aworks

I took the 60 to Lake George this week. Aprox. 400 mile round trip. The car performed perfect. It handles great. I have an LT1 and 700R auto. With 308s in the rear this car cruises at 75 MPH at 2100 rpms. With the top up you can hear the radio and talk to your wife or whoever is with you. I still need to try some diff. rate springs in the rear. I have 225\425 springs in there now and I think they are to stiff. Other than that the car rides very nice on the highway. I do have a minor vibration around 65 mph. I'll check tire bal this week. My wife was very comfy in the Al Knock seats. I can't say enough about the way this car feels and drives. Anyone thinking of building any year vette with this chassis or one like it should be very pleased with the results. John M or anyone else that is driving one of these. What spring rate are you using in the rear? I am going to try 250's unless someone has a better idea. Now that it's home I'll get her up on a lift and do a check of bolts and a general look over. I will be using this car for more long drives and can't wait. Brian G.

Johns_65Vette

Sounds awesome Brian. I have been tossing around one of those frames for my 65, although, I am not sure I can justify the cost. Of course maybe I can get 4 or 5K for my rust free stock frame
Doing research now on a LS (1, 2 or 6) engine swap for mine....
might be nice to have updated chassis to go with the drivetrain

Do you have a solid rear axle, or is it updated C4/C5 suspension in your C1?

John McGraw

Brian,

My 59 uses 250# rear springs and they ride very nice. Mike supplied the 225/425 progressive springs with my shocks for the 65, but I am worried that they will be to stiff. Make sure that you back your shock adjustment all the way out and only turn them in a couple of clicks.
When I put my QA1's in,I started with the shock settings at about 6 clicks in and it rode like a lumber wagon!

If the progressive springs in the rear ride too stiff on the 65, I will pop them out and replace with 250# springs. I would let Mike know that you think the progressive springs are too stiff. My guess is that he would trade you a set of 250's. Maybe he will change his mind about reccomending the 225/425 springs if enough people complain about them.

Regards, John McGraw

aworks

John. I did talk to Mike. He says nobody has told him that the 225\ 425's are to stiff. I have the shocks set at there softest setting. A fair bump on the highway will bouce you out of the seat. How far up do you have the 250"s set on the shocks. From the bottom of the threads to the jamb nut. I have the springs set at the very bottom of the spring and that gives the car the height i want. I don't like the car in the weeds so I have the car sitting alittle lower than a stock one. I'm going to have Mike send me a set of the 250's. Being the great guy he is he said he will send them at no cost and if they work out I can send him back the old ones. This is about the only complaint I have about the car. When i get it to ride alittle softer it will be the perfect C1 to drive.Brian G.

firstgear

do you have some photos of your seats? are these Wise Guy seats or Goodguy seats through Knoch?

John McGraw

Brian,

I am about halfway up on my adjustment nut. With my nut all the way down, the tires were almost up in the wheelwells. Larry Savino over at the CAC board used some of the variable rate shocks on his 62, and he said that they were too stiff as well. Here is a pic of the 59 with 250's and the adjustment half way up.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-...3/P0001388.jpg

You really can't run this chassis down in the weeds anyway since the frame will high-center over sharp driveway approaches anyway!
I can't get gas at my favorite gas station, since their driveway ramp is so steep. That is the only downside to Mike's frame, the drcreased ground clearance. I have gotten used to it now, and just don't take my 59 in the same places that I would take my truck.

Regards, John McGraw

DZAUTO

So, what's so different about the SRII chassis over the stock chassis??????????????? Plus, there were only 3 or 4 SRII chassis built anyway----------------and all 4 are accounted for today!
As far as I know, the only difference may have been the HD finned drums with Cerametalic shoes, heavier shocks and maybe a heavier front sway bar (the SRIIs didn't have a rear sway bar, the first year for a rear sway bar was 60). Sooooooooooooo, am I missing something here???????

61iwon

http://www.sriiimotorsports.com/pages/691638/index.htm

SRIII chassis is a tubular frame replacement. Look at the above website. Or look at John McGraw's website for some great pictures of his car.

Dave

aworks

Yes it should say SRIII chassis. I F***ed up on the title. John. It is for sure the springs. If I where to adjust the 225\425"s to that height it would look like the old days of long shackles and air shocks. Brian G.

aworks

Firstgear. the seats are Al Knoch. I bought them with the rest of the int. last year. The seats where 1200.00. Now he's getting much more.[IMG][/IMG]

DZAUTO

You're joking, right? A 60 Corvette with an AUTOMATIC TRANNY?

John McGraw

Tom,

My 59 is a computer-controlled 4 speed automatic as well. The first gear ratio in a 4L60E with a 3.54, gives the same effective gear ratio as 4 speed with a 5.00 rear gear. The accleration of this car is breath-taking, and the overdrive and the lock-up torque converter yeilds about 25 MPG on the highway (when not cruising at 90+ mph), and yeild skidpad G numbers exceeding .85.
The auto trans is great when cruising on the highway in this big ole state.
The car will still light the tires at any speed less than about 40 MPH, and is a whole lot more fun to drive than my restored 60 ever was.
It also has power steering, power brakes, Air Conditioning, and power windows.

Here is the chassis that we are talking about.
http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrow...der_id=1629022

Regards, John McGraw

DZAUTO

Dang man, I think you've gotten spoiled!

John McGraw

If you think I am spoiled now, just wait until you see the midyear that I am building right now! It is going to run off and hide from the 59, but, it too is an automatic.

Regards, John McGraw

60vett

I'm available as a stepson if needed! nice car and nice garage!

67TBowl

John,
Your car and frame are gorgeous. Thanks for the pictures.
Mark

aworks

I first thought the same thing. But out of 7 old gearhead cars of which 4 are corvettes. I thought it was time to build a car that was as nice and comfortable as I could. AC, power windows, auto,and power steering is about all you can ask of an old C1. Not the fastest car I have but sure is nice to drive.

wmf62

John
what a/c did you use? do you have any pictures of the interior installation of the a/c?
Bill

John McGraw

Bill,

I used HotRod air's unit. The fit is tight, but they build a well thought-out unit that replaces the original heater unit with a Heat/Cool combo unit. Of course, my firewall was filled and smoothed, so I took some license with the installation. Here are a few pics of my installation. There is not much detail, as it is impossible to get both my fat body AND a camera under the dash at the same time.
I bought the system without hoses, since I wanted to fabricate my own, and I built my own control panel with parts from several vendors including Vintage Air. The unit is pretty well covered by the original heater panel when it is installed as you can see in the last pic. I did notch the end of the heater cover to allow me to raise the passenger side outside vent ball up a little, but that was my decision, not a requirement. Sorry for the lack of detail.

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrow...der_id=1747203


Regards, John McGraw

Plastic Pig

I've got about 35K miles on my SRIII frame now as a matter of fact I just got back from a 750 mile weekend and agree with your assesment of great performance.

My car is slammed to the ground, so the shocks are one step under the firmest setting and I don't remember what springs I have. My car rides about as good as my DD C5 that is lowered as far as stock bolts will allow, has Z06 springs and sway bars with Bilstein shocks.

Passing Porsches in the twisties is a great plus as well.