1coolC2

I have not posted here lately, well except for a few smart azz comments After selling my 63.. er 67.. hmmm, black C2 , I thought I would share what I have been up to. I have slowly made progress on my 65 Corvette coupe with SRIII chassis with C6 Z06 suspension, I'll post more on that later on. I also decided to build a car that I can go out and race with at Pro Tour events and not worry about so much. After piloting my previous car at very high speeds and thinking, what if I put this thing off the track That's where the Nova comes in....I have always loved this body style and it was the first muscle car I got to ride in as a kid. My Uncle had bought a brand new 70 SS396 Nova and I just loved it!

I found this car and it looked pretty good, but of course like all cars of this era, it had the usual rot in the rear 1/4's - outer wheel house. So I knew that all had to come off. The plan is to build the car around the track proven Detroit Speed front subframe and suspension and their Quadra-Link rear suspension. It is being powered with a 7.0 Liter Katech engine with a T56 Magnum trans. The rearend consist of a 9" housing, Mark Williams Pro Mod aluminum center section with a WaveTrac diff and 3.90 gear. The outer housing ends are designed by Mark Stielow and use C6 ZR1 hub pack bearings, making it a "floating" rear to prevent knock back on the brakes during hard cornering.

The car has a ton of fabrication work to accommodate all of the mods. I modified the DSE wheel tubs to give me a 14" wheel house that can fit a 345 tire on a 12" rim. We lowered the height between the body and frame, added a full chrome moly cage, welded up the firewall, added DSE frame connectors and added a SCCA approved ATL fuel cell with protection cage. I am currently cutting the entire trans and driveshaft tunnel to fit the T56 along with the adjusted engine and pinion angle changes. Lowering the car this much required the entire drivetrain to be readjusted.

The body received some upgrades with all new sheet metal in the rear, door skins along with fiberglass hood, deck lid, front fenders, cowl panel and front and rear bumpers to lighten it up a bit

This thing should be an absolute blast and provide excellent safety at higher speed events. I hope to get back on the 65 Coupe soon and have actually spent some time on it to keep things moving a little. Hope you all have fun with your winter projects too!!

R/
Jeff

1coolC2

rob1961

you don't mess around. cut her right up! nice project. Ive done many quarter panel replacement but never cut the whole back off at 1 time. looks good.

1coolC2

Oh yeah, I thought I better follow up with saying that this was just a Yenko clone car. I don't need to start up a "holly crap, you cut that up thread" It looks really nice in the pictures, but was a mechanical nightmare and had rust issues. The engine actually ran really well and had a nice little cam. With the help of Sky65, it went to a good home dirt cheap to a fellow forum member The rest of the car I considered dangerous at any speed This thing was basically a "cup cake" car....basically all frosting!!

R/
Jeff

1coolC2

Thanks. You can see in one of the pics that we actually just cut the left 1/4 and rear body panel off, leaving the right one on to help align the new parts. But in saying that, I use "align" sparingly After laser measuring the car during the chassis phase, these cars are far from square. We spent a considerable amount of time squaring up this car and during the rear sheet metal and door alignment we made everything fit properly and actually square to the car. Apparently as these cars went together at the factory, close enough was close enough and panel fitment was far from precise

R/
Jeff

67's

Jeff, car looks good, something tells me that intake isnt going to make it on the finished car, after the last beauty you made.

Tom M

Poorhousenext

I hate to see you quit carring the banner for C2s. The 63/67 was a great all around car, not just a one demensional car. Did everything well, especially for the meat you had to put all the engine's power too.

I understand why you made the decesion. Didn't ask what HP engine you are going with in the Coup at LS Fest when you told me about the Nova. I would love to see you put the Coupe in the 9.0's. The 63/67 just didn't have the tires to do it, considering you had to run 200 Treadwear Street tires. Hope you willing to live on the edge on the street with HP needed to run 9.0s with DR's.

3JsVette

Looking at the pictures (which can always be deceiving) especially with the under hood firewall detail I would not have suspected there was that much hidden rust. That's a great job on the body work.

Having ridden in both the DSE 1st and 2nd Gen Camaros at a Goodguys autocross this car will perform way better than most people can even imagine. The DSE stuff flat out works!
Good luck with this project going foward. I'm sure you will love driving it.

1coolC2

Without a doubt I have become good friends with Kyle and Stacy Tucker along with the rest of DSE team over the past 4-5 years racing my C2. We also worked together to produce the DSE C2 parts that are now available. That friendship has given me the opportunity to drive and ride in all of their cars. When I drove Stacy's 69 Camaro and the 66 Mustang Test car on the road course at Kershaw, SC....I was sold!! Absolutely incredible control, response and feedback to steering input....the best handling cars I have ever driven on a street tire to include my C6 Z06 Yeah, the Nova looks good in the original pictures....but that's all. The previous owner liked to detail cars, but had no mechanical skills. Everything that was taken apart to paint or detail either had no fasteners holding it in, or they were loose...even the motor mounts were finger tight!! The body work in the rear 1/4s had great stuff spray foam and bondo as the main ingredient.

Jere,
My original plan was to build the coupe out as a full blown killer, stupid power engine, cage and bulletproof drivetrain. After running the 63/67, I discovered a couple of things. The car is too valuable to wad up with the type usage and abuse I would ultimately put it through...and, there really is not a market for that kind of car when you decide to sell it. Now, in saying that.....the car will be able to run 10's on street tires and will no doubt still be a threat at the events I decide to take it to But for real competition, the Nova will take on that role

Tom,
You either know me too well, or you've been peeking

R/
Jeff

65LS6C4

Jeff,

Looks excellent, and should be great fun to push to its limits. I like the Yenko paint scheme that was on it. So where are the vette pix?

1coolC2

I'm holding off on those for a little bit, don't want to show off some of the work done to it yet

R/
Jeff

Marks Hotrod Garage

What are the specs on your Katech motor?

1coolC2

As purchased it is an LS3 stroked and poked to 7.0 liters, all forged rotating assembly with 11.0:1 CR, C5R timing chain, Katech oil pump, CNC ported heads and Katech cam. Power is rated at 600hp and 550ish trq if I remember correctly, would need to dig up the spec sheet. The cam is a mild street version and will probably be replaced with something to boost power where it should be. Plan is to "tune" it up to around 700hp for good measure. I looked at the pics from your last build and wow, what a nice job!! Look forward to seeing your next one!

R/
Jeff

chevahaulic

Absolutely " devastating ". As you pointed out...... beauty was only skin deep. I never got into rust repair. That is why non crashed Corvettes was an easy choice for my fleet. Motors and transmissions come and go but replacing quarters, wheel tubs, and under structure requires some " guts & talent " Kudos to you for saving an almost failing example.
I bought a new 73 SS Nova and it was the worst car I ever owned. Twelve miles per gallon and the transmission was out more than six times with fluid leaks. I have been eyeing the 65 to 67 variety but find most are 30 plus or need everything. Can't wait to see your Nova in paint and smoking tires. Keep up the good work.

appaloosa 0012

Wow! Outstanding! Keep the pictures commingle! Ay Caramba!!!

John McGraw

Looking good Jeff!

I started on a new project as well, even though my coupe is not done yet! I am still waiting from my rear wheels for the coupe. Budnik made them to the wrong backspace, and had to re-make them. I have now been waiting over 4 months for wheels! Good thing I have another project to work on. I have started on a 56 Bel Air, but still have not decided on a chassis yet. I have talked to Mike a couple of times, but C5/C6 steering and LS engines in a tri-five, makes you have to set the engine pretty far back to clear the rack. I may just use one of Art Morrison's chassis with the Mustang II front suspension.


Regards, John McGraw

1coolC2

John,

Just go ahead and cut the firewall out of it and move the engine back....you know you want to I wish I was as far along on the coupe as you are. I have just been too busy and want to finish the Nova to race with next year. Did I tell you I am also just starting my new 45' X 75' shp building?? Need more space for all of my crap Just picked up a 72 Corvette coupe too, like I needed more stuff

R/
Jeff

John McGraw

Well, I went ahead and ordered a firewall form Joe Lutz today at Hot Rod Dynamics. Took a sawzall to the rear wheelwells tonight, and will start fabricating new tubs this weekend. Anybody can restore a car, but it takes a real man to cut one up!


Regards, John McGraw

Ron Champe

Way to go Jeff....your work looks spot on ! Oh, did I ever mention that I'm begining to really dislike people with such talent. lol......

1coolC2

That's the spirit John Boy, if your comment about a real man is true, wait to ya see what I did to the coupe!!


Ron!! good to hear from you. I was bummed I did not get a chance to run into you at Carlisle this year. Hope all is well with you........and you can't dislike people with talent, look at the ride you built

R/
Jeff