Can i take'em out?

Alright fellas i'm stationed in Holland and there are a bunch of older Vettes running around here bad mothing the few Fbodies that are here. The ring leader has an 85 Vette with a 6 speed swapped in. Do I have enough to take him? In about 2 weeks i'll have 3.42's, should I wait til then? His car is 100% stock other than the tranny swap. All of them just bash the LB9 and say it has no potential. I will be racing with no audio equipment, less than 1/4 gas, and maybe no air filter. What do you guys think?

I dont believe you can, remember he has a 350 and you only have a 305!!

just tell him hes gay an knows nothing.. i mean damn its not like he pushing a big block.. wow 350.. i wonder if he knows that the 305 an 350 can use the same parts?... sounds like a moron to me

keep the air filter on, for the life of your engine please keep it on, and if u take all the audio stuff out like u said u have a decent shot, but plain and simple, 305 tpi with iron heads vs 350 tpi with aluminum heads, big differance, those few mods wont give u enough

The 85 vettes 350 was pretty slow, should run 14.1 in good conditions unless its a ZR-1 car then well....

With your mods, I should think that you could probably take him considering that his motor, if stock like you say, is 20 years old. You've done some work to yours. I think it'll be a good race especially after your 3.42's. Remember that when you get your new gears that you'll need to get the new "speedo gears" for your transmission otherwise your speedometer will be off, and your convertor will lock up at a lower mph, causing your motor to chug.

It wouldn't be a ZR-1. Te ZR-1's were made form '90-'95. Honestly, you probably don't have that good of a chance.

How does he not have a good chance? a stock 20 year old vette vs. a modified 305 TPI with gears, convertor, catback, SLP runners and ported plenum, headers yada yada yada? I'd say that for what mods he has done, he'll be a good match for the Vette.

My story: I have a 350 but all else being equal.... I ran at the racetrack one day, my first time ever. I had 3.73 gears and a flowlesser muffler, When my car was otherwise stock... I ran a 14.989 @ 92 mph. The next year I had rebuilt the motor, .030 over bore, new cam, headers, convertor, and a bit bigger but still stock exhaust. I ran at the same racetrack and netted a 13.7 @ 99 mph. All I did was the rebuild and the headers, (2400rpm) convertor, and cam. Not a bad gain for those 3 mods. He's got a lot of stuff done and lots of suspension stuff too. Versus a 20 year old vette with nothing but a T56 swap... I think you'll do well against him man, unless he has somthing that he is not telling you about.

race him, and if u lose, swallow your pride, but give him a good run

and dont forget to let us know how it goes

It will prolly be close, but you have a decent shot at it with the gears. Pull the backseats and the jack and spare to save some weight when you race. The '85 L98 isn't exactly a powerhouse, just has a good amount of torque. IIRC, the vette's didn't get aluminum heads until 86 or 87. I could be wrong though.

Checked a few web sources, and the '85 vettes are rated at 230 hp/330 ft-lbs.

- Justin

85 had the slow engines....they had the cast iron heads in 85 am i right? i have an 89 vette motor with the alum's, and i don't think the alums came out till 87...i think you have a damn good chance...the 6 speed prolly won't help him off the line much if he doesn't know what he's doing...i think you have a damn good chance, and you'll have all the bragging rights in the world if you take him down, especially if a 85 stock vette is on the top of the game...

W/ the stuff you have done, and the Vette owner not hiding anything from you, I am pretty positive you would take him.

I'm willing to bet the Vette owner has some work done. Who would do a T56 swap and not have anything else done? Even if it was just all suspension on it, that would be enough to take the win

I'm willing to bet the Vette owner has some work done. Who would do a T56 swap and not have anything else done? Even if it was just all suspension on it, that would be enough to take the win


unless the owner before him did it.. and just put the motor back stock before he sold it

I checked the Vette out on my lunch break. It looks stock, no headers, stock TB, stock replacement exhaust, shocks look old as dirt, nothing replaced from what I could see. If he did anything It could something internal. Stock idle and tone. I'll try to set it up this weekend and let you guys know the outcome.

One last question before I order my gears.....which one will give me the best performance for my TPI 3.23's or 3.42's and who makes the best posi unit Auburn, Eaton, SLP,???? I'm up grading to a series 3 carrier.

ok so stock you have 215 hp? and stock he has 230. You have almost the same torque. You will have better gears. with the 4 speed you should maybe get into 3rd by the end of a good 1/4 mile run. that 6 speed is gonna hurt him cause hes gonna be shifting gears mroe often. and the vette prolly has 2.73s or 3.08s in it. They are a highway car not a drag car. I think you have a DAMN good chance at beating him. Keep in mind that they dont weigh as little as some people think they do. If you can get him out of the hole, then i dont think you are gonna have a problem.

I'm willing to bet the Vette owner has some work done. Who would do a T56 swap and not have anything else done? Even if it was just all suspension on it, that would be enough to take the win

Anyone who had the 4+3 trans in the mid-80s vettes would do anything to get rid of that trans!

- Justin

Anyone who had the 4+3 trans in the mid-80s vettes would do anything to get rid of that trans!

- Justin

Good ****in point lol. 4+3 = :death:

Can you beat this Vette?

Let me make this simple:

1. Even with your mods, the Corvette STILL makes more power. Bolt-ons don't do much with your "peanut cam"

2. Given you might have a better rear end ratio than the Corvette, he has a 6 speed manual. He has the gearing advantage.

3. The Corvette weighs less.

So the Corvette has more power, better gearing, and weighs less. Still think you have a chance? Pray he can't drive - it's your only hope!

BTW - No matter how much you might not like it, he is right. The LB9 has little to no potential. By the time you get it moving decently quick, you will have had to change everything that made it a LB9 in the first place.

theres only one way to find out :death: