I will check those out, this kind of question is very helpful. For all I know they are originals.

 

having wore out components will give you bad feelings. if they are wore out I would suggest a rebuild with all new rubber bushings made by moog

 

And to this point, my '63 developed worn out bushings in the rear suspension camber rods. The driving effect was to make the car extremely squirreley in the turns. It would give more steering than I input which required some amount of correction as I made my way through a turn. Very unpleasant.

I replaced the camber rods with new Moog service parts and now the car, once again, inspires confidence when cornering, even with van tires.

 

Now that's what Im talking about. Need to check the bushings and rods. What you are describing sounds a lot like what I am experiencing.

 

Most of my experience in the last 20 years has been driving my 72 Porsche 911 at track days so driving a rear engine/rear drive is a lot different technique. Now for the last 5 years I've been driving my Classic Mini Cooper, front engine front drive and the Hemi/Vette. Now I haven't driven a C2 Vette on the track for 35 years when my old 65 was stolen but I do remember the technique. My Hemi is heavier that a Chevy big block but again you can work with that. When I put in the TREMEC 5spd I had the shop lower the front 1" and add -1deg of camber. Now it has the solid Chrysler rear axle so more like a C1 but I added 4 link rear suspension with coil/over shocks. I'm running Firestone Firehawk tires and I'm pleased with how it handles. I chased around in the coastal mountains of Oregon yesterday with a bunch of Miata friends and was pleased with the way it handles, no understeer. Similar to the Porsche, brake in a straight line and start to add power at the apex and she settles into the turn right on those Miata's tails.

 

A wider stance with wider tires all around makes a C2 handle much better but that requires wider fenders.

 

Just for laughs I have to share my Buddy's story, he was a VP at a large Bank, he took several of his top customers to Sears Point Raceway for a week of driving instruction, a customer enhancement week. I think it is now called Infineon Raceway in Sonoma CA. They were all in a class learning to race in Formula Ford race cars, small open wheeled race cars with a 4 cylinder, maybe 250 HP at best. Still they probably weigh no more than 1300 pounds and are fast on the track. They had instruction first and more instruction all day on how to run fast laps at the road course.
At the end of the day the instructor was ticked off because these guys were not learning or not using the information he was sharing. To make an example he had all of these guys load up into a Mitsubishi Montero, an underpowered SUV 4 wheel drive, nothing close to a race car and he had enough people on board that they weighed about the same as the Formula Ford. With all these guys stuffed into the car he hit the track. He went out and ran a time that was faster than the best time recorded by the group in the Formula Fords that day. He was instructing them all the way around the track on when to brake, turn and accelerate while driving at very high speed in that SUV. My buddy told me it felt like the Mitsubishi was going to fly off the track and flip on every single corner, it scared him to death but he made his point and the next day when he said do this, they did.
Bottom line, the driver and training makes a huge difference. I appreciate a thread like this because I have no idea how to make a C2 drive well. Thanks
Mark

 

Great story, definitely take two to tango, the car and the driver! Hey that should be a magazine lol.

 

I believe the official name has changed Yet Again and is now Sonoma Raceway.

No matter.

It will always be Sears Point as far as I'm concerned.

 

 

Formula Fords by the rules are powered by a STOCK (other than headers and open exhaust) 1600 cc Ford Cortina engine, and in that form probably makes something like 100-105 GHP. On big tracks like Riverside, Willow, and probably Sears Point (that I've never driven) they are flat out most of the way around and only brake for the slowest corners.

Duke

 

​​​​​​Wider stance and tires won't necessarily improve handling. It's 90 percent about tires, specifically internal construction and rubber compounds. The rest is chassis tuning like springs shocks, bars, and alignment. The OE suspension set up is mostly there, and the only things needed are rebound adjustable shocks, more negative camber, and maybe a slightly different bar setup. but a better handling vintage Corvette starts with TIRES.

TIRES! TIRES! TIRES!

Duke

 

NO!

Driver! Driver! Driver!

 

Wow! Old thread resurrected. I ended with better Michelin tires, all new bushings, ball joints, strut rods with spherical rod ends and a larger front bar. Autocrossed a few years at Lime Rock Park. Did ok for an old car.
Sold the 64 in 2017. Now driving a 92 ZR-1.

 

LOL - 9 year old thread! Sounds like both the driver and tires got upgraded, then the entire car!

 

I also didn’t feel confident driving on winding roads, so I installed koni adjustable shocks, rebuilt the front end, and had the steering box rebuilt by Bairs corvette, my car now handles way better than before. Ian