This is a highly-modified 1969 Chevrolet Corvette that has been fitted with a slew of new parts and upgrades, including louvered fender vents, a front air dam, a rear wing, an aftermarket hood, and perhaps most importantly, a 502 cubic inch V8.
It’s clear that this vehicle is a project car in every sense of the term, however it comes with all the major parts that’ll be required, including a full replacement rolling chassis and frame assembly. It’s a 4-speed manual with a Positraction limited-slip differential, and it’s likely to be a very quick car once it’s finished.
Fast Facts – A 502 V8 Powered Corvette Project Car
- This 1969 Chevrolet Corvette is a highly-modified project car fitted with a hefty 502 cubic inch V8, along with upgrades like louvered fender vents, a front air dam, rear wing, aftermarket hood, though it requires a full replacement rolling chassis due to rust issues with the original frame.
- Big block V8 engines were first used in production Corvettes from 1965 onwards, including 396, 427, and 454 cubic inch displacements, noting the 502 as a popular aftermarket crate engine option produced by Chevrolet for increased performance and a (typically) straightforward install process depending on the specific car.
- This particular 502 V8 includes a series of significant upgrades, including a Weiand intake, Edelbrock heads, and Hooker headers – the standard engine produces 461 bhp and 558 lb ft of torque based on Chevrolet’s crate engine specs.
- While a major project requiring a chassis swap and full repaint, the car currently runs and drives, has a 4-speed manual transmission, Positraction limited-slip differential, and once completed will be an extremely quick Corvette well-suited for blistering 1/4 mile times at the local strip.
Big Block Corvettes: A History Speedrun
The first Chevrolet Corvette to receive a factory big block V8 was the 1965 Corvette Sting Ray C2 which debuted mid-year with the 396 cubic inch (6.6 liter) big block V8 producing 425 bhp. It would be the first of many big block Corvettes, carving out a niche in the market that would see them recognized as some of the fastest and most powerful sports cars on earth during their production.
The big block 396 cubic inch V8 would debut in the Corvette in 1965, offering 425 bhp and 415 lb ft of torque, making it one of the most powerful production sports cars in the world at the time. Image courtesy of Chevrolet.
Interestingly, the arrival of the 396 big block V8 in 1965 would essentially be the death knell for the “Fuelie,” the C2 Corvette offered with optional Rochester fuel injection.
The big block option cost buyers $292.70 whereas the fuel injection option on the small block V8 cost $538. The big block produced 425 bhp versus the Fuelie’s 375 bhp, and few buyers could justify the added expense for a car that was slower (in a straight line).
1966 would see the introduction of two big block V8 options for the Corvette, the 390 bhp 427 cubic inch V8 or the slightly more powerful 425 bhp version of the same engine, upgraded with a higher compression ratio, larger intake valves, and a larger Holley four-barrel carburetor.
As was often the case in the 1960s, the factory horsepower rating was significantly underreported. This was to keep the insurance companies happy and to keep Uncle Sam’s regulators out of the way, as well as to allow the cars to qualify for lower hp NHRA brackets.
The C3 Corvette that debuted in 1968 picked up the big block V8 mantle from its forebear, starting off with a version of the same 427 V8 but eventually increasing the displacement to 454 cubic inches. This would be the largest displacement V8 ever used in a production Corvette, as the impending age of emissions restrictions would kill off the big block in the Corvette altogether by the time of the arrival of the C4 Corvette in 1983.
There would be one other large-displacement production Corvette, though not a big block. It would be a 7.0 liter LS7 V8 that would hold the record for being the largest-displacement small block V8 ever produced. With a displacement of 427.8 cubic inches or 7,011cc, this small block had a slightly larger swept capacity than the original 427 big block of the 1960s.
Of course, there would be aftermarket companies that installed much larger displacement V8s into Corvettes over the years, often for drag racing use.
This 1969 Chevrolet Corvette has been significantly modified, with louvered fender vents, a front air dam, a rear wing, an aftermarket hood, and a 502 cubic inch V8.
The physical size of these engines has varied significantly, and I’m not aware of any comprehensive guide on them, however one of the most popular aftermarket big block V8s is the Chevrolet 502 cubic inch V8 which is produced by the factory as an off-the-shelf crate engine.
The 1969 C3 Corvette Project Car Shown Here
The car you see here is going to need plenty of work to get it registered and on the road. While it is running and driving now, the rust in the frame is such that it’s going to need to be swapped over to a new rolling chassis, which fortunately comes supplied with the car as part of the package.
The car is currently fitted with a 502 cubic inch big block V8 that’s been upgraded with a Weiand intake manifold, Edelbrock cylinder heads, and Hooker headers. The 502 crate engine from Chevrolet makes 461 bhp at 5,100 rpm and 558 lb ft of torque at 3,400 rpm, so we can likely expect similar numbers from this unit.
The bodywork of the car has been modified with louvered fender vents, a front air dam, a rear wing, and an aftermarket hood. It’s also fitted with 15″ Centerline wheels, side pipes, a removable hardtop, a black soft top, a 4-speed manual transmission, and the desirable Positraction limited-slip differential rear end.
This 502 cubic inch big block V8 has been fitted with a Weiand intake manifold, Edelbrock cylinder heads, and Hooker headers.
There’s no doubt that this will be a major project, it always is when a vehicle needs to be given a replacement chassis, it does look like it’ll be a quick car once complete, more than capable of terrorizing the local 1/4 mile strip.
It’s currently being offered for sale out of Thornton, Colorado with no reserve and a Colorado title on Bring a Trailer. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
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