Road trip and performance upgrade

[Aurora40]

I took a day trip with my wife up to New Jersey to look at a performance upgrade. The Aurora was a great cruiser and was very comfortable for the 10-11 hours we were in it.

The car is really great on the highway, so smooth but offers good feedback to be enjoyable. The power is really great. Always enough to pass in whatever situation.

I got about 24 mpg, but was getting 26 mpg until I hit some construction and an accident. Not bad for a 3800 lbs car going 80-85 mph as often as possible.

As to the "performance upgrade" I went to see:

It was in fair shape, sort of neglected. I would want to repaint it, seriously clean the engine, replace all the emblems, replace much of the interior trim, remove the aftermarket alarm and built-in radar detector, and who knows what else. But it drove nicely and seems mechanically sound. So it could be a slow project that is still enjoyable in the meantime. We'll see. For the amount of work I'd want to do (I'm a perfectionist), I wouldn't pay very close to the asking price. I'll let you all know if the Aurora moves over a spot in the garage to the wife's side.

[JimW]

Nice Vette! 89?

11hr road trip to see a car...damn, hope it was worth it I had hoped to read a higher mpg on the hwys, you musta been doing 80 or so the whole way? and no tickets! ha!

[Aurora40]

It was 11 hours total, not like one-way... But it was a bit of driving... Left at about 10:30 am, got home close to midnight.

It's a 1990. But if you note the hood and especially the wheels, it's no regular 1990... I alluded to shopping for one before talking about license plates. If I got this, my subtle license plate would likely read:




I'll probably give away too much info here by saying the non-subtle one I'd consider would read:



And yeah, I was going 80-85 mph whenever it was feasible, which was most of the way. I think I'd have gotten 25-26 mpg if I didn't get stuck in one horrific line of construction traffic, and one horrific line of accident traffic.

[JimW]

Is that like the 1990 version of the C5 Z06?

[Aurora40]

JimW said:

Is that like the 1990 version of the C5 Z06?

No google search? Regular Production Option B2K was available on Corvettes from 1987 to 1991. When this option was checked, the car was delivered to Old Lyme, CT instead of to the dealer, where it was modified by Callaway Cars.

The block was magnafluxed to check for problem areas, new crank, rods, and 7.5:1 compresson pistons were added, along with 4-bolt splayed main bearing caps. There were roller-rockers added and new valve springs. In addition, two turbochargers were plumbed into the exhaust headers, intercoolers added, and the hood modified to bring air to the intercoolers.

RPO B2K = Callaway Twin Turbo Corvette. The car in 1990 made 390 hp @ 4250 rpm, and 570 lb-ft @ 2500 rpm. This car has the 1991 hood scoops and upgraded wonderbar (you don't want to know) which brought it up to the 1991 rating of 403 hp @ 4500 rpm and 575 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm. However, this was quite conservative as the wonderbar upgrade claims to add 60 hp (would move 390 to 450) and the cooling ducts reduce intake charge temps by up to 100 degrees F. Several folks have dynoed cars with the wonderbar and mild exhaust work and gotten closer to 500 hp at the crank and 675 lb-ft.

[Letitroll98]

Cooooool! There were only 58 of these produced in 1990 with an option cost of almost $30k, and that's without the extra mods on this one. There's a black one (#36) for sale in NC on ebay.

I hate the I-95 corridor thru Balt-Wash so bad that I go the eastern shore route almost exclusively. Rt 13 for my trips to family in NC, but Rt 301 for you if coming from Richmond (my guess if 5 1/2 hours to NJ). Much nicer drive and often shorter if you factor in delays for traffic and accidents. However NOT the route on NASCAR weekend at Dover Downs.

[Aurora40]

Yes, #36 is black on red. The one I saw was not in excellent shape. I'll probably make a low offer to see if the seller's interested, otherwise I'll keep looking. I may have to make a trip down to see #36.

I also hate I-95. I took US 15 to I-81 to I-78. It's slightly further but much more enjoyable. Traffic wasn't bad at all except in two spots.

[Letitroll98]

That route will work for north Jersey just fine. We recently followed a nearby route. One of my other passions is Civil War history and we followed the route taken by General Rodes' confederate division on its way from Fredericksburg to Gettysburg in 1863. As we followed the actual roads taken back then, which are amazingly still there, it was all small two lane country byways (now paved of course) that made for a lovely weekend in Virginia. Driving the Aurora made it all that much nicer. You live in such a beautiful State.

Rehabing Vettes is a passion I gave up about 30 years ago. About the goofiest thing we did was try to fit some high compression racing pistons in a 327. They came out of the block approx 3/16" so my buddy used the gasket as a template to make an aluminum spacer that we put between two head gaskets to raise the head up enought to clear the pistons. Ran with something like 16-1 compression for two days until it spun two bearings. We did a lot of silly thing to cars back then. Best of luck with whatever you decide.