Ok, after years of hard work I'm finally starting to see my long awaited supercar on the horizon. I have yet to purchase the car and have many options so I figured I'd seek out some advise before getting started.

First, what is a reasonable amount of power for a street driven C6? The second question is what is the best way to get there.

I do want a convertable or at least a targa top so the Z06 is kind of out of the running unless I did an aftermarket chop which I'm sure isn't cost effective.

I also want all the goodies like the wide fenders which I can always add, nig breaks which I cn also add, the dry sump, big wheels, suspension upgrades and so on. Essentially, I want the Grand Sport but I'm thinking I could add everything it offers to a 2006 and still come out way ahead.

What I'm thinking is going with at least a supercharger, cam and LS3 heads which will put me over 600HP. The dual disk clutch would probably be a good idea too at that power level. I am also looking at the stroker motors, perhaps with the blower for a truly sick machine. But then I wonder if that would even be streetable and if there would be numerous other driveline mods required for a 700-800HP motor.

So I guess my question is if starting from scratch what is the best way to get Z51 power or even do a Z51 clone - except with a drop top? Also, does anyone know the difference is in the Z06 transaxle? Is this a must for over 600HP?

Think of it this way - if you were starting from scratch and wanted to build a beast wihtout completely breaking the bank what would you envision?

Oh, and thanks for any input you are willing to give.

 

I'd give up on the idea of a convertible and just buy a Z06 to begin with.
Throw a cam and a shot of nitrous to it and you'll have your 600rwhp without a whole bunch of hacking to an otherwise unmolested car.

 

The manual Grand sport has everything you need for the base of your project. A Z06 cant make any more power than a GS unless you build the motor.

700-800rwhp with require a forged 416 motor plus either a supercharger or a turbo kit. My vote is for the turbo kit. At first glance the supercharger looks like a bargain but once you get the 8 rib kit and headers, you're exactly at the same cost as a turbo kit. Once you feel the TQ of the turbo without dealing with belts, belt tension, and the blow off noise that you will have at 800rwhp, the turbo kit is a blessing.

I've had both and I will never go S/C again.

800rwhp with a S/C is 700rwtq. 800rwhp with turbos is 900rwtq.

The GS driveline has the same TR6060 trrans and Z06 diff but you have more favorable gearing.

Oh yeah, and the roof comes off.

 

What turbo kit do you have? You really think it's less hasle to install than the E-force kit? And what about spool time? I would think a turbo would be much more hasle with modified exhaust, oil lines, air ducting and what not.

And the GS which came out in 2010 is about $20,000 more. That's about the price of my whole build. Does the base have the same trans and diff?

 

If you only have $20,000 to work with you might as well not even start. You wont be able to buy a decent c6 for that let alone do all the mods your talking about.

 

The dry sump requires a special crankshaft that has a longer nose, which was only available in factory dry sump cars. I'd skip that if I were you and save the headache.

The Z51 was just larger sway bars and slightly better brakes. Considering what you're wanting to do, it offers little advantage since you are wanting to add aftermarket brakes ($$$$).

You might get lucky and find someone who is selling a car that has been converted to wide body already. Or, you can buy the parts yourself from Gene Culley (cf vendor). He'll set you up with every nut and bolt you'll need.

There are a 1000 different ways to do what you want with power. But most run from expensive to very expensive. After you've done your wide body conversion w/wheels, you won't have much money left over to build an engine plus a supercharger.

 

Grand Sport, Centri Supercharger and better rear tires.

 

I've seen wide body kits that weren't that expensive. IIRC the GS has the dry sump. Maybe after it's all said and done I should just pay the extra money for the GS, toss the E-force blower kit with the upgraded fuel pump and a cam and be happy with a bit over 600HP GS for under $10,000 in mods. Probably going to need the Z51 clutch too though.

BTW, Which cars came with the dule mode exhaust?

 

That's the best way to go about this.

There was no "Z51" clutch. You do get the LS7 clutch with any manual LS3.

Dual mode exhaust is an option on all LS3 cars, and standard on the Z06/ZR1.

 

This!

 

I also want all the goodies like the wide fenders which I can always add, nig breaks which I cn also add, the dry sump, big wheels, suspension upgrades and so on.

 

Oops, I'm talking about the dual disk clutch on the ZR1 - not Z51. Sorry.