Hey, My dad and I just bought a 75 c3, it's been sitting in a garage for around 20 years now but is in great condition as it has never gotten wet or been exposed to the elements. It was fully working when it was parked but we want a bit more power out of it, somewhere around the 400hp mark. I don't know if there is a way to get that out of the stock 165hp motor or if we should go ahead and buy a 383 crate motor. I also am wondering what problems would come from that much power and how much the stock internals can take. A project like this is pretty new to us but the end goal is to make it have the power and handling of a c6 with the looks of a c3.
Thanks for any advice.

 

congratulations on the purchase of your 75 vette. I also bought a C3 a number of years ago with the intentions of making it into what the later C3’s could of been if not for the federal governments intervention. I’m in the final stage of my 79 so here is what I’ve done- I too was interested in getting the horsepower up in the 400hp range.
I was hoping to save a little by using the block and a local engine builder to achieve this. After it was all said and done the price was about the same maybe a touch higher, but I’m glad I went this route because of the enjoyment I had watching and being a part of turning the original L48 195hp into a thumping 425+ hp 383 Stroker engine that is more deserving for my C3 . As far as your concern for this being to much for the drive line and other components remember that the early C3s had a steady diet of high horsepower 350s and 427s. The last ( but not least ) thing I looked at improving was the transmission. The original was an automatic TH350, remember back when these cars were built the government had their fingers in everything including the speed limits. Today running down the road with that transmission the engine is turning in the 3000 rpm range.
To give the engine a break I did some research on OD transmissions and decided on a 200 4R . There’s a lot of talk about the 400 R4 but with the 3.55 rear differential gear and not having to modify the driveshaft the 200 4R was my choice.
I hope some of this is helpful - now go get your hands dirty and enjoy your project and keep us informed on the progress !!!

 

75 corvette: Welcome to the forum.

Hope your project is progressing smoothly. It can be a lot of fun.