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I have to say, in the most respectful way possible, that is probably the coolest looking "ugly" car I've ever seen. I bet it is tons of fun to drive, both track and street. Good job!
I have to say, in the most respectful way possible, that is probably the coolest looking "ugly" car I've ever seen. I bet it is tons of fun to drive, both track and street. Good job!
Thanks! I actually call her Ugly Betty, playing off my Z06 known as Black Betty. Hoping to get the wrap finished before we race at NCM in March, which will be another fun event. It really is a blast to drive, the car is very neutral and comfortable to drive at the limit, the reliability has been fantastic too which really helps make it fun. There's nothing worse than driving cross-country to race and fighting with issues all weekend, this car is all about staying on the track.
Here's a short in-car video from TWS, this was our fast lap of the weekend. Keep in mind that this was done in 4th gear around the whole track to save fuel, I'm confident that we could pick up a few seconds running all-out.
Read every word... and I am NOT a reader! Not much of a tech head either although I get the basic concepts... I dabble and tinker with cars and love playing with our C5.
But, this...this... is uh, entertaining, it's captivating, it's inspiring, it's innovative, it's refreshing, it's smart, it's addictive... shall I continue?
I absolutely loved watching this thread unfold, your dedication, creativity, documentation, and sense of humor, make a technically difficult, tedious, laborious, daunting task, seem like a seamless, well choreographed, planned and executed labor of love. I don't know your name or wouldn't know who you are if I met you on the street. But, this much I DO know... You are the kind of guy I want my Grandson to grow up to be like. The kind of guy that ANY father would be proud of...the kind of guy that I would love to just hang out with and at the very least come up with a whole new set of questions to ask...
Thank you for sharing your life with us...
73Corvette, what can I say, I'm blushing! I appreciate the kind words. Racing has been the one thing that really brought my dad and I together over the last 10-12 years I started racing with him and my brother in high school but went on the road racing with some friends of mine, it was a lot of fun but I was spending less and less time with my family which really bugged me. So, I pulled out of that and started doing endurance racing with dad a couple years ago, that's morphed into what you see here. My grandpa doesn't make it out too often since most of the races are out of state, but he enjoys coming to the one MN race that we usually run. It's a blast all around, fun being able to compete and put the skills to use that they taught me over the years.
More pics of the new livery below. I still need to get the spoiler fixed and bolted on but that's easier to do at home versus the bigger ticket items that need done at the shop. Anywho, here it is with the splitter re-mounted and the wrap finished, just missing contingency stickers and all that. The old splitter mounts were less than spectacular so I made a one-piece bar that sits behind the bumper cover. It has tubes that can pivot upward so if it bottoms out it won't damage the vertical strut tubes.
The new mount points also allow me to run Z06 screens without having to hack them up for the tubes to run through
I'm actually still running plywood I haven't weighed it but plan to after the NCM race. It's currently 5/8" as that's what I had at the time (was actually a tool-board on the wall of a local GM dealership for 50+ years before I re-purposed it) but I have some new 1/2" stuff that will be lighter and look better but be just as strong. I have worked with alumalite but have stuck with plywood for durability and workability. When I was putting the car together I actually found an engineering paper that compared material strengths of various materials, plywood was really high on the list, only surpassed by carbon fiber and a couple other composites.
I'm actually still running plywood I haven't weighed it but plan to after the NCM race. It's currently 5/8" as that's what I had at the time (was actually a tool-board on the wall of a local GM dealership for 50+ years before I re-purposed it) but I have some new 1/2" stuff that will be lighter and look better but be just as strong. I have worked with alumalite but have stuck with plywood for durability and workability. When I was putting the car together I actually found an engineering paper that compared material strengths of various materials, plywood was really high on the list, only surpassed by carbon fiber and a couple other composites.
Have you thought of using the material they use for mats on the floor of a horse trailor?
Not sure about weight... but, it's durable, it's already black, fairly stiff, would flex if hit not just break or crack. You could probably make several splitters with one sheet... about the same thickness of what your using now and not very expensive.. I think you can get it at Tractor supply
No luck on that stuff, too flexible and looks like about 100 lbs. The splitter serves a difficult role as it has to be sturdy enough to provide downforce but also resilient enough to withstand impact, while being light enough in weight to not overcome the advantage it provides. The plywood one on the car has been doing pretty well, I've had to patch it up a couple of times but so far it's seen over 40 hours of race time without failure
Awesome build. I usually don;t have the attention span to read an entire thread either but I just did. I've been wanting to do something similar for sometime now but don;t have half the skill or tools you do.
I have a ten year old son who loves cars much like I do. My dad got me into them, I got him into them. My wife hates my C5 but since he loves it so much it stays. I'm leaning toward building him a cart and getting him racing. As he gets older and moves up, maybe we'd be ready fro something like this.
Here are some pictures from the weekend at NCM Motorsports Park, I don't have time to caption or organize them now but will run back through them later, hopefully tonight.
Nice interview and some cool footage in those reports. Congrats on being the first Vette to race at NCM. I am planning on an HPDE there in April... but I am scared of that track, after hearing about all the incidents there since it opened. Your thoughts on the track?
Nice interview and some cool footage in those reports. Congrats on being the first Vette to race at NCM. I am planning on an HPDE there in April... but I am scared of that track, after hearing about all the incidents there since it opened. Your thoughts on the track?
I guess I haven't heard of any issues, but we really enjoyed the track. It's technical, tons of fun to drive. We were just on the West course and still had a blast, ditto for everyone else that I talked to. We'll be back next year I'm sure, looking forward to see the garages and scoring tower go up.
I'm surprised you didn't do any differential work. Chances are the belleville washers are cracked. This is a big problem with c5's. You can get better replacement ones that will ensure your limited slip works properly - very important for racing.
Hey LateBrake, great seeing you guys at the race this weekend and the car looked great!! This is the guy that was out there with camera in hand capturing the event. Jason of JPM Media, Hoosier Performance Engineering is my day time job and we had a sponsored car there racing the event to. I have some great photos of the car in action and should be wrapping them up this week.
Congrats on a job well done. Saturday was a horrible day for racers and photog's, but we were blessed with a beautiful day Sunday were we not!!
03-06-2015, 02:50 PM
I started racing with him and my brother in high school but went on the road racing with some friends of mine, it was a lot of fun but I was spending less and less time with my family which really bugged me. So, I pulled out of that and started doing endurance racing with dad a couple years ago, that's morphed into what you see here. My grandpa doesn't make it out too often since most of the races are out of state, but he enjoys coming to the one MN race that we usually run. It's a blast all around, fun being able to compete and put the skills to use that they taught me over the years.
I haven't weighed it but plan to after the NCM race. It's currently 5/8" as that's what I had at the time (was actually a tool-board on the wall of a local GM dealership for 50+ years before I re-purposed it) but I have some new 1/2" stuff that will be lighter and look better but be just as strong. I have worked with alumalite but have stuck with plywood for durability and workability. When I was putting the car together I actually found an engineering paper that compared material strengths of various materials, plywood was really high on the list, only surpassed by carbon fiber and a couple other composites.
