My New Toy - Part II

[Iceaxe]

Meet my new toy... It's a 2011 Corvette, with only 24k miles. I pretty much stole this car as the guy was in a major bind and needed the cash by Saturday. The guy took the car to CarMax to wholesale it and when the CarMax guys turned their backs I told him I'd give him $500 more than CarMax offered. The guy was thrilled to make an extra $500 and I bought a car I could easily flip and make $3000 to $4000 on. CarMax was pretty much robbing the guy.

Anyhoo... we decided to keep this car as our new toy. When you stand on the gas driving this car you had better make sure it's pointing in the correct direction because all hell breaks loose when it comes up on the cam at about 3,000 rpm. If you turn off the traction control it pretty much fries the tires anytime you stand on the loud pedal.

Drop a gear and disappear....

[Iceaxe]

So I spent the past week bringing this bad boy up to Ice standards. First thing was to detail the entire car and engine bay.

Then the real fun started... I added a Mild to Wild exhaust system, Air Raid cold air induction and a ZR1 wicker bill (spoiler).

Next up will probably be reprogramming the ECM (Electronic Control Module) so I can remap the throttle to be more linear so I can steer the car easier with my right foot like God intended.

This car is wicked fast :-)

[oldno7]

No 8 track player

[Iceaxe]

I spent the afternoon putting a set of Z51 sway bars on the Corvette. I thought the Corvette cornered flat before, but with the new bars it drives like it's on rails. It's amazing how fast that car can get through a turn.

I swapped the front 25.5 mm sway bar for a 31.0 mm bar, and I swapped the puny 17.5 mm rear sway bar for a 25.4 mm bar.
I could always feel the rear outside corner of the Corvette wallow or sit down when existing a corner hard, but that is no more. Just when I thought the car couldn't be any more fun to drive and BOOM, it's even better.

[Iceaxe]

So last week I posted on Facebook that I was looking for someone local with airbrush skills to paint the Corvette emblem on the hood liner of my new Corvette. My cousin, who owns the Projects & Dreams Hot Rod Shop in Salt Lake City told me he had a talented gentleman by the name of Jorge Hidalgo working for him that could probably do it. I dropped off the hood liner last week and picked it up this morning. What do you think?

[twotimer]

What do you think?

Looks like you've got your dick down deep for Chevy, that's for sure. I actually dove one of those...a 2011 brand new. A customer of mine had just bought it while I was painting his house. Before I even turned the engine over he said "DON"T step on it".

I drove it 23 miles thru the city (we went to a Nuggets game that night) and it scared the shit out of me. I tried to act cool, though.

It's just that I've been driving pickup trucks and a couple '60s land yachts all my life. Been in some fast cars, but never drove one. Quite an experience.

BTW, how much does the insurance on that thing cost per month? I'm just curious, and my best guess is about $130 bucks.

[Iceaxe]

Insurance is dirt cheap as it's insured as a specialty car. I pay $600 a year for full coverage, zero deductible, $500,000/$1,000,000 coverage, roadside service and the tow truck is guaranteed to be a rollback. On my 1970 Corvette I only paid $300 a year for the same coverage and the cars are worth roughly the same.

The rules... the car can't be my daily driver (I have to own another car), the car has to be garaged, no one under 25 can drive it. They used to put mileage limits per year but don't do that anymore.

You insure a specialty car with what is called agreed value insurance. I tell the insurance company what the car is worth and if they agree that's what it is insured for and what your premium is based on. The best part is if there is a claim there is zero hassle as we have ready agreed they will pay up to the agreed amount.

Not too shabby don't ya think?

[Iceaxe]

So today I added a Vitesse Throttle Controller to the Corvette. This allows me to remap the throttle settings to whatever I like. The advantage to this is I can dial out the throttle lag that GM dials into all their cars to make them more manageable for grandma to drive. It also allows me to create a more linear feel so it mimics the older muscle cars back in the day when cars actually had a throttle cable and not a fly by wire system. Currently on GM cars when the throttle is depressed halfway the throttle body is really only open 30%, now my cars throttle body is open 50% when the throttle is depressed halfway. It really makes the car a lot more fun to drive.



Climb-Utah.com

[Iceaxe]

So today I installed a catch-can on the Corvette. I had the Vette spread out in a hundred piece across the driveway when the dumbest problem in the world had me stumped for 45 minutes. Who would have ever guessed there is a stupid tiny lever you have to flip to unplug a PCV valve on a modern GM product. It would have been somewhat easy to unplug the PCV if you could actually see the connection, but GM hid it under the throttle body so you have to figure it all out by feel in a space where your hands don't actually fit. Oh well... it's all back together now.





Climb-Utah.com

[Iceaxe]

Ain't that the truth....


Climb-Utah.com

[Iceaxe]

Spent the day putting a set of Bilstein DRM Shocks on the Corvette to go with the oversized swaybars I added last fall, and damn I'm beat. Muscling around a set of gas pressurized shocks for 4 hours is about the same as bench pressing 100 pounds for four hours and I'm just not used to doing it.

Once I finished I took the Vette out for a spin and driving out of the Neighborhood I'm thinking WTF have I done. If you run over a quarter at 20 MPH I could probably tell you if it were heads or tails. That might be great on the track but I'm wanting something more pro-touring. Anyhoo... once I got the beast out of the neighborhood and up to speed it was a whole new animal and turned into a magic carpet ride so now I'm happy.

Now I just need to plan another road trip for next weekend

[rockgremlin]

Now I just need to plan another road trip for next weekend

You should stay indoors to help flatten the curve and stop the spread of Coronavirus.

[twotimer]

Take a road trip to Montana where you can really open that thing up. Blow the carbon out of those heads.

[Iceaxe]

You should stay indoors to help flatten the curve and stop the spread of Coronavirus.

LMAO... Yeah... that ain't going to happen. I'm not buying into the bullshit.

[Iceaxe]

Take a road trip to Montana where you can really open that thing up. Blow the carbon out of those heads.

I want to go somewhere fun... I'm currently eyeing Nevada and Idaho where I know a few things are happening. Montana and Wyoming are still to cold.

[rockgremlin]

I want to go somewhere fun... I'm currently eyeing Nevada and Idaho where I know a few things are happening. Montana and Wyoming are still to cold.

What about Vegas? Have they closed down all of the strip clubs?

[Sandstone Addiction]

Have you ever looked into entering the Silver State Challenge?

[oldno7]

Take a road trip to Montana where you can really open that thing up. Blow the carbon out of those heads.

You mean like clear past 83

[Iceaxe]

What about Vegas? Have they closed down all of the strip clubs?

I'm keeping what I know under my hat... I don't want to show up to a Sand Hollow clusterf**k...

[Iceaxe]

Have you ever looked into entering the Silver State Challenge?

I've been down that road before. I won a National SCCA Solo Championship back in 1985... build a race car or a street car but don't try to build one car for both or you just end up with a car that is shitty at both... and all the fast Silver State cars are nothing but race cars that have been made street legal.

FWIW - I'm friends with R.J. Gottlieb and his legendary Big Red Camaro. If you don't know who he is look it up. His Silver State run is a fun story. Here is a picture of me and Big Red on the salt.