Corvette Conundrums

Living a Dream
After all, here it is in the dead of winter, unemployed, and Gooss is flying to Colorado to drive a Corvette a thousand miles with heavy snow on the ground. Evidently Lady Luck followed this Vegas high roller to Colorado. "I have to say it was by far the most enjoyable drive I have ever taken. I actually had to force myself to stop for the evening to get some rest."


After his return home, Gooss kept the car in pretty much stock formation for the better part of a year, other than adding a Vortex ram air system and Corsa touring exhaust. In less than a year he put about 20,000 miles on the car, but after a while it started to feel like it didn't have enough power.


Blame his Internet addiction, in part. After surfing for months and months on Corvette forum websites about performance modifications, he sought out a shop in Southern California to build up a forged 346ci LS6 boosted by an A&A/Procharger D-1SC supercharger, along with a host of other goodies. About 60 days later and around 20 grand lighter, Gooss had a C5 boasting 686 horses at the rear wheels, which could pretty much shoot down anything in his path.


Now here's where things took a left turn. This configuration lasted only about a month before it was back at the shop getting goaded by a larger F-1R supercharger. Another 30 days and plenty of dollars later, he had his car once again. Unfortunately, this part of the story doesn't have the happy ending you might think it should. The Gooss Vette ran into numerous problems and oil leaks, and he could barely keep it running.


"Over the next couple months, it took everything I had not to just cut my losses and leave the hobby I loved so much. I spent many, many evenings talking with my fiancé wondering why something that was supposed to be fun, was turning into a nightmare," he acknowledges, shaking his head.