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99 Callaway Corvette Swap ?'s


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Hey guys, I have an oportunity to purchase a full car that has been totaled(hit from the rear by a Ford F350 ) for 5g's! Pics coming soon! The owner was fully paid off by the insurance for it and bought it back from salvage for $1000, he was quoted 45K to restore to original. It has a little over 10K miles and supposedly has 690HP to the rear wheels and has Dyno sheets to prove it.

Modified from Original: higher compression, differnet blow off valves and wastegates with different ECU programming. Requires a min of '93 octane - usually runs 107.

Now if I get this, am I in way over my head for a Z car? First of all, will a LS1 fit w/2 turbos strapped to it? Can a Z handle that amount of power? What kind of structural changes will I have to make and what kind of rear/tranny would I have to get?

To me, this sounds like either a steal and/or sham, not sure what to think yet(waiting for pics). I always get screwed so I am leaning towards not doing this, but I still get a knobber every time I think about it! ARR ARRR!

If anyone has any good insight please let me know, I am torn! I am trying to break a habbit of wasting $$$ on cars and with my new wife, she will kill me dead if I end up getting the short end of the stick again.

Thanks again guys!

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You will likely have to reconfigure the exhaust manifolds to fit the turbos into the Z, but Hoo YAAA....what a swap!!! You'll need some serious chassis reinforcement!! Man, that make me salivate!!

 

Tim

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Guest Your Car is Slow

Dunno...few things stand up there that would raise some red flags for me

 

1. The engine alone is probably worth more than 5 grand (and I KNOW he paid more than 5 grand to have the work done).

 

2. The trans is useless to you...but would certainly fetch another grand or so on ebay or whatnot (provided it wasnt destroyed in the wreck).

 

3. The compression was RAISED to add a twin turbo setup...and it still runs on pump gas? I dont think so.

 

Seriously check this out prior to getting yourself into it. However for 5 grand..if its true...sounds like a steal.

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Look up some old articles on the Calloway Corvettes. The turbo plumbing was extensive. You will essentially have to start over to fit it in a Z.

 

Don't worry about chassis reenforcement. The 225 tires on your Z will give long before the chassis does.

 

I would think you could do better by swapping the engine into the same year vette.

 

Also you said you are "waiting pictures". I would not buy such an engine without seeing it in person first. You need to run a compression check on everything. I would also check the radiator/oil for oil or antifreeze respectively. Make sure there is no block damage from the wreck. Hearing it run would not be a bad idea either.

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Does this sound right?

"The compression was raised to generate more power. You can raise the compression on a turbo motor,

but you have to run good gas. The mininum the car will run on is 93 octane.

Generally you do lower the compression some when you run a turbo - but that is depending on the

amount of boost run, and the fuel you are running.

The heads stay on the Vette motor....I took it to Road America a few times and had the turbos

glowing (runs Syntec 5-50 motor oil) and if there was a problem...it would have shown up then. I

know my father has run it at Road America a few times as well...as well and ran full boost several times."

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Correct, I have received a few emails from him, he says he has never ran less than 93 octane, and 90% of the time it had 107(additive aided).

I am trying to get out to see it, only problem it is on the East coast and I live in CO. Hopefully I will have some more info by tomorrow, he is supposed to call me and fill me in.

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The turbos aren't going to fit in a Z. Take a look at the LS1 fit photos in my album. There is no room on the sides. A supercharger or a belt driven procharger could probably be done but there is no space for the turbos on a 240-280 without some serious underbody modifications.

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Guest Your Car is Slow

I still dont buy it....running ANY sort of boost (much less enough to produce 700hp) would nearly require that 107+ octane to run normally. Perhaps he turned the boost way down when driving around...which is certainly a possibility.

 

The turbos were glowing red? heh..wow

 

Another bit thing for me would be the power levels themselves on a stock LS1 block.....you are pushing the limits at 700horses...if not traveling beyond them.

 

The other big red flag I just noticed is the price he said he bought it back from the insurance company for.

 

A totalled car can usually be purchased for 10 to 15% of the KBB/NADA value of the car itself.

 

Aint no way the KBB on a car of that nature was between 10 and 15k.

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Guest 1point3liter

I didn't read all the replys. Call me at 904-226-4440 so we can talk about the sale of this car. No front end damage? I want to see some pics. I'll come get it and pay you after seeing the car in person.

 

thanks

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Does this sound right?

"The compression was raised to generate more power."

You will lose power raising the compression - the extra compression will cause detonation at a lower boost level as you can't pull the heat out of the mixture inside the cylinder like you can with a higher boost level and an intercooler.

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Does this sound right?

"The compression was raised to generate more power."

You will lose power raising the compression - the extra compression will cause detonation at a lower boost level as you can't pull the heat out of the mixture inside the cylinder like you can with a higher boost level and an intercooler.

 

in general i believe you are correct, however if the goal is not very high boost, then the bumped compression would spool the turbos faster wouldnt it ?

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Does this sound right?

"The compression was raised to generate more power."

You will lose power raising the compression - the extra compression will cause detonation at a lower boost level as you can't pull the heat out of the mixture inside the cylinder like you can with a higher boost level and an intercooler.

 

in general i believe you are correct' date=' however if the goal is not very high boost, then the bumped compression would spool the turbos faster wouldnt it ?[/quote']

 

That may be correct. The power potential of the motor is less with increased compression, especially if you are restricted to pump fuel, but off-boost will certainly be exciting, and boost is always fun. :D

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Does this sound right?

"The compression was raised to generate more power."

You will lose power raising the compression - the extra compression will cause detonation at a lower boost level as you can't pull the heat out of the mixture inside the cylinder like you can with a higher boost level and an intercooler.

 

in general i believe you are correct' date=' however if the goal is not very high boost, then the bumped compression would spool the turbos faster wouldnt it ?[/quote']

 

That may be correct. The power potential of the motor is less with increased compression, especially if you are restricted to pump fuel, but off-boost will certainly be exciting, and boost is always fun. :D

 

 

sorry to post whore but i love the quote in a quote in a quote in a quote :D

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If I remember right, I don't think Callaway uses a stock LS1 block, I thought I read somewhere where it was there own kind of tweaked a little like what Saleen did with their S7 and Fords block?

I'm still really skeptical about this whole thing, and now hearing that the turbos wont fit I think I'm leaning towards not doing it. I can't wait to get the pics though, hopefully this week sometime.

 

1point3liter Wrote

 

I didn't read all the replys. Call me at 904-226-4440 so we can talk about the sale of this car. No front end damage? I want to see some pics. I'll come get it and pay you after seeing the car in person.

thanks

I'll give you a ring later this week, I'm still trying to get a hold of this guy and get some SOLID info on it. I work with his son and we have just been relaying info back and forth.

 

Thanks again to everyone who is contributing, I apprecaite every bit of it!

Bo

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This Callaway is a 99? And it's a Turbo? I'm not aware of a turbo'd Callaway C5. Callaway makes a car based on the C5 called the C12 that uses a stroked, NA LS6. But no turbo(s).

 

I suppose this could've been an extra special custom one-off. The C12 is $100K+. So that would make this an extra mega dollar car - maybe $150K.

 

This seems fishy.

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That is an excellent idea, have no idea why I didnt think of that, you guys are SMRT!

 

I dont know about being SMRT, but I've often said of myself ' I am so smart that I should have been twins" :D:D:lol::lol:

 

I'm also extremely modest!! :twisted:

 

Tim

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