Marks Hotrod Garage

As all of us car guys know there is no end to spending money on our cars. One thing always leads to another.......where do you stop? Typically it is a result of our wallets that limit us in our automotive imaginations. Otherwise there would be no end

Here is a project that started out simple. A friend of mine and fellow car lover purchased this 66 Roadster at a fair price. Yes, it has 67 side vents in it but otherwise it is a nice car. The attraction was (and still not verified) is the 460 horsepower ls7 motor it is claimed to have in it. Roughly a few thousand motors were built but never installed in the 1970 Corvette. I am sure I will get some questions on this.

Since I have the big garage and a little experience (enough to be dangerous) he brought it over and asked if I could detail the engine compartment and install A/C...........Sure I said no problem.

We pulled the motor today and found our hoist was a little short so we brought in the Bobcat for some serious pulling power. We pulled the vette out in the grass to steam clean the engine compartment and suspension. I thought it was a cool picture with all of the steam coming out.......no, we did not catch the car on fire.....yet!!

p.s......yes we are replacing the wheels!!!

1. detail and paint firewall and frame as seen in engine compartment
2. install A/C
3. new custom Griffen Radiator and twin fans
4. rehab dash board
5. rebuild clock
6. new carpet
7. full coil over suspension?

My questions are where is the best place to have your dash restored? All guages work so I could clean, paint, and replace lenses.

Best place to rebuild clock

And what do you guys think of a full coilover suspension to lower the stance of the car and allow for wider wheels in the back?

Please help

67's

Bill H,

Does great work, and is a great guy to deal with

http://www.harrisonspeedometer.com/

Tampa Jerry

Regarding adding A/C, if that is a true LS 7 engine, I would double belt the A/C compressor. I could see you throwing a belt the first time you got on the engine. As a kid, my friend and I put an LS 6 in a GTO and to put it mildly, it was "exciting" to drive. I can only guess at what it must be like to drive an LS 7. Jerry

WHEW64

Ya gotta love no front bumpers on a "mid model"

raosterkamp

That "cherry-picker" looks to be almost as much fun as driving the "moneypit"!!! Rick

ToolMaker427

Nice Project!

I built a 468 from a new LS7 short block.
We internally balanced the entire assembly similar the L88's.
New "D" port alum heads from Chevy with much porting and CC'ing.
ZL1 cam, and a L-88 intake with a single 850 DP.

This is a very brief description of the year long process that it took to finish the build, (weekends, and nights).

The motor was a monster! Pulled the gears north of 7500rpm!
My BIL remembers the tires still hazing in third approaching 100mph.

Hang on and have fun!

Marks Hotrod Garage

thank you for the heads up. its nice he is in florida as I live in Sarasota, Fl. I just gave him a call.

Good advise on that one. Opinions are the main reason I take the time to get on these forums. I love taking advantage of other peoples opinions!

We talked about putting the front bumpers back on. However, they were not with the car and it looks like when you add up the bumpers and the brackets your looking at $1000 to put them back on


Rick, quite honestly I am glad to have some redneck in me so we aint scared to getting out of piece of equipment to help out in the shop area.

I am no motor specialist so I will be talking with the guy who does my work. We were thinking of converting this to a single carborator. I will let him know what you did and see what he thinks. Thanks

DansYellow66

Love the dual carb intake - need to keep that. Nice looking car.

DansYellow66

I do believe LS-7 motor had aluminum heads (correct?). Those are painted so not sure what they are.

RJ1

I believe only difference in the LS-7 and LS-6 are the aluminum heads on the LS-7. HP was the small on both.

Marks Hotrod Garage

I took a few pictures of the block today. The numbers on the block are.....10063286. The 3 has a blemish on it in the casting. They are definitely cast iron heads which is obvious and I will be looking at them shortly to determine what this motor is made of.

I had a few guys working on the car today and most of the day was spent in the engine compartment. This frame was DIRTY and obviously hadnt had a good cleaning since 1966. It is hard to know where to stop on this engine compartment. We'll probably spend tomorrow morning sanding the frame and engine compartment and then we'll paint it. We will being using Imron paint in a satin finish.

I spoke to the guys at Van Steel today and I will be ordering a full coil over kit for this car. This includes the narrowed trailing arms, tubular upper/ lower A-arms, upgraded front and rear sway bars, and new coil overs. It should be a nice package.

Marks Hotrod Garage

I think your right. we thought about changing it to a single 4 barrel carb but the dual quads are sweet.

67's

Wasn't the LS7 supposed to be a tri-power? Thought I saw that in a old Corvette News.

DansYellow66

There may have been some original intent for tri-power but the LS7 was introduced with a single 4bbl. I think by the time the LS7 came along, GM was out of the multi-carb business.

Marks Hotrod Garage

So who's aluminum radiator would you guys go with.........Dewitts or Griffen?

John McGraw

Dewitts, without any hesitation!



Regards, John McGraw

DansYellow66

Dewitts - although original BB were copper. I think (not sure) they offer an aluminum BB replacement also.

Marks Hotrod Garage

sorry guys if I keep taking advantage of you my buddy just called me and now wants big brakes on this car. does anyone make a C5 brake kit for the c2. I know Wilwood has a 14" kit but we were thinking of 17's wheels on front and 20's in the back. 14" rotors require an 18 inch wheel. Would like to have some nice red c5 calipers on this car.

mark

BOB WINSKI

I second that DEWITTS

Mr D.

Nice tape job on the safety glasses.