How to Get Your Stock Z06 in the 10s - Maximum Acceleration Part 1
How to Get Your Stock Z06 in the 10s - Maximum Acceleration Part 1
Click Here for Part 2 of Maximum Acceleration
Click Here for Part 3 of Maximum Acceleration
Want stronger acceleration from your Corvette? Who doesn’t! The traditional prescription to modify any car is by adding horsepower, stickier tires, and, perhaps, more favorable gearing. But there is another path to faster acceleration, and it’s cheap by comparison. It’s learning to drive the car better, by adopting optimal driver techniques that can extract all the performance Chevy has already built into your car.
This is part one of a Corvette Fever special three-part series focusing on driving techniques for maximum acceleration in a six-speed Corvette. John Armstrong, well known as “Ranger” on the Corvette Forum and other Internet fast-driving communities, has set quarter-mile records in three different Z06s. And last fall in his ‘06 Z06, he set the all-time record for stock Corvettes on drag radial tires at 10.85 at 129.50 mph. He’s also run 11.24/127.03 on the stock run-flat tires, five-tenths of a second under the Chevy specification for the Z06-that equates to about a six car-length improvement.
In part one, we have asked John to share with Corvette Fever readers his background driving Corvettes. In part two, he will describe his specific techniques for achieving maximum acceleration. Part three, hopefully, will be a shootout featuring John driving a stock C6 Z06 against some legendary Corvettes set up for the dragstrip. This last segment is still in the planning stages at this printing so keep your fingers crossed.
John shares,My life changed for the better back in 1960 when someone at Williams Chevrolet in Milford, Ohio, neglected to lock a door on a newly arrived Corvette. The car was white and hypnotically beautiful in the moonlight. I dropped the kickstand on my bicycle, tried the driver’s door, squealed yippee when it opened, and climbed in. I was only 14 years old, but I spent a long time that night shifting through the gears, clutch in, clutch out-1-2, 2-3, 3-4, and then repeated the process, over and over. I shifted until my clutch leg got tired, rested, and did it all over again. From that day on, I knew Corvettes were in my future.
The Corvette dream became a reality as graduation from West Point approached, and I bought my first car. My choice was a new ‘68 Corvette convertible with the 427/435hp engine, four-speed transmission, and 3.70 rearend. It was among the fastest production cars of the day. That summer I drove the ‘68 427 on my first ten passes at the dragstrip, old Edgewater near Cincinnati. My best runs, all stock including the tires, were 13.4-13.5 seconds e.t. at a trap speed of 109 mph.
The L71 Corvette demanded finesse with the clutch and throttle because its narrow tires were easy to blow away on launch and shifts. I learned to focus on traction to avoid losing match races with the 427 Fords and the Hemi Dodges I encountered on the street. I also experienced the perils of driver error, trashing one transmission by a missed shift. The root cause: wearing slick, leather-soled shoes while hammering through the gears. Fortunately for me, Chevy covered replacement of that M21 transmission. that incident remains my only driver-induced breakage in a Corvette.
On departing to fight in the Vietnam war, I left the Corvette for my mother to sell. Turned out she sold it to Roger Penske, a legendary racer even then. He flew into town, inspected and testdrove my car, wrote mom a check for the asking price, and then drove that Corvette away . . . all in 20 minutes. Penske moved fast.
Thirty-three years later, my interest in drag racing was rekindled quite accidentally. In the spring of 2001, while on a Sunday solo cruise in my Z06 (stock except for a cold-air intake), I happened by a Maryland dragstrip called Capitol Raceway. In a fateful, spur-of-the-moment decision, I turned in the gate and went through technical inspection successfully. I just had to promise the inspector I’d scrounge up a helmet the rules required.
Decades had gone by since my last pass down the 1320 and apprehension weighed heavily on my mind. Would I remember what to do? But that concern was trumped by my desire to see if an ordinary owner could match Chevy’s ‘01 Z06 quarter-mile specification of 12.6 at 114 mph. After getting a quick brief on staging procedures from an experienced driver and borrowing his helmet, I staged the Z06. First pass was 12.53 at 116.24 mph. Then four more, all but one beating the Z06 spec. My best run that day was 12.47 at 117.39 mph. I was pumped.
It was particularly reassuring that lessons I’d learned in the ‘68 427 were still embedded in my instincts and muscle memory, and they remained relevant. Traction was still crucial; the clutch and throttle still required finesse; and fast, precise shifts at the right rpm remained keys to the e.t. And this time I was wearing rubber-soled shoes with a good grip.
The results of my belated return to the dragstrip presented an opportunity. I might be the right guy to find out how quick and fast a Z06 could be. I just needed to optimize my driving while keeping the car unchanged. After mulling it over a few days, the perceived opportunity became the quest.
A committed, rigorous engineering approach was needed to identify the optimal techniques for absolute best acceleration. What I lacked in traditional on-board data acquisition hardware and the support of a professional team, I had to make up for in life experience. That included an engineering degree, 25 years of analytical and program management experience in the intelligence services, and six years running a software company. My physical fitness would help, too.
With the goal now set, my attention turned to making passes at my local strip, building a comprehensive logbook, and learning from the performance data I collected. Over the next nine months, I accumulated about 100 passes in that first Z06, refining techniques, grooving my launch and shift skills, and chipping away at the e.t. Still on stock tires, the progression was 12.42, 12.35, 12.29, and then 12.14. Along the way, I learned to ignore the car in the other lane and just run my own pass. For my purposes, bracket racing would be a distraction.
On the final day of the ‘01 racing season, I mounted my first pair of drag radial (DR) tires on the car and headed for Capitol Raceway. I got some badly needed last-minute coaching on the burnout procedure for heating the DRs. I then cranked out an 11.94 at 116.65-mph pass and received the coveted 11-second timeslip on literally my last pass of the season. That 11.94 run remains the record for an ‘01 Z06 with just a cold-air intake and drag radials.
Six months later, I made the transition to an ‘02 Z06 with its 405hp motor and a Chevy quarter-mile spec of 12.4 at 116 mph. My first day at the drags, with 515 miles on the odometer and still on paper tags, the car ran a 12.16 at 116.47 mph, stock on the stock tires. Seventeen months and 200 passes later, it ran 11.81 at 117.26 mph, the record at the time, though later eclipsed by 0.03 seconds by another driver.
I campaigned the car at three different tracks most weekends during the fall of 2002 with the car sporting just a cold-air intake and drag radials. My driving improved as I continued to wring wastage from my techniques. And my e.t.’s continued to drop: 11.82, 11.72, 11.68, 11.61, and, finally, 11.55 at 117.69 mph. This latter pass is on video and remains the best run I’ve ever driven. the elusive perfect pass was made with 363 rear-wheel horsepower in average weather conditions.
I invested another 150 passes in that car and only eked out three more hundredths. But the additional experience brought strong consistency to my driving. On the final day of my ‘04 season at Atco Raceway, I ran four passes within five one-hundredths of a second, the best being 11.53 at 119.79 mph. The previous week at Capitol, I set what remains the record for a stock ‘02-and-later Z06 with a cold-air intake and drag radials: 11.52 at 120.21 mph. Records are made to be broken, and someone will break that one someday. Hopefully, it will be captured on video because I’ll want to see it.
As an outgrowth of this quest, I have continued to write and post acceleration technique guidance on several Internet sites catering to driving enthusiasts, particularly the Corvette Forum. My body of writing has helped other owners leverage the learning curve I’ve already ridden. Not surprisingly I guess, these tutorials spawned new demands on my time to answer questions from around the country and overseas. It became clear that thousands of Corvette owners want to improve their acceleration skills. Their positive feedback to my writing reinforced my commitment to the quest.
In early 2006, I transitioned to the 427ci, 505hp C6 Z06 with its Chevy quarter-mile spec of 11.7 at 125 mph. As everyone knows by now, the car lives up to its billing as the fastest production vehicle GM has ever sold, at least so far. The C6 Z06 is a more difficult car to drive than its C5 counterpart. There are three major challenges a new owner must overcome. First, the C6Z’s extra 100 hp demands added finesse, lest the tires spin excessively on launch and shifts. Second, the LS7 clutch is simply intolerant of an aggressive launch. Even slight slipping of the clutch on a 3,000-rpm launch will glaze the clutch and hang the clutch pedal midway up. This forces an aborted run and parking to cool down the clutch. Third, the LS7 engine management computer (ECU/PCM) features a devilishly clever function called Torque Management (TM) that reduces engine power to protect the drivetrain under certain conditions involving strong acceleration. A driver can really feel that momentary power loss when the TM is invoked. These three changes combine to make the C6Z a difficult car to drive well at the limit.
With that as background, the techniques I’d honed through 500 passes in C5Zs needed revision when I hit the track in the C6Z. My first day at Maryland International Raceway, running stock on drag radials, my new Z06 hung the clutch pedal on its first launch. I cooled the clutch down and adjusted my launch procedures. On the fourth pass, I ran an 11.31 at 126.92 mph. The next day at Capitol, the progression was 11.38, 11.36, 11.28, and 11.20. I was disappointed. The 11.20 was only three-tenths of a second faster than I’d run in the ‘02 Z06 with 100 less horsepower. It was obvious I had some learning to do.
Unless the driver of any traction-limited, manual-tranny car is told the optimal driving techniques, he generally will need at least 30-50 passes to discover them independently. By pass number 37 in the C6Z, I had dropped the stock-tire e.t. to 11.24 at 127.03. But bedeviled by the finicky LS7 clutch and Torque Management, I’d hit a plateau at 11.20 on the drag radials.
My remediation effort involved ten pure R&D passes focused on launch techniques and different tire combinations. The problem was confined to my launch and the 1-2 shift, the first 200 feet of the 1320. The rest of the pass was very consistent and fast enough to support dropping into the 10-second range. This methodical approach yielded the adjustments I needed.
My subsequent passes were: 11.16, 11.12, 11.10, 11.08, 11.06, 11.03, and finally, on my 52nd pass in the car, a 10.85 at 129.50. This latter pass is the all-time record for a stock Corvette on drag radials. And it was not perfectly driven. The one driver error was an early 2-3 shift, 300 rpm short of target. What would be the outcome of the elusive perfect pass in a stock C6Z on drag radials? My estimate is the high 10.7s.
I close by highlighting an unfortunate consequence of running fast times in a stock C6Z. It puts the driver in violation of NHRA and IHRA safety rules that require a rollbar on cars running quicker than 11.50. Although track officials generally have some latitude, they frequently “boot” a driver for the day for running two passes under 11.50. Repeated “bootings” can lead to a permanent ban from a particular track, as I’ve learned the hard way.
Some “experts” advise biting the bullet and installing the rollbar in a stock Z06. But for daily-driven cars that would mean the drivers and passengers would need to wear helmets on the street to protect their heads from hitting the rollbar tubing in the event of an accident. By the experts’ logic, safety at the track should take priority over safety on the street. That seems an imprudent trade-off.
I mention this issue because it will confront more Corvette owners as Chevy continues to give us the horsepower we want. As the fastest stock production cars continue to get even faster, the NHRA and IHRA will need to revise the rules to give owners of these stock cars, like mine, a safe place to race.
In part two next month, I’ll be sharing the techniques I’ve learned for Ranger-style max acceleration through 550-plus passes at the dragstrip.
John “Ranger” Armstrong is producing a DVD on the aforementioned techniques for maximum acceleration in Corvettes. Scheduled for release the fourth quarter of 2007 via his web site (www.rangeracceleration.com), the DVD is intended to help Corvette owners get the most from their cars in a straight line, on the street and at the dragstrip.
Click Here for Part 2 of Maximum Acceleration
Click Here for Part 3 of Maximum Acceleration
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C4 Corvette Plastic Repair - Spastic Plastic
C4 Corvette Plastic Repair - Spastic Plastic
Over the years, we’ve done quite a few interior restorations with pleasing results. Then, along comes the C4 Corvette with a whole new set of problems to deal with. Sure, while the ‘77 and later sharks started using more plastic than ever before, the C3 plastic material seemed tougher than the C4 interior pieces. Since the flat-dash C4s are approaching their 20th birthdays, many of their interiors need help.
With all the C4s being cut up for Vette Rod suspensions, you’d think a lot of decent plastic interior pieces would be available. The problem is, almost all of the interior panels are cracked and broken. We’ve dismantled our share of early C4s for Vette Rods, and some pieces are always broken, no matter how nice the car is. A good example is the sill-panel cover on the ‘84-’89 cars, especially on the driver side. How many of these do you see in good shape? Not many.
We’ve tried Super Glue and model cement to stick plastic pieces back together to no avail. Then, a few years ago, a mobile tool supply van rolled in with a plastic welding kit, which we decided to try. We pulled out the directions and were immediately intimidated by the product. While the welding would be relatively easy, the brainteaser was determining which plastic we were working with.
Unfortunately, there are many plastic compounds; some melt and bond together and some just burn. In the instructions were questions such as: Does it smoke or bubble when heat is applied? Included were eight different sticks of plastic compounds to determine what works best. (We eventually discovered that the plastic welding kit worked perfectly for modifications on Optispark distributor caps.)
Another problem was, if the repair was visible inside the car, it was usually hideous. We discovered that both sides of the crack required welding for durable repairs. Subtle tricks might work, including heating the weld spot, then applying vinyl to re-create the grain. Unfortunately, applying heat improperly can make a small concern become a heartbreaker.
While at SEMA last year, we found a plastic repair kit like no other. Tim, from G.T. Motorsports, was repairing broken plastic housings and re-creating broken-off plastic tabs with ease using Plastex. We were intrigued because it appeared he was making plastic right in front of us. Within a few minutes, we were making plastic tabs ourselves.
As Tim explained, the substance is made with tiny plastic beads and a catalyst. The pieces we repaired were stronger than the surrounding plastic. The Plastex repair kits come in clear, black, and white. If you need another color, coloring agents are available. Since Plastex is a true plastic, you don’t need to know the type you’re repairing. The same repair procedure applies to all plastics.
The beads are in powder form and, when the catalyst is applied, it reacts to create plastic and bond to the surrounding material. When the catalyst is first applied, the mixture feels like soft plastic that’s been heated. After the reaction takes place and the repaired piece cools (the chemical reaction causes heat), the Plastex is as hard as the surrounding plastic.
We put one of the kits to the test. The instructions are simple, but your first repair should be on something disposable. To our surprise, the repair kit worked at the shop just like it did at the show.
Using the catalyst and powder takes some finesse, but once you get the hang of it, the sky’s the limit. Give the repair some time to set up, and don’t be in a hurry to put the part back in use. The repaired piece becomes hard when it has finished its chemical reaction, which usually occurs in 15 minutes.
We tested the Plastex kit on a glovebox door that was broken at the plastic hinge, and so far it’s held up to heavy abuse (for testing). If you want to permanently repair the plastic parts in your Corvette, Plastex is the fix. The kits are reasonably priced at $9.95 for small repairs and $24.95 for large. Shop kits for major repairs are also available.
Photo Gallery: C4 Corvette Plastic Repair - Corvette Fever Magazine





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Chevrolet Corvette Maintenance - Weekend Projects 2008
Chevrolet Corvette Maintenance - Weekend Projects 2008
Well, spring is in the air and here we are again with another bevy of weekend projects for you and your Corvette. I, for one, have had cabin fever here in New Jersey, and I am raring to get started on some projects that I’ve been planning during the winter months, so why don’t you join me? Nothing listed here is rocket science, and you don’t need an extensive tool collection, either. The main elements are care, patience, and a sincere interest in doing the job right. In addition to making some worthwhile improvements and doing some preventative and appearance maintenance, you get to spend some quality one-on-one time with your Corvette.
Regardless of which of these projects you do on your Corvette, there are a few items that will serve you well. I recommend that you have these on hand: disposable nitrile gloves to keep your paws clean; WD-40 for penetrating rusted fasteners, cleaning paint off your hands, and a plethora of other uses; some aerosol carb and choke cleaner for dissolving and removing grease and engine muck; a razor blade scraper and a utility knife; a workbench; and a stool or bench to sit on. For the projects where you’ll need to elevate your Corvette, a good hydraulic trolley jack, a pair of sturdy jackstands, and a creeper or mat for your back are also items you’ll need.
As far as tools go, you’ll need a basic complement that includes screwdrivers and nutdrivers, wrenches, sockets, and ratchets; ASA standard if you’re working on C1, C2, or C3 Corvettes and metric standard for C4s, C5s, and C6s.
I also highly recommend you have a service manual available for your particular year/model Corvette, as it contains a lot of valuable information such as fluid capacities, electrical measurements, torque specifications, and so on. The best ones are the actual factory service manuals produced by GM and used by Chevrolet service technicians; however, Chilton, Motorbooks, and other publishers also publish excellent service manuals.
Speaking of torque, if you’re doing any projects that are torque-sensitive (e.g., replacing the intake manifold bolts) be sure to look up the specific torque specs for your Corvette in the service manual and use a good torque wrench to tighten the bolts to these specs.
You may also want to consider having a radio, CD player, or iPod to provide some “working” music and bottled water or other non-alcoholic beverages to wet your whistle (definitely lay off the beers until the work is done). I think that pretty well covers all the preliminary stuff, so let’s get started.
| DIFFICULTY INDEX |
| ANYONE’S PROJECT | no tools required |
I |
| BEGINNER | basic tools |
II |
| EXPERIENCED | special tools |
III |
| ACCOMPLISHED | special tools and outside help |
IIII |
| PROFESSIONALS ONLY | send this work out |
IIIII |
Project 1
Stainless Intake Manifold Bolt Replacement
Applicable Years: C1, C2, C3
Skill Level: 1 Wrench
Tools Required: Appropriate sockets, torque wrench, wrenches; factory service manual or correct torque specs for your engine year/model; new stainless steel bolts and washers
Time Required: 1-2 hours
Parts Source: www.boltdepot.com, local hardware, fastener supply, or home improvement center
There’s a lot of moisture and humidity in the part of the country where I live, and this makes keeping up with and ahead of rust a constant challenge, especially when it comes to the engine bolts on my Corvettes. I’ve always been a big fan of stainless steel fasteners because they don’t rust and always maintain a nice appearance. I also should mention that I don’t enter my cars in judged shows, so I’m not really concerned about correctness. That being said, I decided to replace all the intake manifold bolts on my ‘67 big-block coupe with spiffy stainless fasteners. This is an easy project to do, but you want to make sure you only remove one bolt at a time, and insert and tighten the stainless replacement to the correct torque before removing the next one. This is done for two reasons: First, it minimizes the chance for any coolant leakage, and second, this won’t create any great disturbance in the overall torque of the manifold so there won’t be any warping.
I ordered the replacement bolts from www.boltdepot.com, but you can also get them from the local fastener supply, a well-stocked hardware store, or a home improvement center such as Home Depot or Lowes. Replacing all the bolts should take about an hour on most models, although it may take a little longer on some (e.g., tri-powers) if there is more plumbing to contend with. It really dresses up the engine, and it eliminates rusty-bolt syndrome for good.
Project 2
Cargo Bay Organizer Installation
Applicable Years: C4, C5
Skill Level: 1 Wrench
Tools Required: Drill, 5/64-inch bit, No. 1 Phillips screwdriver
Time Required: 1/2-hour
Parts Source: Mid America Motorworks
I keep a lot of small, miscellaneous stuff in the trunk of our C5 -CDs, a baseball cap, extra sunglasses, a pack of Kleenex, maps, and so on, and this stuff tends to bounce around the trunk while I’m driving. It also creates an unsightly clutter when the trunk is open.
I decided to do something about it, so I procured a C5 Cargo Bay Organizer from Mid America Motorworks (MAM), without realizing at the time that it was meant to be installed in C5 coupes, not convertibles like mine. So when it arrived, I did some quick thinking “outside the box” and realized that by mounting it on the transverse aluminum upper deck support it would not only work just fine, but would also serve as a “separator” to hide (for the most part) the ragtop when it was in the down position (which it is for the entire winter, since we have an auxiliary hardtop that stays on for the colder months).
The installation we’re showing here is basically the same as it would be for a coupe, except the organizer would mount to the rear bulkhead beneath the rear window on a coupe. MAM also supplies bolts, nuts, and washers should you decide to fasten the mounting snaps with these items rather than the supplied screws. Be advised, however, that it may be necessary to remove the panel you are mounting it to should you decide to use the nuts-and-bolts mounting method.
This is another easy project to do, but be sure to measure and mark exactly where you want the snap-mounting holes to be before you drill.
Project 3
Spark Plug Pull & Check
Applicable Years: C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6
Skill Level: 1 Wrench
Tools Required: Spark plug socket, ratchet, plug boot pliers
Time Required: 1 hour
Parts Source: Favorite Corvette parts/accessory supplier, local auto parts store, or auto department of a mass merchandiser
A spark plug is one of those parts that most folks scarcely give any thought to . . . until their engine starts missing, running rough, or develops some unhealthy symptoms. That’s why it’s a good idea to pull and check your spark plugs at regular intervals-for example, with every third oil change. Checking your plugs is not hard to do, although it’s a tad more difficult on some Corvettes than on others due to plug location, exhaust headers, and/or other obstacles that may make them hard to reach and remove.
Start by pulling the plug wire off at the boot (investing in a pair of plug boot pliers is a good idea to avoid damaging the wires or the boots as they’re made specifically for this purpose). After the plug wire is off, use the ratchet and socket to remove the plug and inspect it. Check the plug to make sure the electrode isn’t burned away, that there’s no cracking of the ceramic body, and that the color of the center electrode looks good (optimally, the electrode should be a tan color). Black indicates the engine is running too rich, thus producing a lot of carbon resulting from fuel that isn’t burning properly, and a whitish color denotes the engine is running too lean. If the plug indicates you’re running either rich or lean, some adjustments should be made to correct the situation and a full tune-up wouldn’t be a bad idea.
If everything looks fine, just replace the plugs and push the plug wire boots on all the way. While the plugs are out of the engine, it’s a good time to replace them with new ones, perhaps an upgraded plug such as the ones from E3 that don’t require any gapping. If you’re replacing your plugs with conventional ones, be sure to gap them correctly according to the specs in your Corvette service manual.
Project 4
Shift console prep & paint
Applicable Years: C2
Skill Level: 1 Wrench
Tools Required: Masking tape, spray paint, screwdrivers
Time Required: 4 hours over 2 days
Parts Source: Zip Products
Here’s the original console on the left, and the new, unpainted unit from Zip Products on the right. The shifter diagram, ashtray door, and door sliders have already been removed from the old console.>
The lower shifter console in my ‘67 coupe had seen better days. The paint is peeling off in several places, and it has acquired numerous scratches over the last 41 years, so when I redid my interior, the console was on the “makeover” list as well. Zip Products offers a console either completely finished or unpainted-the only difference is the price, about $160 between the two. So if you’re industrious and want to save some significant change, here’s how to finish the bare console yourself.
Project 5
Voltage Regulator Replacement
Applicable Years: C2, early C3
Skill Level: 1 Wrench
Tools Required: Ratchet and sockets or nut drivers
Time Required: 1/2-hour
Parts Source: Corvette Central
Always use a cushioned fender apron when working under the hood of your Corvette to protect against scratches from belt buckles. The replacement voltage regulator is resting on the apron above the old one it will be replacing. The year 1968 was the last year the Corvette was equipped with an external discrete voltage regulator; GM switched to integrated units with the ‘69 model year.>
Replacing the voltage regulator is a very simple procedure on midyears and the ‘68 shark. (Starting with the ‘69 Corvette, GM switched to an internal voltage regulator that was integrated with the alternator).
As always, whenever you’re working on anything that has to do with the electrical system in your Corvette, be sure to disconnect the negative terminal of the battery before you do anything else. This will not only prevent you from getting a nasty shock, it will also prevent any damage to the electrical components as you work with them.
When all of those tasks are done, you can remove the old regulator and install the new one by reversing all the steps.
Project 6
Valve Cover Replacement
Applicable Years: C1, C2, C3
Skill Level: 1 Wrench
Tools Required: Sockets and ratchet, razor scraper, gasket sealant
Time Required: 1-2 hours
Parts Source: Paragon Reproductions
The aftermarket chrome valve covers on my ‘67 big-block looked nice when they were shiny and new, but that was a long, long time ago, and moisture and age have taken their toll. As part of my overall scheme for revitalizing the engine bay on the old warhorse, I sandblasted and refinished the original OEM valve covers (covered in a separate stand-alone article in another issue of CF), and now it was time to install them. A gasket set was procured from Paragon, along with the appropriate grommets and a new, correct black oil filler cap. This is not a difficult project and well worth the hour or two it will take you. These same procedures apply even if you just want to take your old covers off, clean them up, and give them a new coat of paint.
So that should keep you busy for at least a few weekends. Keep watching Corvette Fever for more Corvette weekend projects!CF
Photo Gallery: Chevrolet Corvette Maintenance - Weekend Projects 2008 - Corvette Fever Magazine


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L98 Tuned Port Intake - Stop The Seep
L98 Tuned Port Intake - Stop The Seep
Difficulty Index: Experienced - Special Tools Needed
The Tuned Port intake was a vast change from the previous induction systems offered for Corvette. It relied on a simple premise: Increasing the runner length would increase torque.
The L98 Tuned Port took this theory to the limit. With long runners on each side of the plenum that curve around to direct airflow into the main intake housing, the Tuned Port is one of the most recognizable intakes ever made. It worked quite well, too.
Unfortunately, GM was still sending coolant through the intake manifold, so the biggest problem is that the gaskets are showing their age with coolant leaks. Usually, leaks can be seen in the pockets between the head and intake on the rear passenger side of the engine. There are a few more wires or lines running to the intake than there are with a typical carbureted setup in the earlier generations. But with just a bit more information, swapping out the gaskets can be done the same way as any of the sans-electronic small-block predecessors.
With the car timed and tuned, it was ready for another decade and a half of trusty service. Now we can drive it without any coolant leaks, smells, or stains on the driveway. Right. Like it will spend that much time in the driveway!
Photo Gallery: Repairing L98 Tuned Port Intake - Corvette Fever Magazine





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Tags: corvette parts, corvette, sports car, chevy corvette, zl1, chevrolet corvette, Z06, L88