Specifications

The subject of this 15 year obsession is a 1974 Corvette T-Top. It is mostly stock but will never qualify for an NCRS (National Corvette Restorers Society) top flight award.

The body remains stock with the exception of fiberglass front and rear bumpers. The bumpers were changed after the originals disintegrated, the result of 25 years of sun, cold, heat, ozone and all the other things that attack plastic parts. The new bumpers look original from the standpoint of fit and finish. The giveaway is the smoothness of the paint and lack of ripples that typically mar urethane bumpers. The body was stripped to the bare fiberglass, repaired where needed (and it did need it), and repainted with 5 coats of duPont Diamond Black Acrylic Lacquer, and 5 coats of duPont 380-S Clear Acrylic Lacquer. It was then color sanded, buffed, and hand rubbed using 3M and Meguiars products.

The engine is a number matching original L-48 Chevrolet 350 cubic inch small block. The "grinnin " ,as I like to put it, was kept to a minimum in the interest of reliability. The original heads were junk when the rebuild was performed and were replaced with World Products S/R Torquers. These heads are cast iron with 67 cc chambers, 2.02/1.60 stainless steel valves and high performance springs allowing .550 inch lift. I selected the 67 cc chambers (they also come in 76 cc) in order to bring the compression up slightly. The heads were topped off with a set of Summit Racing full roller rocker arms. The block itself, after 90+ thousand miles showed no wear in the cylinders (a tribute to the longevity of the Chevrolet small block) and required only a slight honing to reestablish the cross hatch pattern in them. The camshaft was replaced with a Crane HMV-272 Max Velocity dual pattern hydraulic cam. The cam has a duration of 216 degrees intake and 228 degrees exhaust @ .050 lift and has a max lift of .454 inches on the intake and .480 on the exhaust. The engine uses the original Q-Jet carb, a Summit high pressure high volume oil pump was installed along with Clevite 77 bearings. All other mods fell under the dress up category.

The interior is stock with the exception of the sound system. The sound system consists of a Blaupunkt Boston receiver with modified shafts to fit the dash, 2 Hi-Comp HCB-865 135 watt amplifiers powering 4 Blaupunkt PCXG462 4 x 6 inch top dash and kickpanel speakers and a Bazooka RS604 Reference Series 6" Bass Tube Subwoofer. A JVC CH-X1000 12 Disk CD Changer with remote control provides the tunes and it's all tied together with a 7 band graphic equalizer. As you can see from the picture the appearance is stock unless you look at the receiver. All electronics are hidden under the back deck on a panel . Needless to say this baby rocks.