Hot Rods '64 Grand Sport

I was lucky enough to see a couple originals run at the Glen- I have a slide of George Wintersteen's roadster that I took at the end of the front straight. There was a coupe being worked on at a resto shop at Sears Point a few years ago when I went in to buy a TIG from them. They were a far stretch from a normal Corvette, and their glory days were the Nassau Speed Weeks where rules were scarce and some engines were BIG. Most folks took Nassau as the big holiday/ party that it was, but Chebbie brought the Grand Sport setup loaded for bear to attack the Cobras. The Production class regular Vettes running under rules were just fodder for the Cobras and GT350s, but the Grand Sport was a dedicated lightweight race car, and with the big engines were a handful at Nassau. This is my ticket from the '65 USRRC race at the Glen

 

Absolutely, I've been known to similarly voice "if it doesnt scare you a little bit"................... You need more motor!
That was the basic mantra when I chose how the engine in my roadster was to be built.
So much so, that the engine was in the queue long before much of the rest of the components were sourced as I didn't want the money to start running out and be faced with having to buy a crate motor.

 

i dragrace an off topic corvette (69) after breaking two prop shafts shearing ring gear bolts twice and finally shearing a left rear spindle i horrified the vette guys by cutting the frame in half and back halving it the best run is a 10.8 at 124 i took it on a trailer to a local corvette show they put me in the back lot as i drove it in some of the guys were giving e a thumbs up while their wife held her nose with one hand and stuck a finger inotheir ear the other the guys who were busy polishing their master cylinder caver did not even look up by the way the guys who complained about cutting a good frame all lined up to buy every thing i took out

 

One of the many times,we seem near 100% align !
So ya,I hacked up a 63 Vett Split Window *a hell of lot.
I was ask in 1967 to be crew chief and build the fastast low buck SCCA -A-Sports Racing class. Donny would pay for n own the team,an my high school buddy Billy from back in the very early 60s,would drive it!. I got to pick out something used I thought would kind of fit the bill ,for sale cheap, I could make fit the fun factor ,ask for by Don n Bill.
So looked around ,big HP was high on list .
After looking at a lot of over priced sporty cars,I found a drag car* for sale cheap,with a monster over bored n stroked BB 510in. 2x4 { maybe 500 HP++} in a 1963 split window Corvette. The owner had moved on to other fun n games,so it was wasting away an taking up space in his garage.
Don got it !,and we took it to my shop,to make a mod plan!! To turn it into a sportscar racer. After Billy ran it hard as he could around a big open parking lot near my shop "Comp Tech"too see what he thought was good n bad. Yes,it was fast*,but too high off the ground,had a carb boog in the turns, an braking not stable with a lot of body roll. .
We made the list,an started hacking away.
Lucky it had a very good roll cage that pass's SCCA rules.
Removed every thing that was not needed just to hold it together*****,added better shocks after dropping as low as I could ,mods to lower work,with my pick of springs,bigger brakes,wider front rims an add front fender flairs/rear flairs had to be higher too after she dropped.,only glass was windshield an rear splits/but lost those after a crash=didn't need anyway !Except if we want back to too Daytona again.
Talked to Greenwood about carbs n boog,an went to one 4 bbl big Dominator carb. he told me about ! Worked well.
Had fun with the "Sweet Beast"nick name Billy gave it ,set track records all over Fla. an won ASR class nearly every time. Don got to liking the new open wheel racers,an sold Sweet Beast,to buy a SCCA FF. So the extra bay of my little speedshop became a FF hole after. My other 3 bays, were still hot rods or sports car n oval race cars,always something crazy going on !

 

This was a need to scratch this damn itch...

 

Working in a Corvette shop on/off for 16 yrs. Couldn't say it better!$

 

You Forgot the gold chains & bracelets.. go to Carlisle vette weekend

 

I worked in a Body shop they specialized in. Vette repair. Jim Hall brought his Grand Sport for repair to front end damage. They saved all the pieces and I put it back together. Nothing on a stock Vette fitted it everything was super thin. They were a tube frame car super light. When they built the doors they took a mold off a complete door with trim panel on it and when they made the doors for it the trim panel was in the fiberglass inner structure. Delano Johnson of Johnson Brothers Chevrolet dealer in Dallas also had one. As I remember one of the coupes had the top cut off it marking it a roadster. The body was a lot thinner than the production models. I seen lots of clones over time. But once you see a real one you will understand. The name of the shop I worked at was Martin’s Fiberglass in Grand Prairie, Texas. Sorry for the rant. Frank

 

^^^. Also clean hands, no tools & thick check book ( or big loan ).

 

All of this brings back a flood of childhood memories. When I was a kid, my next door neighbor decided he wanted to build a Corvette drag car and soon their after ,was a nice 63 Split Window Coupe sitting in the driveway. Old Corvettes were cheap in those days so nobody seemed to mind as he proceeded to cut this thing up. I watched with excitement as this car was transformed from stocker to one of the most awesome Gas Class Vettes in the area. The ‘ol 327 was still swinging from a chain when the interior was gutted and rollcage fabricated. Taking as much weight out as possible involved replacing as many panels as possible with aluminum including the floors. Body flared, hand fabbed rear aluminum tubs and glass giving way to plexi, if my memory serves me. Believe it or not, the first engine lowered into place was a 409! The limitations of this motor were immediately apparent and was soon yanked in favor of a L-88 spec 427. Car turned out to be very competitive and I always loved the noise as he “shook the due of the lilies “, when loading on the trailer. I recall the other neighbors not sharing my enthusiasm…My Corvette buddies always cringe when I talk about this..lol

 

The Grand Sport Vette story is one I hadn't heard before. Very interesting as I've always felt that the early Corvettes were built to be hotrodded. Walked by this roadster at the MSRA Back to the 50's a few years ago and about snapped my neck, had to get pics but sorry, no details. Although this one is probably way too nice for what you have in mind, with time I'd guess that minor detail could be adjusted!

 

There's occasionally an early Corvette racing at Goodwood Revival among the hordes of E-type Jags, Cobras and Ferraris. They sure look cool in racing guise, but rarely seem to place very highly. Kind of a shame, they sure seem like a good platform for vintage racing, and compared to a 250 GT, lightweight E-type or Cobra, they're dirt cheap.

 

Where can you get those bodies? I have looked for them a time or two. Never found them in current production. I have thought about building a drag inspired street car on occasion.

 

Did you ever notice that you never have a crusher when you need one?

 

I'd love to find a C2 so badly rusted out that this kind of build makes sense. Hemi and all.

Kind of the drag car version of a Grand Sport; tube frame, too much engine, single purpose, and bad ass.

 

You can use trailer fenders to mold Grand Sport flairs. Thats what we used when we put Grand Sport Flares on a stock Corvette. We also built fiberglass doors and fenders and hood for Jack Simmons Nash Metropolitan . Also built glass body parts for 55 Chevrolet we molded the trim panel in the door frame mold like the original Grand Sports did.
Since Ryan has sat in one of the originals he has seen the real difference between a GS and stocker only then can you really appreciate them. Frank

 

My favorite C2, bad movie, great car. Made a huge impression on me as a kid. My father had multiple C2's when I was young.

Check out the C2 body kits. THINK...out of spec nascar rolling chassis......C2 body kit... slice and dice. Would be an amazing ride.

 

Mulholland Drive (the actual road), man, what I would give to be let loose with that car up there.
Well, that and a get out of jail free card!

 

@Moriarity your 'vette sounds perfect.
Mufflers or straight pipes?
What tubing diameter?

 

The old guy Corvette starter kit would have to have a young gold digger half his age..... Seems to work for both of them according to some friends.

 

I honestly never warmed up to some of the Grand Sport body " accouterments" though everything was in place for a reason.
On the other hand however the underhood accessories made up for it.
Aluminum 377 inch small block in 327 architecture.

 

@DDDenny any info on the specs, I've seen reference to 377's and Grand Sports. Always wondered. I'm assuming a 4 ish inch bore and a stroker crank.

 

You can use a 400 block with a 350 crank to make one if I remember correctly you use 20 over 400 main bearings and put the 350 main bearings on top of them and a 350 crank will fit.

 

I never looked into the internal components of the 377 inch engines.
This is a pretty good article (history) of these engines but I need to read this over myself.

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1901-1963-all-aluminum-377-small-block-chevy/

 

All I know is there are a couple places that advertise them, I don't know their current availability.
One other thing about going the reproduction route is considering what C2 Corvettes go for these days, they would probably be less expensive.

 

A friend of mine actually owned one of the original 5 grand sports, the Penske driven convertible. I got to drive it, the ultimate car event in my life. At less than 2200 lbs. with a built (GM i think) 427, the thing was an absolute beast, anywhere. I have many stories about it, both oval track and even a dragstrip when we had a few too many. It now sits in the Simeone museum in Philadelphia.