C.C.G.D. Who's Who - Bob Compton

My first Corvette was a ’64 ragtop with a 4 speed transmission. It was a pretty rough car but I got it at a decent price, I think. It was purchased in ’82. The body was white with the 365 HP engine although it had the fuel injection emblems on the front fenders. The numbers matched although the VIN tag was from the California DOT and not GM. I should have known then I was in trouble with the car. I did not know anything about Corvettes and it showed. I had to rebuild the convertible frame and install a new top. I had to weld diamond plate to the frame at both side kickups as the frame had totally rusted out. Both seats were completely re-done. All new carpeting was installed.  The right rear frame extension needed to be straightened. The front and rear bumpers were straightened and re-chromed. The speedometer cable was replaced and the mechanical clock was fixed. I also had to replace the clutch and all associated parts shortly after buying  the car. It was a radio delete car which was OK as I drove it most of the time with the top down and it is doubtful I would have been able to hear the radio anyway. Even with all of its problems, it never left me stranded except for one time when I ran it out of gas. It was truly a fun car to drive as I took it to autocrosses and drag races and won several events with it.

 The car was sold in ’85 and I was Corvette-less for 2 years when I bought a ’82 Corvette that was built for and ran in the SCCA Trans-AM series. It was well used but I had fun working on it and racing it in SCCA regional and national races. I raced it at Sears Point (now Infineon Raceway) and Laguna Seca; both tracks are in northern California.

 I eventually sold the car and obtained a light metallic gray ’85. It was a great looking car and I did not HAVE to work on it but I did anyway. I had the motor built out to 383 cu” and installed headers. Boy would it move! But it moved for only several months as the rear main went out on the engine so the engine was removed and it was returned back to the shop that built it. The shop reworked the crankshaft and replaced all the main bearings and this time it lasted only about a week before the oil pressure again went away. The engine was removed, for the third time, and I did the rebuild myself. The crankshaft was determined to be bad as the original shop had welded the rear throw on the crankshaft and the weld metal was too soft hence causing it to wear out very quickly. I bought a new crankshaft and found it also had an issue which was easily resolved. I sold the car in 1993 as I was moving from California to Maryland and did not think it would pass Maryland’s auto inspection (smog and physical check) but it would have easily passed.

 In 1994 I bought a bright red ’86 Z51 coupe which had originally been purchased to run SCCA Showroom Stock racing. The owner had put everything back to original and even had the car repainted the original color. The car looked real nice except the passenger door did not quite fit correctly and I was told the car had hit a stack of safety tires during a race. There was not any frame damaged so I bought the car. The car had only 40K miles on it. In the late 90’s I started modifying the car for autocrossing and time trials until it was no longer legal to drive it on the street. I ran events at Summit Point, WVA, Virginia International Raceway, and Old Dominion Speedway.

 For some reason, in June of 2002, I felt I needed a Corvette to drive on the street and I wound up buying a pewter ’99 FRC. It sure was fun to drive. I did not modify anything on that car (that’s true too). But come September of 2003 I needed to sell it as I needed a new pickup truck with 4wd so my future wife could get to work in the winter snow and I did not want to have 2 car payments. Also, Sadie already had her ’92 Corvette and I still had my ’86 Corvette and there was not room in the garage for the 3rd Corvette so away it went.

 In early 2006 we moved to Florida and I have run the ’86 at Moroso Park (now called Palm Beach International Raceway) and Roebling Road which is near Savannah, GA. I have more stories but not enough space to tell them. The car is now for sale – 44K miles and only driven on weekends.
 There will still be a Corvette in the family as Sadie still has her ’92 red coupe.