Take my 81 to the next level

[JHL]

I will have a small amount of money to blow and as usual numerous idea`s. I was looking for another runaround but can`t find a decent Supra for the money I have, most of the imports seem to have almost un-traceable history and original UK models are still pricey. So that leads me to probably doing something with the Vette.

One thing that I have thought about a lot before was to get it more ready for the strip rather than the street. It`s my humble opinion that while they can be used for a bit of drag race action it is not the ideal set up and I feel that eventually something will break in the rear end or the transmission. I always had the idea of putting in an auto and a 9" rear end.

So my question is can kit`s be bought to fit a 9" or maybe a 12 bolt axle into the standard chassis as I definately don`t want to cut up the rear end. I would also be interested in some sites that might give some info on what is involved in fitting the 700R4 gearboxes as the overdrive would allow some decent gears in the axle.

Second option would be bodywork as I have a nice set of split rim wheels in the garage. I could have a superb body job, flares and so on.

Third and probably least expensive thought of the day was a Wiend 671 blower kit, I would refit the old iron heads and sell on the Edelbrock kit to recoupe some of the cost.

Yeah I hear some of you say "don`t wast a good car" but it`s mine and paid for.

J.

 

[Fishman]

JHL...

I had a Dyer's 671 blower on a car a few years back, absolutely awesome performance. Nothing like hearing the sound of a 3" belt and a few spinning turbins! Check the local laws first... the cops used to stop me all the time regarding this 'thing' sticking out of the hood. Not sure what your compression ratio is, but as I recall it's best under 10:1. High compression motors and blowers do not mix well.

JMO... Fishman

 

[JHL]

If I decided on the blower the old iron heads I have are 76cc and the pistons have 4 cutouts which should drop the cr sufficiently to be ok. It would be completly illegal in the UK and even more of a problem because it`s left hand drive and we are on the opposite side of the road from you but I don`t use it very often and find that the novelty value for the local cops usually gets you off providing you are not being a clown.

J.

 

[JHL]

I noticed someone has voted for the dancing girls already, it`s tempting, there are plenty of big Russian girls over here and the whisky is cheap.

:L

J.

 

[BeaterShark]

I voted the blower route.

I'm far from NCRS or a purist of any kind (I actually have hood pins keeping my hood closed), but I don't like the idea of modifying a car so far that it has lost part of it's personality. A C3 without IRS is no longer a C3 in my eyes (not that you should care), it's just a drag car with a C3 body/frame. If that is what you want, you get the same performance out of an old muscle car for quite a bit less money and headaches.
Having said that, if you're doing it because you're bored and want something different, then more power to you. There is definately a WOW factor in fast C3s and you would get alot of attention at the strip, if it could back up the numbers that would require a 9".

I'm also not a big fan of dumping a bunch of money just to make it look good, although not having any money may have something to do with this train of thought.

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

you may have already seen these, but i thought i would post them anyway.

tranny : http://www.gearvendors.com/
rearend parts: http://rds.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=tom%27s+differentials/v=2/SID=w/l=WS1/R=1/H=0/*-http://www.tomsdifferentials.com/

i like the IRS, and Tom's makes some serious parts to hold up under big power. he is a little spendy, but the parts are top notch. take a look at the 12 bolt conversion housing, it may take a little to get an iron diff in your '81, but this 12 bolt will take major punishment. the 1480 u-joint kit is also very nice, considdering it for my car if i go with nitrious.

the tranny issue will bring debate. the 700R4's won't live with more than 450 hp. a couple have been built to take 500-550, but they never last. the ultimate auto tranny is still a TH400, you can't kill them. with the GV kit, you get overdrive at the price as a "built" 700R4, but three times the durability when mated to a TH400.

just thought i would throw those two paths at you, no need for paint from the pics i've seen! Brian

 

[bossvette]

I wouldn't mess with your car its nice as is use it to pick up some dancing girls, but go easy on the wiskey or you may end up with more then you bargined for
:L :L

 

[Bullitt]

Hey John, can you show us a pic of those rims? Not that I voted for them, but they might be cool to look at. Thanks.

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

I lived in St. Petersburg back in 96-97. Big Russian girls scare me!! Better spend the money on gas to pop down to Budapest. If you park that Red Rocket in front of Janis´ Pub or Chicago’s the Hungarian girls will dance for free. Heck, I used to get lucky in a Trabant.





Claremont Corvette in Snodland, Kent has a barely used Supercharger hanging off of the side of a SBC in the middle of his showroom. Talk to Tom he indicated that he would let it go at a good price. Tom and his partner are good people. With them Corvettes are an obsession first and a business second. www.corvette.co.uk



You are also close to Frankie of Frankie´s Garage. He does first class work and probably has the bits you need in the shop. I have 3 of his engines, one for over 4 years now with ZERO problems.

 

[MaineShark]

I checked off one vote for the blower, but I'd suggest using a centrifugal supercharger so that you can keep it under the hood. Having a supercharger sticking up through the hood of a Corvette just doesn't look right, to me. That sort of thing belongs on a musclecar, not a sports car. You may need to replace your heads and cam to make it work with your current engine (larger combustion chambers and a well-chosen cam should drop the dynamic compression enough to keep you from blowing up your engine).

Joe

 

[Stallion]

I love those chrome blowers 2 feet outta the hood!!

 

[JHL]

I have had a chance to have a phone around and get some idea of prices, As suggested by Spanish Vettes I gave Clairmont Corvette a ring but the set up they have is a cetrifugal blower on a later engine first they are not keen to split it and secondly if this is the choosen route stealth is not for me, it has to be in your face

I have found a place in Scotland that will sell me the full 671 Hampton blower kit with everything I need to bolt it on in a day. I`m surprised that there isn`t a "kit" to fit a 9" axle into the existing rear frame, again there is a couple of places that for a price will do this in the UK without to much trouble. I guess if it is straight line work it has to do the IRS, which is not the best anyway, is not needed and having had a look at building it with Tom`s bits is not cheap for what you get.

As usual I havn`t finally made up my mind yet, fitting the split rims would definately require body work and a paint job and the car is still in good condition so I am leaning towards the blower and settle for a bit of show for a change untill I could get the rear end sorted out. One thing I have decided on is that I will stick with the 4 speed, what`s a Vette if your not shifting your own gears.

J.

A C3 without IRS is no longer a C3 in my eyes (not that you should care), it's just a drag car with a C3 body/frame. If that is what you want, you get the same performance out of an old muscle car for quite a bit less money and headaches.

Maybe this will change your mind :cool

 

[GotMy81@16]

JHL~
This isnt on the same subject but I was wondering how you did the engine scoop, and all that in the picture, and about how much it costs?
Thanks

 

[JHL]

The main reason for the scoop you see is because I could`t get the hood closed with a decent sized air filter after fitting the Edelbrock intake and carb. The scoop cost about £150`ish but probably cheaper in the US or Canada, I had to pay 17.5% tax and most suppliers of American parts in the UK just change the US $ price directly to pounds sterling and then add the tax which makes parts kind of expensive in England. The hole in the hood was free.


J.

 

[Bullitt]

John, are those the Gotti rims you got two years ago?! Barely getting around to it?

 

[JHL]

Bullit,

Unfortunately I was asked to do some work here in the Czech republic and with one thing and another I have ended up staying here a lot longer than I thought, just signed up for another 12 months this year. I was hoping that I might get the Vette shipped over here this summer if things go according to plan.

I looks like I will buy the blower kit, I am just waiting for the guy to get back to me with a final "all in" price, the exchange rate at the moment is good so it will be reasonably priced.

J.

 

[Bullitt]

I haven't had to review any contracts lately, but if I'm not mistaken the Euro is at a 1.6:1 ratio versus the US dollar, so I do envy you, my friend. I'm glad you took the supercharger route, also. There's a television show over here called "Horsepower TV," that added a blower to a 440 RB motor last week and saw over 200 additional brake horses! :eek

BTW, any pics of the Czech countryside?

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

Unfortunately I was asked to do some work here in the Czech republic and with one thing and another I have ended up staying here a lot longer than I thought, just signed up for another 12 months this year.

´ wish I could be so unlucky. Budapest and Prague are my favorite cities in the world. Prague wins out because the language is comprehensible, Hungarian, (Magyar), on the other hand is not and the Czech people are really sweet!
I bought this stupid Go-Kart track when we were working in Siberia in January (-37º) and Spain was experiencing a cold spell (+42º). If I had it to do over again I would be back in Eastern Europe in ½ a heartbeat.

Oh yeah, I forgot to give you the on the BLOWER. I don’t know why Tom changed his tune on the supercharger. When I was in his shop in October I got the feeling that he wanted it to have a new home.:confused

 

[GotMy81@16]

How much did the whole process with the eldebrock intake and carb. cost, and did u install it by your self or with help from a shop?
Thanks

 

[JHL]

Spanish Vette,

I agree with you, Prague must be one of the best preserved cities in Europe and in the summer it is a great place to spend some time, downside of the Czech Republic is the freezing cold winters and over here in Plzen there is not to much English spoken, mostly German and the Czech langauge is impossible to follow. The people are great but difficult to work with as they are steeped in years of comunisium and some of the older people have absolutely no idea how to deal the big push from Western companies flooding into the area. It will be hard times for them over the next few years.

Bullit

I am still paid in Pounds Sterling and the exchange rate today is £1 - $1.81 which is the best it has been in years. For an all in price of £3000 I will get new GMC 671 blower with all the brackets, belts, pullys and gaskets needed, a pair of Edelbrock 600cfm carbs, linkage and fuel lines jetted and prepared for blower use, an Accell billet distibutor also set up the blower, a Hilborn scoop and a few other bit`s that will be needed and this also includes all taxes and shipping costs. Maybe I could have bought the bits seperate from some other sources direct from the US and saved a bit but I am a big believer in single supplier "kits" and don`t mind paying a bit extra for it, a small deposit on order and then the responsability is his untill the kit arrives in his shop in Scotland then I will just send someone to collect it and hand over the remainder of the cash.

As I will be putting my old iron heads back on I will be able at some point to sell the Performer RPM kit complete with very few miles on it and recoupe some of the blower cost.

GotMy81,

The current Edelbrock set up was purchased as a kit so it is difficult to say how much each of the individual parts were or how much they will be today. The best thing you can do is have a look on the Edelbrock site and get some part numbers the have a look at Jegg`s or Summit Racing and from their pages you will get some idea of prices. Remember there are all sorts of other bit and pieces you need as well for the complete job. Holley also do a nice kit in two power levels. I did it all myself so did not have the expence of a mechanic. It is reasonably straight forward if you have some tools, cams can be changed with the engine in the car in the car and heads are pretty easy to do as well. If you are carefull it is difficult to go wrong. I suggest if you do decide to do it that you buy a couple of books on rebuilding small block chevy engines and take it from there.

J.