR MARKET!!!
Most people may not understand my question, but here goes. Is there a Super Lark in the Brothers collection?
A Studebaker? That'd be cool.
Several pieces of misinformation in this video... many discussed already. Compression ratio was lowered in 71 in order to be able to use unleaded gas. Horsepower ratings were changed from Gross to Net in 72. I ordered my 70 LT-1 in December 1970, it was built Feb 6, it was sitting at the dealer at least a week before Feb 28 which is when the dealer could actually sell it to me. It was a Marlboro Maroon convertible, black top, Light Saddle Custom Interior. I happen to still have the build sheet for that 70 LT-1. Someone below said Dark Saddle... nope... not available till 71. I was selling Chevrolets 71-74. In 73 you could get light OR dark Saddle, and I ordered a Mille Miglia Red with Dark Saddle Custom Interior Coupe. Same person said theirs had Power Steering... nope, that wasn't available on LT-1s till 71. Many years later I had an Ontario Orange 72 LT-1 coupe with factory a/c. So, I had one of the first and one of the last LT-1s. In 70, shortly after buying mine, in Illinois, I drove it to Florida for Easter. Florida already had unleaded gas. That LT-1 did not like that gas. I even took it to a Chevrolet dealer service department in Daytona Beach and they couldn't figure out why it was running so poorly. Oh, and the specs tag in the engine compartment showed timing specs different than the service manuals. So who knows? I know I'd rather have a 71 or 72, just to avoid that high compression problem. I was recently at a gas station in Scottsdale that sells SUNOCO gas for those engines. $9.799 per gallon. As for the 3 speed transmission... NOPE. In 70, 4 speed, posi and 300HP were finally standard. As for horsepower and torque ratings for Chevy small blocks, Google Motor Trend September 2009... you might just be surprised.
Must be a Ca car since it has a smog pump for 1971. All other states did not have them till 75...
Who installed the mufflers on that 71? Take it back and have them do the mufflers correctly..
Cali needed smog pumps since 1966. Other GM cars got them since 1968.
There were alot of other cars that had smog pumps way before 1975
All Corvettes beginning in 68 had smog pumps. For 70-up with some engines, they were able to get by without one. But all high performance engines, ie: LT1, LS6, L82, etc had smog pumps.
@@thud9797 Not true.
@@grabir01 What I said is true, what is your take?
'Detuned a little bit?'...a slightly lower compression ratio?' From 11.0:1 (on the LT-1) to 9.0:1......that's a BUNCH! Wrong about your trans. info. here as well. 1969 was the final year for a 3-speed trans.,....NOT 1970.
I don't know who to blame more, Detroit or the government.....
Really messed up on the installation of those mufflers! They should NOT be visible!...much less installed in that ridiculous manner! Another bit of incorrectness is that 1969 was the final year for 3-speed Stingray's...NOT 1970.
10 thumbs up Sir !
Does anyone know how the white lettering on the tires work? I've watched 3 different '71 vette videos in a row and all three have different white lettering on the tires. I'm restoring a '71 and would love to know which is the correct lettering on the tire.
This must be ZR1 Corvette right ?
This car has a radio so no, it cannot be a ZR1 as many options on ZR1 were restricted.
Are those the right mufflers?
Doesn't look it and they are not lined up right, that was the best part of the factory setup as well as the unique Corvette sound. I swear back in the day you could hear a Corvette coming not by it's loud exhaust, it just had a certain sound to it.
There seems to be a lot of redundancy lately with cars primarily Mopars, where are the Supercharged Avanti's, the Amx, the 409 impalas , and I can name many more that are never mentioned. I'm tired of seeing Cudas and corvettes and Camaros.
+Brian Cabral ua-cam.com/video/AnynfKKwE3Y/v-deo.html
Brian Cabral : I'd Like To See A Second Gen.AMX ,71-74, As I Had One & Miss It!!
Sorry, no ls6 in the vettes. It was a ls5. Still awful strong.
LS6 was offered in 1971 in the Corvettes.
MuscleCarOfTheWeek yea, but not the ls6 in the 70 Chevelle. Still awful strong. 450 plus hp, nope.
@Sherry Setliff Only a slightly lower compression ratio, 425 horsepower and 475 pound feet of torque was pretty damn close. I doubt you and I being your average everyday driver couldn't tell a difference.
No 71' was Gross horsepower 72' was net horsepower that 350/330hp would have been pushing 400hp if it was gross HP and not with a 350. In 72 the 350cu. In was rated at 255 net horsepower which was the final year of the Lt1 engine the standard 350 was rated at 200hp net.
What year Vette was in the movie Corvette Summer?
***** Thanks.
Did the LT-1 have aluminium block or heads?
+Christo Kinieriem The LT-1 was an iron block / iron head motor.
+Christo Kinieriem
no. the LT1 had iron closed chambered heads 202 intake valves screw in studs and guide plates and iron 4 bolt main block forged crank and pink forged rods.
Billy Lowe : Same As Z-28,' s on Intake & Exhaust.?
For the LT1 Corvette & Z28 there were minor differences.
One example was while, the Intakes were the same, the exhaust manifolds were different. Another difference was the engine codes. In 1970 the engine code for the Corvette LT1 was CTV & CTK, while the engine code for the Z28 was CTB. The exhaust manifolds for the Corvette were the 2” ram-horn while the Z had exhaust manifolds
dumped at the rear of the engine. Another difference was the Z had a 4 quart oil pan while the Vette had a 5 quart.
I just wanted to add, I feel the early LT1 was the best old school small block Chevy ever produced.
When you talk about the change from gross to net, why not then give the conversion. Perhaps it can only be estimated. But if 330 is net, gross would be around what?
+Jim Waszak Again, it is incorrect what is said in the video. 330 was gross. Net was 275.
is this the same engine how in the z28 camaro ?
Yes, the Corvette LT-1 is the same engine as in the Z/28. Maybe the carburetor is different and you could also get the Z/28 with automatic transmission unlike Corvette but the engine is the same. Also in the first year it was rated at 10 hp less guessing due to the different exhaust manifolds, the 70 version was rated at 360 hp vs 370 hp in the Corvette, the remaining two years I believe were the same.
the mufflers look terrible...autozone pieces?
They look correct, their position isnt.
+i
STOP W THE WHIITEOUTS
Those are the ugliest mufflers I have seen on a vette.