Project: Love 69 - My Corvette Build Thread

[GNon18s]

Did you say who is doing your cage? If you did I missed it.

[vette427-sbc]

Major progress today! Finally took the car out for a drive... Not 100% together, but enough to lay some rubber real quick!
First impressions:
12lb flywheel is awesome and really not difficult at all to drive around with. The car revs noticeably faster.
Oddessy PC680T battery is awesome- You would never know this battery is only 16lbs and the size of a lawn mower battery. I did put a gear reduction mini starter in, but it still gets the job done and then some. The wiring isnt done yet so I keep disconnecting the battery at night but I dont think it will have any problem holding a charge with my alarm on for multiple days of no driving.
T56- Not used to the extra 2 gears yet, but I only had it on a local highway where the speed limit is 50, so with 3.55's I really wasnt turning any rpms to need 5th or 6th. Shifter feels great though!
the clutch is the only thing Im not 100% happy with... its just too light. I think I may have a little bit of air in it still as 1st gear will sometimes clunk going in.
The cage will take some getting used to but I think its going to be something that Ill just forget its even there after a while.
Possibly my favorite update on the car is the electronics... For some reason I really get a kick out of having modern electronics and gadgets in an old car. Power windows, power locks, push start, alarm, keyless entry, remote window control, LED supervision lighting... I feel like I am one of few that really enjoys working on and designing automotive electronics.

Crappy pic, but I wanted to get out of the shop before 11pm tonight for once... More pics soon though Feels good to be able to drive this car again

[vette427-sbc]

Did you say who is doing your cage? If you did I missed it.

This guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnnLuSKu9O0

Kenny Capraun... Really nice guy, does awesome work and has a really bad ass front engine dragster

[66larkgs]

Those welds look great and you must be getting the itch to get back in the drivers seat. do you attend lake George for the show in sept.. their is a bunch of us that will be heading your way. Keep up the good work

[Flash68]

Congrats! It's getting real and exciting now eh.

[vette427-sbc]

Ive got a few hundred miles on the car now and everything is going somewhat smooth... The 6 speed really transforms the car. I no longer look at an hour long drive somewhere as a trip. Its more like just a cruise now. (and the gas mileage isnt too bad either!) My one complaint is since the cage is so tight to the body a large bump will cause it to rattle. I spent alot of time making sure this car doesnt rattle so that is something Ill have to work out to at least quiet it down.





Now for the not great part... Ive been having some issues with the trans not being perfect. It clunks going into 1st if I dont put it into another gear before. Then there is an intermittent vibration/scratching/grinding noise coming from the clutch I think. It will do it in any gear when the clutch is depressed. I was going to give it a few more miles to kind of wear in, but it looks like the trans is coming out anyway... I went for a nice hour long cruise with my dad and we happened to get lined up at the toll booth. 1st and 2nd gear hooked up but I banged it into 3rd and the RPMs skyrocketed up like I missed a shift. Tried putting the car in 3rd right at the beginning of my power band and nailed it; clutch slipped like crazy. So Im going to pull it and tear the trans apart to check everything out and get the first gear clunk fixed. There is an oil leak at the back of my oil pan so I think I may have leaked some oil onto the clutch? Well see...
Heres a quick pic after I got a little beat-down on the parkway by my dad. Its a pretty fast brick! Also, I know this isnt the greatest pic to showcase these, but here are the BlackFlameCustoms HID projectors we got for the '55. Really changes the look of the car and they make such a difference driving at night!



And now to add even more little gadgets to the vette, I now have complete control of the car right from my phone anywhere in the world. Lock, unlock, ignition disarm, and even remote window down! Really cool feature if I ever lose my key fob, or if I have my keys with me and someone else needs to move my car, I can let them in from my phone. I even get an instant text message if something sets off the alarm and I cant see or hear it.
I also picked up a broken iPhone that Im just going to leave docked in the car. I jailbroke it so I can have almost everything in the landscape mode. No data plan either, I just link it with my personal iphone to get internet so I can listen to radio and other internet music along with the google maps app for navigation.

Those welds look great and you must be getting the itch to get back in the drivers seat. do you attend lake George for the show in sept.. their is a bunch of us that will be heading your way. Keep up the good work

Thanks! Ive never been to the lake george show before... I used to be pretty limited on distance but now that my dad and I both have 6 speeds we've been looking to go somewhere a little further. Ill have to check that one out

Congrats! It's getting real and exciting now eh.

Oh yeah lovin it!

[ProBell]

Hi Chris

Car looks Great. You would love Lake George. It is a Awesome show. Let me know if you and your dad are going. Did you dial indicate the trans? I had a lot of problems in the past when mine was off center.

[srh3trinity]

I like the idea of adding a smartphone in. You mentioned it was broken, would it no longer make calls, but still works for data?

[vette427-sbc]

Hi Chris

Car looks Great. You would love Lake George. It is a Awesome show. Let me know if you and your dad are going. Did you dial indicate the trans? I had a lot of problems in the past when mine was off center.

Thanks Randy! Ill definitely get in touch with you if we decide to head up!
And no, I didnt dial indicate the trans... I heard the quicktime bellhousings were pretty spot on but now that its coming out I guess I will.

I like the idea of adding a smartphone in. You mentioned it was broken, would it no longer make calls, but still works for data?

The home button doesnt work all the time. Everything else works fine though. I took it off all calling and data plans because I can just link it to my other phone with a data plan to access internet.

[vstol]

Very nice build. What is the name of the roll bar connectors you used for the front down bars? Thanks

[vette427-sbc]

Thank you... They are by ballistic fab:
http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/...mp_p_1467.html

They didnt have 1.5"x .095 but the .120 fit fine with the beveled edge

[Aficionado]

Did you dial indicate the trans? I had a lot of problems in the past when mine was off center.[/QUOTE]

And no, I didnt dial indicate the trans... I heard the quicktime bellhousings were pretty spot on but now that its coming out I guess I will.


Thanks for the heads-up on this issue; we just bolted a QuickTime and T56 magnum to the LS we're putting into my '72, and I'm glad I was aware of this issue.

...hijack over.

[vette427-sbc]

Back in action and driving again!
Put in a new clutch disk, fixed ALL of my oil leaks and got a bunch more tweaks done...
Cant find the picture but I tied the cage into the birdcage (windshield frame for you non corvette folk). That made a big difference in rattles and squeaks. As of now I am almost rattle free

Next on the list was to get some functioning turn signals... I picked up a pair of LED switch back 1157 bulbs. I like these ALOT. They use 4 white LEDs behind a magnifying lens to turn your parking lights into a fog light. Then when you activate the turn signals or hazards, the fog turns off and it will let it flash amber. They were $39 a bulb, but for pretty much a plug and play, I think they are worth it. They add alot of light at night. The only wiring mod I had to do to get these to work was to put a 50w resistor over the turn signal circuit for each side.
Here is just one side during the mockup stage:


video of the switch back feature:


Small mod, but I think it changes the look quite a bit. I do have to give credit for this idea to Custom image corvettes. I saw it on a car they are doing and I really liked it.
Stock BB/LT1 hood:


After:
I think it gives it a more modern look to the hood and hopefully will evacuate a bit more underhood pressure compared to my previously cut out stock vents


Also got most of my interior complete.
Modified the electric life window switches for +12v up and +12v down (they would backfeed (-) in stock config), put in a rocker switch to allow my oil temp gauge to swap between engine oil and trans oil.


Got this on the other day to replace my holley 650 DP. Its a QuickFuel 650 Road race carb. Really nice piece and Im extremely impressed with its out of the box performance so far.


I also changed my iSimple IS76 Apple 30pin->RCA to the HRT iStreamer DAC. What a difference in sound! The other cool thing about the iphone "radio" is that the google maps voice guidance will attenuate whatever you are listening to to give you the next direction through the car speakers. Been putting alot of miles on it since I finished putting the clutch back in; about 600 since mid september. and the car is really so nice to drive. Minimal rattles, decently quiet on the highway with the windows up, the whole audio and nav system working together, it just makes for a pleasant driving experience. This is perfect driving season here on the east coast so I think Ill wait a little longer than last year before tearing it apart again

[craigs73]

i like this car!!! nice work..... sorry if you have already said but.....is the ipod being used as your radio as well? if so how did you tie your speakers and amp etc into it?

[vstol]

Very nice build, can you tell me where you got the following which you used to bolt your roll cage down
1.5" long .75" chromemoly slug threaded for 7/16" bolts with a 3/16 washer welded to the frame
(rear bars get 2 bolts, main hoop gets 3)

Many thanks Kevin (VSTOL)

[rickpaw]

Back in action and driving again!


Next on the list was to get some functioning turn signals... I picked up a pair of LED switch back 1157 bulbs. I like these ALOT. They use 4 white LEDs behind a magnifying lens to turn your parking lights into a fog light. Then when you activate the turn signals or hazards, the fog turns off and it will let it flash amber. They were $39 a bulb, but for pretty much a plug and play, I think they are worth it. They add alot of light at night. The only wiring mod I had to do to get these to work was to put a 50w resistor over the turn signal circuit for each side

Do you have a diagram on wiring the LED fog/turn signal? I've been thinking about doing the same thing on the parking lights for my Firebird (but use it as DRL/turn signal).

Thanks.

Tu

[vette427-sbc]

Few more projects underway... After getting the black flame custom HID projectors for my dads car, I had to have a set for myself. I wanted to use a Morimoto projector (same as the one in the BFC 7" lights) but the stock corvette flip up lamp housing is way to tight to fit one of those so I wanted to see if I could make it work. After hours of modifying and trial fitting, I have a 5.75" light with a Morimoto projector in there! These in combination with the LED fog lights and the GE aircraft landing lights make nighttime driving sooo much nicer (and safer!)

Significantly deeper than a regular 5.75" lamp


This used to be a 2" hole just to feed the power wire through






High beam with the GE lights on. Ive seriously never driven with a better high beam setup. Incredible distance from the GE and projector lights along with great side lighting from the LED fogs and projectors. The tree line is probably 50-75 yards away. Highway driving (with no other cars in sight) is awesome


If you do alot of driving at night, HID projectors are one of those mods that you wish you did sooner.

[vette427-sbc]

Next up is to get some kind of door panels on the car... The factory ones are heavy and dont really fit my Challenge Stradale/street fighter look that Im trying to go for. Hoping to save a few lbs each with a simple, but more modern look.
I ditched the heavy factory door handle/lock knob mechanism for some illuminated BMW E38 door handles. Light weight, with a simple modern look. Keeping with the German theme, I picked up some 1" poly seatbelt webbing to make some door pulls like the Porsche GT3's (?) have. Heres the layout:


Going to be a pretty basic panel with a bump out at the bottom. This is the mold so far. I still need to make the top part that wraps over the top of the door out of foam and then fiberglass it.

[FLYNAVY53]

I love the look of the updated hood. How far back from the font edge did you cut, and how did you attach the mesh screen material to the underside?

[vette427-sbc]

Thanks guys! and sorry for the late replies, Havent checked backinto my thread for a few months now...

i like this car!!! nice work..... sorry if you have already said but.....is the ipod being used as your radio as well? if so how did you tie your speakers and amp etc into it?

Yes that is the only music source... It is the HRT iStreamer to the JL audio volume knob right to the amp input. the rest is standard hookup from the amp to the speakers. Its detailed in the "ipod hooked directly to an amp" sticky in the audio section

Very nice build, can you tell me where you got the following which you used to bolt your roll cage down
1.5" long .75" chromemoly slug threaded for 7/16" bolts with a 3/16 washer welded to the frame
(rear bars get 2 bolts, main hoop gets 3)

Many thanks Kevin (VSTOL)

Im probably a little late on this as I saw you started building your cage already, but I did not buy them, the guy that did the cage made them from chromo bar stock

Do you have a diagram on wiring the LED fog/turn signal? I've been thinking about doing the same thing on the parking lights for my Firebird (but use it as DRL/turn signal).

Thanks.

Tu

The wiring is no different except the 50W resistor gets tapped into the turn signal positive lead and the ground. The resistors are usually labeled which end goes to +12 and which goes to ground.

I love the look of the updated hood. How far back from the font edge did you cut, and how did you attach the mesh screen material to the underside?

I would say about 3"? I just cut a piece of black paper out and placed it over the vent to get a visual and kept trimming it to see what looked best. The mesh is actually from the concrete section in home depot. I could only buy a 4'x8' piece so I have plenty if you are local and want a piece Its just glued in with some epoxy