Here's my attempt to motivate all y'all...

Here are two videos of the Goodguys Autocross finals; 2013 and 2014 with battles between Danny Popp's '72 (388 CI destroked LS7 with carb intake and Holley EFI) and Brian Hobaugh's '65 (364 CI stroked SBC with TPIS EFI)...I believe the '72 runs 335 Rear/315 Front and the '65 runs 315 Front/Rear. Both run top of the line shocks and brakes. Don't quote me on vehicle specs as they may have evolved...it's what I found online. Second video has them at 2+40. Enjoy!!!

 

Definitely not trailer queens!

 

I wonder if these two machines annoy the snot out of the high-dollar pro-touring car owners?

High dollar JRI shocks and good tires, yes. But they really do run relatively stock suspensions (and Borgeson boxes). Not really comparable to the cars with full Art Morrison frames or C6 suspension conversions.

I will give that these two guys really know how to drive.

 

Pretty cool! Both of those cars were bad ***!

 

Just stunning modded cars...
Thanks for sharing,
Do you happen to know the size of the wheels on the 72?

 

Both cars are serious "race" street cars but honestly I think Danny Popp could drive a milk truck faster than most of us. The guy is a lunatic behind the wheel and knows his way around a course.

 

Danny has had the vette at Holley LS Fest in Bowling Green Ky if any of you guys want to get a close up look at it doing its thing.

 

According to Chevy HiPerformance:
Front 18x11.5 with 315/30s
Rear 18x12.5 with 335/30s

 

I'm surprised cars like this don't garner more discussion. I see so many threads talking about ways to get more performance out of our old Corvettes, but it seems like the legwork has been done. Thoughts? How would these cars do on a roadcourse? How would they do down the 1/4? Down the 1/4 on a bottle? How about against a big big-block with insane power in either venue?

 

When I watch Danny Popp's car, it doesn't just turn, it rotates into the next section, all pointed to where it needs to be next. That's everything working right, car and driver. I want that! Time to start working on the driver, not the car.

 

I sadly notice some tech threads asking for help gets lots of hits few replies yet drama off topic type stuff goes viral with replies,
In the case of these racers while the tech I am guessing is a mix of old school and new modern the fellows doing it are out doing it, I would love to see threads with stuff like this, you know talk about what is possible,
I am no guru but I am also guessing that these cars are built to run the courses not the 1320 some really mean auto cross cars are not great on the strip, and vice versa, well, they would still spank most of our cars here, I am curious do many people run the bottle on these old street vettes?

 

Seems like older Corvettes are lagging the fight when it comes to the more radical power adders. My thoughts: fewer numbers with many of those numbers not interested in modifications and a more 'seasoned' driver/owner group...

Yeah it would be interesting to see what kind of 1/4 mile performance these two could turn in. I mentioned the bottle because these two seem perfectly suited regarding weight, balance, grip and power for just about anything you could ask of a performance car. Straight line performance might be the only ***** in their armor.

 

Ducking in briefly.....

My car has run a BEST of 11.21 @ 128mph on 200 TW tires, albeit not built or set-up for it AT ALL. That was also on a 95 degree day on a prepped track. I think the car will run a 10.9 , just need the proper opportunity.

 

Thanks for checking in Danny. Care to fill us in on plans/mods for the upcoming season?

 

What about safety? Where is his helmet? I have never taken (or was allowed) a lap without one.

 

So what you're saying is there aren't too many ****** in the ol' armor. Thanks for ducking in...

I read an old Super Chevy article that stated: M21, 4.56s and about 3040# with the old motor (12:1 355 with about 420 ft-lbs @ 5400 and 460 hp @ 6800). I'm guessing the new 388 LS is in the 520 ft-lbs/600 hp range? Any other drivetrain changes?

Clearly we all have a lot to learn here...

 

The new engine has only been chassis dynoed once, and that was with a lack-luster fuel system and very restrictive side pipe mufflers....it still yielded 512 wheel horsepower,460-ish tq , corrected , on a DynoJet. I change things around a bit, but most of the year it had a M20 in it with a 4.11 final.

As far as mods for the new season, I haven't even started them yet, but I am going to upgrade the valvetrain a bit, we never planned on this power plant being so engine speed happy, dry-sump oiling system so that I can stop scaring myself with wet-sump pump cavitation above 6400 rpm, I also want to install a Tremec 6-spd with appropriate gearing to benefit driveability and roadcourse capability. Other than that, it will be just tweaking suspension things .....and trying to develope a couple of new pieces for the chassis/suspension.

It is pretty amazing how capable a stock-framed, bolt-on C2 or C3 can be with much more modern and sophisticated vehicles or crazy-expensive PT cars

 

Great Thread, and two wonderful cars for all of us to dream about.

 

Some great info here too guys...

I hope this isn't over the line, but I found a lengthy thread on lateral-g.net with/about Brian Hobaugh discussing the set-up and a few recent changes to his '65. FYI, he also drives a highly modded '73 Camaro. I've included several of Brian's responses from the thread addressing questions about the '65...

http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/show...hlight=Hobaugh

"The Camaro has much more power (611 to 475) and it weighs about the same (3230) as the Corvette. The Camaro is better on the road course with the power and longer wheel base (108 to 98). The Corvette has about the perfect amount of power for autocross and the shorter wheel base helps. I am going to run the Corvette at the next few Goodguys events. Due to the small courses at Goodguys, the Corvette should be much better than the Camaro."

"We upgraded the heads to Brodix Aluminum heads and a lighweight Scat crank. Our minimum goal is a 50 hp gain and 500 rpm redline increase. It should be at least 550 hp, 550 lb/ft torque, 7500 rpm redline."

"It made 434 hp to the rear wheels at 6800 RPM. That is about a 40 HP gain and peak power went from the old of 6400 to the new of 6800. The torque peak was just about the same as the old motor, about 400 to the rear wheels. The curve is much flatter than the old motor. Redline went from a limted 7000 RPM to 7500 RPM. The intenal parts will allow us to do this with no problem. We lowered the compression a full point to allow us to run pump gas. This cost us some HP. Overall, it should be a very well rounded motor that we can beat on for years to come."

"The fuel injection unit is from TPIS. The style is like the LT1, but it is much larger inside. We have a 58 MM throttle body and 40 lb injectors to go with it. The engine management is an ACCEL DFI Gen 7."

"I was overheating the brakes and a stock caliper blew apart. We have fixed that problem with a nice set of Wilwood Brakes."

"The JRI Shocks are incredible. We have never been able to adjust our shocks before, and the adjustments we made changed the car dramatically. That is part of the beauty of these shocks. We also made a significant spring change. The combo fixed a small issue we have had for many years and the car is faster than it was."

r,
Rob

 

Agreed! Although I think I'm more envious of the fact that they do with their cars what we all dream about. Have been pondering lately...you only live once and I think having a really cool car and complaining about cone rash and rubber boogers would be a great problem to have...