Steve's Corvette is an original 1973 454ci big block manual roadster. Since he bought the car in 1988 it has gone through many changes over the years because this is a toy we just cannot stop playing with. When it comes to performance parts this car has pretty much tried them all and broken more than its fair share. After all this time the car itself is a very well sorted car and is driving the best it ever has, but it's taken a lot of trial and error, money and time to get it to where it is today.
In its current state the drivetrain is relatively bulletproof. The engine is the original block, bored out, with a stroked steel crank with 4 bolt mains to 496ci. Forged pistons with 12:1 comp and a solid roller camshaft. Topped by AFR alloy heads and an Edelbrock RPM Air Gap manifold it made around 630hp on the engine dyno when first built. To fit this under the bonnet it was customised with a modified L88 hood scoop moulded to the original bonnet to give us the clearance it needed but keep an original look.
Behind the engine we swapped out the original 4 speed for a Tremec TKO 5 speed gearbox to handle the torque and give us an overdrive gear. The tailshaft was beefed up with large unis fitted.
The differential is a highly modified piece. Using an original corvette 10 bolt independent rear end, we gutted the housing to make room for a 12 bolt diff centre with 3.7:1 gears. We also fabricated a 4 link arm suspension to help control and improve handling. The half shafts have oversized unis and are rated at 1000hp.
For stopping power we fitted later model C5 front callipers and discs and Wilwood 4 piston rear callipers bolted to 18" and 20" Billet Specialties wheels. To help put the power down the wheels are wrapped in nitto tyres which we can strongly recommend to anyone with traction issues.
As far as the body goes, after owning the car for over 20 years Steve wanted something a little different, so during its rebuild he opted for the black stripes down the car to mimic the "Baldwin/Motion" corvettes.
There are way too many modifications and parts to list but it is an award winning car which we are very proud of here at SR Performance!
