When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So I'm finishing up my winter upgrades and I have pics and questions for you guys.
First I tore out the drivetrain again. lol This time for bearings and couplers. Was thinking about going to solid couplers, but RPM just recommended OEM's for my power level and usage will be 50/50 street/track.
Some random pics in there of drivetrain removal, trans that I had built by RPM this summer. This time I was significantly faster. Its fairly easy and I dont think people should be as intimidated by it as they are. It's alot of work, but its all pretty straight forward.
Then, I machined my own torque tube tunnel cover. I took my OEM stamped steel to work and CMM'd them, pulled all dims to SolidWorks and sent the model to my buddy to have it machined. I got $47 bucks for way too much material and $7 for my buddies lunch to machine it. I made a 1/4" 6061 and made the bolt holes .250" which is slightly smaller than the OEM holes and lines up fine on my car. The OEM unit is 6lbs and easily flexes in my hands, The 6061 1/4" tunnel cover weighs 10lbs and does not flex. lol
A nice forum member sent me a DWG file of the tunnel cover he had laying around, I decided not to use it and created my own model. I would be willing to share that model if anyone is interested, just PM me.
Girlfriend bought me a set of Hinson Poly 3/8" lower Engine mounts and their diff mount for Christmas. no pics of those yet, easily googleable. I'll throw some up next time I climb under the car again and snap pics.
Then bought a set of OEM 18x10.5 rear wheels from HONK3x, who is an awesome guy. Super honest, fair, and just a pleasure to meet. And his C5 is sexy too so that never hurts. lol Got them sand and media blasted and Powder coated gloss black.
I'm going square Toyo R888's in 315/30r18 and those should be here 3/6/2017. I will throw up some pics once I receive them.
And last but not least, a delrin shift **** for my MGW short throw, Motul 600, and fresh fluids all around, and plugs.
The items, I would still like to install before the season and am looking for suggestions on which to buy are:
-Camber kit front and rear.
-Catch can
-DTE brace-probably ECS
-Master cylinder- probably TICK
-exhaust bypass by yours truly
Any suggestions on which of these to buy? And hope you enjoy my terrible rambling on the project.
Did the bearings and couplers in your TT go bad after installing the new trans or are you just looking to upgrade them? I have the CCA catch can, very nice piece and works well. Using the DTE brace, also a very good piece, nice insurance when I run it hard in the 1/4, not sure if they still make the DTE anymore though. I had the ti bypass done too, sounds really good now that I added LT's last year, perfect sound IMO. Wheels look really good, nice job on them. Always interested in drivetrain removal threads, want to replace the clutch on mine down the road, it does look like an intimidating job. I've done many clutch replacements before but all on traditional engine mounted transmissions. These cars look like a much bigger job.
Did the bearings and couplers in your TT go bad after installing the new trans or are you just looking to upgrade them? I have the CCA catch can, very nice piece and works well. Using the DTE brace, also a very good piece, nice insurance when I run it hard in the 1/4, not sure if they still make the DTE anymore though. I had the ti bypass done too, sounds really good now that I added LT's last year, perfect sound IMO. Wheels look really good, nice job on them. Always interested in drivetrain removal threads, want to replace the clutch on mine down the road, it does look like an intimidating job. I've done many clutch replacements before but all on traditional engine mounted transmissions. These cars look like a much bigger job.
.
They didnt really "go out" per say, just were starting to make a little noise. And I was curious to the conditions of the couplers, which looked pretty good so maybe replaced before. 80k on the car and here are the couplers.
I will def look into the CCA can. I have never run a catch can on one of my vehicles before so I'm open to whatever. They have some DTE braces still for sale on the ECS website.
My advice on the drivetrain is that if you were capable to remove the trans and do a clutch job on a traditional RWD vehicle layout, then you can do it on the vette. I find the C5 extremely easy to work on personally. I say go for it.
So I'm still looking for input on a Camber kit, and maybe a way to insulate the clutch line from the headers.
I have been looking at the camber kits from pfadt, hardbar, vansteel, and the AMT kit. The AMT kit looks nice, but I've never installed a kit like any of these so any feedback is welcome and appreciated.
FWIW the car will be used for mostly HPDE, open track days, a few 1/4 mile runs a year and the occasional road cruise when its nice.
Yes I'd say your couplers appear to be in pretty good shape. I also would like to add a stiffer tunnel plate after hearing how much they can stiffen up the chassis. Don't know much about camber kits for the c5, I have not had it on a road course yet. I do find this car easy to work on overall, especially coming from a modded lt1 97 z28, lol. I'm sure I could handle a clutch job on this car, just very different from what I've done before.
I have been looking at the camber kits from pfadt, hardbar, vansteel, and the AMT kit. The AMT kit looks nice, but I've never installed a kit like any of these so any feedback is welcome and appreciated.
FWIW the car will be used for mostly HPDE, open track days, a few 1/4 mile runs a year and the occasional road cruise when its nice.
If you want to send me a PM with your e-mail I'm happy to send you the install instructions so you can check out the process. There are also guidelines for setup and use so you can get a pretty good feel for what's involved. In the end your alignment is gonna take some time, but that's true of any kit and at least our kit is fully adjustable so you'll be able to dial it as close as you'd like.
Let us know if you have any issues with traction control running the square setup. Seems like some guys do, I did on my 2000 FRC, and some don't. Thanks!
Love this thread. I really want to pull my rear end and put in a better clutch. It's coming, I'm sure. Not of fan of letting other people work on my cars anymore. And I beat on this car These really are great cars to work on and drive
Took the TT to work today to break it down, broke it off the Trans on my lunch break. @70k miles the couplers looked like yours. Good. Put back together.
If I needed couplers you couldn't give me poly couplers FREE and pay me to put them in. They come apart. It would've been GM ordered only.
If you want to send me a PM with your e-mail I'm happy to send you the install instructions so you can check out the process. There are also guidelines for setup and use so you can get a pretty good feel for what's involved. In the end your alignment is gonna take some time, but that's true of any kit and at least our kit is fully adjustable so you'll be able to dial it as close as you'd like.
PM sent.
Originally Posted by MSUGTO
Let us know if you have any issues with traction control running the square setup. Seems like some guys do, I did on my 2000 FRC, and some don't. Thanks!
I have read about the issues some people have. I will be sure to report my findings.
Originally Posted by nsogiba
Nice updates. Those couplers don't look bad at all (no cracks), I probably would have run them as is.
You should really insulate the clutch line (both from the slave to quick connect and quick connect to the master). Something like this works awesome:
I was hoping someone would have something similar to that sheath idea. I will definitely let you know what I find.
In other news, these tires seem huge. Showed up this morning.
Think twice about solid couplers even just the rear. The harmonics can kill the Trans/Diff.
GM put this harmonic absorber there for a reason and that's with factory rubber couplers. All I'm saying is to research the topic. Lots of reading out there.
Think twice about solid couplers even just the rear. The harmonics can kill the Trans/Diff.
GM put this harmonic absorber there for a reason and that's with factory rubber couplers. All I'm saying is to research the topic. Lots of reading out there.
I would think solid couplers would only be needed for a dedicated 1/4 mile car making big power. Can't see a reason to run them on a street/hpde car.
I'm sorry I didn't state this yet. I already had the torque tube rebuilt. I drove it to RPM and had them do the work. I got all OEM stuff per their recommendation. They are an awesome group of guys over there and have taken care of me twice now. I would recommend them to anyone and when its time for differential rebuild, they will be my first call. I can drive to them also so that is nice for me.
The reason I wanted Aluminum couplers was because I could machine them at work for super cheap. I still may throw them in next year or something. I'm not too worried about harmonics in the drive train or extra NVH. Lots of people run them, I have researched it alot. The thing with Aluminum couplers that scares me a little is the loss of shock absorption from the rubber OEM's. I feel like that could stress the trans and diff quite a bit, which is part of the reason for going with a DTE brace this year. And some lessons you just gotta learn the hard way as dumb as that sounds.
AMT motorsport has responded already which shows good customer service and their kit looks really nice to me. I like how its less stuff to carry around without all the plates, nice hardware, and its made in the USA with US sourced materials. That will most likely be my choice for next purchase. Then catch can and DTE brace.
Is anyone running a SPEC brand clutch? My car has really delayed shifts at high rpm, I was thinking of maybe doing a TICK master cylinder since all the reviews are good, but I've also heard that The SPEC brand clutch can cause issues with that. Any input on either of these products?
Took the TT to work today to break it down, broke it off the Trans on my lunch break. @70k miles the couplers looked like yours. Good. Put back together.
If I needed couplers you couldn't give me poly couplers FREE and pay me to put them in. They come apart. It would've been GM ordered only.
I would throw the remote bleeder on for the slave cylinder while you got it apart, I put one on mine when I put the new slave in this summer with the trans rebuild. I have never bled this system the factory way, but it looks like a pain. lol
I'm sorry I didn't state this yet. I already had the torque tube rebuilt. I drove it to RPM and had them do the work. I got all OEM stuff per their recommendation. They are an awesome group of guys over there and have taken care of me twice now. I would recommend them to anyone and when its time for differential rebuild, they will be my first call. I can drive to them also so that is nice for me.
The reason I wanted Aluminum couplers was because I could machine them at work for super cheap. I still may throw them in next year or something. I'm not too worried about harmonics in the drive train or extra NVH. Lots of people run them, I have researched it alot. The thing with Aluminum couplers that scares me a little is the loss of shock absorption from the rubber OEM's. I feel like that could stress the trans and diff quite a bit, which is part of the reason for going with a DTE brace this year. And some lessons you just gotta learn the hard way as dumb as that sounds.
AMT motorsport has responded already which shows good customer service and their kit looks really nice to me. I like how its less stuff to carry around without all the plates, nice hardware, and its made in the USA with US sourced materials. That will most likely be my choice for next purchase. Then catch can and DTE brace.
Is anyone running a SPEC brand clutch? My car has really delayed shifts at high rpm, I was thinking of maybe doing a TICK master cylinder since all the reviews are good, but I've also heard that The SPEC brand clutch can cause issues with that. Any input on either of these products?
That's cool that you can make them yourself and all but I still don't see why you would want to use them, you didn't mention any hp mods so I assume you are near stock. Seems like you want to fix something that's not broken. Not only are they not needed, you seem to know they could cause you problems and possible driveline damage? If you were making big power and were worried about braking the stock rubber coupler I could see why you may want to run them. You must really enjoy pulling the drivetrain
That's cool that you can make them yourself and all but I still don't see why you would want to use them, you didn't mention any hp mods so I assume you are near stock. Seems like you want to fix something that's not broken. Not only are they not needed, you seem to know they could cause you problems and possible driveline damage? If you were making big power and were worried about braking the stock rubber coupler I could see why you may want to run them. You must really enjoy pulling the drive train
I didn't need them with my hp, your correct, I'm headers, no cats, Vararam so not big power. I more or less wanted it because it would cost me less than $100 which is significantly cheaper to me and I would never have to replace them again, plus its fun to fabricate your own stuff. I could damage the drive train with a bad launch also, I didn't buy a corvette to not beat the crap out of it so damage is acceptable and expected at some point. I have also heard both sides, sometimes people blame the couplers for damage, but lots of people run them and are fine. If people like me don't try off the wall things, you would never know the results.
And if I'm not pulling the drive train, I gotta find something else to do in the winter. lol
Last edited by Jeffdenney; 03-08-2017 at 09:51 PM.
I would throw the remote bleeder on for the slave cylinder while you got it apart, I put one on mine when I put the new slave in this summer with the trans rebuild. I have never bled this system the factory way, but it looks like a pain. lol
It's cheap and I got mine from TICK performance.
I agree, thanks for the heads up. That's part of my shopping list. The Ranger method doesn't compare to a remote bleeder.
03-04-2017, 02:49 PM
Winter build update and questions for the crew..
These really are great cars to work on and drive
