Norris' 1973 C3 Corvette Stingray Coupe Part 1 of 2 

TheCorvetteBen is one of a few RU-vid channels 'about cars' that I so much enjoy watching! His practical approach to maintaining or even restoring old cars in quite unique, thanks to his insite, especially where Corvettes are concerned. I think he has given a lot of encouragement to especially Corvette owners not to strash their cars too early, just for a simple fix and also to realise that old Corvettes are worth saving. Thanks Ben for your entertaining and informative channel!

Hey hi sir great post. I personally just love the 73 vetts a one year only car that still look like the 68s

I could watch these videos all day long. I think I will!

Always a good day when you get to cruise in a classic vehicle

Wow! I think every armchair quarterback and backseat driver comments on your videos! Amazing how people will watch your videos and make comments like that. Great videos, keep up the good work!

Before removing the distributor, I would hand crank the engine until the number 1 piston is at top dead center. The rotor should now be pointing to the number one cylinder.

get yourself a nice little fold up table, stop using car as work bench. love your channel bud.

Enjoyed, liked, subscribed. I'm a little bit of a clean freak....only a suggestion, how about a quick shop vac and engine clean before your next project! Ha ha, I'll be watching!

Hey Ben FYI to set the timing you need to pull the vacuum off of the distributor and plug it so the idle timing is true.

C-3 Corvettes have so many places for vacuum leaks, headlight actuators, etc, etc

Dear CorvetteBen I am not corvette fan of any kind but you have hooked me on watching you. The caddie and Buick were special I am 76 yrs old an 1985 GSL-SE in the garage I put 1500 miles per year on it and love driving. it.I am sure you know I am talking 5 sp. RX-7 144K on body and 10k on rebuilt engine. Really enjoy your vids have been watching for 2 days.

Murvis from Orlando Florida man that sounds and runs GREAT I WISH I HAD A PRESON AROUND THE AREA AS GOOD AS YOU

this is excellent. A nice long video of you just doing stuff. Perfect.

Had 2 73 Vette 's they had their fair share of problems both was baskets but with matching # putting them back together was fun .Lol dope vids ⭐💯Salute 🚘😎

Man thanks for putting these up i just bought a 72 and im looking to get into that diy life

Great job. Please everyone. Use a inner throttle spring as a back up. I seen them go.

1972 vets are my favorite because when I was a kid I was looking for ward to the 72s that were coming out. I was very excited that the 1972 model had amber turn signals compared to the white ones on the 1971 model. Now I could tell the difference between the two, some 50yrs later I still tell a 71 from a 72.

Excellent video very good info I need today thank you. Cheers

That Vacuum Line goes to the Vacuum Canister that is under the Drivers side front Fender where you are standing if it is unplugged I believe the Head lights will not come up and the Wipers will not work If I remember right because the Canister is open.

Damn, dude, blow out those leaves.

Those are my most favorite votes. Love them.

I always disconnect the vacuum advance and plug it when setting the timing. Car is sounding good but you're not getting a true reading with the advance line connected.

According to all service manuals cap the vacuum advance when you set timing....

70’s Corvettes are so quiet compared to modern muscle cars.

Do not put RTV on the gasket that faces the head. Use a thin layer of grease so you can get the cover off easily if you need to service under the covers. 19:33 when setting timing, disconnect the vacuum advance hose at the pod and plug it with a gold tee. Not sure why Ben did not do this because your timing would be way off of the timing tab idling high.

Hello Ben, I just watched an old vid of you with your ‘73, where you mentioned too many wires to your starter affected the starter’s ability to turn the engine. So, I thought of a solution that you may or may not be positive about, but it could help. Put an oil pressure switch down there with the oil gauge sending unit, and run a fused hot wire to it. From there run a wire to a relay to turn the relay on only when there is oil pressure. From the relay, you could run a wire to an auxiliary fuse box, and from the fuse box, to the accessories that were formerly all running off the starter post. A fused heavy wire from the original fuse box, through the relay to the aux. fuse box could keep the heavy load off the starter post! Just a thought. I enjoy your vids. Thanks.

Why would you put a new pretty intake and thermostat housing on but not repaint the valve covers? I’ve used the rubber intake gaskets at the front and rear of the intake manifold that engineers designed, and I never had a problem. Nice to see a young guy working on a 50 year old car.

I’ve always wanted to ride in a vette lol. Love all your videos! Helps me out on my project cars!!! Keep up the good work!!!

I like these corvette projects.

sounds like a throttle shaft is leaking on the carb or just a vacuum leak. As a side note the car needs to be at operating temp before setting the final timing and the rpms's have to be at the correct idle speed.

I hope that a big part of this project included “fixing” the front end! One of the saddest Vette years, 1973.

Sounds pretty good!!

Hi Ben, this would have been a prime example to use the Fitech efi unit on. I bet if you reached out to them they have given you a big break on the cost, with your knowledge and Y.T. subs., it would of made for an easy install, and you the 73 Vette would have been that much more pleased with this get it running project...You also would have 2 or more videos of content too, the complete install of the unit and getting it dialed in and the comparison video on how much you like it or not...if it worked out fine, you could be a Fitech spokesman on Y.T. and everything would be good for everyone...maybe on the next C3 with a Rockchester QuadraLeak.

Norris is so lucky to have you for a friend. I have so many little quirks on my Taurus I'd love to have you fix. Carry on Big Ben! 🏋️‍♂️

Great video, good job on getting the car running.

I could have told ya it was your carb setup before the timing when you 1st installed the intake and carb and Not the timing. The timing was pretty close. Always set your time close, but ALWAYS start with your carb adjustments. when you fire it up, check the timing light, if its close, then move to the carb, check for vacuum leaks, and then start your carb adjustments. A new carb is ALWAYS going to be off adjustment and will cause a high idle or just a horrible running engine. Another thing to think about is the timing chain "stretch". An old timing chain WILL have some stretch and cause some timing issue. Also possibly a worn cam and also possibly out of adjustment rockers. Though the cam is hydraulic and self adjusted once tighten properly, you can still have worn lifters, a collapsed lifter, or just a rocker or rockers loosened up over time. Do ALL OF THE ADJUSTMENTS from new carb adjustments, rocker arm adjustment, to timing adjustment and if its still not right, check for loose/worn timing chain or even cam. I would have swapped the cam with a new slightly better performance cam but keeping it streetable, since its a manual tranny. No need to change the torque converter to an upgraded stall converter, since a manual eliminates the issue at idle. Swapping a cam is not much more work after the intake, distributor, valve covers is removed, just need to pull the accessories off, balancer, timing chain cover and remove radiator and perform the swap. Maybe another hour or 2 of work. After all that, that engine would be a newer running engine with a little attitude al9ng with it. Nothing better than a "cammed" chevy small block. The lopey racey idle and a snappy throttle response is what a vette needs. And of course spinning the engine out to higher rpm with that beautiful race engine sound and performance quality, rather than that "putt putt putt and slow revving" grocery getter sound. Great video! But try to wake those engines up a little. The way a vette should have been from the factory. A nice looking vette that also runs strong and snappy response will make the car even more attractive. Its not just about the "looks" but its also about the sound and performance under the hood that completes the vette. To me, a performance car that justs "putt putt putt" doesn't look good, but a mediocre looking performance car with a snappy aggressive tone and responsive engine always perks me up and creates a visual of what its potential is.

It still sounds like it running above the idle circuit.

That thing sounds good love old chevy 350

It pulls just fine on the road, but the last time I heard an idle like that was a radial on a B-17

One more excellent vid guy

Hate it when people run an engine without a thermostat! The main problem with running without a thermostat is cylinder wear. If an engine runs at under 160F degrees for months at a time, cylinder wear will greatly increase. It's like an engine with 75K miles that has the cylinder wear of a 300K mile engine. I hope that engine block isn't worn out...

73’s didn’t have electronic ignition and the engines were painted factory Orange. 35 gap is probably for point ignition if you are looking at ‘73 specs. I still own my ‘73 Coupe. Wonder what the owner did with all the chrome shielding. Of course he couldn’t use it with that big electronic distributor in the back.

That isn't a 73 block, blue was 77 and up I think. For valve covers flip on the edge of a bench and you can hammer them straight and true much faster than a cresent wrench. If it's a wood bench, you can get fancy and flip you hammer and give each bolt hole a gentle hit with the peen to give it a little edge for the bolts to start drawing down on. One more thing lets hear it bark

When I grow up, I want to be just like Ben!!! 🤪 Great video as always, keep up the good work! 👍👍

As I approach 200,000 miles in my 1969 L-71 435 H.P. 3X2 carb Corvette that has been my daily driver since 1970, I can assure you having no thermostat does not hurt the car at all. In fact, heat and friction are the two main things that eventually destroy a motor. My car has never over-heated, runs cool, runs fantastic and still has almost 95% original compression in all 8 cylinders. While I don't advocate going against factory specs, it does seem to me that having no thermostat might help toward longevity. I do living in California where the climate is mild and the car is ALWAYS garaged at night. Maybe that's why having no thermostat has not been a problem. Who knows??

The Corvette would look good in white. Just like in Gran Turismo 2

Pretty neat project, and I'll follow along. But I'd really like to see more videos on the '59 Mercury! :-)

The early C3's are my favorite Vettes! Looking forward to the series Ben

It looks good with the untouched valve covers

Thoroughly enjoyed the video... Thumbs up and a sub from me... Stay safe... Rico (Mill Yellow '01 Owner)

Plug the line to the brake booster and see if it idles down.

do you have the vacuum advance disconnected when you are doing the timing? Just curious I always enjoy watching your videos.

1. What caused the smoke at 19 minutes? 2. Did you ever test the compression? With the plugs out for changing it would have been very easy. 3. Does the PVC line not go to the carburetor? I did not see it anywhere while the air cleaner was off. That could have been a vacuum leak. 4. Turn on the lights so the speedometer is visible. 5. Never buy a used carburetor. You might have saved a lot of money by rebuilding the original one. I'm not trying to be nasty, just my thoughts.

Cool project wish you would come over to Virginia and get my 81 back to daily driver status. Lovely dog as well, looks like a smart cookie.

Love my Q-Jet!

I like how you don't change the order cars. Would like to know see you do newer car s not Corvette

My favorite color for the 73 Corvette is this blue one you're working on I love that color

To answer the [ WHY,WHY,WHYYY. ?!! ] QUESTION. Remove as much heat as possible. C3 Vette is a hot ride in the summer. Especially when without AC . It will work somewhat but could lead to overheating the heads eventually. Some of these have been rebuilt 3 or 4 times by now.

That vacuum line is for the headlights operating mechanism.

Love your content, but please get a leaf blower and use it on the cowl before you work on the cars, especially with the air cleaner removed. Drives me nuts. Sorry, just seems a little unprofessional.

With the HEI the plug gap should be 45 not 35 .

I saw him and his corvette at the museum on a school field trip he was waring a dog mask and the back of his car said the corvette Ben and we looked him up on RU-vid and we found he had 23k subs

wow, the car sounds good, just noticed how flat that area is, Tornado alley???

GM Mark of Excellence:

Never had any luck with Holly carburetors. Always new too. Never any used junk. They're a good/excellent racing carb since they allow for so much adjustment but my experience was always that they don't last/are not consistent on street motors. You're always "futzen" with them. The Q-jet has its inherent leak down and needle/seat problems. The Carter/Edelbrock carb is pretty consistent, dependable, and "out of the box" usable.

73’s are good but 68 -72 are better

Have you ever tried using spreader bars on the valve covers to spread out the load. Good work.

Ben, when setting the disturbitor timing arn't you suppose to plug off the vacuum advance hose ? I believe you have to.

This car is a earlier version of mine same color. The paint is even in the same condition at mine.

I love the longer vids.

AWESOME VIDEO AND A BEAUTIFUL VETTE.

That blue engine does not look to be original to the 73. This thing looks like it hasn't had much TLC, but at least it is not all "bubbad up". Can't really judge much based on the audio quality. But, am glad you chose to replace the carb after someone had messed with those butterfly screws! Was wondering what the rattling was, amazed at how that horn button can make such a racket. I'm sure you will have this thing running and looking nice in short order...

The 73 was the last good looking 70s Vette

The plug wires are suppose to run under the manifolds and come up from under

Great!

………….wow, I must be getting old or something 'cause I find Norris' car waaaaay too noisy on the move. Is that coming from the engine or the muffler system? I couldn't see myself driving that for any great distance without it making me crazy. You can't even have a normal conversation with your passenger. :) As usual I always enjoy your videos of you working on clients cars.

Why bother with the aftermarket intake, esp considering he's replacing the motor in a few years? Without accompanying cam/exhaust changes, I can't imagine you'd notice a difference over factory. Sorry if i missed it, kinda skipped thru the vid.

Great video.

Hi there, why not go for Holley sniper EFI, that would also fit the future BBC engine

Did you check the diaphragm in the vacuum advance for leaks ??

If you ever wanna hire an employee doing the same stuff . I have been at it my whole.life too.and.dont need a babysitter like most self proclaimed master mechanics..lol..im sure.you know.exactly what I.mean. well . have a good night and keep.making awesome.videos

Long-form video! Cool!

Great videos. Thanks....

On your last test run, you had a red light illuminate on the dash, what was that about?

I hate how the fuel line is ran in the middle of the oil fill cap. It just gets on my nerves, I would either replace the hard line and run it more inboard or reshape the current pipe to run in a neater path.

Should ask the guy if you could get a better intake manifold too.

Does Ben have a job or does he just wrench out of the garage?

Anti-Seize is not required on a cast iron head, only on aluminum heads. You want those plug threads clean on a cast iron head for an excellent ground.

How's Norriss' Vette running? Do you still have your '53 Olds? 🤞🤞 I love all of your videos. Hello to Noodle & Chopstick. They are both so sweet. 🚘 🐶🐶

I admire you knowledge in these cars, where did you learn ?

Wouldn't a fuel injection system be an improvement over another carb at $1000. I see them advertised but haven't actually used one yet. I'm seriously considering one for my four bbl. Mercedes 280 c could due to its famously lousy carb design. Have u ever used one of these? Rich

Hey speaking as a bodywork guy, I know you gotta do what you gotta do to fit everything in that garage, but go to a linens and things and put down a thick towel first before using the back end of it as a makeshift table, as its those marks that really cause the most long lasting damage especially with that valve cover gasket if you were using his fender as a makeshift table there, as that looks to be a very thin worn out table top which probably does more damage than simply doing that alone on the fender as take your hand over it, if you can feel the texture of the fabric, dont use it, its why when you look at amseis garage he has the thing, that thick, like a quarter inch plastic sheet draped over and connected to the car with magnets to the inner fenderwheels as most of the damage that's been done to my cars hasnt been by MA drivers, it been by negligent family members, and if you know anything about MA, that's saying something that the thing looks damn near brand new 5 years on, despite all of this, and my neglgence, as it was my first new car after all, and the first one that wasnt blue or silver. which hide scratched and damage quite well and if you need tips on bodywork, consult a twitter page called Perfectionist valet: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CK_heJ7oKl8.html this guy can make cars shine like you wouldnt believe! and keep in mind that car has a small block chevy motor in size that makes 550 Horsepower, 30 years ago, so its a car worthy of respect, despite all the negativity that the brand gives me nowadays. and this is a guy who uses his cars too ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NiBMo7j5Gtk.html as this is his work on one of the most iconic british cars ever made instagram.com/p/kPMGxCG2Sr/?tagged=248rpa and that car actually won an award just after that work by that detailer, as the best original countach in the country.

That vett has seen better days. When you go cheap ( eBay parts ) it costs you twice as much. The vett should have had a new holly to begin with. I prefer a manual choke, but not my car. peace out dude.

I have watched quite a few of your videos and I have not seen any frame/birdcage related material.

What is a smog engine? Is that some certain laws of emission in certain USA staes? BTW - I don't live in the USA so unsure what certain 'meanings' are - so please forgive my ignorance but interested to learn! Thanks!

Before you pull the distributor, do you need to be a top dead center with the timing?

What about the red light that came on on your test drive?

Shouldn't that block be orange? Was it rebuilt?

Did HEI come in corvettes in 1973? I'm working on my 1978 Pontiac Phoenix and ordered a points distributor from a 1975 Corvette just because I'm doing everything up Ol Skool as much as I can.

Keeping Points? Looks like an Hei