The Story Of Splitray
Rothspeed Brings Dennis Johnson’s ’66 Coupe to Life
By Chuck Vranas
Photography by Author
Ever since the very first Corvette rolled off the assembly line there have been hot rodders who have modified them to suit their own needs. Regardless if they were changed to increase their performance on the street, drag strip, road course or for land speed racing, one thing for sure was that their iconic look and heritage were always honored. Of course as the decades passed the cars were also subject to being driven in all sorts of conditions depending where you lived. Some even serving time through the most ghastly winters over salt covered roads where they were abused to within an inch of their capabilities; just ask anyone who has lived in the snow-belt states. There were also times where particular decades (mostly the ‘70s) subjected the cars to wild modifications including wicked wheel flares, radical hoods, chops, wide-body kits, station wagon conversions and even way-out spoilers, all awash in metalflake and candy vibe to bring them to life. Any way you look, it comes down to individual impression and truly studying the design elements of one of the most revered sports car designs in history before you make the choice to change any of its perfectly balanced details. The Splitray ’66 coupe pictured on these pages raises the bar in a way never attempted before with regard to bringing the design elements of the C2 to a new level.
Dennis Johnson of South Hero, Vermont, is a diehard hot rodder whose history of growing up in suburban Detroit during the ‘60s led him down a high performance path from a young age. Being able to watch first-hand the muscle car wars erupting during late nights on Telegraph Road as all the latest factory performance mules battled for supremacy to see who would rule the streets secured his calling. A number of cool cars passed through his hands eventually including a ’62 Falcon Sprint with a 289ci V-8, ’63 Plymouth Sport Fury, ’62 Galaxie 500 and ’69 Camaro. While they were all hopped-up and held their own on the streets, it was the sight and sounds of the new Corvette’s that caused his pulse to race with every gear change he’d hear. Meanwhile, his soon to be wife Charlene was also captivated by early Corvette’s from an early age, making their union one with a truly unique bond. As the years passed the pair finally started to pursue the dreams of ownership starting with a ’59 for Charlene followed by a ’62 for Dennis, both being well-sorted driver level cars. Wanting to bring the ’59 to a whole new level, Dennis had seen a number of well-balance builds with meticulous attention to detail from Rothspeed made in nearby Milton. This led him to schedule an appointment with shop co-owner Scott Roth. The pair shared the vision of what it would take to bring the C1 to the next level, being that it was a non-matching-numbers car, complete with a performance chassis along with big brakes, a Chevrolet Performance LS376 crate V-8 and a bevy of custom touches.
While Charlene’s freshened C1 was a total Resto-mod, the ’62 was an original timepiece. The differences in the cars were remarkable and with Dennis now leaning to modifying his car it was Roth who stepped in to add just the right amount of influence. Seeing that Dennis always loved the styling’s of C2 coupes a decision was made to offer the ’62 up for sale while starting the search for a suitable donor car to start a fresh build. In a flash Dennis’ roadster was snapped up giving Roth the chance to dedicate time to locating the start of the coupe project. His search led him to a veritable basket case ’66 coupe just outside Philadelphia which was missing its chassis and driveline. The car did however have a body that had been broken in two, boxes of random parts and a valid VIN so a deal was made and the lot was hauled back to Vermont to be evaluated at Rothspeed. Both Roth and Dennis studied the newly acquired pile as it sat in the back of the shop to fuse their individual creativity and come up with a game plan. One afternoon Dennis commented that it might be cool to put a new C7-styled interior into the car as one of its neat characteristics and days later Roth showed up with a complete interior from a 2015 Z06 which had been totaled after only 3-mile on the odometer. The fuse had been lit and now it was time to decide on how to incorporate the newly acquired business office into the build.
After studying all of the options it was Roth who came up with the idea of going where nobody had ever gone before. His vision of incorporating the newly minted interior with all of its technology and comforts into the C2 shell led him to start measuring the width differences of the stock C2 interior and that of the wider C7. On paper the difference was found to be 6 3/8ths-inches which doesn’t seem like a lot until you have to make a decision on fitment. Making one decision changes everything and it would have been easy to cut down the C7 dash and console to fit the C2. In Roth’s mind however there was a better way to address the situation by cutting the car down the center and widening the body to accept its new interior components. Since this would be a ground-up build the car would also receive an updated chassis and driveline to bring it all to life, all within a 17-month timeframe. It takes guts to take on a job in creating something like this. Doing something that’s never been done leads you down a path where you’re setting the new standard and there is no margin for error. It’s one where custom fabrication is the norm and designing new elements to infuse into the build is a way of life that occupies you 24/7. Melding the past design with cutting edge performance, technology and comfort without sacrificing the original elements is the key in making the project work.
To set the car on a cutting-edge base, Rothspeed crafted one of their extreme performance chassis specifically designed for the C2 Corvette. The build of the frame started with hand-fabricated, exclusive 2×4-inch steel framerails with integrated internal X-rail design at all suspension mounting points and custom crossmembers for a rock-solid base, which is set up to utilize all the factory body mount locations. To accommodate larger tires on deeper dish wheels Roth engineered the frame with a custom narrow track width of 54.75-inches. Out back, a Rothspeed Gen II billet IRS assembly features an aluminum 9-inch Ford-style housing, Strange Pro Nodular Iron 3rd member, Wavetrac differential and 35-spline chromoly 934 CV shafts. At each corner you’ll find Rothspeed adjustable billet upper and lower control arms combined with matching billet spindles deftly matched to JRI double-adjustable coilover shocks with remote reservoirs, Hyperco springs and 1.25-inch splined sway bars. For the ultimate in stopping power, Wilwood 14-inch drilled and vented rotors with matching 6-piston calipers.
Within the chassis design, Roth customized it for specific fitment to the Splitray. First the main framerails were triangulated to allow for additional room inside the cabin while all body mounts were moved outboard by 3 3/16th-inches to match the now wider body. To add an even deeper ground-hugging stance, the body was then channeled 3-inches over the frame along with dropped 16-gauge steel floors while also having an air box grafted in place in front. Finally all welds were smoothed and the base was prepped for a subtle coating of PPG Waterborne Mercedes Bronze with the suspension components treated to a combination of gloss and satin custom-blended PPG silver. All bolts for final assembly were then smoothed and treated to a custom bronze powder coating and secured in place with Nord-Lock fasteners. To make sure there was plenty of stopping power an ABS Power-Brake, Inc. master pushes fluid through custom hand-polished copper nickel alloy lines to Baer Pro-Plus 14-inch cross-drilled rotors with matching six-piston calipers at each corner. The crowning touch linking it all to the street are a set of one-off, turbine-style wheels from Evod Industries of Escondido, California, with matching knock-off style caps sized 19×11-inch front and 20×13-inch rear, wearing Pirelli P-Zero Corsa P295/30ZR19 and P345/30ZR20 tires respectively.
Wanting to infuse a supercar essence to the car, Roth contacted Chevrolet Performance for one of their fire-breathing LS9 6.2L supercharged V-8’s. Being that it was the most powerful regular-production engine ever offered from GM direct from the Corvette ZR1, it was a perfect match for the SplitRay. Displacing 376ci, the engine features an impressive 9.1:1 compression ratio generating 638 horsepower and 604 lb-ft torque for plenty of blistering power throughout the rpm range. It’s packed with the best performance bits available starting with a cast aluminum block with six-bolt, cross-bolted main caps filled with a forged steel crank with nine-bolt flange linked to forged titanium connecting rods wearing forged aluminum pistons. A hydraulic roller cam sets the beat while high-flow aluminum L92-style port heads with 68-cc chambers generate plenty of power while matched with EFI and the crowning touch of the Eaton R2300 supercharger with its 4-lobe, 160-degree twist impellers running at 10.5 psi of boost through a liquid-to-air intercooler setup. In detailing the engine to pay homage to the early C2 fuel injection systems, Roth set forth to add his own personal design elements to give it a much cleaner look while also incorporating additional functionality. Starting at the top, the supercharger lid was redesigned for added cooling along with fins added on top to take advantage of the functional hood intake. Supercharger coolant was then redirected to exit from the rear of the engine, separated into two circuits flowing into billet reservoirs mounted on the rear of the supercharger then onto custom intercoolers by CBR Performance. The ignition coils were repositioned behind the dash and vintage-styled finned script valve covers were designed by Roth as well as custom covers for the master cylinder and reservoir covers. Finally a custom curved firewall and inner fenders were crafted along with the radiator crossmember and cooling fan shroud.
Evod Industries then brought the designs for the supercharger lid, valve covers and custom covers to life in high-polished billet aluminum showcasing the beauty of the LS9. The level of detail is staggering and can be seen in the replacement, for example, of all the factory plastic lines with hand polished copper nickel alloy lines. The exhaust itself is a work of art with each handcrafted header constructed from 1 7/8-inch stainless which has been pie-cut, TIG-welded and purged with well-over 100 cuts per header. The exhaust merges into custom collectors to 4-inch stainless side pipes featuring one-off muffler inserts capped by polished hand crafted covers to echo the originals with the exception these are 5-inches in diameter. Putting the power to the pavement, a Chevrolet Performance T56 Super Magnum 6-speed manual trans with a 10 ½-inch dual disc clutch links to a custom driveshaft.
At the beginning of our story we mentioned the most unique feature in creating the Splitray was in fact the actual splitting of the body and widening it to accommodate a new C7-styled interior into the car as one of its main focal points. The journey was not one for the meek as it meant re-engineering not only the design elements, but that of the chassis dynamics as well. Starting with a body shell that had been stripped bare, Roth and his dedicated team began the process of measuring and then cutting the body down the center from stem to stern. It was then widened 6 3/8ths-inches while also massaging all surrounding body lines to balance the newfound width, infusing a subtle aura into its personality. To accommodate the greenhouse changes the rear glass was made 2-inches longer to help disguise the extra width of the body. A buck was then made for the front and rear and shipped to Bent Glass Design of Hatboro, Pennsylvania, to create the new DOT-certified glass. Window moldings were then hand-crafted from aluminum including a custom profile with final production by Evod who also produced the unique emblems and sill plates. Out back three taillights per side were incorporated to the tail along with custom bumpers fashioned from aluminum on a power hammer and sculpted to perfection. Up front the signature grille was designed by Roth with Evod carving it out of an 800-pound block of billet aluminum accented by custom steel front bumpers designed to integrate into the grille. Once the body was completed, it was gapped to perfection, made razor sharp by the team and given a dramatic coating of PPG Waterborne Sharkskin Grey metallic vibe. The final icing came from Advanced Plating who handled all the bright work on the car with mile-deep chrome to accent the body details.
Sitting in the car you’d swear you were in a brand new C7 awash with unique updates. Designed to look like a new Corvette business office, it was actually all custom fabricated starting with the hand formed dash melding into the heavily modified original factory console. To monitor all the vitals, the gauges were designed by The Auto Shoppe and brought to production-perfection by Classic Instruments while the shifter and custom pedals were by Evod. Wiring the car, the team installed a custom designed and built multiplex system from Infinity Box allowing an array of 13 computers within the system to allow complete control through their exclusive web router integrated to both the dash touch screen and owners phone. To complete the electronics, Creative Sound of Williston, installed the Kenwood interface sound system adding a symphony of sound to the interior as well as full GPS capabilities. To add just the right amount of fine details and complete the interior, Richmond Upholstery covered the seats and panels with a combination of soft antique walnut and black grain leather from Relicate Custom Leather complimented by luxurious black wool carpet. In the world of custom Corvette’s, the Splitray has raised the bar to a new level with Rothspeed creating something truly distinctive and we can hardly wait to see Dennis hit the streets in his new ride.