More specs

[jcummings250]

Hey all, just looking over some of the specs as they were presented to me when I bought my car last year. Maybe a little bit of boasting but it's good to be excited, right? Plus, wanted to get everyones oppinion on some stuff.

In May of 2002 there were SLP Stainless Steel Ceramic Coated Headers added. Did Callaway put their own headers on the SNATs? What make? What make did GM use?

In May of 2002 a DANA 36 3.73 posi rear end was added. Again, what did Callaway use? What is generally the best rear end ratio for 1/4 mile times?

Also, there is an Autopower, frame mounted rollbar. Does anybody know if Callaway ever added this, or was this more likely a "post-Callaway" addition?

Thanks for all the great discussion on this site! I still have alot to learn, but I'm much further along than I was just a month ago before I started hanging out here!

 

[jcummings250]

Left out a couple things.

The brakes were described as 13 inch cadmium plated, ball dimpled rotors in combination with z51 performance calipers. Do these sound like Brembos? Stock GM? Callaway added?

The transmission is described as Art Carr 700-R4. I looked this up and found alot of good info about it, but still I wonder how it got on the car. Was it stock GM? Callaway? Post Callaway? It was described further as Kevlar Friction components, 10 inch non-locking 2,000 rpm stall speed torque converter. I did a little bit of looking into this as well, and from what I gathered it was recommended that you choose a torque converter rated at a stall speed about 500-750 rpms lower than the point of maximum torque. Do you guys agree? And again, for the torque converter, does it sound GM, Callaway, or other wise.

-John

 

[EricVonHa]

Whew, lots of good stuff on that car! I'll try to help out as best I can and hopefully some others can fill in the blanks:

The headers being SLP had to have been installed as an aftermarket upgrade by the previous owner outside of Callaway. As far as I know there isn't a relationship between Callaway and SLP. Those are good headers, though. I ran them for many years on an LT1 car myself and they never cracked. GM's stock exhaust manifolds were just plain old smog compliant exhaust manifolds.. Ugly and inefficient for power! The nice thing about the SLP's is that they still retained the use of the air tubes and bolted right up to the catalytic converter pipes. I'm not sure if Callaway had their own headers manufactured for the LT1/LT4 series of motors.

The rear gears being 3.73 should have really brought that car to life! In it's original life as a Corvette it had either a 2.59 gas mileage rear gear or a 3.07? performance axle ratio. The 3.73 will allow the motor to put more torque to the ground quicker for seriously enhanced quarter mile times. Going from a 2.59 to a 3.73 you should see ~.5 second decrease in quarter mile times.

Not sure on the roll bar being Callaway issued or not. They did have a run of roll bars for the C4 Corvettes but thought it was their own design. The paperwork that you have should say Callaway on it if it truly is a Callaway roll bar. Is it welded in or bolted in? Can you upload a picture of it to show us what the cross-bar looks like that goes between the main hoops? Some designs had a diagonal cross-bar that interfered with the passenger seat clearance for sliding all the way back. I kinda remember Callaway's version of that bar to be removeable.

Your brakes if associated with the Z51 or Z07 packages are what GM termed as the "J55" brake package. The cadmium plated 13" rotors are not GM issue and are from some other manufacturer. However, the calipers themselves being the GM 13" version were a HUGE improvement over the 12" rotor system that was put on standard Vettes. Brake fade was terrible in the 12" version but the 13" would withstand maximum threshold braking from triple digit speeds multiple times.

 

[jcummings250]

Wow! Thanks for the help and info! Here is a pic of the rollbar. Now, this one, the original owner said that Callaway installed it. Or at least that's what was passed on to me by the previous owner.

I do believe it is bolted in, but I'd have to double check. I was told it was "frame mounted", which I assume is opposed to (and better than?) chassis mounted?

It certainly is fun to drive! I have taken it to the track once. I really had no idea what I was doing. Did one run with the traction controll on and ran about a 13.1 (I think). Definatly could've started better because even with the traction control, there is quite a bit of tire spin if you just "mash" down the gas pedal. Which of course is what I did being my first time up there and all nervous. Fortunatly I did manage to beat the girl in the pink Mustang who was in the other lane. Turns out I showed up on the biggest Mustang rally of the year and there was all these heavily modified Mustangs racing. I got an earfull. But that girl who raced me had some work done to her Mustang and had a license plate that read "IRACE2" or something like that. Just glad I beat her. Of course, she was a little more experienced than I and took me off the line (probably had no tire spin). I caught her about half way down. My second run, my roommate told me that I'd probably be quicker without the traction control. Now, either he didn't know how nervous I was when the light hit green or he just really wanted to see a good burn out, but in any case, thats what he got. Those tires spun for quite awhile until I finally let off the gas and "feathered" it a bit.


Anyway, the guy who sold it to me quoted times of something like 3.4 or 3.7 seconds 0-60mph and I think 11.3 sec 1/4 mile. Now, I know better than to trust what someone selling the car tells me, until I see it myself. And, at least with my driving, its a long way off!

 

[jcummings250]

Sorry, still trying to figure out how to post these pics!

 

[*89x2*]

****************Leave traction controll off :eek

At Carlisle - Mike Zoner was driving the SNAT between the grounds & hotel - first thing I noticed when he got out was the *TCS* was off

He indicated that there was no other way


Let us know how she does at the track next time

 

[EricVonHa]

Strangely, that rollbar looks like the DRM bar that I have in my '93. The diagonal crossbar is what gives it away. If the carpet is flush right up to the edge of the bar it's pretty safe to say that it is permanently welded to the car. This is because there is a mounting plate that welds to the frame of the car (they actually cut out the fiberglass in front of the speaker grilles and also in front of the roof stowage brackets). Then the roll bar itself welds to that bracket to keep the hacking up of the carpet to a minimum. If the bar is bolted in-- there will be slits around the mounting points in the carpet where you could pull the carpet back slightly to get a socket on the mounting points. Then, the bracket (welded to the bar) would be raised up through those slits and removed.

Drag that car some more! That's about the only feedback we've had from a Callaway being at a dragstrip in a loooong time!

 

[*89x2*]

Drag that car some more! That's about the only feedback we've had from a Callaway being at a dragstrip in a loooong time!

VERY True

Let us know how she does again - the cool dense Fall air is coming (power )

 

[jcummings250]

Boy, you guys sure know how to get the adrenaline pumping! :J

I just got the car checked out at Corvette Corner here in town, had the oil changed and am now running 15W-50 (as I should've been all along). Plus I used a bottle of the Chevron Techron (thanks for the tip!) So, I guess that's all a good excuse to go back out to the track and see what improvements have been made! Although I'm sure the biggest drop in time will come from my driving experience getting better.

Maybe next time I'll go on a day that is not packed full of ultra-modified Mustangs. About 80% of the guys there on the day I went had parachutes. I need a parachutte, I feel left out. :cry