Little Yellow Corvette
By: Jennifer Herseim | Categories: Alumni Achievements
Behind the wheel of this Stingray are married Yellow Jackets Ben McMillan, CS 07, and Jacquelyn Schneider, BC 06, MBA 18. McMillan purchased the car on eBay Motors in the summer of 2010. Although the 350-cubic-inch V8 engine, 4-speed transmission, and chassis are original to the car, over the past 13 years almost every component has been refreshed, rebuilt, or upgraded by McMillan or specialty shops. More than 100 hours were spent sanding, restoring, painting, and finishing the body to achieve its “Sunflower Yellow” exterior.
Although the pandemic tried to throw a wrench in his plans, McMillan made many personal trips to local hardware and auto parts stores, and studied YouTube videos, forum posts, and repair manuals to finish the project. The saddle-brown interior was replaced, including the dash, seat upholstery, insulation, carpet, gauges, stereo system, and steering wheel. All lights, inside and out, were replaced with LED. He upgraded the stock braking system with new components for the brake calipers, rotors, hard and soft lines, master cylinder, and brake booster. Opting for a more environmentally friendly AC option, he upgraded the factory AC system with a new refrigerant. The old, tired, and leaky power steering also got an upgrade for more modern handling; nearly all the suspension components were replaced to improve handling as well.
The rear differential was rebuilt with 3.73 gears for more torque off-the-line. The 15-inch rally wheels were replaced with 17-inch chrome Torque Thrusts from American Racing, wrapped with very sticky Michelin tires. Most recently, McMillan replaced the entire carbureted fuel system with electronic fuel injection (EFI) paired with newer computer-controlled ignition.
Last but not least, the engine breathes out of custom dual exhaust pipes with valve-operated mufflers to switch its tone between mild and loud.
“While it is a helluva lot of horsepower, our Georgia Tech education provided us the willpower to take on such a project,” McMillan and Schneider say. You can spot both Yellow Jackets cruising through campus at the Ramblin’ Wreck Parade this Homecoming (it’ll be their sixth appearance!).
