Photo: Facebook Marketplace Vermont
In the seven-decade story of America's most iconic sports car, the late 1970s are something of a black hole period. A time when primitive emissions restriction equipment in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis turned what was once a car as quick as a Ferrari and made it so slow that the average Datsun 240Z could leave it in the dust. The common practice with these late 70s Corvettes is to gut the stock powertrain, often for a newer, de-restricted option. But not all of them.
Because the term "reject modernity, return to monke" is more than just a dank meme these days, this '78 Vette for sale on Facebook Marketplace out of East Wallingford, Vermont, did the exact opposite of a modern drivetrain swap. Where once there likely sat an anemic L-48 V8 making around 175 horsepower on a good day, now sits a Ford flathead V8 more suited for an F-Series pickup truck from the mid-50s than it is a late 70s sports car.
Though the exact serial number for which Flathead is under the hood of this Corvette, It's a safe bet to say it's either the 239-cubic inch Ford or 255-cubic inch Mercury variant. Safe to say, no off-the-shelf bolt-on conversion kits are available for such a peculiar and unexpected engine swap. This means the amount of engineering and mechanical know-how needed to get this Vette in the state it is today is nothing short of impressive.
Believe it or not, old-school flathead Ford V8s can indeed be tuned to make respectable power numbers by modern standards. That's especially true when the iconic aftermarket Ardun heads are added, the brainchild of the "Father of the Corvette," Zora Arkus-Duntov. With this in mind, the aftermarket goodies added to this Corvette's bizarre new engine are sure to add some much-needed horsepower figures in the end. For starters, aftermarket aluminum cylinder heads are a great way to add a splash of modernity to an engine that might as well be made of stone otherwise.
Meanwhile, an Edelbrock Three-Deuce intake manifold originally intended for Chevy 350 small block motors and triple Stromberg 97 carburetors keeps enough air flowing through the engine to sustain hard pulls on the highways and quarter-mile digs to satisfy everyone's needs. This power is fed to a Tremec T-5 five-speed manual transmission met at the car's hindquarters by a chunky ten-bolt rear end. All in all, there are plenty of quality performance parts on offer to make this Vette an extremely tantalizing buy if you're into super-weird engine swaps. It can be all yours for the price of $24,500.
Though the exact serial number for which Flathead is under the hood of this Corvette, It's a safe bet to say it's either the 239-cubic inch Ford or 255-cubic inch Mercury variant. Safe to say, no off-the-shelf bolt-on conversion kits are available for such a peculiar and unexpected engine swap. This means the amount of engineering and mechanical know-how needed to get this Vette in the state it is today is nothing short of impressive.
Believe it or not, old-school flathead Ford V8s can indeed be tuned to make respectable power numbers by modern standards. That's especially true when the iconic aftermarket Ardun heads are added, the brainchild of the "Father of the Corvette," Zora Arkus-Duntov. With this in mind, the aftermarket goodies added to this Corvette's bizarre new engine are sure to add some much-needed horsepower figures in the end. For starters, aftermarket aluminum cylinder heads are a great way to add a splash of modernity to an engine that might as well be made of stone otherwise.
Meanwhile, an Edelbrock Three-Deuce intake manifold originally intended for Chevy 350 small block motors and triple Stromberg 97 carburetors keeps enough air flowing through the engine to sustain hard pulls on the highways and quarter-mile digs to satisfy everyone's needs. This power is fed to a Tremec T-5 five-speed manual transmission met at the car's hindquarters by a chunky ten-bolt rear end. All in all, there are plenty of quality performance parts on offer to make this Vette an extremely tantalizing buy if you're into super-weird engine swaps. It can be all yours for the price of $24,500.
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