13 Feb Mobil 1 / Chevrolet Performance Project Stingray #C7CR

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been three months since we debuted our most recent build for Mobil 1 and Chevrolet Performance at SEMA. We were approached by Mobil 1 and Chevrolet Performance after building their SEMA project car last year, a 1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air, nicknamed #boostedbela. This year, their goal was to turn a stock C7 Stingray Z51 into a club racer with influences from the Corvette C7.R IMSA race car.

We started by sending the car to a specialty shop in Dallas, Texas by the name of Stance Craft. These folks offer a C7 widebody kit that exaggerates the factory body lines and widens the dimensions substantially, 7-inches in the rear and 4-inches in the front to be exact. The goal was to achieve the widebody look of the C7.R and their kit did just that.

Once we got the car back from Texas, we fitted it with several Chevrolet Performance Z06 flowdown parts including Z06 Quarter Panel Vents, Z06 Front Grille and a Z06 Rear Spoiler with Stage 3 Bridge. Once installed, along with the Stance Craft widebody kit, the car started to resemble a thoroughbred race car while maintaining the factory feel. To fill out the widened wheel arches, we custom ordered a set of fifteen52 matte gold Forged 3-piece Apex RSR wheels wrapped in 345/30/19 tires for the rear (10mm wider than stock Z06 fitment) and 295/30/19 tires for the front. These dimensions actually brought the rear wheel diameter down an inch for a more meaty and motorsports-inspired fitment.

For power, we decided to supercharge the stock LT1 utilizing an ECS system with a Paxton/Novi headunit. We went this route because for on-track driving, we prefer the immediacy of the power delivery provided by a supercharger. An LME polished intake was fitted next to help add some breathing ability and to add some engine bay flare. To aid in sound and power, we took the car to KOOKS Headers in Mooresville for long-tube headers and an x-pipe, while maintaining factory mufflers. The car really came alive with this setup, snarling and gurgling even with the forced induction.

To add some of our own flare to the engine bay, we custom-fabricated several pieces including a radiator cover and custom valve covers. We also fabricated an intake pipe with a port to mount the Tial BOV.

To put the finishing touches on the car, we brought in Steve from Custom Stitching Co. who laced up some alcantara on the steering wheel with a red centering stripe (influence pulled from the new Corvette Grand Sport) and he also laced us up a new alcantara shift boot. These touches were combined with a red 4-point roll bar from the folks at RPM Rollbars to not only add an element of safety, but the racer-esque feel a roll bar adds is undeniable.

There’s a few items on our list to tackle still, such as a final tune to see how much we can squeeze out of the supercharged LT1, but for now, the car is looking and performing fantastically and the folks at Mobil 1 and Chevrolet Performance are already putting the car to use in various marketing efforts. If you follow along with Chevrolet Performance’s enthusiast website, TheBLOCK.com, you can stay in the loop with all of their activities with the car now that we’re finished with the build.