C3/4/5 frankenstein frame

[vette427sbc]

that's freaking awesome...where are you on the jersey shore....I lived in spring lake for 10 years before I came Va

Im in Sea Bright, my shop is in Middletown... Spring lake is a nice town although the beach traffic to get there keeps me more local. Im sure you dont miss that!

Turning out nice.

Thanks!

 

[bobs77vet]

DC traffic is like 35s on Friday during the summer....except its every day
and no ocean or horse country to shake off the **** in the vette.

I miss the shore greatly and if Ft Monmouth didn't get BRACed I would have retired there.

 

[vette427sbc]

Getting closer! :toothbrush:









(caliper is on the wrong side in the pics!)

 

[vette427sbc]

DC traffic is like 35s on Friday during the summer....except its every day
and no ocean or horse country to shake off the **** in the vette.

I miss the shore greatly and if Ft Monmouth didn't get BRACed I would have retired there.

I can handle beach traffic 3 months of the year... but all year long?! :suicide:
If you make it up here again with the vette Id be happy to shake the **** off on some backroads with ya :drink:

 

[denpo]

This is some Frame Porn magazine centerfold material here.

 

[bobs77vet]

DC traffic is like 35s on Friday during the summer....except its every day
and no ocean or horse country to shake off the **** in the vette.

I miss the shore greatly and if Ft Monmouth didn't get BRACed I would have retired there.

I can handle beach traffic 3 months of the year... but all year long?! :suicide:
If you make it up here again with the vette Id be happy to shake the **** off on some backroads with ya :drink:

sounds like a plan, thanks bob

 

[vette427sbc]

Suspension and brakes are mostly done... Waiting on swaybars and the body to go on for the front coilover hoop. The transmission is getting a once over and maybe a few small upgrades; Now to pick out a drysump system for the 427

 

[vette427sbc]

Not my exact tire size, but close! These are 325/30/19... the rears will be 345/30/19 and the fronts 335/30/18. :nuts:

The drysump stuff showed up today also, Aviaid 3 stage, 2.5 Gal tank. Getting everything mocked up to figure out plumbing and placement for the tank, filter and cooler

 

[rtj]

Nice. Won’t regret those big tires. Here is something I found lately that might interest you:

“There is also a third L88 front flare option to accommodate the lowest front suspension set ups.”


http://www.duntovmotors.com/vintage-racing-parts-body.php

I think they are shown in some of the svra videos.

 

[rtj]

Pretty sure that’s their car at 36 sec.

 

[vette427sbc]

I dont think ive ever seen those raised flares before... I had issues with compression travel with my previous suspension and stock fenders... I dont know how you would get any more unless it was a custom frame car. They do look cool though! These tires are going under stock front fenders and 2" flared quarters. (assuming my measurements are correct!)

 

[69427]

Hey, man, the frame and suspension mods are looking great. :thumbs:

 

[vette427sbc]

Fuel tank showed up this weekend from DMP Fabrication... to say Im impressed is an understatement! The end caps are billet with integrated mounts to distribute the load and the center section sheet aluminum is one piece to minimize stressed welded areas. Its also braced/baffled internally for the Aeromotive Stealth in-tank pump. Weighs 26 lbs with the pump. The bottom side of the tank is angled to follow the contour of the quarter panel to help get rid of the rear "parachute". It came out to about 23 gallons.

Hey, man, the frame and suspension mods are looking great. :thumbs:

Thank you! Design is fun, building is fun, driving is fun, hopefully learning to read the car and tune this suspension will follow suit!

 

[vette427sbc]

Some small progress with the oil system...
Remote filter mounted, and should be rather accessible through the wheel well


Pan and oil feed plate mounted

 

[69427]

Some small progress with the oil system...

Pan and oil feed plate mounted

Looking good.

I've been trying to figure out if it might make sense to put a similar shaped/full length pan on my engine (I'm still running a wet sump). It would give a bit more clearance from the crank on the front half, and a bit more capacity, but I still haven't resolved all the slosh/trapdoor issue questions yet.

 

[vette427sbc]

Looking good.

I've been trying to figure out if it might make sense to put a similar shaped/full length pan on my engine (I'm still running a wet sump). It would give a bit more clearance from the crank on the front half, and a bit more capacity, but I still haven't resolved all the slosh/trapdoor issue questions yet.

I would say if you don't need more capacity, then don't add it. It seems like you have your car dialed in pretty well... I'm surprised you don't have (need) an accusump... also, a quart of oil is a fair amount of weight!! Im thinking of running oil cooler-less in hopes that my added capacity and external oil storage away from the hot motor will stay reasonable during 20 minute track sessions. wishful thinking...

 

[vette427sbc]

Got my new brackets and some fittings for the oil pump today, so motor went in for mock-up. Its much tighter than I expected! Im going to need to put some serious thought into how this stuff will be routed...
As of now, the scavenge lines from the pan to pump are figured out. They are Earls Prolite 350 -12 with an internal spring. I thought I ordered -10 for the pressure side but apparently I ordered -8 instead... so pressure side will have to wait until next week. :crap:









Lines are separated because the Pressure-In line is going in between them

 

[SRountree]

WOW, Looking good!

 

[rtj]

Great job. Time for me to wrap up home improvements and get back to cars.

I admire the level of detail.

 

[phantomjock]

This is some really NICE WORK! I have a couple of quick questions:
1. How far aft do you reckon the engine is from stock? 12-13 inches maybe?
2. Who built the drive shaft? I'll need a shorty too as my engine is that far aft as well.
3. What "brand" is the steering unit? Looks like a short track unit? Speedway maybe the source?

On the steering - I like the position it is in too - well forward - I may copy as I'm having some shaft line up problems in the "stock" location. Can't see the front hubs - guess they are "reversed" to get the tie rods up front. Photos when you can - please.

Very sanitary looking chassis - really, really nice.

Cheers - Jim

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

amazing work :thumbs:

 

[vette427sbc]

Thank you all for the kind words! One of the reasons I like this forum is because people notice the detail and engineering side of a build... I feel like the modified car world looks over the small details that really make a car as a whole and only see that you have a supercharged LSx and air ride... :footmouth:

This is some really NICE WORK! I have a couple of quick questions:
1. How far aft do you reckon the engine is from stock? 12-13 inches maybe?
2. Who built the drive shaft? I'll need a shorty too as my engine is that far aft as well.
3. What "brand" is the steering unit? Looks like a short track unit? Speedway maybe the source?

On the steering - I like the position it is in too - well forward - I may copy as I'm having some shaft line up problems in the "stock" location. Can't see the front hubs - guess they are "reversed" to get the tie rods up front. Photos when you can - please.

Very sanitary looking chassis - really, really nice.

Cheers - Jim

Jim- The ONLY thing "stock" about this front clip is the engine location! I didnt want to have to cramp an already tight and hot cockpit with more engine setback in addition to the extra cage points going in... This is a street car, after all :surrender:

Hubs are NASCAR-esque with massive spindle pin and wide bearing spread. The spindle and steering arm are spec'd to my wheelbase for proper ackerman, tons of caster and zero scrub. I can tell you from pushing it around the parking lot with the roller wheels on it, it is noticeably better than a stock C3 in terms of turn in and tire slip angle. Excited to see what it does with 335's and 29* of steering angle on an autoX course.

The rack is from Sweet MFG. I think they are popular in the circle track crowd. Ive heard from multiple people that I will love the feel and feedback. We shall see! The steering arm is slugged to change position of the tierod for quicker or slower steering. I also had the motor mounts designed to hopefully give me a straight shot right to the column so I can use only 2 u-joints.

The driveshaft is just a shortened C4 aluminum shaft with 1310 Spicer solid joints. The C4 shaft is fairly thin wall so its pretty light and it seems like the C4 drag race guys put some good 60ft times down with the stock shaft. This one is shorter and I wont be doing any drag race launches with this car either. Fingers crossed, but I think Im going to implement a front and rear safety loop just in case...


Have you posted any pictures of your build lately? I feel like I would have noticed a 12" engine setback C3 corvette build!!

 

[phantomjock]

Chris -

Thanks for the info and great pics. Oh - Ron Sutton Parts -- good choice. I may have to go over and check those out.

Yeah - I thought that was a "Sweets-looking" steering rack. On my Grand-Am mod I "think" I can get by with 2 U joints - the headers are going to give me fits -- so to speak I bet.

Right now the car is covered in - the rest of life - but soon will be uncovered and work resumed. My engine placement looks very similar to yours - that is why I asked. My front pulley stack aligns aft of the front arms - as I see in your pics. AND, yes - it is in the cockpit!

When I get my CV axles back next week (hope and pray) I'll get it together and "scale" it without the body on. We'll know more then and I shoot some updates.

Thanks again for all those details.

Cheers - Jim

 

[SRountree]

Awesome work

 

[69427]

Looking good.

I've been trying to figure out if it might make sense to put a similar shaped/full length pan on my engine (I'm still running a wet sump). It would give a bit more clearance from the crank on the front half, and a bit more capacity, but I still haven't resolved all the slosh/trapdoor issue questions yet.

I would say if you don't need more capacity, then don't add it. It seems like you have your car dialed in pretty well... I'm surprised you don't have (need) an accusump... also, a quart of oil is a fair amount of weight!! Im thinking of running oil cooler-less in hopes that my added capacity and external oil storage away from the hot motor will stay reasonable during 20 minute track sessions. wishful thinking...

I have an Accusump that I've been kicking around putting in the car, but the packaging of the Accusump looks damn painful at the moment. And to complicate things, the clutch Z bar is right in the way of where the fittings would screw into the block.

 

[mfain]

Chris,

Beautiful work. The ABS unit mount looks very tidy! I don't know if you are following lateral-g, but Sutton is taking a real beating from one of his turn-key track warrior customers. They have only had the car on the track twice (at Thunder Hill), and it was quickest in TTU with only a few laps on it....but the customer is "very ill" and expected a completed, turn-key race car with no issues in 4 months build time.....not going to happen. They had a dry sump oil leak issue and some cooling problems with the 707 hp LS, which the customer did not appreciate so he started an all-out smear campaign. There may have been other personality issues (on one or both sides), but the Sutton-designed suspension was phenomenal. I don't know anybody who understands front suspension geometry better than Ron. I hope they get it worked out soon. BTW, that Sweet rack is the way to go and their customer service is great.

Pappy

 

[vette427sbc]

I've seen them mounted behind the gills in the fender... but that doesn't help with your Zbar issue... new lighter, relocated clutch linkage? Sounds like a good winter project to me!

Chris,

Beautiful work. The ABS unit mount looks very tidy! I don't know if you are following lateral-g, but Sutton is taking a real beating from one of his turn-key track warrior customers. They have only had the car on the track twice (at Thunder Hill), and it was quickest in TTU with only a few laps on it....but the customer is "very ill" and expected a completed, turn-key race car with no issues in 4 months build time.....not going to happen. They had a dry sump oil leak issue and some cooling problems with the 707 hp LS, which the customer did not appreciate so he started an all-out smear campaign. There may have been other personality issues (on one or both sides), but the Sutton-designed suspension was phenomenal. I don't know anybody who understands front suspension geometry better than Ron. I hope they get it worked out soon. BTW, that Sweet rack is the way to go and their customer service is great.

Pappy

I'm not on Lat-g... Was that Weld's mustang? I understand the urgency of getting some races in before he can't do it anymore but building that level of vehicle im surprised a 4 month timeline was even proposed as a possibility! i guess some people don't understand what building a 1 off race car really entails... Hell, how much money do you think GM spent on developing the c7Z? And even they messed up the cooling system when it was put on track duty. But from the discussions I've had with ron I'm fully confident that I'll have a chassis that will perform very well.
And thanks! I just hope I can get the ABS unit to work! It's low on my list of to-dos though... I imagine it will just be a heavy distribution block for a while

 

[mfain]

"I'm not on Lat-g... Was that Weld's mustang? I understand the urgency of getting some races in before he can't do it anymore but building that level of vehicle im surprised a 4 month timeline was even proposed as a possibility! i guess some people don't understand what building a 1 off race car really entails... Hell, how much money do you think GM spent on developing the c7Z? And even they messed up the cooling system when it was put on track duty. But from the discussions I've had with ron I'm fully confident that I'll have a chassis that will perform very well."

Yes, it was Weld's car. I just ordered (through Sutton) a Speedway Engineering step-up front sway bar to get the high rate I need.

Pappy

 

[69427]

"I'm not on Lat-g... Was that Weld's mustang? I understand the urgency of getting some races in before he can't do it anymore but building that level of vehicle im surprised a 4 month timeline was even proposed as a possibility! i guess some people don't understand what building a 1 off race car really entails... Hell, how much money do you think GM spent on developing the c7Z? And even they messed up the cooling system when it was put on track duty. But from the discussions I've had with ron I'm fully confident that I'll have a chassis that will perform very well."

Yes, it was Weld's car. I just ordered (through Sutton) a Speedway Engineering step-up front sway bar to get the high rate I need.

Pappy

Please pardon my ignorance here, but what's a "step-up" bar?

 

[mfain]

"I'm not on Lat-g... Was that Weld's mustang? I understand the urgency of getting some races in before he can't do it anymore but building that level of vehicle im surprised a 4 month timeline was even proposed as a possibility! i guess some people don't understand what building a 1 off race car really entails... Hell, how much money do you think GM spent on developing the c7Z? And even they messed up the cooling system when it was put on track duty. But from the discussions I've had with ron I'm fully confident that I'll have a chassis that will perform very well."

Yes, it was Weld's car. I just ordered (through Sutton) a Speedway Engineering step-up front sway bar to get the high rate I need.

Pappy

Please pardon my ignorance here, but what's a "step-up" bar?

It has 1 1/4 inch splined ends, but inside the bearing it steps up to, in my case, 1.45 inches to get a 2000# rate. A solid 1 1/4 inch bar would only give about 1300#. I am using a high travel, low roll philosophy so the bar had to be stiff.

Pappy