I've been out of the car scene for about 8 months now and its time to get back in. my last quick car was a turbo 99 camaro ss with a forged 5.3 bored to a 5.7, built t56, suspension etc. then i got a 93 FD rx7 with a 402 stroker.

Last night i bought my first corvette. its a black 1997 coupe. i bought it from my friend. he bought the car in maryland with a stock ls1 and a d1 pro charger. the ls1 blew up and he put a 6l in it. he had me do an ls3 top end swap along with a blower cam. ran that a bit and then wanted to go turbo. he sold the engine and the blower kit and the car has just been sitting. i picked it up for a good price and have some big plans for it!

This thread will be a project thread, question thread, parts for sale and parts wanted thread. hopefully alot of you will check it out and maybe we can help each other. there are some things i need to learn about c5's so i'm sure i'll have a lot of questions.

my goals for the car is to be a decent daily driver (would like to keep AC) it will be quick in a straight line (800rwhp is my goal) and can take corners well. i'll be taking it to a few semi local road courses.

parts wanted:
single or twin turbo kit
80lb injectors
ls6 style fuel rail (i have ls3 rail for trade)
ls1 style coil brackets. (i have ls3 coil brackets for trade)

parts for sale:
ls3 fuel rail
c5 wagon wheels powder coated black, great tread on fronts, bald tires on rears
i'd love to trade interiors with someone. this has the burgandy interior and i'd like black!! or the brighter red interior

Questions! how much power can the stock c5 trans/rear/cv shafts handle? whats the best bang for my buck on brake upgrades and suspesions? c6 z06? thanks!!!

 

Congrats, welcome back, and welcome to the club.

i would just buy a TTiX kit or something similar, and be done with it unless you wanna fab up your own kit.

How much power can a stock drivetrain handle? Stock is more then enough to break anything. lots can be done to attempt to prevent diff breakage, which usually could lead to transmission breakage all in one shot. Avoid wheel hop at all costs(any car)... and if you have the money to upgrade, and wanna stay manual, look into the 2009 or newer Tr6060 transmissions...or have YOUR current T56 modified to be near identical. However, you will still have factory C5 diff problems...so if it was me, I would recommend the new car stuff(09 and up rear lower cradle, leaf spring(or switch to coilovers) lower control arms, the trans and diff).

Anyways have fun man and nice ride.

 

like any project, i'm definitely on a budget and luckily time is on my side. i've fabbed up turbo kits before and i'd much rather just buy something thats already proven to be great.is the newer tr6060 a bolt in upgrade or do i need to start bying different things? thanks a lot!

 

Well anything can be made, like , if you wanted to use 2 STOCK C6 manifolds...make two pipes to bolt to each side, then adapt to turbos flanges, then turbos, then hook up to your existing exhaust... obviously you are limited to turbo sizing in that location but, could still support up to about 1000rwhp... so, no downfall there.

TTiX kits are expensive..so...you may wanna look into above route.

If you decide to go that route, pm me, I can try and help.

As for the drivetrains...yes and no(bolt-on).

You would need as mentioned, the tranmission, the differential, the REAR lower cradle and the C6 control arms. If you are NOT coilovers either go that route or buy the leaf spring with the rear cradle assembly with control arms.

This is not cheap... but,..what is these days lol?

I am also on a budget,..there is other routes then TTiX but,..all of which require some sort of fabrication...(outside of a complete kit which is expensive).

 

i've fabbed up a couple kits and its such a PITA because i dont really have the proper tools. if i can find a nice used kit thats what i'd like to do. i've been looking at different types of kits, and i like the twin turbo kits in the fenders, and i've seen some kits that have the turbo up in front of the motor. i think what i'll probably do about my drive train is just the diff brace and when i start breaking **** i'll upgrade. its going to be a street/highway car. i'll take it to the drag strip a couple times for fun but i dont really care about 1/4 mile stuff. first i have to find a motor tho! looking for an ly6 to build.

 

Ok, the helps paint a better pic of what you want. Here's some tips from the breaking **** diary.

1)Stock C5 drivetrain..I think the biggest problem is the TWISTING of it. If you look at how the C5 diff is bolted to the rear cradle, and how the new C6 diff's are bolted to the cradle...you can see that one is going to fight twist, better then the other. The 2 bolt mounting point for the C5,..sucks...if you can increase the leg off each side of the mount..giving it more leverage to fight the twist...I think it would be the best route likely.

Something like...(good)

http://blog.zip-corvette.com/corvett...-1997-2004-c5/

vs

(****)
http://www.vettenuts.net/index.php?l..._detail&p=1197

..so...you can see a difference. Not to mention, the rubber factory mounts allow further travel....put solid mounts in...it also should help keep everything in line, again, trying to avoid the twist.



Then also, as mentioned, the brace assembly, that is also a good choice.

If you keep it to highway stuff, you will be ok likely but...I have broken diffs and torque tubes on stock motors and turbos..so, you can still break stuff, with all the above mentioned jazz. Ultimately the twisting force is brutal for the drivetrain. Speaking of torque tubes..depending on miles, you may wanna look into the torque tube couplers(inside the torque tube)....these come apart...so...also, look into that.

2)The UPP kits seem good, and not bad priced. Used turbo anything kits can be a pain in the ***...or a great buy,...it's a crap shoot either way unless you know the source. Ultimately,..not much when it comes to "cheap

I have an original PTK(pro turbo kit)(i bought used) which is the over the radiator style...you can buy these STYLE manifolds and hot side on the net... however, extensive underhood mods and dedication are a must for this setup.... lots of heat but, lots of reward once you get all the fire hazards out of the way.

Skys is the limit.

 

Thanks! I'll definitely look into getting a brace. What do I have to do to rebuild the torque tube? I found a twin turbo kit I like. It's the turbo technologies kit. Has anyone ever used it? Also, can I remove the battery shield? I noticed my friends c6 doesn't have one. And mine is just in the way.

 

TTiX is great,,,do it if it is complete or a good deal.

Just google TORQUE TUBE COUPLERS for Corvette and I am sure you will find multiple vendors...lots of companies on this site will have them...and companies can also rebuild them for you if you cannot. Not to bad to do though once you break one or two. Upgrades are available(carbon shaft/etc).

Yes, you can remove the shield, I haven't run one for years due to setup.

 

The kit I'm getting is the one before the ttix kit. It has the dual intercoolers. I'm paying 3400 shipped with everything minus injectors. Seems like a good deal? And awesome! Taking that shield out rightdumnow. I'll look into torque tube stuff. This is stock with just over 100k on it.

 

If it looks good to you...do it. Intercoolers as you know...you can do whatever you want on that..keep 2, or go to a single and just make your own charge tubing if you felt it was a draw back. Post up some pics if you want of what you are getting for the money.

If you have 100+k on your torque tube,..look into having it rebuilt or doing yourself.

Especially if everything is out of the vehicle right now.

 

i'll try to figure out how to insert pictures. i saved them to the computer but when i click the icon to insert a picture it asks for the URL..

 

I just use photobucket or something along the lines of that....then just share.

 

havent updated in a while. had to rewire some things on the car like the wideband, and HID's, and a little bit in the wiring harness. the car is draining the battery when its connected tho, so i'm not sure where the draw is coming from, i need to look into that. my turbo technologies kit should be here tomorrow, as well as my head gaskets, oil pump shim and my brian tooley stage 2 turbo cam. i went with a rollmaster dual timing chain, ls7 lifters, stock ls6 oil pump, pac racing dual valve springs, trick flow push rods. also bought an msd 2 step. cant wait for it to get running!

 

Nice looking c5, I'm actually a fan of those burgundy seats in it. The car's out of the grand haven area, right? I went to look at it and was thinking about buying it when your friend had it for sale. I ended up with a c5 out of Ohio with a upp kit instead. Sounds like a nice build