Lil Twister 1957 Corvette Drag Race Car - Info Needed
General
Hello all,
I recently purchased a 1957 Corvette that looks to have been prepared for drag racing in the 1961-66 era. The previous owner could find no history on it and I am now starting my own search. If this is something someone painted up to cruise through the DQ, then I will likely restore it as an NCRS car. But I love the hand painting on it and I will do anything I can to find some history that would justify restoring it as a drag car, but to do so I has to have really been a drag car. Below is what I know about the car, which is mainly what I can see looking at it.
Any information or direction will be MUCH appreciated!
Thanks,
Bob
Hints from the chassis:
. The aluminum shims between the front crossmember and chassis are not there and there are three flat washers at each of the eight bolt locations instead.
. The front sway bar links are two inches longer than regular ones and have allthread with nuts on each end holding them on instead of the long bolt. With the missing shim and the longer sway bar links, could this indicate that I-beam spacers could have been there to lift the front up?
. The rear springs have four leafs, the shortest three of which are cut off square at the ends. They are grooved like production car leaf springs, but the smallest leaf is also grooved unlike the production smooth one. They are put together with the type of clamp/clip where the two prongs of a male one goes into the two slots in the female one and then folded over. Not sure if these are some sort of aftermarket or if they are modified stock springs. I've seen the squared off leafs on other drag cars.
There are a lot of hints on the lettering on the body:
. CHEVELAND on the rear fenders. Is this a family name of some sort? Is there a Cheveland Chevrolet somewhere? Is it a play on words combining Chevrolet and Cleveland?
. LIL TWISTER. Is this an old drag term or could the car have originated in one of the tornado alley states? The car was in Michigan since the 70s, but is rumored to have been in Ohio before that.
. 96. Would an NHRA number be issued before a car was ready to race?
. BM/SP. Heyday between 1961-66, but required use of a roll bar and I can't find evidence of one so far.
. HEADERS by CYCLONE. Just painted on for fun, or a possible sponsor?
. 327 CU. IN. 350 H.P. Someone suggested that a real BM/SP car would have more likely used a 302?
. There is a TKE (Tau Kappa Epsilon) sticker on the windshield. Problem is that there are like 262 TKE chapters!
updated by @bob-baird: 12/05/16 08:53:27AM