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Vetted C5 Updates: New Eyes, New Hips, More Power, More Cool - Update (Again)
Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted here about Vetted C5. I’ve posted some things on other people’s threads and Facebook, but I have waited to post here until all plans were completed. As the Subject implies; we’ve gone through some changes over the last year and a half. To see the journey from the beginning go here: Vetted C5 Build Thread
Some of the changes were fixes, some were upgrades that came about from the fixes, some were things I just wanted to do. As for fixes, I had an unfortunate meeting with a parking barrier that crushed the front lip. Even though it was urethane it did not survive so I removed it. At $400 plus painting I was not too keen on replacing it. I tried living without it, but it just looked unfinished to me, so I had seen where others used alternative front lips so first I tried an Ebay special front lip, then I tried an APR carbon fiber front lip. Neither worked to my satisfaction so I ended up buying a Carbon Creations Tiger Shark II Duraflex (fiberglass) front lip. The fitment was good, it’s probably more fragile than the urethane but it’s half the cost. It came out well and doesn’t look any different than the original.
Next on the fix list was the rear wheel (tire) fitment. I purposely went with taller than stock tires from the beginning at 275/35 19 & 305/35 19 they were 1” taller overall. I did this to get small fender gap and still retain some ground clearance. Unfortunately, they were not just 1” taller, they are 1” larger in diameter. What I wasn’t aware of at the time is that the C5 wheels are not centered in the wheel opening, they are offset towards the front. This caused the tire to hit the top front face of the wheel well when I went over dips (not bumps) at speed. I hit a dip one day that caused the tire to rip the fender liner out of the car and crack the fender ;-(. The estimate for repair was $1k so I decided get the Vettenuts flares instead. Two things happened at that point. 1. It helped but didn’t completely solve the clearance problem. 2. The tires were tucked in too far. I solved the tuck problem with 5mm spacers. I eventually solved both problems by going with 325/30 19 tires. They are now ½” taller than stock instead of 1” and no longer hit the fender wells and they fill up the fenders perfectly without spacers. That’s the new hips in the subject.
Next on the list of fixes that turned into an improvement was the cooling (more cool). The car ran very hot in stop and go traffic in hot weather. Being in NC it’s hot most of the time. I already had a DeWitts radiator and fan set up, so I started looking into a higher flowing water pump. What I ended up with was an electric water pump. It was more expensive, but I can’t say enough good things about it. Now the car actually cools down while idling, where the temperature used to skyrocket. I highly recommend this set up for drag strip or auto cross usage. You will be able to cool down the car much quicker between runs. Road race or other elongated highspeed runs would probably be better served with high flow water pump that’s designed to be more efficient at high RPM, where the electric water pump runs the same speed all the time. I had spoken to my builder about a cam back when he first tuned the car. He told me if I was still thinking about wanting to do that now would be the time since he had to take the front apart to do the water pump so…. Ok so now I have a mild blower cam and the water pump probably freed up a couple ponies and we ended up at 633 whp and 597 tq, an improvement of 72 hp and 37 ft-lb. There’s probably some more in it, but I would need more fuel and/or meth injection set up. It’s estimated at 728 hp at the crank so I’m probably at the end of where I can safely be on a stock bottom end anyway. That’s still more horsepower than a stock C7 Z06 so I’m satisfied. The car runs and sounds amazing, with just a little cam burble. It starts on the first crank and idles and runs in traffic better than stock but take it over 3k rpm and WOW!
So that covers the hips, the power, and the cool, what about the eyes? I went to fixed headlights from the start, utilizing Radio Flyer Stealth Cannons with ¾ angel eye “angry” eyes. These lights work great and are probably the most functional that you can buy for a C5. From a style perspective, I always preferred the Breathless Performance Lemans style lights. They are flush just like the Radio Flyers, but the design with the rectangular low beam makes the front look wider and more menacing, whereas the dual round look surprised. I originally went with the RF’s because of the dismal performance of the BP’s, which were actually worse than stock if you can imagine that and they cost more. I caught a sale at Christmas and got a set from BP for $800. I was then pleasantly surprised when they came with halogen lights instead of the sealed beam 80’s Camaro lights that they originally came with. I further upgraded those with an OPT7 HID conversion. Now the lights are great, not quite as good as the RF’s because they are not in HID designed housings, but very good, nonetheless. I added LED switch back DRL eyebrows and a harness from RF that makes the DRL’s run white instead of orange. I’m very pleased with the final look.
Not mentioned in the subject were some needed upgrades to the interior. I got of set of Lloyd’s mats for the front and cargo compartment. I only use the front mats for shows, the rest of the time they live in the back. The other upgrade in the interior was the infotainment system. The car was completely dyno matted in the first round of the build, so when the windows were up the sound system was fine. With the windows down and the top off, there was not enough punch for the sound to overcome the wind noise, so I added a 2nd Kenwood DDXR900 amp and went with 2 JL 10W3 subs in corner boxes. I ended up with more cargo space than I had with the other box and perfectly clear sound with the top off. I still like to ride around and just listen to the engine, but when I want music the clarity of this set up is amazing. It’s still not a thump for the neighborhood set up, but inside the car you can adjust the sound to pound your chest of pic up every instrument in a classical piece. Last, but not least I had to replace the head unit. I had a Kenwood DNN992, it ended up not being compatible with IOS10, so I could not play any music on my phone even if I physically connected it. I ended up getting another Kenwood head unit, a DDX7703S. It doesn’t have a build in NAV system, but since it has Apple Car Play I don’t need it. It has excellent digital processing and cost much less than the first unit.
So that’s it, below are the current pics, thanks for looking! New hp numbers 633 rwhp / 597 ft-lbs
Mod List. New items in bold: Engine: ECS Super Charger Kit MSD Airforce intake manifold LS2 fuel rails 80lbs injectors MSD Blaster coil packs MSD spark plug wires NGK spark plugs LS6 90mm silver blade throttle body (polished) Texas Speed & Performance blower cam
Meziere 300 Series Electric Water Pump Energy Suspension motor mounts (1/4" lower) DeWitts radiator and twin fan kit Mechman 240 amp billet alternator LG 1-3/4" headers/2-1/2" X-pipe Stainless Works exhaust with custom tips McCleod RST twin disc clutch with billet flywheel MGW Shifter with C6 handle
Wheels/Tires: 19x10/19x11 BC Forged HBO5 275/35/19 & 325/30/19 Michelin Pilot Super Sport
Audio: Kenwood DDX7703S Kenwood XR900 amp x 2 Morel Virtus 6.5 component speakers Morel Maximo 6.5 coax speakers JL 10tw3v3 10" subs x 2 in corner mount boxes
Interior: Apsis carbon fiber/leather/alcantara silver stitching super seats power driver and passenger Apsis carbon fiber/leather silver stitching steering wheel Apsis C6 Shift **** leather/alcantara silver stiching Double D Mods carbon fiber/leather silver stitching double din center console Double D Mods leather dashboard silver stitching Double D Mods leather/alcantara door panels Double D Mods carbon fiber door bezels Billet vent surrounds Billet door handles (one off custom made) Leather sun visors with integrated I/R controls MGW shifter Lloyds Corvette Racing mats front and cargo
Exterior: BSM's removed StarCraft Tigershark front bumper and lip ACP extractor hood Breathless Performance Lemans Style headlights with custom LED "eyebrow" DRL/turn signals Radio Flyer LED tail lights Radio Flyer LED switchback turn signals Radio Flyer LED license plate lights Radio Flyer white DRL harness LED fog light conversion
Vettenuts 1" flared rear fenders Corvette Creationz AC Edition side skirts
Corvette Creationz urethane rear diffuser L5 rocker panels with functional brake ducts Custom "Jake" stinger stripe Carbon flash metalic top and Halo OPT 7 HID’s and LED DRL’s
Good to hear from you Wayne, it’s been a minute.
Those were some nice upgrades and repairs.
Post up another shot of the front from a little lower angle with the hood closed, please. I’d like to see your front bumper and splitter a little better.
How color graded are those photos? I'm wondering because as pictured in the photos that is the best silver C5/C6 I have ever seen, by a significant margin. I'm wondering if the colors are accurate.
How color graded are those photos? I'm wondering because as pictured in the photos that is the best silver C5/C6 I have ever seen, by a significant margin. I'm wondering if the colors are accurate.
Sorry. They made like six different silver-ish colors. I call them all silver. I hope that didn't offend you. Your car looks great.
No offense taken. I was just explaining the color. There is a old fairly long thread about what color pewter actually is. When I look at it close it appears to be a light grey base with gold and silver metallic that causes it to flop bronzeish in the sun. That's why I went with the color that I did on my wheel centers, they're not black. The wheels pic up the metallic in person.
Very nice build. Looks great and should run with the best of ‘em.
Thanks Mark. It's definitely a lot of fun. We have a log of great roads out here, I'm only 45 minutes away from Blue Ridge Pkwy, and all of it's feeder roads.
That's amazing how much rwhp and torque you picked up with that cam and electric water pump! Kudos!
Thanks, the MSD intake manifold has been giving me 40+ rwhp over expected from the start. I was already at 561 rwhp before the cam. I think the more air I push through it the greater the additional improvement. I read a test against a Fast 102. It showed slight advantage across the board with a 3hp gap at the top. This was on a naturally aspirated engine. I figured that forced induction would exaggerate the gains and my numbers seem to bear that out
06-25-2019, 03:04 PM
Vetted C5 Updates: New Eyes, New Hips, More Power, More Cool - Update (Again)
