The £7700 Corvette C6
Discussion
Just catching up from the last three months.....
At the end of September I set about changing the old, leaking steering rack with the reconditioned one that arrived from Turn One, plus the uprated pump. Having removed the rack a number of times now I've got quicker but it's still a pig of a job that takes me hours.
Interesting that they have cured the potential for a leak around the position sensor with a bigger blob of putty than I'd tried!
In mid October my mate Tom (Z4M Coupe) and I headed over to the Nurburgring for the Circuit Days trackday. I've visited the Ring most years since 2005, but only for single TF laps rather than a private trackday (therefore I still don't know which way the track goes!). The trip over the day before was uneventful, although a surprise brake fluid change for the BMW on arrival was a hell of a rush before the briefing!
The obligatory Steak on a Stone photo.
I washed the car in the dark, filling up a plastic tub from the shower!
The day was dry and bright, although the dampness on the ground caught out many, many people, with red flags throughout the day.
It meant we didn't complete many laps and made the mistake of only covering laps in ones and twos rather than staying out for longer sessions. We still enjoyed it, but tourist laps would have worked out cheaper then again the thrill of driving the DH straight at 150+mph was great and something you just can't experience on tourist laps.
During one of the many red flag sessions I had a spending spree in the Ring shop.
This photo a. shows I was trying and b. shows how soft the suspension is still.
Video here, of a less than stellar 8:44 BTG:
Tom was heading back that night, so when I was on track during another red flag at the end of the day he phoned me to say he was heading to the hotel to pack. At least that's what I heard over the noise of a V8, through a crash helmet, in a dodgy signal area and over my car handsfree.
So, I finish my lap and head back to the hotel.
I check with Tom that he'd taken all my bags out of his car (we only had one car out on track at a time) and we have enough time for a drink at the Pistenklause before Tom heads for the channel crossing. Got chatting to some nice guys who I end up joining for Steak that evening.
I decided to head back and did a TF lap which was good fun.
Later that night I get back to the hotel to find I'm missing a bag or two. I phone Tom concerned that he has my bags in his boot, no, he said he'd left them in the Nordschleife car park where we'd been all day! Apparantly that was the message he was trying to leave me earlier. It's dark and locked up, I went to find security, we looked around, no bags and nothing handed in. I realise that I'd lost a lot, passport, house and work keys, Go Pros, sunglasses, my bags from the shop, spare car key, helmet and HANS case, basic tools, hotel bookings and lots more! General panic, wife upset with me, mate stressed out, how do I get back, is my car going to be stolen etc.
I moved my car and disabled it, slept with my window open and didn't get many hours before waking early and going to security and the main office. Nothing handed in still. I cancelled my passport with the consulate (£100) and was told to collect a replacement from Dusseldorf in two to three days time! I needed to get home before then! Bugger! Facebook friends, groups and the Circuit Days staff all did their best to help.
I did at least have my clothes, phone and wallet and decided that moping around wasn't going to help so headed off to Hockenheim as planned, where the track was open for tourist laps. A couple of hours later and I was there, parked up and decided to ask what the form was.
It seems the rules are as per road/Ring with overtaking on the left only, but one driver said forget about that and just keep an eye out from all directions! No helmet, no briefing, pay 20 Euros and off you go for 15 minutes!
My first time there, so a bit of caution at first then started picking off the locals, great fun. Wow, the 'Parabolica' is fast, followed by a very heavy stop for a hairpin. I got chatting to a local who owned an orange Corvette C7 who was going very well in another session I watched.
I tried to keep up with the C7 but he was just that little bit quicker and traffic then made a gap.
As rain started to fall the surface became very greasy and unpredictable (the kerbs are VERY slippery) so I backed off and called it a day. A tell tale vibration signalled another cracked disc!
On the positive side I had a phone call from the Nurburgring office that some bags had been found, although they were unsure if they were mine. It seems a staff member at the Devils Diner had seen the bags at the end of her shift and taken them in. Sadly a message hadn't been given to anyone else and the Diner was closed the next day. A security staff member was dispatched to collect a set of keys and retrieve the bags. So, instead of heading for my planned overnight on the Luxembourg border I headed back to the Ring. That night I was reunited with all my bags, woo hoo. Faith restored in the honesty of the good people who visit the Ring car park. Last minute accommodation booked in Nurburg.
Next morning was crisp and sunny to start with and I made a decision to try my luck at Dunkirk with my now cancelled passport. I put on my best non-shifty look and the cancelled passport scanned just fine and I was home! Bah, £100 wasted and I'd need to buy a new passport too! An eventful trip with a good ending as the car passed 205,000 miles and I had a bit of fun before I got home with a pher in his Lotus Esprit https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I sent a letter of sincere thanks to the relevant staff members at Nurburgring GmbH on my return.
The cracked front discs were standard sized 12.8" EBC dimpled and grooved, pretty small for the size of the car and clearly could hack the 145mph to 30mph Hockheim stops. I'd fitted Z51 caliper brackets to the rear axle ages ago so now could do the same to the front, this just spaces the caliper out more.
I opted for the same EBC discs but this time in the larger 13.4" Z51 size.
Old 12.8"
New 13.4" Z51
The calipers hold fluid perfectly but the outer rubber seals are now toast.
The Mintex F4R pads have been mighty over the past year, just brilliant on road and track and had enough meat on them to use them on the new discs (I know you shouldn't). I reversed them to even out the taper that is fairly typical with the two piston caliper design.
Early November brought a private trackday at Donington.
Wet to start with, dry by the afternoon.
Not very tidy, but some good fun hooning. A mighty cloud of smoke exiting the chicane late in the afternoon and I pulled off on the grass. I was towed back to the garage, pleased that the towing strap I fitted held up (US Corvettes don't have a provision for towing like this). A hose popped off the power steering cooler, spraying oil everywhere, what a mess.
It could have been me not tightening the hose enough or possibly that the hose is a fraction too large to fit on the barbed Mocal fittings. No damage done, refilled the reservoir and drove home.
I had noticed a smaller leak from a union on the hose coming from the pump, so out it all came again to be replaced by the newer design hose, along with a thorough clean up.
Later that week (!) was a North Weald handling day with a few guys from the Corvette Club UK, through Lotus On Track.
A cold and foggy start, pretty dry though. The afternoon saw my best times from the previous year improve by more than two seconds. A combination of the slight handling upgrades and grippy Yokohama AD08-R contributed to this.
I was locked into a battle for 2nd/3rd best times with a supercharged Lotus, of which there were a few. In the end I finished 2nd overall, hoorah, all good fun with a degree of stop watch error of course.
The winner by a clear margin was the same gentleman and McLaren 720S who won the sprint my father and I had entered at Snetterton. We chatted some more and he took me out as a passenger for his final run of the day. Wow, what an incredible car, well driven, with the race mode helping control the power; it made my car feel slow!
A slight rubbing on the drive back to Wiltshire indicated the pads were due a replacement. A visual inspection through the wheel showed pad material remaining but the metal studs were just showing on one pad.
In case Mintex couldn't supply me a new pair in time (they kindly make the F4R for me) I bought and fitted a set of EBC's new RP-1 pads. It should make for a good comparison.
At the end of September I set about changing the old, leaking steering rack with the reconditioned one that arrived from Turn One, plus the uprated pump. Having removed the rack a number of times now I've got quicker but it's still a pig of a job that takes me hours.
Interesting that they have cured the potential for a leak around the position sensor with a bigger blob of putty than I'd tried!
In mid October my mate Tom (Z4M Coupe) and I headed over to the Nurburgring for the Circuit Days trackday. I've visited the Ring most years since 2005, but only for single TF laps rather than a private trackday (therefore I still don't know which way the track goes!). The trip over the day before was uneventful, although a surprise brake fluid change for the BMW on arrival was a hell of a rush before the briefing!
The obligatory Steak on a Stone photo.
I washed the car in the dark, filling up a plastic tub from the shower!
The day was dry and bright, although the dampness on the ground caught out many, many people, with red flags throughout the day.
It meant we didn't complete many laps and made the mistake of only covering laps in ones and twos rather than staying out for longer sessions. We still enjoyed it, but tourist laps would have worked out cheaper then again the thrill of driving the DH straight at 150+mph was great and something you just can't experience on tourist laps.
During one of the many red flag sessions I had a spending spree in the Ring shop.
This photo a. shows I was trying and b. shows how soft the suspension is still.
Video here, of a less than stellar 8:44 BTG:
Tom was heading back that night, so when I was on track during another red flag at the end of the day he phoned me to say he was heading to the hotel to pack. At least that's what I heard over the noise of a V8, through a crash helmet, in a dodgy signal area and over my car handsfree.
So, I finish my lap and head back to the hotel.
I check with Tom that he'd taken all my bags out of his car (we only had one car out on track at a time) and we have enough time for a drink at the Pistenklause before Tom heads for the channel crossing. Got chatting to some nice guys who I end up joining for Steak that evening.
I decided to head back and did a TF lap which was good fun.
Later that night I get back to the hotel to find I'm missing a bag or two. I phone Tom concerned that he has my bags in his boot, no, he said he'd left them in the Nordschleife car park where we'd been all day! Apparantly that was the message he was trying to leave me earlier. It's dark and locked up, I went to find security, we looked around, no bags and nothing handed in. I realise that I'd lost a lot, passport, house and work keys, Go Pros, sunglasses, my bags from the shop, spare car key, helmet and HANS case, basic tools, hotel bookings and lots more! General panic, wife upset with me, mate stressed out, how do I get back, is my car going to be stolen etc.
I moved my car and disabled it, slept with my window open and didn't get many hours before waking early and going to security and the main office. Nothing handed in still. I cancelled my passport with the consulate (£100) and was told to collect a replacement from Dusseldorf in two to three days time! I needed to get home before then! Bugger! Facebook friends, groups and the Circuit Days staff all did their best to help.
I did at least have my clothes, phone and wallet and decided that moping around wasn't going to help so headed off to Hockenheim as planned, where the track was open for tourist laps. A couple of hours later and I was there, parked up and decided to ask what the form was.
It seems the rules are as per road/Ring with overtaking on the left only, but one driver said forget about that and just keep an eye out from all directions! No helmet, no briefing, pay 20 Euros and off you go for 15 minutes!
My first time there, so a bit of caution at first then started picking off the locals, great fun. Wow, the 'Parabolica' is fast, followed by a very heavy stop for a hairpin. I got chatting to a local who owned an orange Corvette C7 who was going very well in another session I watched.
I tried to keep up with the C7 but he was just that little bit quicker and traffic then made a gap.
As rain started to fall the surface became very greasy and unpredictable (the kerbs are VERY slippery) so I backed off and called it a day. A tell tale vibration signalled another cracked disc!
On the positive side I had a phone call from the Nurburgring office that some bags had been found, although they were unsure if they were mine. It seems a staff member at the Devils Diner had seen the bags at the end of her shift and taken them in. Sadly a message hadn't been given to anyone else and the Diner was closed the next day. A security staff member was dispatched to collect a set of keys and retrieve the bags. So, instead of heading for my planned overnight on the Luxembourg border I headed back to the Ring. That night I was reunited with all my bags, woo hoo. Faith restored in the honesty of the good people who visit the Ring car park. Last minute accommodation booked in Nurburg.
Next morning was crisp and sunny to start with and I made a decision to try my luck at Dunkirk with my now cancelled passport. I put on my best non-shifty look and the cancelled passport scanned just fine and I was home! Bah, £100 wasted and I'd need to buy a new passport too! An eventful trip with a good ending as the car passed 205,000 miles and I had a bit of fun before I got home with a pher in his Lotus Esprit https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I sent a letter of sincere thanks to the relevant staff members at Nurburgring GmbH on my return.
The cracked front discs were standard sized 12.8" EBC dimpled and grooved, pretty small for the size of the car and clearly could hack the 145mph to 30mph Hockheim stops. I'd fitted Z51 caliper brackets to the rear axle ages ago so now could do the same to the front, this just spaces the caliper out more.
I opted for the same EBC discs but this time in the larger 13.4" Z51 size.
Old 12.8"
New 13.4" Z51
The calipers hold fluid perfectly but the outer rubber seals are now toast.
The Mintex F4R pads have been mighty over the past year, just brilliant on road and track and had enough meat on them to use them on the new discs (I know you shouldn't). I reversed them to even out the taper that is fairly typical with the two piston caliper design.
Early November brought a private trackday at Donington.
Wet to start with, dry by the afternoon.
Not very tidy, but some good fun hooning. A mighty cloud of smoke exiting the chicane late in the afternoon and I pulled off on the grass. I was towed back to the garage, pleased that the towing strap I fitted held up (US Corvettes don't have a provision for towing like this). A hose popped off the power steering cooler, spraying oil everywhere, what a mess.
It could have been me not tightening the hose enough or possibly that the hose is a fraction too large to fit on the barbed Mocal fittings. No damage done, refilled the reservoir and drove home.
I had noticed a smaller leak from a union on the hose coming from the pump, so out it all came again to be replaced by the newer design hose, along with a thorough clean up.
Later that week (!) was a North Weald handling day with a few guys from the Corvette Club UK, through Lotus On Track.
A cold and foggy start, pretty dry though. The afternoon saw my best times from the previous year improve by more than two seconds. A combination of the slight handling upgrades and grippy Yokohama AD08-R contributed to this.
I was locked into a battle for 2nd/3rd best times with a supercharged Lotus, of which there were a few. In the end I finished 2nd overall, hoorah, all good fun with a degree of stop watch error of course.
The winner by a clear margin was the same gentleman and McLaren 720S who won the sprint my father and I had entered at Snetterton. We chatted some more and he took me out as a passenger for his final run of the day. Wow, what an incredible car, well driven, with the race mode helping control the power; it made my car feel slow!
A slight rubbing on the drive back to Wiltshire indicated the pads were due a replacement. A visual inspection through the wheel showed pad material remaining but the metal studs were just showing on one pad.
In case Mintex couldn't supply me a new pair in time (they kindly make the F4R for me) I bought and fitted a set of EBC's new RP-1 pads. It should make for a good comparison.
Edited by Fishy Dave on Thursday 11th June 17:31
After some light ribbing from my mate Tom about the wonky exhaust tips I looked into getting them more even. You are mostly at the mercy of the rear exhaust rubbers, but forum users report that even with new ones it's still difficult to get them aligned. Therefore a bodge has been adopted by some owners.
This consists of a stainless jubilee clip around the old rubber hangers, with a couple of cable ties just to keep it in place. It did the job, although it doesn't look pretty from underneath, I now have four perfectly aligned tips.
A slight rattling over uneven ground point to worn drop links. The alloy items fitted were not original fit, but were nice quality, just past their best. I set of heavier, steel, Moog units eliminated the rattles and have grease nipples fitted for the occasional lubing.
Finally, to bring things up to date, we have another seat saga!
The standard, leather seats were comfy but needed rebuilding, had no lateral support and you can't use them with harnesses. I first tried my Mazda RX-8 Cobra race seat on two different subframes (supportive but not comfortable on a long journey), Corsa VXR Recaros, lovely, but too big for the car and then an OMP Style seat (too high and too flimsy). I was getting frustrated with fitting difficulties and wasted money.
Corbeau make a seat specifically for the tight confines of C5 and C6 Corvette, called the Evolution X. These are a road biased sports seat, fixed back position on sliders and a Corvette specific subframe. They have shoulder holes to allow a 4 point harness. Not available to buy off the shelf in the UK and wanting to find a proven solution I ordered a pair of Evolution X seats (with optional red stitching) from the States (TPS Motorsports $799 +subframes) to be sent to my PO Box in Florida, (MyUS.com). Free shipping in the States, so far so good.
I then had a quote for $1250 to fly them across to England! After considering returning them, having another courier collect from the MyUS depot in the end they got the quote down, but it was still a considerable amount. Lesson learned that MyUS is brilliant for saving money on cross Atlantic shipping for most items except the largest and heaviest.
On arrival they look the part, sure, they are vinyl not leather but the finish is very good, considerably better than some of the cheap sports seats I'd seen advertised online and the subframes and sliders are sturdy and of the right angles. Let's hope they fit as we're taking the Corvette to Southern Spain for Christmas to stay with my inlaws and I'm running out of time.
This consists of a stainless jubilee clip around the old rubber hangers, with a couple of cable ties just to keep it in place. It did the job, although it doesn't look pretty from underneath, I now have four perfectly aligned tips.
A slight rattling over uneven ground point to worn drop links. The alloy items fitted were not original fit, but were nice quality, just past their best. I set of heavier, steel, Moog units eliminated the rattles and have grease nipples fitted for the occasional lubing.
Finally, to bring things up to date, we have another seat saga!
The standard, leather seats were comfy but needed rebuilding, had no lateral support and you can't use them with harnesses. I first tried my Mazda RX-8 Cobra race seat on two different subframes (supportive but not comfortable on a long journey), Corsa VXR Recaros, lovely, but too big for the car and then an OMP Style seat (too high and too flimsy). I was getting frustrated with fitting difficulties and wasted money.
Corbeau make a seat specifically for the tight confines of C5 and C6 Corvette, called the Evolution X. These are a road biased sports seat, fixed back position on sliders and a Corvette specific subframe. They have shoulder holes to allow a 4 point harness. Not available to buy off the shelf in the UK and wanting to find a proven solution I ordered a pair of Evolution X seats (with optional red stitching) from the States (TPS Motorsports $799 +subframes) to be sent to my PO Box in Florida, (MyUS.com). Free shipping in the States, so far so good.
I then had a quote for $1250 to fly them across to England! After considering returning them, having another courier collect from the MyUS depot in the end they got the quote down, but it was still a considerable amount. Lesson learned that MyUS is brilliant for saving money on cross Atlantic shipping for most items except the largest and heaviest.
On arrival they look the part, sure, they are vinyl not leather but the finish is very good, considerably better than some of the cheap sports seats I'd seen advertised online and the subframes and sliders are sturdy and of the right angles. Let's hope they fit as we're taking the Corvette to Southern Spain for Christmas to stay with my inlaws and I'm running out of time.
Edited by Fishy Dave on Wednesday 18th December 17:14
xjay1337 said:
Thought i saw this at the Ring in October :-)
Regarding your cracked discs, given you like to do track days and other performance driving, you may benefit moving to grooved discs instead of drilled.
Regarding your cracked discs, given you like to do track days and other performance driving, you may benefit moving to grooved discs instead of drilled.
You're right, the original drilled discs were hopeless and cracked very quickly. Since changing to dimpled and grooved they've been more robust and when this front disc did crack it didn't start from the dimple. Next up I will either upgrade to a big brake kit (that involves new alloys or spacers and ££££) or a 2 piece disc with grooves only. What car were you driving?
Edited by Fishy Dave on Wednesday 18th December 17:14
In readiness for the 2020 trackday and sprint season I started looking for another set of wheels. I like the design of the standard alloys (18 x 8.5 front and 19 x 10 rear), the chrome finish and they have a decent balance between weight and strength. However, they leave no clearance for bigger front brake calipers. As I'm doing this on a budget I couldn't justify £1200 in a set of TSW Interlagos plus £1500+ for Wilwood's or AP's. So, I thought I'd look for another set of standard wheels in Europe, they are bound to be cheap enough? No, they are bloomin expensive and rare.
A wanted advert on the US Corvette forum came up trumps (pun) and I bought a set of polished wheels (not as bright as the chrome I have) for the princely sum of $175. The gentleman (Steve) was friendly and helpful, boxed them up and I had them collected from his house in South Carolina on Tuesday afternoon and they arrived with me today, less than 48 hours later! Total cost including the wheels, shipping and duty was less than £500, a bargain for such tidy rims.
I've carried on chatting to the seller of the wheels, he has a lovely C2 that he bought in the early 1980s as well as this C6 Coupe like mine.
Just got to decide what tyres to go for now.....
A wanted advert on the US Corvette forum came up trumps (pun) and I bought a set of polished wheels (not as bright as the chrome I have) for the princely sum of $175. The gentleman (Steve) was friendly and helpful, boxed them up and I had them collected from his house in South Carolina on Tuesday afternoon and they arrived with me today, less than 48 hours later! Total cost including the wheels, shipping and duty was less than £500, a bargain for such tidy rims.
I've carried on chatting to the seller of the wheels, he has a lovely C2 that he bought in the early 1980s as well as this C6 Coupe like mine.
Just got to decide what tyres to go for now.....
e46m3c said:
On your next order from the states speak to Kieth at Eurovettes.com
He has containers coming over and has bought loads of stuff for my old vette
I also have a c6 z06 exhaust hanger knocking about somewhere if it’s of use? Brand spanker.
Yes, in hindsight I'd have given him a call as I was in no rush for the seats. He has containers coming over and has bought loads of stuff for my old vette
I also have a c6 z06 exhaust hanger knocking about somewhere if it’s of use? Brand spanker.
Thank you, feel free to send me an email with a piccie of the exhaust hanger, or a part number david@racelife.co.uk .
So far the jubilee clip fix seems to be working with my exhaust tips in more even alignment. When I remove the diff in January the back boxes will be removed and I'll have a better crack at lining them up perfectly. Two days before I left for our Christmas Spanish roadtrip I fitted the (by now expensive) Corbeau seats. The seats, runners and subframes are all well made and fit the Corvette cabin perfectly. The only slight design flaw is the threaded stud to mount the stock 3 point belt is a little short and requires a spacer to stop the belt rubbing on the seat side when sliding for and aft.
With a little messing about with washers to slightly recline the seats I had a good compromise between thigh support and head height, although I curse my body shape, with short legs and a long back that still makes me sit too high.
There is a bit of wiring and the occupancy sensor to transfer over, along with a couple of plugs to fit from Vetteworks (seat position and airbag). Sadly the airbag light cam on a week later so I have to investigate why.
The biggest challenge on these cars is fitting harnesses. In most cars you use eye bolts through the floor with large spreader plates. A Corvette has a sandwiched floor of alloy and balsa wood; relatively strong and light but entirely unsuitable for mounting harnesses with a real risk of them ripping out in the event of a crash. I had previously bought these Vetteworks items that mount behind the seat and are popular in the States: https://vetteworksonline.com/catalog/product_info....
They are well made but I wasn't entirely happy at the way they share the rear seat mount studs. Much time was spent poking around underneath the car to find a solution for the lap belt fixings.
In the end I drilled through the steel cross braces for the seats, with sizeable spreader plates that overlap the steel formings on both sides. After taking this photo I sprayed them with black chassis paint. I'm happy with both the positioning and likely strength given the other options available. The eyelets should really be turned 90 degrees, but the belt latches just won't fit that way.
I ordered a pair of 4 point, black TRS harness from Demon Tweeks in November with an unknown ETA. Meantime the stock 3 point belt works well and slides without restriction when passed through a shoulder hole.
With a little messing about with washers to slightly recline the seats I had a good compromise between thigh support and head height, although I curse my body shape, with short legs and a long back that still makes me sit too high.
There is a bit of wiring and the occupancy sensor to transfer over, along with a couple of plugs to fit from Vetteworks (seat position and airbag). Sadly the airbag light cam on a week later so I have to investigate why.
The biggest challenge on these cars is fitting harnesses. In most cars you use eye bolts through the floor with large spreader plates. A Corvette has a sandwiched floor of alloy and balsa wood; relatively strong and light but entirely unsuitable for mounting harnesses with a real risk of them ripping out in the event of a crash. I had previously bought these Vetteworks items that mount behind the seat and are popular in the States: https://vetteworksonline.com/catalog/product_info....
They are well made but I wasn't entirely happy at the way they share the rear seat mount studs. Much time was spent poking around underneath the car to find a solution for the lap belt fixings.
In the end I drilled through the steel cross braces for the seats, with sizeable spreader plates that overlap the steel formings on both sides. After taking this photo I sprayed them with black chassis paint. I'm happy with both the positioning and likely strength given the other options available. The eyelets should really be turned 90 degrees, but the belt latches just won't fit that way.
I ordered a pair of 4 point, black TRS harness from Demon Tweeks in November with an unknown ETA. Meantime the stock 3 point belt works well and slides without restriction when passed through a shoulder hole.
Edited by Fishy Dave on Wednesday 15th January 16:45
My Inlaws moved to the South East of Spain more than ten years ago, we usually fly down but thought we'd take the Vette this time, for Christmas and New Year. The Portsmouth to Bilbao crossing was truly awful, for a start the boat had been switched to an economy crossing due to the weather and it was stormy virtually the whole way. Not only did I spend the whole time in bed I genuinely feared for the car, although it turned out fine.
Northern Spain has very different scenery to the South, more green and less desert like. The temperature crept up, reach 25 degrees around Valencia, not bad for Christmas Eve.
During the course of the holiday we went to the beach a couple of days, even taking the roof off sometimes.
A few hours away is Sierra Nevada, so Beth and I drove there for the day as a future Skiing reccie. After a couple of hours of motorway we headed off the beaten track, passing through tiny villages and Olive groves, seeing snowy peaks in the distance.
I washed the car at my Inlaws, changing the faded centre cap decals for new ones.
We started to head for home on New Years Day. After hours of deserted motorway the N204 road (east of Madrid) was one of the best I've ever driven. We drove for almost two hours at a 'brisk' pace and encountered no more than 3 cars travelling in the same direction as us! No GoPro with us and too twisty for Beth to film and hang on tight! Beth was stopped by the Guardia as I asked her to stop whilst I took a photo from a Dam, it wasn't allowed, oops.
We stayed overnight at a Parador (State run historical buildings/castles) overnight: https://www.parador.es/en/paradores/parador-de-sig...
The Castle was a beautiful place, but a truly terrible, awful, expensive restaurant, one of the worst I've ever had the misfortune to visit and we normally eat anything. The next morning was about minus 3, quite a shock.
The next morning we again took a route of N and A roads rather than the motorways, what a treat. I actually think that Spain has some of the finest driving roads in Spain, they are smooth, traffic free and well cambered.
Thankfully the 24 hour crossing home was smooth and this time on the correct, comfortable ship. Arriving back home on Friday night, the car purred past 208,000 miles, averaging 29 mpg (Imperial) over the 1900 mile roadtrip.
Woke up on Saturday morning (4th Jan) and decided to make a start on dropping the transmission and rear subframe in readiness for a couple of winter upgrades. The first of which is the fitting of the lightweight Fidanza flywheel I bought back in 2018, the second is changing the final drive from 3.42 to 4.1, necessitating the removal of the diff. An online guide came to the rescue and my scissor lift helped but it was still a tricky, weekend long job removing it by myself with a high trolley jack and axle stands.
Whilst I'm happy to have a go at most jobs I draw the line at diffs and gearboxes. The diff requires multiple GM specific tools and a degree of skill to get the mesh spot on, so I have sent it away to: https://www.gearboxman.co.uk/ who confirmed they had worked on these before.
The diff and 'box are bolted together at the rear but are not a true transaxle, just packaged this way for space and weight distribution. It was a bit of a fiddle to separate them, with weight and awkward bolts the problem.
I am currently waiting on a few parts which will be replaced 'whilst I'm in there' such as a spigot bearing and the bearings and bushings in the Torque Tube and driveshaft. Following forum recommendations I'm actually fitting rubber 'Guibos' from a BMW E36/E46 which are exactly the same dimensions but about a third of the price! As the gearbox, real main seal, slave and master cylinders, LS7 clutch etc. were replaced as part of a full gearbox rebuilding by RPM in the States at 180,000 miles I won't replace these same parts again.
At the Autosport show I visited the Corbeau UK stand. They were superbly helpful and frustratingly for me confirmed that they could have imported a pair of seats for me at a considerably cheaper price. The TRS belts had still not appeared so I cancelled these and ordered a pair from Corbeau instead, with lengths made to suit the Corvette.
Also at the show I met Simon, the Time Attack Co-ordinator. Bit by bit I have been working towards getting the car towards the minimum specification required to compete in their Clubman Plus class and once the belts and handheld extinguisher are fitted I'll be ready. I will be entering one round at some stage, assuming I enjoy it I will then by the required Pirelli tyres already for more rounds in 2021.
Time Attack is as close to racing the Vette I can get without adding a cage, which I don't want to do. It's perhaps best to think of it as four qualifying sessions or maybe four timed trackday sessions, but with a crowd and prizes. Mean time I will be racing the RX-8 this season, but haven't started a thread for this one yet. https://www.timeattack.co.uk/
I've applied the obligatory 'ring sticker next to the COTA, not sure whether I'll keep them or not?
The EBC RP1 pads have so far been 'adequate' but not as strong as the Mintex F4R I usually run. Both are race pads, but the EBC's never felt very strong when zooming around Spains twisty roads. They are also missing a portion of the disc on both sides, this is EXACTLY what a set of Blue stuff did on my Z4M some years ago. I will wait to see what EBC say when i show them the photos.
That's it for now, fully up to date.
Northern Spain has very different scenery to the South, more green and less desert like. The temperature crept up, reach 25 degrees around Valencia, not bad for Christmas Eve.
During the course of the holiday we went to the beach a couple of days, even taking the roof off sometimes.
A few hours away is Sierra Nevada, so Beth and I drove there for the day as a future Skiing reccie. After a couple of hours of motorway we headed off the beaten track, passing through tiny villages and Olive groves, seeing snowy peaks in the distance.
I washed the car at my Inlaws, changing the faded centre cap decals for new ones.
We started to head for home on New Years Day. After hours of deserted motorway the N204 road (east of Madrid) was one of the best I've ever driven. We drove for almost two hours at a 'brisk' pace and encountered no more than 3 cars travelling in the same direction as us! No GoPro with us and too twisty for Beth to film and hang on tight! Beth was stopped by the Guardia as I asked her to stop whilst I took a photo from a Dam, it wasn't allowed, oops.
We stayed overnight at a Parador (State run historical buildings/castles) overnight: https://www.parador.es/en/paradores/parador-de-sig...
The Castle was a beautiful place, but a truly terrible, awful, expensive restaurant, one of the worst I've ever had the misfortune to visit and we normally eat anything. The next morning was about minus 3, quite a shock.
The next morning we again took a route of N and A roads rather than the motorways, what a treat. I actually think that Spain has some of the finest driving roads in Spain, they are smooth, traffic free and well cambered.
Thankfully the 24 hour crossing home was smooth and this time on the correct, comfortable ship. Arriving back home on Friday night, the car purred past 208,000 miles, averaging 29 mpg (Imperial) over the 1900 mile roadtrip.
Woke up on Saturday morning (4th Jan) and decided to make a start on dropping the transmission and rear subframe in readiness for a couple of winter upgrades. The first of which is the fitting of the lightweight Fidanza flywheel I bought back in 2018, the second is changing the final drive from 3.42 to 4.1, necessitating the removal of the diff. An online guide came to the rescue and my scissor lift helped but it was still a tricky, weekend long job removing it by myself with a high trolley jack and axle stands.
Whilst I'm happy to have a go at most jobs I draw the line at diffs and gearboxes. The diff requires multiple GM specific tools and a degree of skill to get the mesh spot on, so I have sent it away to: https://www.gearboxman.co.uk/ who confirmed they had worked on these before.
The diff and 'box are bolted together at the rear but are not a true transaxle, just packaged this way for space and weight distribution. It was a bit of a fiddle to separate them, with weight and awkward bolts the problem.
I am currently waiting on a few parts which will be replaced 'whilst I'm in there' such as a spigot bearing and the bearings and bushings in the Torque Tube and driveshaft. Following forum recommendations I'm actually fitting rubber 'Guibos' from a BMW E36/E46 which are exactly the same dimensions but about a third of the price! As the gearbox, real main seal, slave and master cylinders, LS7 clutch etc. were replaced as part of a full gearbox rebuilding by RPM in the States at 180,000 miles I won't replace these same parts again.
At the Autosport show I visited the Corbeau UK stand. They were superbly helpful and frustratingly for me confirmed that they could have imported a pair of seats for me at a considerably cheaper price. The TRS belts had still not appeared so I cancelled these and ordered a pair from Corbeau instead, with lengths made to suit the Corvette.
Also at the show I met Simon, the Time Attack Co-ordinator. Bit by bit I have been working towards getting the car towards the minimum specification required to compete in their Clubman Plus class and once the belts and handheld extinguisher are fitted I'll be ready. I will be entering one round at some stage, assuming I enjoy it I will then by the required Pirelli tyres already for more rounds in 2021.
Time Attack is as close to racing the Vette I can get without adding a cage, which I don't want to do. It's perhaps best to think of it as four qualifying sessions or maybe four timed trackday sessions, but with a crowd and prizes. Mean time I will be racing the RX-8 this season, but haven't started a thread for this one yet. https://www.timeattack.co.uk/
I've applied the obligatory 'ring sticker next to the COTA, not sure whether I'll keep them or not?
The EBC RP1 pads have so far been 'adequate' but not as strong as the Mintex F4R I usually run. Both are race pads, but the EBC's never felt very strong when zooming around Spains twisty roads. They are also missing a portion of the disc on both sides, this is EXACTLY what a set of Blue stuff did on my Z4M some years ago. I will wait to see what EBC say when i show them the photos.
That's it for now, fully up to date.
Edited by Fishy Dave on Thursday 16th January 08:24
Shnozz said:
Exactly the reason I am after a C6! I have a house in Spain and it’s there I want to keep one. Still debating whether to just buy one Spanish registered or have it on uk plates.
If I buy it in Spain it’s about £25k (cars are in general more expensive there) and mean I couldn’t drive it ‘home’ to the uk at all.
If I buy it here it’s cheaper but then means I have expensive insurance with a specialist if it’s to be outside of the uk for more than 30 days at a time as per a normal insurance policy. It also means re patriating the car at least annually for its MOT and also finding parking for it alongside my uk car whilst it’s in this country. No easy answer but leaning towards buying one in Spain and just leaving it there.
Find me a cheap one fishy Dave! £10k and it’s an easy answer, £20k less so!
How much time do you spend in each country? For the first few years my Inlaws kept their car UK registered, driving it back each year for MOT, but once they were Spanish residents they registered the car there (Jaguar XF), but then they are there the majority of the time. If I buy it in Spain it’s about £25k (cars are in general more expensive there) and mean I couldn’t drive it ‘home’ to the uk at all.
If I buy it here it’s cheaper but then means I have expensive insurance with a specialist if it’s to be outside of the uk for more than 30 days at a time as per a normal insurance policy. It also means re patriating the car at least annually for its MOT and also finding parking for it alongside my uk car whilst it’s in this country. No easy answer but leaning towards buying one in Spain and just leaving it there.
Find me a cheap one fishy Dave! £10k and it’s an easy answer, £20k less so!
The only cars I've ever found at the lower price is in the States. For example, this could make a good buy, $10,000 with decent miles, new engine and unrecorded damage that could be repaired: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c6-corvettes-...
The exchange rate is similar to when I bought mine, so this car could cost around £12000 to £13500 depending on location and shipping options. I can keep an eye out.
The car is still off the road, for those who haven't read previous posts it's to change the final drive ratio and fit a lightened flywheel. Frustratingly the diff was with Competition Transmission Services https://www.gearboxman.co.uk/ for three weeks before they said they needed shims and didn't have bearings in stock, so we're now waiting on parts from the States.
In the meantime I've been getting on with other tasks.
The EBC RP-1 pads were removed and photographed, I have emailed EBC who will get back to me.
These photos were from the right hand (passenger) side of the car.
The left/drivers side has an identical missing stripe on the same part of the disc braking surface, but the pad is undamaged, odd.
I was fortunate that at 180,000 miles the gearbox was rebuilt by the best in the business, RPM Transmissions in the States. At the same time the rear main seal was changed and the output shafts and clutch were replaced with a Z06 (LS7) upgraded version. The downside of the uprated clutch and cover plate is weight.
The standard Corvette LS2 clutch and flywheel would have weighed around 22.7kgs.
With the uprated LS7 coverplate and stock flywheel mine weighs 26.1kg, great for a smooth idle and traffic manners but not the best for performance or rev matching.
The stock flywheel alone is 12.3 kg.
The new, Fidanza alloy fly is half the weight at 6kg.
This gives the grand total of 19.8kg for the new set up, around 3kg lighter than the stock set up, it should help.
Not knowing whether the pilot bearing had been replaced it made sense to change it. In the freezer next to the Steak overnight, warmed up the crank end with a heat gun and the two slotted together with only light taps on a drift.
Also in the category of 'whilst I'm in there' I decided to tackle the torque tube and propshaft within.
I found the part numbers of the bearings and ordered them from a UK company. Also ordered a 'slinger' and pair of rubber 'giubo's'. The latter are expensive from Chevrolet, but bizarrely the BMW 318ti and similar models have a pair in identical sizes at a fraction of the price. Having separated the gearbox from the torque tube and gotten over how relatively light the tube is I removed the internals after wrestling with a monster circlip.
All the bearings and the rubber giubos span and looked perfect, but it made sense to change them, with the help of a local garage press.
The old (left) GM compared with the new BMW (Febi Bilstein) versions.
The alloy propshaft is beautifully made and so light.
Once rebuilt I tapped the lot back in to the tube, had a hell of a job with the circlip again (feared for my eyes!) and relax.
Back to the car I bolted the new flywheel with new bolts and old LS7 clutch back on the car, changing the oil and oil filter whilst I'm at it.
In the meantime I've been getting on with other tasks.
The EBC RP-1 pads were removed and photographed, I have emailed EBC who will get back to me.
These photos were from the right hand (passenger) side of the car.
The left/drivers side has an identical missing stripe on the same part of the disc braking surface, but the pad is undamaged, odd.
I was fortunate that at 180,000 miles the gearbox was rebuilt by the best in the business, RPM Transmissions in the States. At the same time the rear main seal was changed and the output shafts and clutch were replaced with a Z06 (LS7) upgraded version. The downside of the uprated clutch and cover plate is weight.
The standard Corvette LS2 clutch and flywheel would have weighed around 22.7kgs.
With the uprated LS7 coverplate and stock flywheel mine weighs 26.1kg, great for a smooth idle and traffic manners but not the best for performance or rev matching.
The stock flywheel alone is 12.3 kg.
The new, Fidanza alloy fly is half the weight at 6kg.
This gives the grand total of 19.8kg for the new set up, around 3kg lighter than the stock set up, it should help.
Not knowing whether the pilot bearing had been replaced it made sense to change it. In the freezer next to the Steak overnight, warmed up the crank end with a heat gun and the two slotted together with only light taps on a drift.
Also in the category of 'whilst I'm in there' I decided to tackle the torque tube and propshaft within.
I found the part numbers of the bearings and ordered them from a UK company. Also ordered a 'slinger' and pair of rubber 'giubo's'. The latter are expensive from Chevrolet, but bizarrely the BMW 318ti and similar models have a pair in identical sizes at a fraction of the price. Having separated the gearbox from the torque tube and gotten over how relatively light the tube is I removed the internals after wrestling with a monster circlip.
All the bearings and the rubber giubos span and looked perfect, but it made sense to change them, with the help of a local garage press.
The old (left) GM compared with the new BMW (Febi Bilstein) versions.
The alloy propshaft is beautifully made and so light.
Once rebuilt I tapped the lot back in to the tube, had a hell of a job with the circlip again (feared for my eyes!) and relax.
Back to the car I bolted the new flywheel with new bolts and old LS7 clutch back on the car, changing the oil and oil filter whilst I'm at it.
Edited by Fishy Dave on Wednesday 5th February 15:05
The 2007 Corvette C6 was supplied with a stupidly quiet exhaust as standard, you can barely hear that it's a V8 such are the backboxes effectiveness. The original owner quickly changed to a Flowmaster axle back, which were still on the car when i bought it. These sounded good, but had a fair bit of drone at 75mph and were a little too loud from cold, they would make pictures and ornaments buzz in the house such were the levels of base 
So, in the interests of harmony with my neighbours in the village I bought a pair of 'NPP' switchable boxes from a 2008 model, as documented on a previous page. With vacuum operated valves these go from quiet to noisy at a press of a remote and are pretty much perfect, aside from rattles, which i knew mine had when I bought them from the States, but they were cheap as a result. Due to the change in internal pressure within the backboxes it appears to fatigue and then crack the baffles over time. As they are off the car at present I decided to open them up and take a peek.
Carefully drill out the 6 spot welds.
Angle grind with a thin cutting disc.
Open it open to reveal the chambers and wadding.
One of the back boxes had light cracking only, the other was very damaged.
I've bought some sheets of stainless steel, which I will cut into sections and have welded to the existing baffles for extra strength, then have them sealed up again next week.
Finally I have now added a rear tow strap (having fitted an identical one to the front last year) as their is no provision for towing a US spec car, other than from beneath using the jacking holes, which would not be ideal on a trackday.
I will need to cut a slot in the black part of the lower bumper, but will only poke the tow strap through when needed at a trackday, the rest of the time it will stay hidden behind the bumper.
So, in the interests of harmony with my neighbours in the village I bought a pair of 'NPP' switchable boxes from a 2008 model, as documented on a previous page. With vacuum operated valves these go from quiet to noisy at a press of a remote and are pretty much perfect, aside from rattles, which i knew mine had when I bought them from the States, but they were cheap as a result. Due to the change in internal pressure within the backboxes it appears to fatigue and then crack the baffles over time. As they are off the car at present I decided to open them up and take a peek.
Carefully drill out the 6 spot welds.
Angle grind with a thin cutting disc.
Open it open to reveal the chambers and wadding.
One of the back boxes had light cracking only, the other was very damaged.
I've bought some sheets of stainless steel, which I will cut into sections and have welded to the existing baffles for extra strength, then have them sealed up again next week.
Finally I have now added a rear tow strap (having fitted an identical one to the front last year) as their is no provision for towing a US spec car, other than from beneath using the jacking holes, which would not be ideal on a trackday.
I will need to cut a slot in the black part of the lower bumper, but will only poke the tow strap through when needed at a trackday, the rest of the time it will stay hidden behind the bumper.
Thank you
Yes, I had read they'd changed the filter some time ago. I also have to be careful ordering them from the states as have been sent the 46e by mistake which has a different thread/hole size. I've not had a problem yet with the 48e coming loose, but I tend to change my oil and filter regularly and check the car over pretty often. It's probably the easiest car I've ever worked on, thanks to a well thought out design, a previous owner who wasn't a Gorilla and virtually no corrosion.
Yes, I had read they'd changed the filter some time ago. I also have to be careful ordering them from the states as have been sent the 46e by mistake which has a different thread/hole size. I've not had a problem yet with the 48e coming loose, but I tend to change my oil and filter regularly and check the car over pretty often.
It's probably the easiest car I've ever worked on, thanks to a well thought out design, a previous owner who wasn't a Gorilla and virtually no corrosion. The NPP exhausts, with reinforcing pieces were welded up by a local company, minus the sound absorbing wool. For £80 in total I am happy with the job if it stops the rattling. All you can see from behind the car is the polished tips, so unless you're an MOT tester you'll not see the welds.
Whilst waiting what felt like an age for the diff, I treated the car to a leather gear gaiter to replace the tired, stock vinyl one. Bought for just £14.99 it is British made, fits perfectly and is very nice quality. The red stitching matches the Corbeau seats.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RED-STITCHING-GEAR-GAIT...
I wish I'd washed the car before I started work on it; almost two months with Spanish salt on the wheels has ruined the chrome, really gutted.
Whilst waiting what felt like an age for the diff, I treated the car to a leather gear gaiter to replace the tired, stock vinyl one. Bought for just £14.99 it is British made, fits perfectly and is very nice quality. The red stitching matches the Corbeau seats.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RED-STITCHING-GEAR-GAIT...
I wish I'd washed the car before I started work on it; almost two months with Spanish salt on the wheels has ruined the chrome, really gutted.
Edited by Fishy Dave on Tuesday 7th April 16:00
In mid January my diff arrived with Competition Transmission Services https://www.gearboxman.co.uk/ to fit the Motive Gears 4.1 crown and pinion. 2 to 3 weeks was the ball park figure, long story short, more parts were required, wrong bearings sent, chasing from me every few days. End result is that I collected the finished diff on Friday 28th Feb, with a considerably larger bill than initially expected (almost £1000) and my normally patient demeanour somewhat tested, having never received a call back at any stage in the process, or any information that could have allowed me to source parts myself.
I can only hope that the quality of their work inside the casing is better than the outside.
4.1 is definitely the largest that will fit in the Getrag casing.
Reunited with the Tremec gearbox.
With the help of my mate George 'PorkRind' we fitted the torque tube, propping it up with a length of timber. We then bolted the diff and gearbox to the rear subframe, George kicked away the piece of wood and supported the tube, whilst I lowered the car on the lift with George underneath!
We then jacked the assembly upto meet the tube, we took our time but had a bit of a job getting the two halves to mate together, but still think this is easier than having the extra weight and bulk of the torque tube hanging off the front. It also lessens the risk of damaging the pilot bearing.That was the end of day one, big thanks to George, having that extra muscle made a difference.
A long day by myself on Sunday and it's all back in, with fresh Redline ATF in the 'box and Millers CRX LS Nanodrive 75/90 in the diff.
Refitting the exhausts was hard work, I have a new found respect for exhaust fitters.
I had previously reported that I'd tried a new set of EBC RP1 pads on the front axle. These had cracked in short time and were missing a section on both front discs. EBC replaced the pads with no issue but having experienced this once before on my previous Z4M, I've gone back to the brilliant Mintex F4R.
Firing up after such a lot of disassembly is always a nervous moment, but it was fine. The exhausts no longer rattle at idle, much better and in the quiet mode are just a little deeper, now that the wool is removed. It was great to drive it again after 7 weeks without the car. The revs no rise and fall quicker with the lighter flywheel, but the biggest improvement was in the gearing. 75mph is now 2000rpm, compared with about 1650 before, with all of the gears nicely spaced. Although I am less than impressed with the service I received at CTS I must say that the end result is excellent, with no fluid leaks and no whining from the back end
.
I now need to cover 500 gentle miles before a Snetterton trackday on Monday, with no more than half throttle to bed in and heat cycle the flywheel and new cogs.
Driven it to work today, I've really missed it.
I can only hope that the quality of their work inside the casing is better than the outside.
4.1 is definitely the largest that will fit in the Getrag casing.
Reunited with the Tremec gearbox.
With the help of my mate George 'PorkRind' we fitted the torque tube, propping it up with a length of timber. We then bolted the diff and gearbox to the rear subframe, George kicked away the piece of wood and supported the tube, whilst I lowered the car on the lift with George underneath!
We then jacked the assembly upto meet the tube, we took our time but had a bit of a job getting the two halves to mate together, but still think this is easier than having the extra weight and bulk of the torque tube hanging off the front. It also lessens the risk of damaging the pilot bearing.That was the end of day one, big thanks to George, having that extra muscle made a difference.
A long day by myself on Sunday and it's all back in, with fresh Redline ATF in the 'box and Millers CRX LS Nanodrive 75/90 in the diff.
Refitting the exhausts was hard work, I have a new found respect for exhaust fitters.
I had previously reported that I'd tried a new set of EBC RP1 pads on the front axle. These had cracked in short time and were missing a section on both front discs. EBC replaced the pads with no issue but having experienced this once before on my previous Z4M, I've gone back to the brilliant Mintex F4R.
Firing up after such a lot of disassembly is always a nervous moment, but it was fine. The exhausts no longer rattle at idle, much better and in the quiet mode are just a little deeper, now that the wool is removed. It was great to drive it again after 7 weeks without the car. The revs no rise and fall quicker with the lighter flywheel, but the biggest improvement was in the gearing. 75mph is now 2000rpm, compared with about 1650 before, with all of the gears nicely spaced. Although I am less than impressed with the service I received at CTS I must say that the end result is excellent, with no fluid leaks and no whining from the back end
.I now need to cover 500 gentle miles before a Snetterton trackday on Monday, with no more than half throttle to bed in and heat cycle the flywheel and new cogs.
Driven it to work today, I've really missed it.
Edited by Fishy Dave on Thursday 5th March 09:53
Edited by Fishy Dave on Thursday 5th March 09:55
Monday should be fun at Snetterton, are you bringing an onboard camera? I'll have the Go Pro so will aim to keep up if possible. 
The North Weald handling day I attended in November was featured in the latest issue of 'Vette News', with mention of my 2nd fastest time of the day, whoop. The magazine editor will be coming along to Snetterton to drive my car.
The North Weald handling day I attended in November was featured in the latest issue of 'Vette News', with mention of my 2nd fastest time of the day, whoop. The magazine editor will be coming along to Snetterton to drive my car.
Before the virus shut everything down I was able to get a few days of gentle driving in the week before the planned Snetterton trackday. It was frustrating have to trundle round on a gentle throttle everywhere whilst bedding in the diff. The drive up to Norfolk (from Wiltshire) showed about a 300rpm difference in top at motorway cruising speed, around 1950-2000rpm at 80mph, so hardly revving like crazy.
The organiser of this private trackday (Richard) was already at Thetford when I arrived, you get a decent class of car at a Travelodge.
Monday 9th March, time for the trackday. I had a number of guests, with family there, including my Dad who was driving, the Editor of the Corvette Club Magazine (Mark) and the first time I've met PHer and fellow C6 owner Mr Noisy (and son).
The day was dry, relatively warm and had low numbers of cars by design, perfect. Sometimes we wondered if there was a red flag, the track was that quiet, that is until two Corvettes chased round together!
First time there has been another Corvette C6 on track with me, both cars well matched despite their different specification and age of tyre. The gear ratios have really improved the driving experience for me, not sure of laps times to compare though. Richard (MrNoisy) has the Z51 pack on his C6, that has different ratios from the base model. The ratios of both cars seem broadly similar, only I was just using 5th on the back straight, whereas Richard could just stay in 4th. The gap from 4th to 5th appears larger than those between the first 4 gears.
The only other footage I have from Snetterton with the old ratios was when I was bedding in new pads and new tyres, as you'll see at the beginning of this clip:
The Corvette covered many laps, getting through three, large tankfuls of petrol over the day, with three of us driving it. With an hour to go I was black flagged, a good job too as I was leaking oil, two types! After I'd left the garage my Dad noticed spots on the garage floor and alerting the Marshals. It looks like the aux belt had snapped and got itself wedged behind the main pulley, pressing against the front main oil seal, losing a litre in the process!
No great damage done but a lot of mess and I need to investigate why the belt has twice broken on track. The car got me home, with no further oil loss. Despite the ending it was one of the best trackdays I've done in years.
Once cleaned up on the ramp I discovered a small leak from one of the power steering unions into the rack (the hose rear most in the photo below). It was very difficult to get to, but a tenth of a turn later and it was nipped up and stopped the leak.
I have ordered a new front main oil seal and will change it as a precaution, as I can see a small oil stain appearing now I've driven the car again since the clean up.
My wife had bought me a new, genuine GM front badge for my Christmas present (over £100!), so I changed that over before afternoon tea at Bowood House.
That brings us up to date, with no further driving likely for a while now I'm working from home.
The organiser of this private trackday (Richard) was already at Thetford when I arrived, you get a decent class of car at a Travelodge.
Monday 9th March, time for the trackday. I had a number of guests, with family there, including my Dad who was driving, the Editor of the Corvette Club Magazine (Mark) and the first time I've met PHer and fellow C6 owner Mr Noisy (and son).
The day was dry, relatively warm and had low numbers of cars by design, perfect. Sometimes we wondered if there was a red flag, the track was that quiet, that is until two Corvettes chased round together!
First time there has been another Corvette C6 on track with me, both cars well matched despite their different specification and age of tyre. The gear ratios have really improved the driving experience for me, not sure of laps times to compare though. Richard (MrNoisy) has the Z51 pack on his C6, that has different ratios from the base model. The ratios of both cars seem broadly similar, only I was just using 5th on the back straight, whereas Richard could just stay in 4th. The gap from 4th to 5th appears larger than those between the first 4 gears.
The only other footage I have from Snetterton with the old ratios was when I was bedding in new pads and new tyres, as you'll see at the beginning of this clip:
The Corvette covered many laps, getting through three, large tankfuls of petrol over the day, with three of us driving it. With an hour to go I was black flagged, a good job too as I was leaking oil, two types! After I'd left the garage my Dad noticed spots on the garage floor and alerting the Marshals. It looks like the aux belt had snapped and got itself wedged behind the main pulley, pressing against the front main oil seal, losing a litre in the process!
No great damage done but a lot of mess and I need to investigate why the belt has twice broken on track. The car got me home, with no further oil loss. Despite the ending it was one of the best trackdays I've done in years.
Once cleaned up on the ramp I discovered a small leak from one of the power steering unions into the rack (the hose rear most in the photo below). It was very difficult to get to, but a tenth of a turn later and it was nipped up and stopped the leak.
I have ordered a new front main oil seal and will change it as a precaution, as I can see a small oil stain appearing now I've driven the car again since the clean up.
My wife had bought me a new, genuine GM front badge for my Christmas present (over £100!), so I changed that over before afternoon tea at Bowood House.
That brings us up to date, with no further driving likely for a while now I'm working from home.
Edited by Fishy Dave on Thursday 11th June 17:19
Thanks guys, glad someone still reads this.
It was time to replace the front main oil seal, after the shredded Air Con belt became jammed at Snetterton last month. It's a bit of a job to get to the seal, fortunately (?!) I've become familiar with removing the steering rack and moving everything else out the way to get to the Harmonic Balancer/main pulley (henceforth HB).
In addition to changing the oil seal I will investigate why the belt has now jumped off twice in the last 6 months whilst on track and also relocate the Mocal power steering cooler I fitted last season, as it's in the way of air flow behind the radiator.
I had two of these little chaps looking on.
I bought one of these pullers from ebay as the holes in the HB are imperial (Power Bond Race).
With the steering rack moved to one side I could get at the pulley.
Running a metal ruler from the HB to the A/C pulley I could see that the HB was about 1.5mm too far forwards, compared to the A/C compressor. Not a lot, but with the engine at 6500rpm on track it is probably enough to bounce the belt off.
I removed the reusable ARP bolt and fitted the puller, it worked perfectly.
Yup, that's definitely where the oil was coming from. The indent in the crank end is from where I drilled and pinned the crank and balancer together last year, it reduces the chances of the pulley spinning on the shaft.
You can see parts of the old belt still jammed into the seal!
At this point I was scratching my head why the balancer should be sticking out a touch more than it should, I had after all torqued the bolt correctly last year and 240lb/ft is plenty to have fully pressed it home. After hours of googling I found the answer. It was the combination of the Melling high volume oil pump (which is wider) and the Powerbond Harmonic Balancer (different shape to standard) that accounts for the difference.
This left me with a few options:
1. Live with it, but risk losing another belt. Considering the first belt took out the power steering hose and the second caused an oil leak I didn't fancy this one.
2. Live with it but remove the AC belt anytime I did a trackday. It's a bit of a hassle doing this each time and on a summers trackday I might actually want working A/C.
3. Replace either the oil pump or the HB. As both were new last year I didn't fancy the wait or the expense, although I should have bought an underdrive pulley in the first place. having said that most underdrive pulleys don't slow down the AC belt, only the main serpentine one.
4. Modify the existing HB by removing a small amount of material from the 'snout' so it fits further towards the engine block, snug against the oil pump.
The correct way of carrying out option 4 would be to take it to a local engineering company, but with almost everywhere shut down and this hardly being essential I thought I'd risk having a go myself. At this point all precision engineers might want to look away.
The sum total of my tools being an angle grinder with metal grinding disk, some hand files, various straight edges and an old Black and Decker Workmate.
Fortunately the snout has a chamfered edge of exactly the amount I aimed to remove.
With careful grinding it became this.
Some gentle filing and it was as flat as I could make it with hand tools.
Having the lift makes these jobs so much easier. Lifting to 1 metre is just the right height for sitting or kneeling.
With the balancer fitted back in place the belt run looks perfectly true. I bought a Continental belt a couple of mm shorter, just to put the tensioner in a slightly different place. Time will tell if this makes a difference.
Next up was to look at relocating the power steering cooler. To recap, my base model C6 Coupe has a very basic power steering cooler, consisting of a twirly looking bit of alloy pipe. The power steering pump and rack both got cooked with the effort of shifting sticky 265 profile track tyres, an expensive lesson. Instead of opting for the GM Z51 spec cooler (a similar bit of allow pipe with a few fins attached) I went for a small Mocal oil cooler that I fitted in the stock location. This was directly behind the radiator fan, not ideal as it blocks airflow exiting the rear of the radiator. I refitted the stock cooler and extended hoses to locate the Mocal behind the left side fog light void/in front of the wheel well. This location only gets minimal air flow and I didn't want to lose the front fog lights at this point, so I opted for a switcheable 9cm puller fan instead. The fan draws its power from the under hood light. The cooler is on the low pressure side of the steering, so oil hose and stainless hose clips do the job. You can see the basic 'cooler' in the lower background of the photo, attached to the subframe.
I didn't finish until 22:00 on Sunday night (hence no finished engine bay photos), but drove it in to work yesterday and treated it to a wash, before driving home again with the roof off. No oil leak, so far so good.
I am still hoping that I can compete in the final round of Time Attack of the year at Snetterton in October and have booked a Donington trackday in November, but who knows?
It was time to replace the front main oil seal, after the shredded Air Con belt became jammed at Snetterton last month. It's a bit of a job to get to the seal, fortunately (?!) I've become familiar with removing the steering rack and moving everything else out the way to get to the Harmonic Balancer/main pulley (henceforth HB).
In addition to changing the oil seal I will investigate why the belt has now jumped off twice in the last 6 months whilst on track and also relocate the Mocal power steering cooler I fitted last season, as it's in the way of air flow behind the radiator.
I had two of these little chaps looking on.
I bought one of these pullers from ebay as the holes in the HB are imperial (Power Bond Race).
With the steering rack moved to one side I could get at the pulley.
Running a metal ruler from the HB to the A/C pulley I could see that the HB was about 1.5mm too far forwards, compared to the A/C compressor. Not a lot, but with the engine at 6500rpm on track it is probably enough to bounce the belt off.
I removed the reusable ARP bolt and fitted the puller, it worked perfectly.
Yup, that's definitely where the oil was coming from. The indent in the crank end is from where I drilled and pinned the crank and balancer together last year, it reduces the chances of the pulley spinning on the shaft.
You can see parts of the old belt still jammed into the seal!
At this point I was scratching my head why the balancer should be sticking out a touch more than it should, I had after all torqued the bolt correctly last year and 240lb/ft is plenty to have fully pressed it home. After hours of googling I found the answer. It was the combination of the Melling high volume oil pump (which is wider) and the Powerbond Harmonic Balancer (different shape to standard) that accounts for the difference.
This left me with a few options:
1. Live with it, but risk losing another belt. Considering the first belt took out the power steering hose and the second caused an oil leak I didn't fancy this one.
2. Live with it but remove the AC belt anytime I did a trackday. It's a bit of a hassle doing this each time and on a summers trackday I might actually want working A/C.
3. Replace either the oil pump or the HB. As both were new last year I didn't fancy the wait or the expense, although I should have bought an underdrive pulley in the first place. having said that most underdrive pulleys don't slow down the AC belt, only the main serpentine one.
4. Modify the existing HB by removing a small amount of material from the 'snout' so it fits further towards the engine block, snug against the oil pump.
The correct way of carrying out option 4 would be to take it to a local engineering company, but with almost everywhere shut down and this hardly being essential I thought I'd risk having a go myself. At this point all precision engineers might want to look away.
The sum total of my tools being an angle grinder with metal grinding disk, some hand files, various straight edges and an old Black and Decker Workmate.
Fortunately the snout has a chamfered edge of exactly the amount I aimed to remove.
With careful grinding it became this.
Some gentle filing and it was as flat as I could make it with hand tools.
Having the lift makes these jobs so much easier. Lifting to 1 metre is just the right height for sitting or kneeling.
With the balancer fitted back in place the belt run looks perfectly true. I bought a Continental belt a couple of mm shorter, just to put the tensioner in a slightly different place. Time will tell if this makes a difference.
Next up was to look at relocating the power steering cooler. To recap, my base model C6 Coupe has a very basic power steering cooler, consisting of a twirly looking bit of alloy pipe. The power steering pump and rack both got cooked with the effort of shifting sticky 265 profile track tyres, an expensive lesson. Instead of opting for the GM Z51 spec cooler (a similar bit of allow pipe with a few fins attached) I went for a small Mocal oil cooler that I fitted in the stock location. This was directly behind the radiator fan, not ideal as it blocks airflow exiting the rear of the radiator. I refitted the stock cooler and extended hoses to locate the Mocal behind the left side fog light void/in front of the wheel well. This location only gets minimal air flow and I didn't want to lose the front fog lights at this point, so I opted for a switcheable 9cm puller fan instead. The fan draws its power from the under hood light. The cooler is on the low pressure side of the steering, so oil hose and stainless hose clips do the job. You can see the basic 'cooler' in the lower background of the photo, attached to the subframe.
I didn't finish until 22:00 on Sunday night (hence no finished engine bay photos), but drove it in to work yesterday and treated it to a wash, before driving home again with the roof off. No oil leak, so far so good.
I am still hoping that I can compete in the final round of Time Attack of the year at Snetterton in October and have booked a Donington trackday in November, but who knows?
Edited by Fishy Dave on Tuesday 7th April 14:39
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