My adrenaline is still running high, so I gotta share my day with my fellow Corvette Enthusiasts:
I've had my car 1 year and 1 month now and in that time I've managed to do a complete interior restoration and front end and drivetrain rebuild/replacement. I have newly found admiration for those of you whose restoration projects stretch multiple years. During the work I did, the longest strech of not being able to drive the car was 7 months and it just about killed me.
It was a beautiful Texas day (mid 70's, not a cloud in sight and low humidity).
I finally broke in my newly rebuilt engine this past week and today was the first day of driving after the engine work and tearing the front end apart for a complete rebuild. I was able to put about 100 miles on the car.
The engine ran like gangbusters and the front end felt completely stable and handled great.
The chambered exhaust sounded like music (very loud music) to my ears and I was even able to park and show at an impromptu car gathering at the local Home Depot (a beautiful 66 Shelby GT350 parked next to me) where I received several nice compliments.
I can't wait to get the engine fully broken in so I can really test it out. I built a 383 based on several dynoed 383 combinations from the web (roughly 480+ hp and 500+ ft lbs of torque). It felt very strong, even managing to "baby" it. It has an aftermarked solid lift cam, Trick flow 23 deg aluminum heads and is running about 10.5 for compression ratio. I forgot how "distracting" it can be to watch the gas gauge drop as the car is driven.
As soon as I break it in, I want to run it on a local MD Mustang Dynamometer.
During my cruise, I was able to participate in the Corvette wave several times and followed a very nice, lowered 99 white Z06 (Had gauge pods mounted on the front piller. Wonder what he had in there....) for a bit before stopping to see the folks.
Enjoy the pics and here's hoping you northern Corvette owners get a nice spell of weather of your own to enjoy soon.
Doug
Wax and shine:
Completely new interior makes the drive nice:
The billet specialties "flag" breather fits the Corvette theme nicely.
Found out the hard way that long water pumps and driver side alternators don't mix too well (had to fabricate a bracket as I couldn't find a manufactured one for that setup.
Wow, everyone was right, the chambered exhaust is loud, especially when getting on the gas. I love it! (Who needs a stereo?).
I've had my car 1 year and 1 month now and in that time I've managed to do a complete interior restoration and front end and drivetrain rebuild/replacement. I have newly found admiration for those of you whose restoration projects stretch multiple years. During the work I did, the longest strech of not being able to drive the car was 7 months and it just about killed me.
It was a beautiful Texas day (mid 70's, not a cloud in sight and low humidity).
I finally broke in my newly rebuilt engine this past week and today was the first day of driving after the engine work and tearing the front end apart for a complete rebuild. I was able to put about 100 miles on the car.
The engine ran like gangbusters and the front end felt completely stable and handled great.
The chambered exhaust sounded like music (very loud music) to my ears and I was even able to park and show at an impromptu car gathering at the local Home Depot (a beautiful 66 Shelby GT350 parked next to me) where I received several nice compliments.
I can't wait to get the engine fully broken in so I can really test it out. I built a 383 based on several dynoed 383 combinations from the web (roughly 480+ hp and 500+ ft lbs of torque). It felt very strong, even managing to "baby" it. It has an aftermarked solid lift cam, Trick flow 23 deg aluminum heads and is running about 10.5 for compression ratio. I forgot how "distracting" it can be to watch the gas gauge drop as the car is driven.
As soon as I break it in, I want to run it on a local MD Mustang Dynamometer.During my cruise, I was able to participate in the Corvette wave several times and followed a very nice, lowered 99 white Z06 (Had gauge pods mounted on the front piller. Wonder what he had in there....) for a bit before stopping to see the folks.
Enjoy the pics and here's hoping you northern Corvette owners get a nice spell of weather of your own to enjoy soon.
Doug
Wax and shine:
Completely new interior makes the drive nice:
The billet specialties "flag" breather fits the Corvette theme nicely.
Found out the hard way that long water pumps and driver side alternators don't mix too well (had to fabricate a bracket as I couldn't find a manufactured one for that setup.
Wow, everyone was right, the chambered exhaust is loud, especially when getting on the gas. I love it! (Who needs a stereo?).
It's gonna to be hard to get that grin off your face, but who cares!
