photos by: Brandon Burrell

Looking Subtle, this Blown C6 Corvette is Anything But Low-Key

Modified Corvettes have been part of the mainstream of hot-ridding since the 1950s. Lend it to the birth of the Plastic Fantastic just two years prior to the original small-block, the boom of the muscle car era (all two or three of them at this point) and the ease of modifications, and seeing them as participants at dragstrips, road courses and the Friday night cruise-in have become of American pop culture.

Being smack-dab in the middle of the high-performance industry, we’ve seen a ton of highly-modified C6s in our time. It’s almost to the point that it’s nearly impossible to catch our attention with these cars… unless you manage a way to modify that not only lends a unique look, but without the cheesy garishness that co many Vettes fall victim to. You know the ones; with the overabundance of underhood chrome, cheesy custom-stitched interiors and minimal actual performance modifications.

We’d like to think that Chris Morris’ C6 strays a little far from those under gold-chained rule; with tasteful but subtle tweaks to the bodywork, interior and under the hood. Despite being a convertible, this Corvette packs an LS2 punch — largely from forced induction, via, ProCharger. Set at 9-psi. of boost from its fairly well endowed P1 housing, the LS2 provides 730 horsepower and 614-lb ft of twist to the rear tires — but it’s not the sole modification to the mill, albeit, it’s pretty close.

Starting with a stock LS2 short block, the 364 cubic-inch mill sports a OEM rotating assembly and cylinder heads — leaving the entire long-block untouched, with the only change being a PCM of NC blower cam with 61x/.62x lift, 225/243 duration and a 115 LSA. Inside the heads, are OEM LS2 valves, springs, retainers, lifters and rocker arms.

Looking to maximize the breathing efforts of the GEN-IV powerplant, Chris installed a MSD Atomic AirForce intake manifold, K&N air filter, ditched the MAF entirely and left the stock throttle body in place. Balancing out the induction with expedient exhaust flow, are a set of OBX long-tube headers, Flowmaster Series-10 single-chamber mufflers and 2.75-inch diameter tubing, with the catalytic converters being completely absent from the recipe. After all, what’s the point of having a blown Corvette, if you can’t even hear the thing?

To compensate for all of that airflow, Mr. Morris has upgraded the fuel system quite a bit, to include 1000cc fuel injectors, dual in-tank high-capacity fuel pumps and the fuel pressure set at a respectable 58-psi. RPM Motorsports equipped the stock ECU with a custom E38 fuel tune. A Lingenfelter 2-step launch control box is also wired into the mix, as is an AEM meth injection kit.

Now, nine-times-out-of-ten, whenever you see a droptop Vette at a car show, or some form of gathering, it’s equipped with an automatic transmission. Not so with Morris’ C6. That’s right, you’re looking at a 6-speed Vette with a Monster LT1-style (GEN-V, not the version from the ’90s) twin-disc clutch and a 28-pound billet steel flywheel. All of that power is sent through a stock rear axle and to the pavement, where it’s bet by 20×12-inch rear rolls, borrowed from a C7 Z06. A matching pair of 19×10 sit up front with Michelin P-Zero rubber at all four corners.

In case you’re still sitting over there and scratching your head, trying to make sense of the ZR1-esque styling cues, don’t fret, you aren’t imaging things. Those are, in fact, ZR1 ground effects, fenders, front chin spoiler and rear spoiler, with Z06 rear quarters attached to the rest of the body and a custom cowl hood now sits in place. The whole car is covered in PPG Deltron metallic black paint, with Chris himself charged with doing the work at Harry’s Cadillac in Asheville, North Carolina.

Which brings us to our next point; proving that custom car building and hot-rodding in general is alive and well with the Vette crowd, and despite popular belief, isn’t just reserved for the gold-chained, retiree, Auto Zone stick-on crowd. Although they might sticker for a bit more than a Corvette, we would love nothing else than to see an echelon of dyed-in-the-wool car enthusiasts lend their creative insight to the two-seat wonder.

TECH SHEET:

• CAR: 2006 Chevy Corvette
• OWNER: Chris Morris
• ENGINE BLOCK: Stock; LS2
• CRANKSHAFT: Stock; LS2
• PISTONS: Stock; LS2
• CAMSHAFT: PCM of NC; blower cam, .61x/.62x lift, 225/243 duration, 115 LSA
• CYLINDER HEADS: Stock; LS2 (stock intake/exhaust vales, brokers and pushrods)
• COMPRESSION RATIO: 10.0:1
• INDUCTION: MSD Atomic AirForce intake manifold, K&N filter, stock throttle body, MAF delete
• POWER ADDER: ProCharger P1
• BOOST: 9-lbs.
• EXHAUST: OBX long-tube headers, Flowmaster Series-10 single-chamber mufflers, 2.75-inch diameter tubing
• FUEL DELIVERY: Dual in-tank pumps, 1000cc injectors, 58-psi.
• TUNING: RPM Motorsports; E38 tune
• TRANSMISSION: Tremec; T-56,
• CLUTCH: Monster; LT1 twin-disc, 28-pound billet steel flywheel
• REAREND: Stock; 3.42 gears
• SUSPENSION: Stock
• BRAKES: Stock
• WHEELS: C7 Z06; 19×10 (front), 20×12 (rear)
• TIRES: Pirelli; P-Zero
• HP/TQ.: 730/614
• BEST 1/4-MILE ET: Unknown

Rick Seitz

Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of GMEFI Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the brand’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next modifications for his own cars.