I love the front of 1982 corvettes. I dont like the rear. I want to fit a 1971 rear end with lugage rack to the back of my 82. Are those panels cheap and does anyone know where i could get one?

O.K.... I guess if the mako clips are only $6000 this job cant be that expensive... Anyone here who owns a 1980-1983: why is the hourse power rated so low, and are these car slower and weaker than the eariler C3's?

Would somebody please respond

You can get them from any of the C3 part suppliers, such as Mid America Designs, Ecklers, etc.

1983? Humm...

It would probably be easier to change the front part of the body then it would be to change the rear.

makoZ0621 wrote: O.K.... I guess if the mako clips are only $6000 this job cant be that expensive... Anyone here who owns a 1980-1983: why is the hourse power rated so low, and are these car slower and weaker than the eariler C3's?

Would somebody please respond

The best and cheapest thing you can do to achieve what you are talking about doing is to find a good 71 rear clip and clip your car. WAYNE

djunod wrote: You can get them from any of the C3 part suppliers, such as Mid America Designs, Ecklers, etc.

1983? Humm...

You sound like you want the flat rear window of the 68-77 coupe,
In that case you will need a full doors back rear clip this is not a weekend task lots of work to get the fit just right....both inside and out side the car.
I have an 81 and plan to put a 68-73 custom rear on it however I am keeping my 78-82 big rear window, from 74-82 from the rear wheel well back was an extra style line near the bottom edge that will not be on my car, here is a picture of the tail I'm using it will bond in right behind the rear wheel wells and right under the back of the big window....

djunod wrote: It would probably be easier to change the front part of the body then it would be to change the rear.

You know that you could make your own Mako rear end from that...

rockcrusher67 wrote: The best and cheapest thing you can do to achieve what you are talking about doing is to find a good 71 rear clip and clip your car. WAYNE

Remember I didn't care about making mine look more like a clone of the GM mako you know I'm not purist even with customs....
The rear spoiler on the Silva mako is basically an aftermarket mid-year rear spoiler/duck tail it had that peak, however, I don't care for the peaked tail light panel, so my plan is to peak the spoiler you see there but leave the tail light panel flat as to mount my 82 firebird tail lights in a manner I find more pleasing to my eye, I've done this in photo shop and it works pretty good....
It adds to the low wide look I want.
My tail lights have that unit that makes them flash like the old Cougar tail lamps....

Tyla wrote: You sound like you want the flat rear window of the 68-77 coupe, In that case you will need a full doors back rear clip this is not a weekend task lots of work to get the fit just right....both inside and out side the car. I have an 81 and plan to put a 68-73 custom rear on it however I am keepi …

Wait, if i want the flat rear window i havt to change the whole rear end? And how much interior work would have to be done
?

djunod wrote: You know that you could make your own Mako rear end from that...

You will have some frame issues. Most people don't know it, but you have to shorten a 68-73 corvette rear frame to put a motior (or TN) kit on it. It sticks too far to the rear. You have the rear bumper stuff, and I believe the gas tank configuration would also be an issue. Had I known this, I could have given you a 76 tail clip a couple of months ago. I still have part of it, but the rear fenders are gone. It has a 80 rear bumper on it. It is a hellovua lot of work, not for the squeemish.:+

Tyla wrote: Remember I didn't care about making mine look more like a clone of the GM mako you know I'm not purist even with customs.... The rear spoiler on the Silva mako is basically an aftermarket mid-year rear spoiler/duck tail it had that peak, however, I don't care for the peaked tail light panel, so my …

MakoZ0621, you would have to do a fair amount of interior work,
to put a 68-77 stock rear clip on a 78-82 rear end, the project would require a full 68-77 rear clip in and out,
And even though they are both c-3 it's not just going to magically line up a lot of time will have to be spent getting things to look right.
The 68-77 also have that venting system you know the grills under the rear flat window on the rear deck.
Randy, I was under the impression that from 64-79 the frames were basically the same not including the bolted on bumper extensions, like the front bumper extensions on the 80-82 is a huge weird heavy thing compared to the mid 70's c-3 front bumper extensions,
and the 80-82s different in the rear for the so called improved rear end.
I also can't comment if the frame rail themselves are cut shorter for the Mako conversion, since I have never seen a Mako in person....I will recheck some measurements I have, I am limited to how much shorter I can make my rear end due to the rear window which I don't believe is as long front to rear as the Mako rear window.
There were more than one gas tank offered thru out the 64-82 frame so if a car had the larger tank that might cause issues with the Mako rear clip.

makoZ0621 wrote: Wait, if i want the flat rear window i havt to change the whole rear end? And how much interior work would have to be done ?

The frame rails themselves arent shortened, its the last part of the frame where the gas tank straps attach. There is a cross piece and on both of my cars the frame was shortened in this area. To change the rear end would not be worth it unless it was for something radical like a mako, at least for me. I thought he was working with an 80-82. Not sure on cars like that.

2Sharks wrote: You will have some frame issues. Most people don't know it, but you have to shorten a 68-73 corvette rear frame to put a motior (or TN) kit on it. It sticks too far to the rear. You have the rear bumper stuff, and I believe the gas tank configuration would also be an issue. Had I known this, I c …

I will post pics when I pull my stock rear bumper cover off,
I don't know what a mako measures from the back edge of the rear wheel well to the edge of the rear end but I bet it's the same or within an inch or two of the stock 68-73,
I plan to use that rear custom rear cap you've seen, it was cut off at the back edge of the wheel wells,
Of course the job will take longer due to the ZL-1 rear flares I'm also adding, don't know if I will dig the look of my turbo wing after I put this other bumper on I hope so, always wanted a big rear wing....

Tyla wrote: MakoZ0621, you would have to do a fair amount of interior work, to put a 68-77 stock rear clip on a 78-82 rear end, the project would require a full 68-77 rear clip in and out, And even though they are both c-3 it's not just going to magically line up a lot of time will have to be spent getting …

I think I posted something like this before but the scale could be slighty off but I did some measurements today, here's a general Idea of how much ass I can lose when I put this custom rear on....
Cheers, T.http://couponmaniacom.homestead.com/files/drive.gif

2Sharks wrote: The frame rails themselves arent shortened, its the last part of the frame where the gas tank straps attach. There is a cross piece and on both of my cars the frame was shortened in this area. To change the rear end would not be worth it unless it was for something radical like a mako, at least for …

Thats exactly what I was talking about. Your new rear end should just about be even with where the gas tank sits. Watch out for clearance problems with the depth of your new tail lamps.
(speaking from experience):+

Tyla wrote: I will post pics when I pull my stock rear bumper cover off, I don't know what a mako measures from the back edge of the rear wheel well to the edge of the rear end but I bet it's the same or within an inch or two of the stock 68-73, I plan to use that rear custom rear cap you've seen, it was cu …

I dig what you are saying,
That custom rear piece I'm using was cut from a full rear clip Ecklers made for the 68-73 rear end.
Lets assume my scaling is within an inch,
from the rear edge of the wheel well back is like 22" on that custom piece, which "should" within an inch be the same as a 68-73 rear,
if all the tanks are the same then it will be tight but will work...
if my tank goes back even further I will cross that when I get there....
Cheers T.

makoZ0621 wrote: O.K.... I guess if the mako clips are only $6000 this job cant be that expensive... Anyone here who owns a 1980-1983: why is the hourse power rated so low, and are these car slower and weaker than the eariler C3's?

Would somebody please respond

Sounds like it may be easier to purchase an earlier C3 and change the front clip to an 82. I've seen such modified vettes for sale, but don't know if they bought the front end as a kit or modified an 82 front clip to fit. Regarding the horsepower of C3's (1968 thru 1982)yes late seventies thru 82 were not well endowed in the horsepower department. It all started going down hill after the 1971 model year. Maximum horsepower for 1968 was 435+ hp L88, 1969 was 435+ hp L88, 1970 was 460 hp LS-6, 1971 was 425 hp LS-6, 1972 was 270 hp LS-5, 1973 275 hp LS-4, etc., etc., 1981 190 hp and 1982 200 hp crossfire. Granted some of the disparity was do to general motors changing the way they rated horse power from gross to net, but that started some time in 1972 and only accounts for some of the hp loss. Let me put it this way an early big block or small block C3 would most likely blow the doors off anything made from the mid 70's and through out the C4's (ZR1's excluded), assuming they had original equipped engines. Personally I like the looks of 81 and 82's but they are lacking in horse power and in most states are smog regulated, which makes it difficult to modify the engines.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Robert

djunod wrote: You can get them from any of the C3 part suppliers, such as Mid America Designs, Ecklers, etc.

1983? Humm...

Maybe this will help a little, My Mako conv is sitting on a stock 79 frame no alterations just unbolted the rear bumper shock things, the 79 fuel tank was too big so i switched to a stock 75 fuel tank ,all bolted right up. Good clearance for the 63-67 6 taillight set up.