[VIDEO] The ’48 Hour Corvette’ Hits the Track at the Corvette Museum’s Motorsports Park

Patience is a virtue, except of course when it comes to fixing up your hot rod.

We who have restored old cars know we want everything done on our favorite ride…yesterday.

It usually doesn’t work out that way for the ordinary enthusiast, however, I’ve been working on my dad’s 1970 Impala for eight years and still don’t have it completely done.

That may be one reason why the 48-Hour Corvette build last week proved to be so popular with enthusiasts around the world who were able to watch the rebuilding of a 1972 Corvette with a collection of updated high-performance parts – live as it was happening through an Internet feed.

The super fast rebuild was all set up by Bret Voelkel and the crew at RideTech suspension, with about 30 sponsors listed as helpers on the project.

The crew finished their work in 48 hours by Thursday, and after about another 48 hours, they were able to test the results of their efforts at the best place possible – the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park track in Bowling Green, Ky., last Sunday.

They were able to sneak in some time on the track thanks to the Kentucky Region SCCA, which allowed them to make some hot laps between KRSCCA classes and even gave them free reign of the track during their lunch break.

“This gave Chris Smith plenty of skid pad time to stretch the Corvette’s legs,” a RideTech spokesman said. “Once the tires were scrubbed and brakes were bedded, we took the C3 and RideTech’s new C7Z out to the road course for some fun chase follow practice.”

The ’72, which was red when purchased on eBay, was transformed into a yellow showpiece by the time the work was done, but even better, the mechanical and electrical systems, engine, transmission, braking, wiring, and interior are now all new, replaced with the “latest and greatest parts,” according to Chad Reynolds of bangshift.com, who hosted the live feed.

Those upgrades include a Lingenfelter enhanced 630 horsepower LS7 engine coupled with a Bowler T-56 Magnum 6-speed manual transmission, RideTech’s full Stage 3 coil-over system with their StrongArms, TruTurn system, rear trailing arms, Mono-Tube TQ Series Coil-overs, Baer 13-inch, two-piece brake rotors, and 18-inch Forgeline GT3Cs mounted inside 315-series Falken Azenis 615K tires.

“This is sort of an extreme example of what hot rodders across the country do every weekend,” Reynolds said.

Katie Frassinelli, marketing and communications manager at the National Corvette Museum, said the Motorsports Park is grateful for the exposure gained through the build.

“Every little bit of publicity…helps us and creates awareness” of the new park, she said.

Source:
48HourCorvette.com

Related:
[VIDEO] The 48 Hour Corvette Build is Going On Now
The Ridetech 1972 Corvette Coupe: From Stock to Fire-Breathing Restomod in 48 Hours
[VIDEO] Roadkill’s Corvette Sinkhole Adventure in a 1975 Stingray!