Shrack's 1981 Corvette

"When Chevrolet was satisfied, I started..."
This picture was taken at the annual Austin Corvette Show in September of 2001, in fact it was my 25th birthday.
This was the first time that I showed my car in its current state: with new paint, engine, suspension, wheels and tires.

This was taken during one of my runs at a local SCCA Solo II autocross event. In the passanger seat was a friend who has never driven anything more exciting then his Honda Accord (a stock 4 door)- he walked away from this run with white knuckles and a grin from ear to ear. This picture was at the apex of the 180 degree corner at one of the ends of the course. If you can, notice how the body lean, or lack there of, actually flattens out the tire's contact patch. During the suspension portion of my project I changed some of the geometry of the underpinning by changing the length and contact points of some of the components.

I when I bought my Vette, it was a completely different animal-bone stock and untouched since the mid-80's. I bought it with the same tires that it drove off the showroom floor with- 225/70R15 Goodyear Eagle STs (a special order option). These tires were one of the most recent items to go. Above is a picture right after I got my car back from the paint shop when it still had the original wheels and tires. There was still a fair amount of tread after 45k miles, but the compound was quite hard, as you can imagine after 20 years of service. After I dropped in my new engine, these tires couldn't begin to hold the power and resulted in an exciting ride anytime I touched the right pedal. I am just about to get these original wheels reshoed with a new set of 15" tires just to have as a back up to my new 17" combo.

Here are a few pictures of my car as it came from the factory-beige and loving it:
Front and Right Side
Right Side

Using the facilities at my parent's farm located in scenic Iuka, Kanas, I pulled the old L81 engine and swapped in my new small block :
Coming Out
Out of the Car

View other pictures of the Vette with the new paint, before the new wheels/tires:
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4
Picture 5
Picture 6
Picture 7
Picture 8
Picture 9




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