OK heres my problem...my wife and I want to get a Vette sometime within the next 12 months but...we have some concerns. All three LS1 F-bodies in my SIG all have t-tops and once you have t-tops, targa top, or convertible you can't go back to a hardtop. We both want a C5 style vette. We both love the ZO6 but we can't stomach the idea of a hardtop...especially in a VETTE. We will be modifing the Vette too...near 500RWHP. I have heard some rumors about a couple companies that are doing conversions on the ZO6 to make it a targa top or a vert...your choice. I have looked into this yet though to see if these rumors are true. If we choose a C5(not a ZO6)vert/targa can the complete suspension, brakes, differential, and close ratio transmission be swapped into the C5? I would rather take a convertable/targa C5 and add the ZO6 components then to hack up a REAL ZO6. I have to much respect for the ZO6 to cut up it's roof and such. The car will be driven daily..weather permitting. We plan to AutoX pretty often and occasional hit the drags too. I was thinking of a 346 boost motor or even a 382 boost motor with either an ATI Procharger or Twin Turbos. What do you all think?

 

Personally, i drive a C4 on occasion w/ the targa top, and its hardly ever off, except in the extreme heat of summer.

But, i'd say if you'd rather have a car where you can remove the roof, get a coupe and modify that vs cuttin the Z06. Once you do that, it wont seal anywhere near as good as it would if it were stock (but the only bad thing is, after about 10 years, you will probably have to replace the weather stripping on the roof, windows and doors no matter what.) And im not big on converts, so personally, i wouldnt recommend one, unless you REALLY want it.

And yes, every single component on a Z06 will transfer over to a coupe/convert. From heads, cam, MAF, exhaust, wheels, transmission, IRS, everything. Only thing you may have to change, are the sway bars, and a few other things to actually make the transition from the F55, Z51 etc suspenion you have, to the Z06s.

But, just my opinion...i'd say get the Z06, and mod that out (just dont hack up the roof :p)

 

You sound more attached to the open roof concept than I was. I did have a regular C5 and drove with the Targa top off often. But, the ZO6 is a completely different animal. And while I have no regrets, there probably will be a convertible in my future at some point. Everyone can always say you can modify to exceed the perfromance of the ZO6, but you will never capture the synergistic essence of the car....if that is not too deep of a concept. Anyway, if you get right down to it, if you were to copy all of the ZO6 components over to a C5(every single one), it would be pretty expensive. Not only that, you would get into that mod situation where you have trouble dialing all the mods in. The way you speak, it sounds like you have a little money to spend. My vote is to cut the top off of a ZO6, slap a Magnacharger(or vortech) on it and you have an extremely reliable sporty little vert(in the 460-480rwhp range)....BTW, that was 20 grand that just rolled off my lips. Carravaggio is one of the companies that does convertible mods....and it ain't cheap(10-12 grand). There is another company in Florida that supposedly does a good job as well. There was a post of a guy that had a real ZO6 vert and took the car into the dealer to "get warranty work done on the top". The job was so good that even the dealer did warranty work without even batting an eye that there is no such thing as a factory ZO6 vert. There is a guy on the Corvette forum that has owned a couple of custom ZO6 verts. He sold his first one(an 01) and is(or already sold) his latest project. It was a convertible conversion with a white top and repainted in admiral blue to look exactly like a Grand Sport....complete with the red stripes on front fender. The thing was ****** FINE!!!!!! Anyway, his asking price was in the 60s with very basic boltons. Good luck. Research on Corvette forum and you will find this guy....I only wish I could remember his screen name. I have a picture of one of his cars(the 01) on my hard drive and I will try to post here. Good luck, Sounds like a nice dilemma.

 

I had in order:
95 hardtop LT1 Formula
2000 T-top LS1 TransAm
92 Targa top C4 LT1 Coupe
01 Z06
All were M6 transmissions. The cars that I love the best out of those were the 95 Formula, 92 C4 and 01 Z06. The t-tops were nice to have, and I used them a lot on the TA, and I liked taking the top off in the C4, but I really don't miss it much on the Z06. Having said that, it's really a personal choice. If you really like open air motoring (I do, but live with just windows down), then get a C5 coupe or vert and mod it to perform like you want. By the time you buy a Z06 and turn it into a targa/vert, you are talking $15K-$25K more than an equivalent C5 coupe.

As to making a coupe/vert perform like a Z06, yes it can be done. For suspension you could add all the Z06 stuff, but why?? Just find a coupe/vert with Z51 suspension and you are at 85% of the z06 suspension. The main difference from there would be the Z06 wheels/tires and 04 Z06 shocks and then you'll be at 95%-98% of Z06 handling. The HP difference could be made up basically by adding the LS6 heads and cam, but you're talking about doing engine mods anyway, so this may not be the route you want to take. Finally you'd also have to do gears or swap out to a Z06 tranny. You may decide that's too much trouble to go through and that it would be easier to just get the Z06. Also, if you want to do autox in SCCA or NCCC, modyfing the car can put you into a class that you may not be competitive in. At the very least you need to test drive a coupe, vert, and Z06 and then make the decision.

 

theres an add in the dupont registry for a company that does zo6 coversions making them targa.

 

i hvae a FRC C5 LOVE IT!!! I rode in a standard coupe and could tell a difference in the way it handled felt more squishy around the turns but had less road noise. I personal don't give s($t bout the road noise and love the more rigid feeling of a FRC

 

C5kid, you probably rode in a non-Z51 coupe. All FRC's have Z51.

The standard suspension sucks, I have it.