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Wonder if I died? Or the car did? The project essentially died, logging only 30 tenuous tuning/what will go wrong next runs since finding my supposed coolant issues were actually FI ECU issues in 2021. I jury rigged around the ECU #8 cylinder driver chip dying (there were no new ECU's by then and no one repaired existing ones) by having the #1 cylinder injector driver chip fire the #1 and the #8 inector at the same time. It ran and I drove it somewhat but was never happy with how it ran and was always chasing other gremlins. One oil leak gremlin turned out in the end to be indirectly related to the FI. I modified the Mallory dual-sync distributor for an adjustable collar to adjust for the taller Hilborn manifold height but never got it adjusted quite right. It fit, drove the oil pump and ran but the collar was too high to put enough pressure on the distributor gasket to properly seal.
I finally came to the point where I either had to do something to get it running more to taste and reliably or give up, again, and actually sell it this time. I stilled liked the look of it sitting in the garage and decided to throw more $ after bad and switch to a new EFI system. A major concern was if I could actually access the EFI wiring to remove it, since it was installed and carefully secured with Adel clamps before the dash fiberglass and windshield were installed. My body has aged since then too and was not looking forward to contorting under the no longer removable dash in the confines of a coupe with a full roll cage. I took the plunge and purchased and installed a new Holley Terminator-X system. It took 3 days, and many bruises from forcing against the roll cage, to remove the old wiring harness, modify and install the new wiring harness and mount the new EFI system components. I was able to, after some re-wiring, use all the existing sensors except the O2 sensor. I ran the Holly Wizard and the engine started up. For a while it would only go into LEARN mode at idle. After I increased the negative fuel learn limit it finally started learning and with a little bit of surging and popping drove it around the neighborhood a few times.
I wanted to see just how much it was learning so downloaded the Holley software for a PC so I could view the various maps by exporting them to the SD card. Luckily while browsing through the software files I found some Hilborn 8-stack base maps. They looked NOTHING like the map generated by the Wizard setup. I took the one for a 502 BBC with a Hilborn 8 stack and modified it for my installation, displacement, and injectors and put it into the ECU. It was much better behaved from the begining. I did some mild adjustments and took it out for a drive to get gas. So far it is quite drivable and seems to be learning well. It is much louder than I remembered.
Wish me luck that this chapter will have less misadventures.
From: Middle TN by way of KY, OH, VA, IL, CA, FL, NY, SC, HI
Good Lord. Nothing much subtle about that Corvette! I'm sure that it frightens women, children, animals, and soy boys on the road. It looks great and I wish you luck getting it sorted out. I'm sorry that you are unable to get your website up - I'm sure it's amazing. Looking good, though.
On a completely unrelated note, now that I’m retired I told my wife I was going to grow a ponytail. She said she would cut it off while I was sleeping. She loves me like that.
So, is that an all original, numbers matching car .
That thing is awesome. Would love to see some full throttle 1/4 mile runs.
Congratulations on getting it back in action.
So, is that an all original, numbers matching car .
The only things NCRS correct on it are the VIN tag and a date coded windshield (which my wife's 1970 Top Flighted car does not have). I believe it was a factory race car since new as it has lightening holes in the frame that could only be made with the body off and could not be seen during a tech inspection. Also the wheel base is 1/2" longer on the left side than the right (drove me nuts for months till an old racer told me why). To do it the front crossmember is welded into the frame rails slightly off square.
Also the wheel base is 1/2" longer on the left side than the right (drove me nuts for months till an old racer told me why). To do it the front crossmember is welded into the frame rails slightly off square.
Might you be willing to share this secret from the days of yore?
Cool car, for sure. Welcome back, and congrats for having breathed new life into it. Love the NCRS decal.
It gives just a little more roll-out in the starting lights. In stock class they looked for every opportunity to make their car "more stock" than the others. LOL It was also fitted with the then optional drum front brakes for less rolling resistance.
I kept the stagger when I stretched the wheelbase 3" and moved the back edge of the wheel openings forward for a closer fit on the tires.
Has to have the NCRS decal. My wife got her senior judge 'Black Hat' this summer at the Hampton VA national event. I've been judging for quite a few years to, but less than she has.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
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Project NoFlight - the next chapter
