For those wondering about learning to drive their Corvette, WATCH OUT! You might get hooked.

When I was a kid learning to fly jets, the first thing I did when I realized that the banks would loan money to a new military officer was to buy a new '66 Corvette Roadster with hardtop, 427, four speed, side pipes and air. It was a tire shredder, but I added a bigger carburetor and capacitive discharge ignition.



I sold it before going to Vietnam to fly combat. Still kicking myself.

When I turned 65, I decided I deserved another Corvette. A year later I decided that I needed to learn to drive it.

Here is the tale:


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I bought this car on August 26, 2009 for my 65th birthday. Over eleven years, what a great time I have had with it! It is my favorite car of a lifetime.

I have to admit that I seem to be slowing down a little more this year. Listing the ranch for sale and moving 650 miles has taken a toll on careening around race tracks.

Even though it is 20 years old, it is still faster than I am and can hold its own with newer cars and younger drivers.

It has been a very reliable machine, 40,000 miles on the street, 21 days and 1,100 miles on the race track over eleven years.

Yes, I check it over intimately and frequently. Little things sometimes go awry, but I fix them immediately.

At the track, the car number is my age. No. 76 was at Arizona Motorsports Park on February 6. Eleven years before, I was in Driver School at Buttonwillow Raceway, careening around the track in No. 66.


Now that we are in Prescott, Arizona, it is time to check out more race tracks around Phoenix. Car number changes to No. 77 in September.

Still learning.

Jim

I have enjoyed this car more than any car I have ever owned. I am a tinkerer, a repairman, a driver of some disrepute. Minor projects accomplished include the following, most done by me but some, marked with an asterisk, were done by others. It takes six minutes to have the car in the air on jack stands in my garage and then I'm off to do whatever needs to be done.

August 26, 2009- purchased from Pam; Pam, thanks for the car.
September '09- New HVAC Controller
October - New Brass Headlight Gears
- Auxilliary Satellite Radio Receiver
December - Replace Park Brake Lever, Adjust. park brakes
- Iridium Spark Plugs, wires
- Screen under cowl to permanently keep mice OUT
January '10- Four Wheel Alignment *
February - Water Pump
March - Clean and dielectric grease all grounds
May - Auxiliary emergency hood release cables
- Pulley and tensioner bearings, two belts
July - Redline Lube in differential
- Insulate interior floors
August - Ignition Switch *
September - Blower Motor *
October - Water Pump #2
March '11- Flush Brakes
- TRACK DAY 1, No. 66 at Buttonwillow Raceway
May - Brake Pads *
July - B&M transmission Pan, Redline Fluid
August - TRACK DAY 2, No. 66 at Buttonwillow Raceway
October - Sway bar links, clean and grease sway bar bushings
January '12- Oil Pressure Sender Unit
March - Rear tires, Michelin Pilot Sport, non runflat, two TPM senders*
- TRACK DAY 3 No. 67 at Buttonwillow Raceway
- Front tires. Michelin Pilot sport, two TPM senders*
- TRACK DAY 4, No. 67 at Buttonwillow Raceway
May - Secondary Air Check Valves *
- Last significant rattle, creak, squeak FIXED!
June - Tow Hook Receiver, Tow Hook
July- Dec -Cancer diagnosis, Doctors, Hospital, Operation and Recovery
March '13- Flush Brakes
- TRACK DAY 5, No. 68 at Laguna Seca
May - Ignition Switch #2*
- TRACK DAY 6, No. 68 at Buttonwillow Raceway
June - Friction Master Ceramic Brake Pads (turned out to be a mistake)
August - Check front alignment, add smidgeon of toe in*
- Flush Brakes, Ate Super Blue racing brake fluid
September - DeWitts racing radiator, hoses and Surge tank installed
- Change transmission fluid and filter
October - TRACK DAY 7, No. 69 at Laguna Seca
December - Hawk HP Plus brake pads
January '14 - TRACK DAY 8, No. 69 at Laguna Seca
April - Rebuild Front Calipers, flush brakes, install speed bleeders
May - Replace four slightly bent wheels with exact same used good wheels*
July - TRACK DAY 9, No. 69 at Laguna Seca
December - Auxiliary transmission cooler and fluid thermostat
- New front Michelin Super Sport tires*
- TRACK DAY 10, No. 70 at Laguna Seca
April '15 - Flush Brakes, Ate Typ 200
May - Hook up engine oil cooler
- Insulate tie rod ends and lower ball joints


June - TRACK DAY 11, No. 70 at Laguna Seca

- New Michelin Pilot Super sport tires on rear
- Corvette turns 100,000 miles, 800 miles on the track
September - TRACK DAY 12, No. 71 at Buttonwillow Raceway
April '16 - New 3.73 (RPM Transmissions) rear drive with Wavetrac differential, new shift cable*
- Doug Rippie Motorsports Bilstein Shock Absorbers all four corners
- Reprogram Power Control Module*
- Flush Brakes, Ate Typ 200, 500 mile lube change on rear drive
May - Change transmission fluid and filter
- TRACK DAY 13, No. 71 at Laguna Seca
October - Hawk HP+ brake pads on front
- TRACK DAY 14- Rained out
January '17- Replace accessory belt, AC belt
August - Insulate under intake manifold, relocate oil pressure sender unit, add rear head coolant air bleed lines
- Change coolant, thermostat
- TRACK DAY 14 at Laguna Seca No. 72
December - TRACK DAY 15 at Laguna Seca, No. 73
January '18- Rotator Cuff surgery, four- six month recovery
May - New front tires, Michelin Pilot Super Sport, check alignment*
June - Flush brakes, Ate Typ 200, check pads
- Four wheel alignment*
July - Track Day 16 at Laguna Seca, No. 73
January '19- New Stop Tech slotted cryo treated rotors, HP Plus pads on front
February - TRACK DAY 17 at Laguna Seca No. 74
March - Carpal Tunnel Surgery
July - TRACK DAY 18 at Laguna Seca
December - TRACK DAY 19 at Laguna Seca in the RAIN, No. 75


May '20- TRACK DAY 20 at Laguna Seca- canceled Corona Virus
June - Flush brakes Wilwood EXP 600 Plus, DBP 594 degrees, WBP 383 degrees
July - Sold Ranch! all hell breaks loose.
August - Three cars and 11 tons go from Arroyo Grande to Prescott Arizona. August 9, escrow on Prescott home closes, we arrive on the 13th.
October - Track Day 20 at Arizona Motorsports Park, No. 76
February '21- Track Day 21 at Arizona Motorsports Park, No. 76

Next- HP Plus pads on rear, Check out other race tracks around Phoenix, Johnny O'Connell Sway bar set, Install Halltech cold air intake, check tune.

 

 

You really enjoy your Corvette. Reading through your post....you sure have gone through a lot of brakes and tires. These cars are meant to be driven and enjoyed. Maintaining them is as much fun as driving them. I enjoy driving mine every day and cannot imagine driving anything else. Great to see that you recovered from your Cancer diagnosis and surgery, Rotator cuff surgery and Carpal Tunnel surgery.
Post some pictures of your current Corvette.

 

Buttonwillow Raceway, 2011

Laguna Seca, December 2019

Arizona Motorsports Park, 2021


My stickers

 

Very cool, here is to many more
What groups do you usually run with?

 

Keep it up!!

 

Very cool story and thanks for sharing with us. I’m farther south in east Mesa.

 

Here is my new garage at the Prescott house, if I last, I have cabinet space to careen around race tracks through age 81-

 

First off, thanks for your service Veteran! Fantastic journey you documented, love that pic of your '66 and your current ride looks awesome. I recently discovered the wonderful Corvette community at AMP and the Phoenix area and decided to join the fun. Hope to have my vehicle ready for WHP Main Track in April if the stars align correctly. Maybe I'll see you there.

 

I forgot, I spent ten years with Northern California Racing Club, mostly running at Laguna Seca but also at Buttonwillow Raceway just west of Bakersfield, Drivers School at Buttonwillow eleven years ago. Today I am with Hooked On Driving and so far only have run at Arizona Motorsports Park twice but am looking forward to trying Wild Horse Pass and maybe later INDE if HOD can get track days set up there. All three tracks are in the vicinity of Phoenix.

Here is what I am sure will be a surprise, My C5 is obviously very durable and it is an A4, I only use 2nd and 3rd on track. The 3.73 rear drive made a significant difference. I do not lift on upshifts except in heavy rain.

 

PS- This is what I looked like when I was young, handsome and learning to go really fast-

 

Great story and a very nice C5. I bet you do wish you still had the ‘66.

 

Great story! Thanks so much for sharing. Thank you for your service

 

Great to see you still ripping the Vette. There's guys half your age sitting in parking lots and keeping the tach below 3k.

 

Thank you all for those thoughts. My philosophy has been that if I cannot go out and drive to MY limit once in a while, I do not need a Corvette.

The car though, is still capable of exceeding my limits, therefore I do not need a faster one, I need to learn to drive the one I have faster.

 

Excellent story. Thanks for sharing! And, especially, thanks for your service!

My number in July will be 53. I hope I make it to number 76. By then, my C8 (probably the last Corvette I buy) will be 20 years old.

 

"Last significant rattle, creak, squeak FIXED!"

If true, then you have accomplished what many cannot! I am also one who hunts down and eliminates the infamous plastic and vinyl crickets.

Your story sounds similar to my father's relating to the war and a Corvette. He was a Warrant Officer and flew with the 188th Black Widows attached to the 101st and was the first unit to deploy the then new UH-1H which was the delta body with the bigger engine. He saw action in all four corps, as well as having two sets of pictures from both sides of the river leading across the border to two other countries which we can guess at. His experience was a storied one, and perhaps worth putting to pen, but the Corvette aspect came in when he was heading home after serving 67/68. He had wanted to buy an Austin-Healey 3000 MkIII but they stopped importing them that year. His next interest was a 69 Corvette with a 427. He was supposed to be getting a top deal offered for servicemen, but learned instead that he was ripped off on the pricing. The General was not going to let him out of the bad deal, so he wrote to the chairman of the joint services and a few key senators detailing the problem with that program. Poof! GM let him out of the deal. He never lost love for the cars. I grew up in his MGB but he always regaled me with the Corvette story. Now that I have had three, I guess I can say it stuck with me.

Glad to see you were not a Phantom pilot or I'd ask if you ever almost mid aired with a Huey on approach to Danang. I guess they got close enough to see that the jet pilot hadn't shaved that morning when the controller cleared my dad across at the wrong time.

Enjoy the car. I am always happy to see someone who not only drives the wheels off them but also puts close attention and care into the cars as I do.

 

Nice story and thanks for your service.

 

The rattle was the roof, but I swore it was in the right rear for two years before I finally tightened up all the roof hold down mechanisms. It stopped.

Again, thank you for those thoughts.

I was an A-6 Intruder pilot and yes I did have a near midair on final to DaNang one day, but the other airplane was a Grumman OV-1 Mohawk, 90 degrees to our final approach. Following is me on takeoff circa August 1969 with 28, 500 pound bombs aboard:

 

I always thought those and the F-100 were some cool looking jets for the time. The A-6 saw a ton of years in active service which is especially poignant given that the Navy is so demanding of their platforms.