For our third Dream Drive, we decided to try something totally different. We knew we were going to have a Vette-rod issue at some point in the future, but we didn't know if this drive would be a part of it at the time. As things progressed, we were able to make the deal happen and are happy to have this CF Dream Drive in this issue.
With all of the publicity surrounding these new Vette rods, we wanted to drive one and pass our opinion on to the readers. We hooked up with Billy Dawson, owner of Corvette Correction, who manufactures a complete C1 frame that utilizes a C4 drivetrain. Billy can furnish a customer with a bare frame all the way up to a turn-key project.
The following interview took place as Billy and I drove one of his completed projects. Ride along with us and listen in as we talk with one of the top Vette-rod builders in the U.S.
AC: Billy, tell me a little bit about how Corvette Correction got started.
BD: Well, I actually built a car for myself. While I was building the car, I couldn't find a frame I liked and I didn't have a decent original frame under the car, so I decided to build my own frame.
AC: Had you done other fabrication work before building the first frame?
BD: Yes, I grew up in a machine shop from the age of three, and my dad built and raced dragsters. When I was 13, I was driving a Gas dragster. I was raised in an environment with a lot of family support. We also played a lot as a family.
AC: After you got the basic configuration down, how much tweaking did it take to get the frame to where it is today?
BD: It really didn't take a whole lot more work-probably more luck than brains, if you ask me. I think that building cars for so long gave me some insight that maybe would have taken some other people a longer time to perfect. I happened to have an '88 Corvette at the time and was able to pull ride height and different measurements off of it. I decided to set the suspension of my cars just like GM set up the C4 cars.
AC: Why did you decide to get away from the X-frame on the original C1 cars?
BD: The X-type frame is negative in a couple of ways. On this type of frame, you have to mount the transmission on top of the X-member, which raises the engine and transmission in the car. That puts the tranny high in the tunnel and doesn't let the heat escape from the engine compartment. By manufacturing a double H-frame, I was able to lower the engine 2.5 inches in the car which helps get more airflow through and under the car.
AC: I recently talked with a GM engineer who said his personal opinion was the X-member was really needed to replicate what GM had designed originally. Otherwise, the frames without the X-component would tend to flex too much. Did you think about that issue before you built your first frame?
BD: I thought about it a great deal. I was concerned about it. That is one of the reasons-if you look where our rear axle is mounted in the back of the car-there are two angles that come back from the inner framerail to the center of the housing. This configuration creates an X-member which is similar to the original frame. Anytime you triangulate parallel lines, you will get the X-effect. If you go forward on the frame-up near the front suspension-I have an angle going from the outer frame-rails to the inner rails, which makes a triangle in that area. This is the best we can do without putting an original X-type design in the frame.
I have intentionally tried to bend these frames and they are very hard to bend. I think it's the strongest frame in the industry, without a doubt.
Whoa!-'bout lost my hat back there.
AC: Hang on to your hat. Tell me more about the frame.
BD: The weak point in these cars is the rear body-mount. All of the other frames on the market today (including the stock GM frame), are able to flex from the body mount in front of the rear wheel all the way to the rear body mount. The way we mount the rear pumpkin in the chassis makes the pumpkin a structural part of the chassis. This design triangulates between the upper and lower framerails so the chassis can only flex from the rear mount on the pumpkin to the rear body-mount, eliminating about 75 percent of the flex at the rear body-mount as compared to any other available chassis. This structural fix also eliminates almost all doorjamb separation and makes the car drive like a unibody car.
AC: Can you tell me a little about the rest of the suspension?
BD: The suspension is solid on this car, but it doesn't buck you around. As you take it through some turns, notice how the car feels. It really feels like it's on a rail. One of the main reasons it feels that way is because we lowered the engine. That does a couple of things for you. It drops the roll center (center of gravity) when you go into a corner. It also allows you to put a Ram Jet 350 (taller engine) in the car without cutting the hood.
Thirdly, it opens up the tunnel. You end up having about 4 inches of clearance between the transmission and the tunnel. That is a low-pressure area under the car, and with that extra room, the pressure vacuums the hot air out of the engine compartment. Not only does the car work better, it also runs much cooler, which ultimately makes the car run even better. That part of the plan was more luck than brains as well.