My 1977 Corvette build thread (kinda)

MulletTruck wrote: You need one of these for those overnighters. [URL=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/BanditMan1200/media/13669611_1017026825077705_3984917824262589860_n_zpsiqqdzpsx.jpg.html][/URL]

Lol, I have seen that picture before. Part of me thinks it's hilarious, the rest of me thinks that thing would be spooky going down the road

I have however, been pondering building a 'sports rack' that could be tied to the cage and frame. It would fold up and extend to be able to haul more gear.

(Sorry the drawings are not to scale)

[URL=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/BanditMan1200/media/received_10208954261363553_zpse89xviot.png.html][/URL]

In reply to Madhatr:

Serious aero penalty for that. I tow a utility trailer with mine.

I do have a bike rack on the rear deck however!

In reply to vwcorvette:

I saw a guy on another forum that had snow board rack, but I have never seen a bike rack... thats pretty cool!

I have thought about a small trailer, but right now thats not really practical for us. I have also thought about building something like this

But with the extra rear bumper cover and tail lights I have, so when you come up behind the car it still looks 'corvette'.

However my storage needs always seem to be more 'impromptu'

When I had my mr2 I just used the back window area and engine lid as a rack:

Looks like the Corvette has similar geometry back there, I'm sure you could rig up something really cool if you have decent structural points to tie it to.

Yup, that's the plan. The original luggage rack just bolts thru the fiberglass, and is really only meant to carry the t-tops.

However when I start building the new chassis I will add structue to carry the load down to the frame/ cage. So no matter what I put there it won't stress the body work. It will also be removable, if she needs to be real 'purdy for some reason.

I have never ever ever been a fan of the C3+ Corvettes, until now

I love your car, the fact that you "use" it, and this may very well be my favorite Corvette photo ever:

Cheers!

In reply to Hungary Bill:

Thank you, as I said earlier I really do think it is great that so many other are enjoying this. I have freind who has a 7year old son that thinks my car is about the coolest thing on earth. Evey time I post a new video they sit down and watch together.

I started all of this because I wanted to have some fun, but if I can make someone else's day better... even just for a minute or two with a video or pics, It makes everything worth it

Speaking of pictures here are more from last Sunday as promised:

And I love this one!

Madhatr wrote: In reply to vwcorvette: I saw a guy on another forum that had snow board rack, but I have never seen a bike rack... thats pretty cool! I have thought about a small trailer, but right now thats not really practical for us. I have also thought about building something like this But with the extra rear bumper cover and tail lights I have, so when you come up behind the car it still looks 'corvette'. However my storage needs always seem to be more 'impromptu'

I brought a lawnmower home the exact same way. Only no rack and since I had my rear window out I hooked the wheels over the lip!

vwcorvette wrote:

Nice!

Madhatr wrote: Hello everyone, Been out playing in the dirt again. Here are a few pics:

This is the best picture I've ever seen at this site. A 3rd-generation Corvette on mud tires sitting in the dirt while a Subaru XT careens through the background. Perfect.

Do you run with the rear window removed? I thought that option went away after 1972?

Woody wrote: Do you run with the rear window removed? I thought that option went away after 1972?

You are correct, on both accounts!

When GM deleted that feature they didn't change any of the body tooling (because, money) so if you can scrounge a window frame and related parts you can convert any 73-77 to be removable.

Mine came from a salvage auction about two or three years ago. It was leaning all by itself against the building. I liked the shape and size of it but wasn't sure what it was from. I thought maybe it was one.... but I also thought I was crazy. What would a removable rear window be doing all by itself, in the middle of a junk yard in small town Iowa?

Well, to make a long story only slightly longer. I missed it in the auction, because they were running multiple rings, but my freinds bought it for a song (no one else knew what it was either) and gave it to me as a Christmas gift that year.

I was going to use it as the windshield for my dune buggy, but the guys on the corvette forum confirmed what it was.

I feel it is one of the best mods I have made thus far. Great air flow and greatly reduced wind buffeting. WinWin!

In reply to Madhatr:

That's cool. Any photos of the installation?

Sadly none during actual install. I kinda just made it up as I went along, but I would be happy to shoot some pics of the setup as it is now, if you like. Anything in particular you would like to see?

Ok, so kinda off topic here, but... Riddle me this:

Is this GRM?, or do I need to seek professional help for my hoarding...

I was digging out the C4 suspension (yes, I know everything is a mess) and I realized there are parts from at least 13 different cars in this one shot alone.

I have plans for all of it (also probably not healthy), and got good deals on everthing too.

They say creative people work best in a chaotic environment. I have THAT down to 'T', but am I crazy for spending the last couple hours digging thru what most people would consider scrap metal?

In reply to Madhatr:

I think this is the essence of GRM. MANY people here have parts for projects they no longer own or plan to acquire someday. I have at least 3 engine/drivetrains waiting to be swapped into vehicles, multiple spare doors for my Bronco, random '71 Mustang parts that came with some toolboxes I picked up and enough RWD Mazda GLC stuff to build a serious vintage racer and a capable LeMons car. Now if I could just win the lottery so I don't have to work anymore so I can play all day, every day...

This is great! I just recently joined the grm forum after realizing I didn't quite fit in on the corvette forums. The corvette forum had a feature article on how to close your doors without leaving fingerprints, grm had a feature on your car madhatr.... Excellent! Hoping to turn my daily driver c5 into sort of a rally vette, you help me realize maybe I'm not as crazy as my friends want me to believe...

In reply to Wheelie:

I hope you enjoy the forum, I like you, didn't quite 'fit in' to most of the normal corvette crowd, but the community here is great! Also I really do think it is Awesome that I can inspire others. There is a guy in Oklahoma (I think) that is running his C5 in rallycross, pretty cool.

I have a bunch of stuff to share... pics from the big corvette show I attended, and I almost have my custom dash mod done.... but for now:

My GRM stickers arrived

(represent)

As promised pics of the Corvette only show I attended:

We drove over with Brent I know from another forum (in the very sweet custom c3) and his freind Tim (in the yellow Z06)

Conrad even rode along

We rolled into to the small town of La Claire Iowa, and got registered and parked.

Everyone was cleaning and polishing...

...and I am like "Did anything fall off? No?... We're good!"

The weather cleared up and it turned out to be a great show. They had over 380 Corvettes registered that day, with all the proceeds going to Vietnam veterans.

Not sure what say here:

Also... Need more AERO!

But, Original Baldwin Motion car:

All in all it was a great day. I am not really one of the "Dust mop and lawn chair" crowd, but we had a good road trip, made some friends and got to see some nice machinery. I also didn't get the level of hate I had expected... I did have to explain Rallycross a couple of times, but most people who stopped and chatted really dug it. One of the local cops even gave me Kudos while we were walking a side street shopping (not even near the car)... pretty cool all around

Well, despite my lack of posts in this thread lately, I have been working on stuff. Most notably my Dash mod I have been fiddling with for about two years now. It's not completed yet but it is far enough to share what I have done....

I at the time had two separate problems:

First The vette lived most of its life in Arizona. So the interior vinyl was baked and deteriorating quickly.

Secondly: Since I use the vette as a Daily, and I have unhealthy dreams of adding a supercharger at some point, an A/F ratio gauge and vacuum/boost gauge would be nice. But, If I wanted to see them as I go down the road AND while I am tuning the car... what to do?

After some thinking and getting annoyed at some papers that got left on the dash and refecting in the windshield.... I wondered, could I make a poor mans HUD?

The build:

First thing I did was a proof of concept. I built this mock up out of leftover mat board and some pvc fittings and I just used paper and markers to make the gauge faces (to test how they would read)

I slipped a piece of mirror in the angled section and with the dash pad removed and some battery powered leds I got this!

With a solid theory, I ordered a pair of Autometer gauges, and confirmed that mounting them upside down would not cause problems (they need to be to read 'correctly' in the windshield'). I then used the gauges, my mock up and some CAD to create a set of drawings

And then cut it out of .050" aluminum.

A jewelry blade in a scroll saw works pretty good!

At this point I stripped the vinyl and old foam off the plastic under structure of tbe dash pad. I cut out a whole for the HUD and repaired the cracked and broken bits.

And thats how it stayed for a LONG time... more to come in part II!

Wickedawesome!

PART II

Fast forward to about a month ago....

My crash last February flexed the car enough that it broke the dash pad plastic again. So, I decided to change my strategy and take a crack at fiberglass. Since I have three 'Plastic Fantastics' in my name... I figure it will be a good skill set to have.

First what I had to start with.

Then I kinda cheated and used fiber reinforced tape to stick the broken bits together.

After watching some YouTube videos, and reading the instructions, I dove into laying mat and resin...

After the glass set, I sanded the Rouge fibers and painted the piece, because at this point I wasn't sure if I was going to get it wrapped...

The next step was to spray everything with adhesive and wrap it in 1/2" foam

Unfortunately I got a little heavy handed with the electric knife 'carving' the foam, which gave a less than steller result later. Also the first spray glue I used wasn't strong enough. The foam lifted and I reglued it with better stuff..

But it fit in the car!

I also rolled the guage cover on my bench top English wheel

And then trimmed it accordingly

I wrapped the dash in left over vynil from recovering the seats.

Is it great? No. Where I carved the foam is lumpy, but I have a plan to fix that when I modify it to go around the future roll cage. But it looks better than it did, so that a win I guess?

Things left to do:

I rolled the cover too tall... so I need to remake that, and the put the inserts in to screw it down. Then paint it black.

I also need to route the wiring for the gauges. I have bung wellded in the side pipe for the O2 sensor, but also need to make a gaurd for it so I don't tear it off in rally.

Lastly not sure if the gauge lighting should be always on for visibility or not... going to have to do some investigation.

That about it for now... I will post more pics when it is all finished!