58 Corvette RACEtoration is back online!

Wade Mahaffey · 01-18-2013, 03:53 PM

Built on the premise that "LESS IS MORE" This project is a multi-use, small tire car with a little baby motor for Super/Stock racing among other things. All of the design and fabrication work that you will see was performed by myself. All of the fiberglass enhancements I did as well. This will be the first car I ever painted. I like to do everything myself, all the construction, finish and most of all... the driving! The car is designed to do it all, NHRA Super Stock, IHRA Super/Stock, Nostalgia Super/Stock, Bracket Race, Stock suspension type 10.5 Racing, Car Shows, Street Driving/Cruisin, Hot Rod Power Tour, Super Chevy Shows, Goodguys Shows, National Street Rod Asso. Shows. Who knows...maybe a shot at the salt, out in Bonneville! Can one car fit in all of these programs? Who knows, but I'm trying to build the car with the opportunity to compete or enjoy life in many arenas! .......Should be done in the spring or summer of 2015.......I had to take a break from the project due to hurricane Irene damage to my shop building on 8/2011. I rebuilt the damaged portion of the building (500 sq ft) (did I mention I like to do it all myself...yes the building too) to even better than it used to be. Now (11/2012) I'm finishing the body and paint booth area. Then it's wide open on the Corvette project! The challenge is to win in a car you created....in a building and shop you created from scratch ! The car will be named "The Firefighter Special" and will be involved in the promotion of Firefighter reccognition and awareness.

Here is where the car is today

Here is what I started with...yes it is a ton of work...but the more effort you put into the journey....the greater the reward...I look at it like, the more you do yourself...the more you win...it's like you win a little bit everyday!

This is the frame that I pulled out from under the car. Complete with tow bar mounts and straight axle leaf spring mounts

This is the frame after being stripped of all unneccessary brackets and being dipped and cleaned. I bought this stock front suspension off of Ebay from a seller going to a Mustang II front end

This is the front suspension today

These are the headers I made and had dipped at Nitoplate. The hand made collectors have a slip connection welded into the core for crankcase ventilation. The shroud uses a Flex-a-lite 3300 CFM fan. The front motorplate detail won't be completed till the body is back on the frame.

The rear frame section needed to be narrowed slightly to fit a 10.5 tire under the car and the leaf springs were moved into the frame rail. A 9" ford housing was narrowed and fabricated using all Strange Engineering components.

More to come later on the Body and Roll Cage detail

01-18-2013, 03:53 PM	#1
Wade Mahaffey Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 581 Likes: 0 Liked 17 Times in 7 Posts	58 Corvette RACEtoration is back online! Built on the premise that "LESS IS MORE" This project is a multi-use, small tire car with a little baby motor for Super/Stock racing among other things. All of the design and fabrication work that you will see was performed by myself. All of the fiberglass enhancements I did as well. This will be the first car I ever painted. I like to do everything myself, all the construction, finish and most of all... the driving! The car is designed to do it all, NHRA Super Stock, IHRA Super/Stock, Nostalgia Super/Stock, Bracket Race, Stock suspension type 10.5 Racing, Car Shows, Street Driving/Cruisin, Hot Rod Power Tour, Super Chevy Shows, Goodguys Shows, National Street Rod Asso. Shows. Who knows...maybe a shot at the salt, out in Bonneville! Can one car fit in all of these programs? Who knows, but I'm trying to build the car with the opportunity to compete or enjoy life in many arenas! .......Should be done in the spring or summer of 2015.......I had to take a break from the project due to hurricane Irene damage to my shop building on 8/2011. I rebuilt the damaged portion of the building (500 sq ft) (did I mention I like to do it all myself...yes the building too) to even better than it used to be. Now (11/2012) I'm finishing the body and paint booth area. Then it's wide open on the Corvette project! The challenge is to win in a car you created....in a building and shop you created from scratch ! The car will be named "The Firefighter Special" and will be involved in the promotion of Firefighter reccognition and awareness. Here is where the car is today Here is what I started with...yes it is a ton of work...but the more effort you put into the journey....the greater the reward...I look at it like, the more you do yourself...the more you win...it's like you win a little bit everyday! This is the frame that I pulled out from under the car. Complete with tow bar mounts and straight axle leaf spring mounts This is the frame after being stripped of all unneccessary brackets and being dipped and cleaned. I bought this stock front suspension off of Ebay from a seller going to a Mustang II front end This is the front suspension today These are the headers I made and had dipped at Nitoplate. The hand made collectors have a slip connection welded into the core for crankcase ventilation. The shroud uses a Flex-a-lite 3300 CFM fan. The front motorplate detail won't be completed till the body is back on the frame. The rear frame section needed to be narrowed slightly to fit a 10.5 tire under the car and the leaf springs were moved into the frame rail. A 9" ford housing was narrowed and fabricated using all Strange Engineering components. More to come later on the Body and Roll Cage detail Last edited by Wade Mahaffey; 09-14-2014 at 10:48 AM.