ajg1915

As many of you have seen some of my prior postings of my 2001 Corvette Coupe body kit pictures etc in the past, I thought it would be of interest to you to see what it takes to do a conversion from a Coupe to a FRC.

A vast majority of the body work is being done by ACP (aka Corvette Race bodies) in Harrisburg, PA. (I did a little bit of the dismantling). I started my project (3) years ago after I purchased my car and becoming a member of this site.

The original vette that I bought was a 2001 navy blue coupe with low mileage and a Lingenfelter Maggy system with an auto transmission.





In August of 2005, I found ACP via some pictures I saw posted and started conversations with the owner of ACP, Kerry Hitt. Kerry is a former corvette racer and just loves what he does.

Kerry was in the process of developing a body kit the ACP Z11 when I spoke with him, at which time he invited me to visit his shop in Harrisburg, PA. I went to visit the shop in October of 2005 with my brother Tim and really liked what I saw. I made plans to drop my car off with ACP in January of 2006.

My car was going to be used for the some of prototype fitting of the ACP Z11 kit, but after it was finished, I had some changes in mind as I started really liking the looks of the FRC / Z06 (Hardtop) Corvette over my coupe.

I had Kerry, put my car on hold for awhile so that I could do some investigating of how I could convert my coupe into a FRC. After a bunch of research, I realized that I could convert my coupe to a FRC with the help of ACP along with my body kit.

I picked up the car from ACP in March of 2007 to begin the quest that I had set-forth, to convert my coupe to a FRC along with a gazillion other modifications. I got the vette home and with the help of my brother and the patience of my wife, I began the job.


- I dropped the entire drive train, suspension, etc and began converting the automatic to six-speed. Through my parts acquisitions, I was fortunate to meet Dr. Phil when I bought some parts from "Earl H". At that time I talked to Dr Phil about doing my conversion to a six speed but our timing never worked out, however Dr. Phil told me he would help me through the process.

- I installed the new drive line consisting of a Textralia Twin, Z06 Torque Tube, C6 Z06 Shifter, RPM Level 5 Tranny w/9310 main shaft, DTE Stage 5 Rear w/3.42 gears and DTE Brace. At some point I plan on doing a motor build but I am going to wait until I sort all of the other changes that I have made.




- I completed the tranny conversion with the help of Phil and I sent my PCM to Phil and he reprogrammed. I installed the PCM and completed some of the other wiring mods and the vette fired up on the first try, no codes. Ah the feeling of success and accomplishment at completing this task was awesome and encouraged me to continue to do the work myself instead of farming out the work.

- Next I finished up the installation of the VBP poly bushings, Wilwood 14” big brake kit, VBP HD tie rod ends and the Pfadt coil overs and sway bars.

- The removal of the Maggie went pretty smooth and only took a day to swap out for the LS6 manifold and replacement of the radiator with a BeCool system. The radiator change over was part of the transmission conversion and the later engine upgrade that will take place once I sort out everything out after getting the car back from the body conversion process.




- With the help of my brother I headed out to Chicago (I’m from the Philly, PA area) to pick up the rear clip of a FRC so that I could gather the needed parts to convert my coupe to a FRC.



- It took me a few months to dismantle the rear clip and get the parts off that I needed to do the conversion (roof, braces, trunk, speaker mounts, trunk hardware, etc.)

- Then it was off to Gene (Gmpartshouse.com) for some more parts help. Luckily for me Gene is about 15 minutes from my house. Gene helped me get all the parts I needed (window moldings, weather stripping, upper rear tub enclosure, screws, clips, rear brace, etc .. to do the job.

- I then stripped out the interior of the car, removed most of the fenders, targa top, rear hatch, weather stripping and all of the various hardware to get the car ready to go back up to ACP for the conversion process.











- I dropped the car off in late January of 2008 at ACP along with all of the boxes of parts that I had accumulated for the project. I had to make two trips, one with the car and with all of the parts. My brother, Tim helped me again with this task.


- Below, ACP has removed the rear fascia and is in the process of removing the covering and hatch support piece that is glued like a **** to roof frame.







- Once this was done, ACP cut off the old upper tub piece that the coupe uses and re-fitted it with the FRC/Z06 new upper tub piece that I purchased from Gene.

- This is what it looks like with the new tub in place.

Oh 2 Fun

Did I miss something here??!!

I'm really sorry, but I cannot for the life of me, understand why you would spend all this time and money converting a coupe to a fixed-roof-coupe rather than just purchasing what you wanted in the first place.

Please tell me the truth.....

If nothing else.....congrats on a truly amazing conversion......

ajg1915

Actually, since the car is was going to be repainted anyway with the al of the other body enhancements, it was the perfect time to do the conversion.

The car was already going to be stripped down so not why not finish the way I wanted it to be. By the time, I figured everything out about what I liked and what I did not like, I was too deep into the project to stop.

It's like the first time you buy a house you don't really notice all of things you don't like until you lived in it a while so that when you buy the next house or remodel you know what you want.

I now know what I want and have decided to remodel instead of selling and buying all over again.

0Rage@AutoBuffs

Nice! Should be awsome ride when completed. Don't settle, you only live once!

Oh 2 Fun

Thats totally cool dude. I'm impressed by your efforts! I have yet to tear down my car. But from what you've posted, it looks fascinating.

Can't wait to see your final outcome...

Thanks so much for your reply.....what time is it there?! Go to Bed!

ajg1915

I travel a lot in my job. I am in Reno, NV at the moment and will be catching the red-eye home out of Vegas tonight.

You're up pretty late youself.

ajg1915

That's what I figured too. Besides you can't take it with you when you go.

jdmvette

that is one hell of a project.

i have a feeling that once you're all done, this car will be one of the top-tier vettes ever seen on the forum.

ZO6 Lee

I suggest you make the FRC a Targa as long as you have it all torn up. There are a few of us with FRC Targas. I love mine.
Good Luck with your project.

armysoldierboy

I'm probably just a simple guy but I cant for the life of me understand why anyone would go through such lengths on converting a car when GM makes a perfectly good one right of the assembly line. I mean you even got rid of the supercharger. Just seems like working harder instead of smarter. But I gotta say kudos on the great work it looks like you really put a lot of hard work into that baby. Having it be what you want is the most important.

peter pan

Awesome project you got going and looking forward to more of the progress and you are right you can not take it with you, why my Vette has stayed stock

burbleflyer

Now you've done it!

illmac77

Looking Real good so far Tony, nice to see all the progress in one thread

FactoryRaceCar

Congrats Tony. I, along with the few here close to you knew about the whole project. Its totally amazing how the car is being transformed. I cant wait to see the finished conversion!

If you need any help, do not hesitate to contact me

Bigcountry7

So tell the truth, your just really bored all of the time right? Are you like that guy from the movie Crank? You need the constant adrenaline rush and you only get your fix through the destruction of a beautiful car? Just kidding... thanks again for the help that you have given me in the not to distant past and awesome project! Although it looks like the tab will be a boat load of money!

PostShawn

Sweet project. Please keep us posted.

MR.WaynesWorld

Looking good Tony... I too have know about this project for some time, even purchased some of the left over pieces Tony had. I'm hoping you get her completed by August so I can see her in person at Carlisle....

DTE Powertrain

Looks real good and kudo's to your efforts! Thank you again for the business as well!

Congrat's and keep up the good work!

ajg1915

Thanks Nomi, it's amazing what a little cut here and there will do to the look of a car.

Yes Wayne you have known for a while about my little project and thanks to you and your wife, Lori's for having mod fever and buying some of my parts. BTW, anymore updates on your project ?


Thanks Phil for all of your help in the past and in the future with my vette.

Cobra4B

Awesome Tony I have some of the parts from that car on mine targa Z now