Herb Turner's 1960 Vette Rod

Al Knoch's shop came through with the two-tone AOK Retro seats and preproduction '62 door panels. Speaking of transmissions, the original gearbox was replaced by a Tremec TKO600 five-speed. "It shifts smooth and crisp, and has a real tight gate to it," Herb says. It's paired with the engine that came with the car, which got a major makeover-from a worn, carbureted 350 to a stroker 383 that wears an electronic fuel-injection system that looks like a set of Weber carburetors. " Isn't that wild?" he says. "It has the ACCEL Gen 7 engine-control system that lets you set all the engine parameters. You can set the advance, the timing, all of the air/fuel ratios through a number of different operating parameters-it's great!"

There's one more noticeable mod-other than the Boyd Coddington "Junkyard Dog" billet wheels (like those on our Timber Wolf C2 project car) and four-wheel disc brakes at each corner. "Initially, I was going to run my exhausts out the back," Herb says. "I went down to the basement and grabbed what I thought was the exhaust for the '60, tried to run it through the frame, and nothing was routing right. I cut it and got it out, and then realized that I had grabbed the exhaust from my '64." So, Herb decided on Lambert LED 6-inch oval taillights, which he fashioned to fit the bumpers now-vacant openings. (By the way, the exhausts are Allen Exhausts' sidepipes-with custom-bend exhaust pipes between the shorty headers and sidepipes-which fit under the rocker panels.)

There's an electronic fuel-injection system, powered by Accel's Gen 7 engine-management system atop Herb's stroker 383 small-block.After all that, Herb came up with an eye-grabbing C1 that he says is a great driver. "The best thing about it is when I take it places and open it up, I like to stand back and watch," he says with pride. "That's because the intake and the engine compartment turned out exactly as I wanted-sparse of wires. I told some of the guys who worked on the car, 'Nothing goes on the firewall-nothing!'#

He adds, "People will walk by, return, and just stand there and stare. We were at the Cleveland Autorama with it this last March-it was the first time that I'd ever shown the car. One of my buddies who was helping me with the car said, 'You know what, Herb? You should be charging five bucks a picture-if you did, you could retire!' At that show, you'd be surprised at how many women wanted their picture taken in front of that car. Women got their husbands to take their picture with it."

Herb has one word of advice for anyone planning a Vette project, whether or not it's a Vette Rod like his: patience. "I didn't have a lot when I started, but I learned to develop it," he says. "I had a friend, Jeff Cotterill, who helped me [with the car]. He said, 'Herb, I don't know how you can be like this.' I said, 'Jeff, you soon learn that nothing ever goes back together like you think it should. It's always different.'"

DATA FILE :::' 60 Chevrolet Corvette

Owned by Herb Turner, Norwalk, Ohio
Vette-Rodded by owner, with help by Amherst Classic Car and Rick's Speed Shop, Amherst, Ohio
BODY Restored production '60 Corvette
REPLACEMENT PARTS Front hood surround and front lower valance from Corvette Image
MODIFICATIONS Hand-fabricated fiberglass covers and front splash shields for front suspension (inside engine bay); hand-fabricated battery box in trunk; rear wheel tubs; electric hood opener (using Dakota Digital's linear actuator), LED taillights in rear bumper exhaust openings.
FIBERGLASS Restoration/body modifications by Amherst Classic Car, Amherst, Ohio
PAINT PPG Corvette C5 Torch Red with Ford Competition White coves (basecoat-clearcoat). Applied by Amherst Classic Car, Amherst, Ohio
TOP White Al Knoch reproduction top over original frame (reconditioned by Coffman Corvette, Mansfield, Ohio)