The £7700 Corvette C6
Discussion
Hi Dave,
Just checking in.
Great idea to go to CorvetteMekka!!
Corvette life here in the Netherlands is going well.
Finally got some time to bolt some of the BlacFriday goodies at the Vette.
Afe poly bushings, AMT Engine mounts, and removed the balancer to replace the leaking oilseal.
ARP bolt was just handloose, and the Balancer made has some grooves just like the crancksnout.
Ordered a pinning set, def. going to pin and mount with blue locktite this time.
After that still got the led set to mount, and new umnitza headlight covers.
And building a sub box ala Pete Madson from Corvette forum.
Enough to look forward too
Hope u have a amazing time there at Bowling Green.
I am going to visit the museum during our holiday trip in October this year!
Traveling from NewYork to New Orleans.
Have fun, and love looking at all the beautifull pics from your last trip!
Ps, the seats, are they good for longer trips?
Greets,
Arjan
Just checking in.
Great idea to go to CorvetteMekka!!
Corvette life here in the Netherlands is going well.
Finally got some time to bolt some of the BlacFriday goodies at the Vette.
Afe poly bushings, AMT Engine mounts, and removed the balancer to replace the leaking oilseal.
ARP bolt was just handloose, and the Balancer made has some grooves just like the crancksnout.
Ordered a pinning set, def. going to pin and mount with blue locktite this time.
After that still got the led set to mount, and new umnitza headlight covers.
And building a sub box ala Pete Madson from Corvette forum.
Enough to look forward too
Hope u have a amazing time there at Bowling Green.
I am going to visit the museum during our holiday trip in October this year!
Traveling from NewYork to New Orleans.
Have fun, and love looking at all the beautifull pics from your last trip!
Ps, the seats, are they good for longer trips?
Greets,
Arjan
Good choices on the modifications. The AMT mounts will transfer quite a lot of vibration to the cabin, but you get used to it and they are maintenance free. Glad you are getting out and using your Corvette. The Museum makes for a good day, plenty to see (and buy).
Clive has been and gone from Halifax, Canada and is now docked in New York City. https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=1024869 Next stop, Brunswick, Georgia.
I'm still waiting for the letter from EPA, I'm just praying it arrives in time, by Friday 18th.
Clive has been and gone from Halifax, Canada and is now docked in New York City. https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=1024869 Next stop, Brunswick, Georgia.
I'm still waiting for the letter from EPA, I'm just praying it arrives in time, by Friday 18th.
Just to add that you shouldn't usually need to pin the crank, unless it's supercharged, but no harm in doing so (it's what I did). I think you were just unlucky that the ARP bolt came loose, probably not torqued quite right?
Yes, the seats are surprisingly comfortable, the Sparco Evo L especially good on a long journey, although bum gets numb after a few hours, back and shoulders are well supported.
Yes, the seats are surprisingly comfortable, the Sparco Evo L especially good on a long journey, although bum gets numb after a few hours, back and shoulders are well supported.
DodgyGeezer said:
seeing as you've got Clive in the US are you planning on getting anything interesting done or extra bits'n'bobs put on while you're over there?
Funny you should ask... 
I'm thinking a camshaft wouldn't take up too much room in the suitcase? Maybe a FAST 102 intake too? I'd like a little more power, but have enjoyed such reliability, that I can't help feeling I should stick with the 400ish bhp I've got.
If it ends up coming back in a container I may bring back some discs. Oh and non-wonky headers would be sensible (still bent, following Morocco).
Sorry for the delay in updates, it's been a crazy last two months. If I'm honest, this has probably been the most stressful trip to date, with it being decided so last minute, anyway, mustn't grumble, it's not every day you get to ship your car to the States with support and blessing from the manufacturer.
When I last checked in, I'd dropped the car off at Southampton docks. It was good to track the ship across, although once past the Azores I lost sight of it until it reached the North East coast at Halifax, then New York, before heading down to Brunswick, Georgia. I must say that James at Kingstown Shipping was and remains excellent, very efficient and always quick at answering emails and calls. Less can be said of the New York agents that were appointed. Minimal or evasive answers and they cocked up the paperwork twice, resulting in me receiving a Notice Of Action from Homeland Security drop through my letterbox.
Clive arrived in Georgia before we'd left Gatwick. I'll spare you excessive amounts of holiday snaps before I collected the Corvette, but enough to give you a taste of the trip.
Myself, my wife and little Austin flew out to Orlando, for five days holiday, his first experience of a road trip. Picked up a VW Jetta rental, with Lake Okeechobee the first nights accommodation. Nice to see Terrapins and Alligators just on the edge of the hotel parking lot!
From there it was a long slog down to the Keys, with a pleasant stay in Marathon for two days and an explore of the islands.
The Jetta, it was ok, nothing much to report, a typical modern car.
Lunch here at Morada Bay was exceptional.
From here, it was on to the Everglades for a day, retracing my steps from a couple of years back, along a dirt road where you can see plenty of wildlife.
A sense of how dry and dusty the 'loop road big cypress scenic preserve track' was.
From Everglades City we had breakfast in the Cuban restaurant on Chokoloskee Island, which coincided with an air-cooled 911 meet. It reminded me that although I missed my old 3.2 Carrera (and certainly what it would be worth today), I'm more happy with the experiences the Corvette has brought me.
Up the Gulf coast, to Naples and Venice, both of which were fabulous, wow there is some money there. En route we saw a few anti-Trump protests at the roadside.
I could post plenty more photos of beaches, palm trees, clear water and expensive houses, but you get the idea. Along the way I took plenty of video and got to fly my new drone too, as in a couple of days time I'd collect Clive, driving him south into Florida and retracing some of these steps, but with minimal time to capture B roll.
On the subject of the drone, I ordered a DJI Mini 4K from Amazon and had it sent to a hotel. Great value at just $299, plus a genuine, spare battery. I passed both the US and UK online tests, registered it with the US authority, downloaded the correct app to check where I could and couldn't fly and I was off.
I'm out of time, but that covers the first five, non-Corvette days. It gets more relevant after this.
When I last checked in, I'd dropped the car off at Southampton docks. It was good to track the ship across, although once past the Azores I lost sight of it until it reached the North East coast at Halifax, then New York, before heading down to Brunswick, Georgia. I must say that James at Kingstown Shipping was and remains excellent, very efficient and always quick at answering emails and calls. Less can be said of the New York agents that were appointed. Minimal or evasive answers and they cocked up the paperwork twice, resulting in me receiving a Notice Of Action from Homeland Security drop through my letterbox.
Clive arrived in Georgia before we'd left Gatwick. I'll spare you excessive amounts of holiday snaps before I collected the Corvette, but enough to give you a taste of the trip.
Myself, my wife and little Austin flew out to Orlando, for five days holiday, his first experience of a road trip. Picked up a VW Jetta rental, with Lake Okeechobee the first nights accommodation. Nice to see Terrapins and Alligators just on the edge of the hotel parking lot!
From there it was a long slog down to the Keys, with a pleasant stay in Marathon for two days and an explore of the islands.
The Jetta, it was ok, nothing much to report, a typical modern car.
Lunch here at Morada Bay was exceptional.
From here, it was on to the Everglades for a day, retracing my steps from a couple of years back, along a dirt road where you can see plenty of wildlife.
A sense of how dry and dusty the 'loop road big cypress scenic preserve track' was.
From Everglades City we had breakfast in the Cuban restaurant on Chokoloskee Island, which coincided with an air-cooled 911 meet. It reminded me that although I missed my old 3.2 Carrera (and certainly what it would be worth today), I'm more happy with the experiences the Corvette has brought me.
Up the Gulf coast, to Naples and Venice, both of which were fabulous, wow there is some money there. En route we saw a few anti-Trump protests at the roadside.
I could post plenty more photos of beaches, palm trees, clear water and expensive houses, but you get the idea. Along the way I took plenty of video and got to fly my new drone too, as in a couple of days time I'd collect Clive, driving him south into Florida and retracing some of these steps, but with minimal time to capture B roll.
On the subject of the drone, I ordered a DJI Mini 4K from Amazon and had it sent to a hotel. Great value at just $299, plus a genuine, spare battery. I passed both the US and UK online tests, registered it with the US authority, downloaded the correct app to check where I could and couldn't fly and I was off.
I'm out of time, but that covers the first five, non-Corvette days. It gets more relevant after this.
Edited by Fishy Dave on Monday 9th June 20:27
From Naples we visited one more beach for a morning swim, failed to see any Manatee in the inlets (too warm in the Gulf now) and drove to Orlando. The only realistic, cost-effective way to get to the port at Brunswick, GA on a Sunday was to catch a Greyhound bus. Growing up with US movies I had a slightly romantic notion of what a Greyhound might be like, but reviews soon made me realise they were much like a National Express on a budget.
I said goodbye to my wife and son, whilst they headed to Coco beach for relaxation at a nice hotel. I hopped on the bus, with a driver who took no messing.
It had a reserved, comfortable seat, in a perfectly modern air conditioned coach. The guy sat next to me was travelling on the same coach from Miami to New York! A couple of stop later and about 4 1/2 hours in total, I was dropped off in Brunswick. Time for dinner at a sports bar and an early night. Thank god the Fed Ex with the original copies of the import documents was there waiting for me.
The port only opens Monday to Friday, odd hours too, 07:30 to 15:30, with an hour for lunch! At 07:10 the next morning I was in the Buick Uber on the way to the Port Authority, praying that all the paperwork was in order. I'll post more about the experience once the whole trip is over, but I will say that whilst the UK organisation was excellent, I had little faith in their US agents. Despite asking, I didn't know what to expect or exactly what to bring with me, so I brought duplicates of everything, plus every bit of ID for the car and myself I could think of, oh and high vis too.
I was dropped off at security. Even at 07:30 it was warm. With no breeze the midges were biting too.
The officer was helpful and had me phone for the escort service. What I wasn't expecting was the cost, which increased if paying by card. I just had enough cash at $190! This bought me up to 2 hours with an escort (not that type!) who would help with the paperwork, get me through security and take me to my car. About 15 minutes later this helpful lady turned up and went through the paperwork. I was missing a form that the import agents hadn't sent me, that was another $3.
Through security and a 5 minute drive past a lot of empty concrete. Trumps tariffs had already made a massive difference to the amount of machinery and cars being imported. I was asked not to photograph anything except my own car and warned there were some large penalties for disobeying this. It was brilliant to see Clive again. Considering he'd crossed the Atlantic and had sat cooking in the sun for a week he looked in good order.
I was asked to check him over, inside and out, before the final stage of paperwork. Exterior seemed good, but opening the car with the spare key I'd bought was impossible. Dead battery, which was odd given the large, new battery i had fitted before leaving. Fortunately I had the emergency trunk key with me.
Someone heavy handed had broken off the cover to the hood release pull, but I didn't bother with the hassle of making a claim. I could soon see why the battery went flat, someone had left the key inside with the ignition and lights on (as verified later on the dash cam)! A lady with a jump pack was called. The first pack was dead, so off she went for a second and Clive fired up.
Final paperwork done and I was escorted back out of the port.
Being on fumes, some 93 octane was desperately needed, before heading south along the coast, out of Georgia and back into Florida.
Pelicans
A quick detour to Daytona, I'd not been for a few years (last time I was working here) and the first time with Clive.
I had to talk nicely to security to get this photo.
Back on the road to meet up with Beth and Austin in Coco beach, a quick shower and back out, this time in two cars, so Austin could experience riding in the Corvette in the States for the first time, with Beth in the VW rental. We were guests of the Cape Kennedy Corvette Club and had a lovely dinner with them. I'm not used to being a centre of attention, I prefer Clive to be the 'star', but we were made to feel very welcome.
Then, the main event, the scheduled Space X launch!
I'd missed out three years ago, with a launch cancelled due to high winds. My phone photos are poor, but captured it to video and most importantly my mind.
I will never forget this experience. Hearing the rockets roar on launch and then later the astonishing spectacle of the booster coming back down, to be grabbed by the dock (out if sight), with double sonic boom.
For Beth and Austin this was their second launch, having got up in the early hours the day before to watch one.
After saying goodbye to the Corvette Club ladies and gents, we headed back to the hotel. I couldn't rest, I needed to wash the car and apply KW Suspension stickers, all ready for a very special next day.
I said goodbye to my wife and son, whilst they headed to Coco beach for relaxation at a nice hotel. I hopped on the bus, with a driver who took no messing.
It had a reserved, comfortable seat, in a perfectly modern air conditioned coach. The guy sat next to me was travelling on the same coach from Miami to New York! A couple of stop later and about 4 1/2 hours in total, I was dropped off in Brunswick. Time for dinner at a sports bar and an early night. Thank god the Fed Ex with the original copies of the import documents was there waiting for me.
The port only opens Monday to Friday, odd hours too, 07:30 to 15:30, with an hour for lunch! At 07:10 the next morning I was in the Buick Uber on the way to the Port Authority, praying that all the paperwork was in order. I'll post more about the experience once the whole trip is over, but I will say that whilst the UK organisation was excellent, I had little faith in their US agents. Despite asking, I didn't know what to expect or exactly what to bring with me, so I brought duplicates of everything, plus every bit of ID for the car and myself I could think of, oh and high vis too.
I was dropped off at security. Even at 07:30 it was warm. With no breeze the midges were biting too.
The officer was helpful and had me phone for the escort service. What I wasn't expecting was the cost, which increased if paying by card. I just had enough cash at $190! This bought me up to 2 hours with an escort (not that type!) who would help with the paperwork, get me through security and take me to my car. About 15 minutes later this helpful lady turned up and went through the paperwork. I was missing a form that the import agents hadn't sent me, that was another $3.
Through security and a 5 minute drive past a lot of empty concrete. Trumps tariffs had already made a massive difference to the amount of machinery and cars being imported. I was asked not to photograph anything except my own car and warned there were some large penalties for disobeying this. It was brilliant to see Clive again. Considering he'd crossed the Atlantic and had sat cooking in the sun for a week he looked in good order.
I was asked to check him over, inside and out, before the final stage of paperwork. Exterior seemed good, but opening the car with the spare key I'd bought was impossible. Dead battery, which was odd given the large, new battery i had fitted before leaving. Fortunately I had the emergency trunk key with me.
Someone heavy handed had broken off the cover to the hood release pull, but I didn't bother with the hassle of making a claim. I could soon see why the battery went flat, someone had left the key inside with the ignition and lights on (as verified later on the dash cam)! A lady with a jump pack was called. The first pack was dead, so off she went for a second and Clive fired up.
Final paperwork done and I was escorted back out of the port.
Being on fumes, some 93 octane was desperately needed, before heading south along the coast, out of Georgia and back into Florida.
Pelicans
A quick detour to Daytona, I'd not been for a few years (last time I was working here) and the first time with Clive.
I had to talk nicely to security to get this photo.
Back on the road to meet up with Beth and Austin in Coco beach, a quick shower and back out, this time in two cars, so Austin could experience riding in the Corvette in the States for the first time, with Beth in the VW rental. We were guests of the Cape Kennedy Corvette Club and had a lovely dinner with them. I'm not used to being a centre of attention, I prefer Clive to be the 'star', but we were made to feel very welcome.
Then, the main event, the scheduled Space X launch!
I'd missed out three years ago, with a launch cancelled due to high winds. My phone photos are poor, but captured it to video and most importantly my mind.
I will never forget this experience. Hearing the rockets roar on launch and then later the astonishing spectacle of the booster coming back down, to be grabbed by the dock (out if sight), with double sonic boom.
For Beth and Austin this was their second launch, having got up in the early hours the day before to watch one.
After saying goodbye to the Corvette Club ladies and gents, we headed back to the hotel. I couldn't rest, I needed to wash the car and apply KW Suspension stickers, all ready for a very special next day.
Tuesday 22nd April was a day I'll remember. The whole idea of bringing Clive back to the States centered around the idea I had of Clive reaching the average distance to the moon, 238,000 miles (in round figures). It took considerable planning and influence from those within Corvette circles, most notably Frank Storc and Stephen Johnson. Even on the previous day the photo shoot was still not finalised, eventually requiring an insurance agreement to be put in place.
Corvette and the NASA astronaut programme have a well known history.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/articles/who-made-wh...
Joe Crosby, the owner of the C2 that belonged to Neil Armstrong kindly agreed to bring the car along for the photoshoot, huge thanks to the Kennedy Space Center team for giving us this permission. An early start and I was through security and on, towards the 'Rocket Garden'.
Some of these photos are mine, others are thanks to photographer Carlos Carr.
Wide angle, portrait was necessary to fit the whole thing in!
Joe with his car information sign, me holding up my latest Clive The Corvette book (which you can barely see)!
As you can imagine, in a 2 hour photoshoot before the public were allowed in we took hundreds of photos. Frank, who was a big part of this, is a serial Corvette owner and former quality control manager for the shuttle programme. I was gutted that I just didn't have enough time to stay all day, as he offered me a personal tour of the Shuttle, maybe next time.
Franks C8:
The temperature was really rising and we were out of time. We helped Joe load up the C2 and he kindly invited us over to his house. He's lived here all his life and is probably one of the most interesting people I've ever met. He was a police officer here during the Moon landing peak of activity here and recounted an amazing story of when he pulled over one of the speeding Astronauts, with a young lady by his side who was unlikely to have been his spouse. Joe let him off with a ticket showing a considerably lower speed than the one he was actually doing. Weeks later he received a thank you, with all sorts of memorabilia, signed photos and more. Whilst Joe suspected he was an Astronaut, he never asked and to his credit the pilot (Thomas Stafford) never tried to use that to leverage a lighter penalty.
Hours passed, that turned into a late lunch at a local restaurant, but I had to get on the road in mid afternoon, with more than 800 miles to cover by the end of the following day!
Not a bad 2-car garage (C7 ZR1 with just a few thousand miles on it)!
Later that afternoon I was off, with a plan to drive into the night and stop at a Motel beyond Atlanta.
Instead I began to feel sick, I suspect now it was the heat and sun, plus tiredness. I'd had a lot of late nights and early mornings, coupled with a bit of stress, particularly the worry about collecting the car without hitch the day before. I therefore only got just passed Jacksonville and had to check in to a cheap motel. I slept from 20:00 through to 07:30 the next morning, waking feeling refreshed, but with a lot of miles ahead of me.
Corvette and the NASA astronaut programme have a well known history.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/articles/who-made-wh...
Joe Crosby, the owner of the C2 that belonged to Neil Armstrong kindly agreed to bring the car along for the photoshoot, huge thanks to the Kennedy Space Center team for giving us this permission. An early start and I was through security and on, towards the 'Rocket Garden'.
Some of these photos are mine, others are thanks to photographer Carlos Carr.
Wide angle, portrait was necessary to fit the whole thing in!
Joe with his car information sign, me holding up my latest Clive The Corvette book (which you can barely see)!
As you can imagine, in a 2 hour photoshoot before the public were allowed in we took hundreds of photos. Frank, who was a big part of this, is a serial Corvette owner and former quality control manager for the shuttle programme. I was gutted that I just didn't have enough time to stay all day, as he offered me a personal tour of the Shuttle, maybe next time.
Franks C8:
The temperature was really rising and we were out of time. We helped Joe load up the C2 and he kindly invited us over to his house. He's lived here all his life and is probably one of the most interesting people I've ever met. He was a police officer here during the Moon landing peak of activity here and recounted an amazing story of when he pulled over one of the speeding Astronauts, with a young lady by his side who was unlikely to have been his spouse. Joe let him off with a ticket showing a considerably lower speed than the one he was actually doing. Weeks later he received a thank you, with all sorts of memorabilia, signed photos and more. Whilst Joe suspected he was an Astronaut, he never asked and to his credit the pilot (Thomas Stafford) never tried to use that to leverage a lighter penalty.
Hours passed, that turned into a late lunch at a local restaurant, but I had to get on the road in mid afternoon, with more than 800 miles to cover by the end of the following day!
Not a bad 2-car garage (C7 ZR1 with just a few thousand miles on it)!
Later that afternoon I was off, with a plan to drive into the night and stop at a Motel beyond Atlanta.
Instead I began to feel sick, I suspect now it was the heat and sun, plus tiredness. I'd had a lot of late nights and early mornings, coupled with a bit of stress, particularly the worry about collecting the car without hitch the day before. I therefore only got just passed Jacksonville and had to check in to a cheap motel. I slept from 20:00 through to 07:30 the next morning, waking feeling refreshed, but with a lot of miles ahead of me.
Edited by Fishy Dave on Wednesday 11th June 17:16
This is definitely one of the bests threads on here, your adventures are epic! I was in Florida last year for a family holiday, and did around 800 miles visiting places like Daytona, NASA & Cocoa Beach too and I couldn't help but think there was some great automotive photo opportunities out there, but my Kia rental wouldn't really do them justice. Clive on the other hand, looks fantastic, especially with the C2 in the Rocket Garden. That's a hell of a result to pull that photoshoot off! I look forward to the next instalment!
CarlosV8 said:
This is definitely one of the bests threads on here, your adventures are epic! I was in Florida last year for a family holiday, and did around 800 miles visiting places like Daytona, NASA & Cocoa Beach too and I couldn't help but think there was some great automotive photo opportunities out there, but my Kia rental wouldn't really do them justice. Clive on the other hand, looks fantastic, especially with the C2 in the Rocket Garden. That's a hell of a result to pull that photoshoot off! I look forward to the next instalment!
Thank you so much for your kind words. I know what you mean, I could only bring myself to take a couple of photos of the VW we rented (nothing wrong with a Jetta though). I know how fortunate I was to have been allowed to have my car photographed at the KSC, especially with the Armstrong car too. The costs of this trip have really stretched our finances, but highlights like this will always stay with me. I was so glad to have my family to share it with me too. STR160 said:
This is simply one of the most incredible things I've read on PH. Just mind blowing. The Space centre visit would have me giddy enough.
I'm genuinely happy that others enjoy reading about this stuff too. I'll keep writing about it, as long as others want to read it. I leave for part 2 of the trip on Monday, between now and then I'm working at Silverstone, so have run out of time to bring the thread up to date. We've almost finished a quick video, so that will have to do. Silly side question which I hope is ok. How do you find LHD in the UK? I've always thought it would be a right pain when driving fast with over taking and passengers being in the centre of the road. Visibility must be challenging when overtaking? I guess rolls and bridges where you pay such as Bristol and the Severn bridge historically whilst rare are a challenge?
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