UC_Portolio_Book

63 To mate underpinnings from the third - generation Corvette, built from 1968 - 1982 and riding on a 98 - inch wheelbase, with the SR - 100 body, which was designed to accommodate a 100 - inch wheelbase chassis, the Corvette chassis needed to be stretched slightly—a relatively straightforward process. The engine was a bigger challenge. Ford ’ s first impulse was a small - block Chevy; he went so far as to have one built and fitted. “ But you put the body on and you find that the air cleaner is sitting at least 8 inches above the hood, ” he says. “ The motor had to be lowered. In order to lower the motor, you had to move it back. So we took my beautiful engine and we put a low - rise manifold and air cleaner on it, and we got it to clear the hood, ” modifying the pedal setup to accommodate the engine ’ s intrusion into the footwells. Every solved problem begot another: The engine ’ s oil pan now hung just 3 inches above the ground. Fine for the track, maybe, but the prospect of a speed bump taking out the
motor was a nonstarter. Back to the drawing board. The solution turned out to be the 1990 - 1995 Corvette ZR - 1 ’ s LT5, a Lotus - engineered, Mercury Marine - assembled aluminum - block V8 that measured about 25 inches from top to bottom. “ That was the high - revving engine I ’ d always wanted, and it was still American. ” Long story short: Ford found one, and it ’ s going into the car along with a ZF six - speed. “ I don ’ t think we could have figured this out just by taking measurements. You just don ’ t know until you drop it in. ... You live and learn, ” he says. “ And there was a lot to learn—there really, really was. ” Right: Despite (relatively) modern underpinnings and mechanicals, Ford's Byers SR - 100 benefits from a simple, clean cockpit.