Fact check for magazine article

Discussion of Corvette based Callaway Cars including: 1987-1991 RPO B2K Callaway Twin Turbo Corvettes (C4); Callaway SuperNatural Corvettes (CL-1/CR-1); Callaway C12; Supercharged Corvettes; Callaway C16; 6th Generation Callaway Corvettes (SC560, SC580, SC606, SC616, SC620, SC652); 7th Generation Callaway Corvettes (SC627/SC757); NEW Callaway C8 Corvettes - and more!
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sven-labil
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Fact check for magazine article

Post by sven-labil »

I’m writing an article about #132 for Club Corvette Swedens magazine and would like to make sure that I’ve got the specifications for an -87 and some other stuff correct:

497 RPO B2K Corvettes were built, distribution per year 184, 124, 69, 58 and 62.

345 hp at 4000 rpm and 465 Ib-ft at 2800

0-60 mph in 4.7 s, quarter mile in 13.2, top speed 178 mph

10 psi of boost from 2000 rpm

Forged Cosworth 7.5:1 pistons and forged GM connecting rods but who made the crankshaft? I think I read Callies somewhere…

All Callaway Twin Turbo Corvettes have the options KC4 Engine Oil Cooler and V01 Heavy-Duty Radiator.

I also read somewhere that the heads received a three angle valve job.

I found a Xerox copy of an article from April 1988 in a magazine called Autotech stating that the engines were balanced, blueprinted and assembled by Ed Lanier Racing Engines:
IMG_2888.JPG
IMG_2889.JPG
Does that seem correct?
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

Post by Jeroenvgfn »

Hi Ola, I cannot help you with the statistics but I would love to see a copy of the magazine when finished :beer
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

Post by BIGJOHN »

As Callaway continued to to build the B2K Corvettes they made improvements that increased horsepower and torque.
Maybe Callaway Chris can help you.
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

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Jeroenvgfn wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2020 5:43 pm Hi Ola, I cannot help you with the statistics but I would love to see a copy of the magazine when finished :beer
I think that can be arranged, it will be in Swedish though ;)
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

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BIGJOHN wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2020 6:06 pm As Callaway continued to to build the B2K Corvettes they made improvements that increased horsepower and torque.
Yes, I know. I plan to limit this article to the history of my car but it could be good to include some information about what changed over the years. (Wonderbar versions, Rotomasters, intercooler ducts etc.) I'll post a list of the significant changes I know of for review.
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

Post by Callaway Chris »

Good to see this topic. Thanks for drafting.

I used to update the Callaway Cars Wikipedia site, but Wikipedia is now overrun by snobs who want to "discuss" or "Chat" about "facts". They have no first hand, or probably not even third hand info on Callaway, but what I wrote before is mostly still there. If you go to Wikipedia, you will see all you are after, including production numbers. For example, after 87-184 was built, 4 more were converted.

In 1989, there was a car #69, but no #68. So production was 68 units that year.

Horsepower and torque numbers climbed as things evolved, like Big John mentioned. If I can help review your draft, I'd be glad to read. :hi
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

Post by SurfnSun »

I don't recall ever hearing about the heads having any other work done than maybe being decked and getting a stiffer valve spring.

The 100+ heads were fully ported 113s.
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

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Here are the updates I think were made:
1988 - Larger turbos from Rotomaster that draws air through the frame rail in front of the engine from an air filter positioned where the expansion tank normally sits. Callaway calls the modified frame rail Wonderbar. The hood openings for the intercooler air ducts removed and air drawn in front of the radiator instead. Light 9,5x17 Dymag magnesium wheels became standard. (They have offset 46 to also fit last years cars.)
1989 - Callaway AeroBody, pretty much the same body panels as the Callaway Sledgehammer but with a different rear end and without air vents over the front wheels, can be bought as an accessory for $6500.
1991- Larger Wonderbar for improved airflow. New air intakes on the hood that leads air straight down to the intercoolers.
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

Post by sven-labil »

And some statistics in Swedish:
tabell.jpg
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

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I would call the 89 Aerobody, the production version of the product. The Sledgehammer front bumper was redesigned for production and the rear bumper was finished.
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

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Added som data and translated:
CallawayStatisticsTable.jpg
Updates
1988 - Larger turbos from Rotomaster that draws air through the frame rail in front of the engine from an air filter positioned where the expansion tank normally sits. Callaway calls the modified frame rail Wonderbar. The hood openings for the intercooler air ducts are removed and air is drawn in front of the radiator instead. Light 9,5x17 Dymag magnesium wheels became standard. (They have offset 46 to also fit last years cars.)
1989 - Callaway AeroBody, the production version of the body panels used on the Callaway Sledgehammer (featured in #3 2019) can be bought as an accessory for $6500. The AeroBody looks pretty much the same but has a different rear end and no air vents over the front wheels
1991- Larger Wonderbar for improved airflow, the air filter back at the standard location. New air intakes on the hood that leads air straight down to the intercoolers.
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

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I need submit my article to the magazine editor on Friday, so if anyone has additional comments, now’s the time ;)
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

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sven-labil wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 1:29 pm I need submit my article to the magazine editor on Friday, so if anyone has additional comments, now’s the time ;)

Will we get to see your article?

:beer
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

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Yes, if you're really interested, I’ll translate it. (It will take some effort so please don’t say yes just to be polite ;) )
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

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sven-labil wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 3:01 pm Yes, if you're really interested, I’ll translate it. (It will take some effort so please don’t say yes just to be polite ;) )
I think it would be quite interesting.
But I don’t want to impose on you.
Thank you anyway!
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

Post by Callaway Chris »

+1 for interested.

Thanks.
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

Post by SurfnSun »

Just cut and paste it...google chrome will translate for us. :beer
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

Post by sven-labil »

Yes, that would have been an option. Automatic translations are often funny :)

Callaway Twin Turbo Corvette -87 #132
Callaway1.jpg
I had planned to buy a C4 in 1994 but got a Nissan 200SX and an apartment instead. In 1996 I was close to buying a ZR1 but somehow ended up with a house instead. When my finances had caught up over a decade later I started looking for ZR1’s again. (Well, you never entirely stop reading car ads just because you’re not going to buy a car anytime soon, right?) Then I found a couple of Callaway Twin Turbos for sale in the US for about the same amounts as the ZR1’s there. Since I’ve always been partial to turbocharged engines and was a bit worried about what parts for an LT5 might cost in the future I investigated the possibilities of importing a Callaway from either the US or Switzerland, where there was a dealer that for some reason often had several of them for sale. It turned out to be practically impossible, the car needed to be registered in a EU-country since it had never been approved for sale in Sweden. Since I didn’t find any car in (for example) Germany or the UK I reverted to the ZR1 plan but found my car by coincidence on the British eBay at the same time as a 415” converted ZR1.

RPO B2K
The option, which could be ordered 1987-91 meant that the car was sent from the factory to Callaway Cars who performed a turbo conversion. It resulted in a car that (at least when it was introduced) belonged to the fastest serial produced cars that could be bought. It’s the only Regular Production Order to be installed by a contractor outside GM and is still the only Corvette version with a turbocharged engine.
CallawayStatisticsTable.jpg
A total of 501 Callaway Twin Turbo Corvettes were built, most were ordered as RPO B2K, some were converted later. Not unexpectedly the demand was lowest in 1990 when the ZR1 (of which 3049 were built that year) was released.

Updates
1988 - Larger turbos from Rotomaster that draws air through the frame rail in front of the engine from an air filter positioned where the expansion tank normally sits. Callaway calls the modified frame rail Wonderbar. The hood openings for the intercooler air ducts are removed and air is drawn in front of the radiator instead. Light 9,5x17 Dymag magnesium wheels became standard. (They have offset 46 to also fit last years cars.)
1989 - The production version of the body panels used on the Callaway Sledgehammer (featured in #3 2019) can be bought as an accessory for $6500. The main changes in the package, that Callaway calls AeroBody, are a different rear end and that it lacks the air vents over the front wheels.
1991- Larger Wonderbar for improved airflow, the air filter back at the standard location. New air intakes on the hood that leads air straight down to the intercoolers.

2012 25 Corvettes with the B2K option were built to celebrate the 25th anniversary, but they were supercharged Grand Sports.

Callaway brochure from 1988:
Callaway2.JPG

The Callaway diary – a record in slow progress?

Spring 1987

The car is built in Bowling Green and sent to Callaway Cars in Old Lyme for installation of RPO B2K:
Callaway3.jpg
• Two water-cooled turbochargers (IHI RHB52W) Max boost pressure 10 psi from 2000 rpm.
• Two intercoolers
• Two extra injectors in front of the throttle body, controlled from a separate unit based on MAP and
engine speed.
• Extra oil pump that sucks from the low mounted turbos
• Forged crankshaft
• Forged piston, 7.5:1 compression ratio (Cosworth)
• Forged connection rods (GM)
• Engine block modified for four-bolt splayed main bearing caps
• Balanced and blueprinted
• Air ducts in the hood for the intercoolers

All Callaway Twin Turbo also have the options KC4 Engine Oil Cooler and V01 Heavy-Duty Radiator.

Despite all this the resulting peak horsepower is the same as a standard C5.

Autumn 1987
Registered in the US

Summer 1991
Imported to England by the first owner

Sometime 2000
Roasted in the BBC video “Jeremy Clarkson: At Full Throttle” (Before Top Gear and way before The Grand Tour)
Callaway4.jpg
The owner of this car describes it as a $30000 conversion on a $30000 car, which is odd because the brakes, the steering, the suspension, pretty much all of it is the same as it was on the day it left the factory …which is rather worrying.
I mean the Corvette struggles to cope with the normal engine, but this one isn’t normal. It’s a 5.7 litre V8 alright, but now it has two turbos.

The engine that results is so complicated with so many tubes and wires and bits that if you were to take a handful of peanuts and drop them under the bonnet not one of them would hit the ground.
Callaway5.jpg
Last edited by sven-labil on Sat Jan 18, 2020 6:49 am, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

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You can’t shove all this horsepower into a car and then just expect it to work. It won’t!
Callaway6.jpg
It sounds like someone is using the lavatory in the neighbouring room. It sounds like Georgian plumbing.

Callaway really have taken a bad car and made it fast.


Well, that depends on what you like… With Callaways Megaphone style exhaust tips it had a wet rumble, like an offshore boat, but with whining and whooshing from the turbos. Perfect in my opinion, but too loud. Probably also too noisy for the registration control so since then mufflers from a -92 is mounted, pending a new exhaust system. With a dampened X-pipe the Megaphones may be reasonably loud.
Callaway7.jpg

Clarkson is of course correct to think that this isn’t a very good car, but it has charm! And it’s pretty quick even compared to newer cars.

Summer 2010
I became the third owner after buying the car unseen (!) from a well-known Corvette dealer in England.
Callaway8.jpg

It was stated to be in good condition and everything was supposed to work. This turned out to be a partially correct description…
• The engine ran rich at most speeds and loads. The troubleshooting was made in 40-minute sprints while my wife was jogging. This wasn’t supposed to be a restoration project ;)
The problem turned out to be a combination of an aftermarket MAF and a bad connection on the cable to it. It didn’t work well to measure in a single point, like the Granatelli MAF, since a Callaway -87 has a 90° bend right before the sensor which results in the airflow being distributed differently depending on the throttle. Exchanged it for a standard Bosch unit.
• Exhaust leak from the right exhaust manifold at cold start.
• Several oil-leaks. However not large enough to prioritize.
• The compressor housing of the right side turbocharger was very close to the frame.
• Coolant leak between the right cylinder head and the intake manifold. Took the car to a garage to get the intake manifold gaskets replaced.
• The climate control often seem to work but is difficult to handle since what the lights and digits show seldom have any obvious correlation to what’s happening… Luckily, I usually just want to shut everything off and remove the roof.

Changed to headlights for right-hand traffic, put in an ordinary reverse light instead of one painted red that was used as a fog light and ripped out the very English wiring. Also changed the MAF burnoff relay and wiring. The amount of unconcerned electrical creativity was surprising despite the car having spent nine years in England, since the last owner had another -87 Callaway before and also has restored a scrapped 1986 ZR1 prototype, which ought to have involved a lot of electrical work…

Got hold of a rare set of Callaway-stamped Dymag magnesium wheels. Same as the Corvette Challenge wheels, except those are stamped with Corvette.
Callaway9.jpg
Sent them for refurbishment. Despite two tries the result wasn’t quite good.

Winter 2011
Found another set of Callaway Dymags! In better shape and in the normal silver finish.

Summer 2012
After driving a total of 435 miles I finally determined that the source of the main oil leak was the seal between the intake manifold and the engine block. The garage that changed the gaskets agreed to remount the intake manifold for free and just charge me for the extra work required to fit 42 Ib/hr injectors. They forewarned me before picking up the car that it was idling roughly and that the ignition timing may be off by half a degree since they didn’t have the equipment to set it on such an old car (a timing light for $30) so they just put back the distributor the way it was.
Picked up the car and barely made it home. I stupidly thought that it ran horribly and smelled of gasoline because I somehow failed when making the PROM for adapting to the larger injectors… (Thanks to gta324 on the currently sleepy Corvette Club Sweden forum for answering many, many questions on how to program old engine management systems.)
Checked the ignition and couldn’t see the line on the torsional damper until I connected the timing light to cable number eight! The line was about 20° after, which corresponds to 70°before for number one, ie. 64° too early. The distributor had been mounted one cog off, corresponding to 55° and been twisted about 9° more.
There was also a gasoline leak between an injector and the fuel rail… From water to oil to gasoline. I decided that I didn’t want to find out how this garage might make the car worse for a fourth time and started trying to persuade another garage that it would be fun to work on a Corvette instead of Italian cars. It eventually turned out to be a waste of time.

Winter 2012
Performed a leakdown test and filmed the combustion chambers to make sure that nothing was damaged on the way home from the garage with the distributor incorrectly positioned.
Reinstalled the injectors, mounted the distributor correctly and set the timing
Winter 2013
Ordered a lot of fun stuff like brakes, shock absorbers and polyurethane engine mounts hoping that the right side turbo was close to the frame because the old ones had sagged.

Summer 2013
Installed a Civinco BC500 engine management system serially with the original ECU, mostly to be able to log more than what the original system provides over OBD1. It didn’t work very well, I should probably replace all of it with something modern.
Also installed an MSD 6AL CDI ignition and changed the front shock absorbers.
Callaway10.JPG

Summer 2014
The car refused to start, I gave up when it started to reek of petrol. I apparently forgot to put back the fuse for the BC500 after fiddling with it during the winter!? How has Civinco managed to design an injector driver that is on when the supply voltage is off? And why? Already time to change the oil again…

Summer 2015
Failed the yearly car inspection due to a front brake caliper being slightly engaged. No point in fixing it, the new brakes should be installed instead. Some time…

Summer 2018
Left the car at a third garage to get the engine mounts, exhaust manifold gaskets and all oil hoses changed. New engine mounts didn’t help and the mechanic skipped the oil hoses without asking me because “they looked fine” but all is forgiven since they figured out that the right side turbo was assembled incorrectly when it was refurbished in England and when that was corrected the margin to the frame got adequate.
They also welded the crack in an exhaust manifold that was responsible for the exhaust leak and fixed a couple of minor oil leaks.

Summer 2019
Installed J55 brakes from Vette Brakes and Products. The calipers had different thread types for the hose fittings and on the one with the wrong thread the sealing surface had been sand blasted!? No wonder that company is gone.

I have driven it a total of 800 miles since purchase. Now when the right side turbo doesn’t risk hitting the frame anymore, which means that I can stop worrying about the compressor wheel chafing against the compressor housing and creating aluminium shavings getting sucked into the engine and resulting in mechanical müsli, I’ll probably drive it more. But what I really need to do is work on it more often…
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Re: Fact check for magazine article

Post by sven-labil »

For example, Home Away translated "stunning room" to "bedövningsrum", which would mean a room for administering anesthetics in. Not something many people look for when renting a vacation house...
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