Fred,
Get hold of all the Corvette aftermarket vendor catalogs that you can. They are free and have excellent diagrams of the parts and how they fit. Very helpful in addition to the shop manual and assembly manuals and the price is right.
You will definitely want to get the factory Assembly Manual for your car which shows how every part was assembled originally. It is a valuable reference book. Also, consider the GM Service Manuals which cover every mechanical component on the vehicle and how to test and overhaul. They are like textbooks for the GM mechanics.
Kurt

 

I picked up an assembly manual and will give sections of it to the students to study. Thanks

 

 

Guys,
Dr. G generously sent the kids an engine for the Corvette and I have a new emergency brake handle set-up that they need and I will send on Monday.
We need to find a way to keep track of what is being sent so that we don't send duplicates and so we know what they need.
Any ideas on how to handle this???
Could the moderators maybe set something up for us in a seperate section of the forum so we could check in on progress and keep list of what is needed etc. Maybe the forum would want to "adopt" these kids and their project since with everyones outpouring thus far we sort of already have? Just thinking out loud,
Kurt

 

That's a good idea. Maybe I can start a new thread just for that. A sticky would be best, but I think those are reserved for special messages from the forum moderators themselves.If I'm wrong about this let me know. After a couple of the parts come in, I'll note them on another thread.There will also be more questions for the forum in the future as well.Perhaps a couple of polls as to how we should proceed on this car. I touched on this briefly, but it will become more specific as time goes by. For example, what color combo, which hood scoop, interior color, etc. Anyway, thanks again and God bless,
Fred

 

PHOTOS WE WANT MORE PROGRESS PHOTOS!!

 

 

Fred,
New Emergency Brake assembly went out to you today Priority Mail, you should receive in 2 days.
Kurt

 

Having just quit a similar club at my university, I think I have some advice that may help your project stay on track. I helped form a motorsports club with some other students and a very excited professor. I could go on for days about the situation, but the bottom line is all the students quit because the prof decided our input wasn't needed or appreciated; he only needed labor. This from a guy that didn't know what a 4.10 gear was, and was convinced his car has a 24V electrical system in it.

1. Make sure the students are driving this effort.
2. Be open about the project BUDGET. You can really help some of these kids out by focusing on the fact that there are real costs behind their decisions.
3. Don't go any further without you and the kids putting a plan in writing. Also, it's not good enough to make a plan, you should have reasoning behind the plan. These kids need to understand why you might put a manual in instead of an auto for example. They need to understand how each choice it tied to the finished product and other systems. This type of understanding will help them get jobs.
4. Don't be afraid to ask for assistance and freebies. Get the car somewhat presentable (not perfect, I mean no trash in the interior, maybe remove the ruined parts) and show it, or pictures, to businesses.
5. Maybe should have been said before, but make sure they also know how to be safe. Not only safety glasses, but things like wearing masks when sanding fiberglass, not getting brake fluid all over your skin, how to jack a car up and support it. Within the first week of our club, one kid managed to dent the frame and destroy a jack because he had no idea what he was doing.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the club.

Good luck.
Ken

 

Thanks, Ken, for your suggestions. This project will probably span this year into the next school year. Some of the students working on the car are seniors and will be gone when it is completed. Maybe we can take pics during alumni weekend? Anyway, thanks.

As for pics. My PC crashed last week because of a worm that wiped everything out. My youngest daughter opened a bad email and the rest is history.I am using a borrowed lap top to post this and do business, but I can't load my camera software on this computer.

David Golden,
Just picked up the short block yesterday. Thanks again. We'll pull it apart just after we finish putting a rear axle in a 2000 Astro, an easy job, but with students everything takes more time.God bless,
Fred

 

You GOT to check this custom vette installation in a 70 Cuda that's headed to the SEMA show in Nov. Your kids can see what CAN be done with the basic talents they are now learning if they apply it and build on it in the future! This thing is WILD! Enjoy...Glenn

 

That looks real clean and nice (and expensive!). It is good to see such workmanship and care. Thanks for the pics.

 

I saw somebody was asking about this thread, so I thought I'd bump it up to the top. Wihle I'm doing that.

WHat is the latest on the project?

 

one little suggestion from me based soley on opinion and cool factor: forget sideskirt ground effects and go for sidepipes
awesome project,thanks for keeping us updated!

 

The update is that we are trying to collect parts while we are also doing customer cars and building our paint booth. Serious work will start when we have moved a couple of cars from the shop and move the Vette from the wood shop to the auto shop. Then it will be tagging and bagging time, along with body stripping.

I am also hip with the sidepipe idea. It looks like we are going to make the car look like a Baldwin Motion Vette, and that, I believe, includes sidepipes.
Right now, the plan is to go back to the original brandshatch green, but with hood scoop, gold B/M stripes and medium saddle interior. Jay wants to donate a couple of medium saddle door panels, and that would be a great start.

 

I'm diggin' this topic! Keep us posted how the semester goes...

 

Hell, what kind of work is being done on the customer cars. This is a Corvette Forum, but we are all car guys. I wouldn't mind seeing pics of the other projects your doing. I love that younger guys/gals are getting into this sort of thing. I was one of the only kids I knew that was into it. And my local town didn't have an auto/tech/body class by the time I got there. Im 28 and most of my "car buddies" are 40-50-60 years old !

 

Here's a proactive pic of senior Japheth Pritchett getting the front end ready for a couple layers of 'glass. I told the guys that this is probably the worst part of the project. Itchy, itchy, itchy!

 

Since you asked, here's a picture of freshman James Brown (Yes, he feels good) repairing the hood of another project. Can anyone tell me what car it is off of? Hint:It's one of the quickest muscle cars ever built.

 

Hood Is Off of a GTX. I'd guess 1970.