The £7700 Corvette C6

[Fishy Dave]

Jakg said:

Isn't this putting twice as much load on the headlight wiring?

I've done the same on a previous car using a relay and a feed from the battery but this looks much simpler.

A good point, but no extra load (well, nothing significant) doing it this way.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c6-corvette-g...

[Fishy Dave]

Shnozz said:

Top work as always. Have to say though I prefer the silver wheels - that photo of red/silver just looks so right. Big want still. As I said over on the Vette forum, prices seem to have risen a fair bit in the last year across the globe for these, much to my frustration. If you hear of a manual targa coming for sale on any forums you frequent, please give me a heads up.

I'm with you, I think I prefer the silver wheels too. I'm likely going to have some vinyl applied for the time I compete, so the coloured wheels will probably blend in better then.

Yes, I'll keep an eye out for a cheap C6 manual, but they seem scarce. Aside from mine I can't remember seeing much below $15,000 (that hadn't previously been written off).

Oh, I have had to order a new indicator from the States after a Collie ran full tilt into my car. Fortunately the Dog ran off with fairly minimal injuries and the company responsible for letting the Dog escape may cover the cost.

[Fishy Dave]

I fitted a new oem indicator to replace the one the runaway dog broke, for the princely sum of about £20 delivered from the States. I do love the price of Corvette parts.



I modified one of the twirly KW rebound adjusters, removing the short allen key for a longer, 2mm ball end allen, so I can better reach the rear damper adjusters.



As the Vette seems to act as a particularly effective vacuum cleaner I invested in a 'Radiator Genie'. A pair of identical wands, one to direct water through the A/c Condensor, the other to direct compressed air. Not cheap at about £35 from the States, but the reviews are good, I'll report back once I have sourced an adaptor for a Euro airline and get around to using it.



Heat management. Never a problem on the road, but those who have followed this thread for some time will know I've tried a few things to keep oil and water temps down on the track. Perhaps the most divisive was cutting a hole in the bonnet/hood and inserting a BMW M2CS vent. It has helped with water temps (in conjunction with the other changes I've made), but it is quite small in area, sticks up a little too high, and it was a bit too wide and therefore bent at the edges.
Because I'd cut such a wide hole it was a job to find a functional vent that I liked the look of and that filled in the hole.

I gambled and ordered a used C7 vent and i should have guessed but it was too small.



When funds allowed and after some research I ordered this one and hoped for the best: https://trackspecmotorsports.com/bmw-e90-e92-cente...
The profile and dimensions appeared to match, the challenge would be bending the edges to form the creases in the C6 bonnet.

It arrived in good time and was well packaged.



I popped out the old BMW vent and covered it with the card template the new vent came with.




PPE on and sleeves taped up so I didn't itch with composite shavings the angle grinding commenced!



I painted the exposed edges with Victory Red paint, the painters 3M tape having done a good job at stopping the paint from flaking.
The edges hung over the bonnet creases/bulge as expected and as was necessary to cover the old hole. A series of gentle bends in the vice (rubber protecting the surfaces) saw it form the shape of the bonnet to an acceptable standard. I drilled and rivetted it in place, with washers on the back so it won't pull through.
Given the choice of starting again with a new bonnet I'm very happy with the end result, but feel free to give your honest opinion.











The vent starts about 10cm/4" behind the radiator and continues to the leading edge of the block. It should be in a low pressure zone, I'll report back in June at its next track outing.

[Don1]

Good work. If I'd have tried that, it would have been at a 45 degree angle, threatening the windshield....

[SturdyHSV]

Looks good, better than the M2CS one, and good work getting it in there as well, very tidy job

Forgive me if I've missed it but are you not running an oil cooler?

I've just fitted one to my Monaro behind a thermostat, no idea if it'll be of any use and as it hasn't seen any track use yet probably overkill, but I thought I'd fit it whilst the car is in bits, I used an Improved Racing adapter, lovely bit of kit

[Shnozz]

And in price watch, KGF Classics (known to be pricey to be fair) have a 2008 red C6 (not Z06!) for £35k just come up for sale. Barmy!

[Jakg]

Fishy Dave said:

Jakg said:

Isn't this putting twice as much load on the headlight wiring?

I've done the same on a previous car using a relay and a feed from the battery but this looks much simpler.

A good point, but no extra load (well, nothing significant) doing it this way.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c6-corvette-g...

Thanks, that makes sense.
Not sure if that would've worked for me, but I'll think about it

[Fishy Dave]

Don1 said:

Good work. If I'd have tried that, it would have been at a 45 degree angle, threatening the windshield....

It's a scary job, one slip and it's new bonnet time!

[Fishy Dave]

SturdyHSV said:

Looks good, better than the M2CS one, and good work getting it in there as well, very tidy job

Forgive me if I've missed it but are you not running an oil cooler?

I've just fitted one to my Monaro behind a thermostat, no idea if it'll be of any use and as it hasn't seen any track use yet probably overkill, but I thought I'd fit it whilst the car is in bits, I used an Improved Racing adapter, lovely bit of kit

Thanks, I'm really pleased with it and so relieved it just covers the previous hole too.

I'm running the Improved Racing oil cooler kit, with the same stat/take off as you. Others have had similar issues, an interesting discussion here: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/autocrossing-...

The 'mouth' of the C6 is quite small and the a/c condensor, full width oil cooler and thicker radiator do restrict airflow a fair bit. I'm hoping the large vent will help as I'd like to keep the oil temps below 260F on track, if possible.

[Fishy Dave]

Shnozz said:

And in price watch, KGF Classics (known to be pricey to be fair) have a 2008 red C6 (not Z06!) for £35k just come up for sale. Barmy!

Wow, yes, even high mileage C5 and C6 'base' models have bottomed out and risen in the States. UK prices look to be about the same (aside from the one you mentioned), it's just finding the right spec which is difficult here.

[Fishy Dave]

Not content with chopping a hole in the bodywork I've had vinyl designed and applied, with colours and a little inspiration from the Brabham BT46 'Fan Car'.
It's in readiness for a season of the Super Lap Scotland Championship, beginning on 19th/20th June. The vinyl will come off in the future when/if I decide to stop competing. I'm really pleased with the level of care that Olly and Stew from https://www.ocdvaleting.com/ took, being as careful at the end of the 12 hour day as at the start. All the vinyl was hand cut, remarkable how they achieved such symmetry by eye and stretching vinyl. I sadly had no time or budget to let Olly do his paint preparation work, so it still bears the fine marks of 215,000 miles of grit and cold water washing.

Still to go on is a pair of stickers for Mintex, a Corvette Racing sunstrip when it arrives from the States and two Championship decals..















The rear lacks cohesiveness, being a late idea of mine to add the colours from that angle, but overall I'm pleased.

Edited by Fishy Dave on Tuesday 8th June 16:38

[SturdyHSV]

Niiiice

A bit of F1 inspired livery is always fun to see

[Fishy Dave]

My wife thinks this may be where I had the livery idea from!

My Android head unit decided to fail, so a new one was purchased from Auto Pumpkin, this one, with old school cd player: https://www.autopumpkin.co.uk/collections/new-head...


Fitting was fun, I thinned out the birds nest of wiring.

Mintex have been working hard to make me a new set of F4R pads, but they weren't quite ready in time so am making do with EBC RP1. New temperature strips and disc paint added.


Another oil and filter change, swap the wheels fitted with new Nankang AR-1's and I was ready to head north to Scotland.


A week ago the Corvette and I competed in rounds 1 and 2 of Super Lap Scotland, at Knockhill. https://www.facebook.com/SuperlapScotland

My aim was to experience driving anti-clockwise for the first time and to win class D (upto 265bhp per tonne). With new shocks and tyres since my first attempt last year I was hoping to find a 2 second a lap improvement. With one class rival blowing up in testing and another adding ballast to move down a class, it was just 3 of us in class D; an odd mix of Corvette, track focussed 2.4 litre Civic Type R and classic Lotus Elan.

Leave behind wet weather in Wiltshire, the drive up got more interesting once I approached Shap and beyond on the M74, stopping at Tebay services of course.





I got to the circuit late on Friday afternoon, applied the few required Championship stickers, stiffened up the KW shocks and headed for the Premier Inn in warm sunshine, with a dry forecast for Saturday. What do you think of the bronze wheels now?


Inevitably it rained, just before or during every session, except the final, not a great way to learn a new circuit. Driving a familiar circuit in the other direction changes everything! Looking back I should have pushed harder, but most people can say that.


In the end I finished 1st in class in 'qualifying' (semi-final) but finished 2nd in class in the final Super Lap, the Civic beat me by just 4/1000ths of a second! He drove well, the two cars making for surprisingly equal advisories, he has just 265bhp but weighs 500kg less than me. At a longer circuit I'd fancy my chances, but Knockhill being so twisty doesn't give me the chance to put the power down for long enough.

After the competition I explored 25 minutes north, to Gleneagles. The staff were happy for me to stop and take photos. The drive to and from was fun, but once again I find that Scotland frustrates, with almost no stopping places for photos.






Next day was dry, against the initial forecast and both the car and I were happier about this, especially rotating around the more familiar clockwise direction.
My times were up on last year, around 1.2 seconds better actually, not as much as hoped, but I was saving it for the afternoon final run

The Westfield behind me is a monster, lapping ten seconds faster than the Corvette, with twin Turbo LS7 V8 power no less.


My qualifying time (worth an extra point) was again fastest in class, with a Mr Whippy to celebrate. I didn't stay outside for long before the Midges made me dive for cover.


The Midges were a sign that the weather was turning, sure enough it rained hard before the final. With no spare tyres I just had to get on with it.


I crossed the line first in class by just over a second, woo hoo. I soon found there was a problem During that final run, where cars are set off individually at intervals (unlike in all previous sessions where we are all circulating together), the Civic had caught the Elan at the final hairpin and been delayed. A re-run was correctly permitted 15 minutes later, but, this would naturally give an advantage as the driver had by then experienced the grip levels and it was a drying track. My rival, Marc, drove well, beating my time by a second.

So, I came away with two second places, not as much time gained (compared to last year) as I'd hoped, but it was still great fun. The shocks are doing a good job of controlling the softish Z51 monoleaf springs on track, but are still comfy on the roads with a quick twiddle of adjustment. Coolant temps were the best (lowest) to date, at 211F peak, although I was limiting the number of hot laps at a time and the ambient temps barely reached 20C/68F. The larger bonnet louver does seem effective, with a large amount of heat haze escaping at idle.
The long drive home was not too bad, passing 216,000 miles along the way. I've entered the next two rounds on 24th/25th July if anyone wants to come along?

I'm struggling to remove the brake dust from the Fulldip bronze coating, any tips? On the upside it didn't melt with the heat from the brakes, which passed 560C on the disks.

Enjoy the video:

Edited by Fishy Dave on Monday 28th June 19:50

[F1natic]

Brilliant write up as usual, loved how you kept your foot in at 3:29! What camber do you run F & R?

[SturdyHSV]

Great work, always enjoy the updates in this thread and seeing the work that goes in to a track car

[Janosh]

Yeap, great work, love reading about your adventures… reminds me that my LS2 is hardly run in at 109,000 miles!

[Fishy Dave]

F1natic said:

Brilliant write up as usual, loved how you kept your foot in at 3:29! What camber do you run F & R?

Thanks, a bit of oversteer is still a giggle after all these years.

I'm running -1.2 rear, the most I can get out of the stock eccentric adjusters. At the front I now have -2.4, although I think I should go for a little more than this as my soft springs still allow quite a lot of roll.

I had some good news today. There is a parallel championship that I entered for road legal cars and it looks like I was the highest place car across all classes. Therefore I have two first place trophies to collect, yey.

[Fishy Dave]

SturdyHSV said:

Great work, always enjoy the updates in this thread and seeing the work that goes in to a track car

Thank you, the nice thing with the Corvette is it's still low maintenance, despite the higher wear that track driving causes.

[Fishy Dave]

Janosh said:

Yeap, great work, love reading about your adventures… reminds me that my LS2 is hardly run in at 109,000 miles!

Yes, you've got a bit more life left at those miles. Do you have a link to your car's story?

[SturdyHSV]

Fishy Dave said:

Yes, you've got a bit more life left at those miles. Do you have a link to your car's story?

He does over in the HSV / Monaro section

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...