[QUOTE=Twin_Turbo]give him some slack...he just wants to build the best car he can and I can only applaud him for that....

 

Sure it'll be worth it but not in italy...italians must be the worst drivers out there, no one obeys the traffic rules..everyone drives like a complete nutter and they have a hand glued to the horn button I would not drive my vette there, in germany however..yes absolutely.

 

dont get a 68 frame.

 

I understand not wanting to put a cage in for looks and comfort, but what about a side bar? We have a decent amount of room in front of and in back of us, but nothing on the side. I would suggest a side bar for safety, if nothing else. Also, earlier this year we put a roll cage in a Neon we raced in SCCA. This was an earlier Neon without the full doors. The amount of stiffness added by the cage was unbelievable. I would seriously consider putting one in a car built for road course work. You could count pebbles with the Neon, and it had stock springs and shocks.

I would also suggest adding another laterial link in the rear so your not depending on a u-joint at speed. You lose a u-joint at triple digit speeds on a halfshaft, and someone else is going to be seeing some brains.

Other ideas:
-slower ratio steering
-steering damper

Good luck.
Ken

 

TY TT.

Full cage sounds mandantory at this point.

RZV's project has a subdued look to it from an engineering standpoint. Does it cover the necessary flex points though?

Current Frame Choices:

Fire Damaged 69 Stingray: 350/4speed car, will get completely gutted and body off. Parts will go on the board. Rust-Free

Multiple 71-72s with minor surface rust on frame, straight and true.

78-79s my pick of about 2 dozen. various rust stages

[B]80-82 [B] about 1 dozen. various rust stages.

I presume that selecting a manual transmission frame would be beneficial, however it sounds as if that will all get fabbed anyway.
does that make any difference?

I get a "body" with my choice of frames, The 71-72 has wider fender wells correct? If I can avoid adding flares later, all the better.

Rihwoods,
I haven't been through The Coffin in several years, is Clifford still the police chief? Great guy there!

 

Clifford Diamond...yep...they do a good job...
assistance with public events, such as the El Cajon Grand Prix Bike Race and the Mother Goose Parade.

Have you looked at Dick Guldstrands five point system for C3's ? If you are starting with a frame,might as well consider stuff that will keep your wheels on the ground...although the stock system provides plenty of suspension travel...

 

Why buy a used frame when you can buy a new one?

 

I have the 5 bar and love it! It is a major improvement, I feel like I control the car, not the other way around.

However if I were starting from scratch, I'd seriously consider the formentioned tube chassis.

~Jay

 

Full cage is a must. I'm not done with the cage I have gussets for all of the joints and have to run the tubes forward to the the frame horns with braces back to the door bar frame joint.and catch the door bar to the base of the frame kick up. I have to xbar the doors and run a diagonal from the driver head to the passenger frame rail. I'll add some dash to top loop braces annd triangulate the dash loop.

I studied a number of cage designs. This is not unlike the greenwood cars prior to the tube chassis.

I just got a bigger 210A Miller MIG welder and one of those fancy low RPM metal cutting saws to get back to work.

Just what I have tacked in to date has stiffend the frame very noticably.

I have my 6 link design just about ready to start cutting metal. I'm making it somewhat adjustabel.

Also consider drive shaft and halfshaft loops for saftey.

Again most of the engineering has been done before Re: Power Service manaual Corvette chassis prep section.

 

5 Link looks to be a ready to go package. How much adjustability in that thing?

Power Service book should arrive in a couple of days. I'll bury myself in that first, then maybe AUTOCAD up a couple of different designs.
Xbars on the doors. Any "real" cages still allow normal door function, or is the hop over the bar going to be something I'll get used to? I once acquired a 69 Z28 that had a hinge and a locking mount. It looked nice, but I seriously wonder how it would have held up if needed.

Why not new chassis?
Two things:
1) It will not really be a Corvette chassis.
2) Trying to keep overall budget under 40K if possible.

Also I'm not sure how the MVD will react to tube chassis when getting titled and registered. I have no experience with tube frames beyond back halfing several 1st gen Camaros, maybe its simply a matter of swap the tag over to the frame. LOL, Yea
right.

 

The Guldstrand 5-link is no way a bolt on deal, it requires some cutting of the frame, welding and few other mods to make it work.

What is so great about Corvette frames? IMO they are not that great at all. If the car building hobby would not be so restricted around where I live I would start with a aftermarket tube frame...

Street shop makes nice stock-look frames with C4 and 5 suspension...

 

I would go for a full tube frame in a heartbeat if it were allowed here but without the original frame there's no way I can get the car certified here each year...so...it means cutting up what I have. If you have a good straight frame it's not even that hard to make a nice jog and build a tube frame out of sware tubing sections, just a set of big I beams and lots of beams to hold the critical areas/points such as body mounts and suspension mounting points.

 

Both cars pictured below are for sale!! The yellow one is $28.5K it needs plumbing, wiring, a new seat and the front bumper mounted (I have a new Tru-Flex bumper, in the box). It comes with two motors, headers, and just about all the "hard parts" needed to assemble.....the Red/white one is WAAAAY out of your stated "budget" of $40K although it is a rocket ship.
...redvetracr

PS: e-mail direct if your a serious buyer.....redvetracr@msn.com

 

Same here. I'm currently doing my 2nd body off job and this time I have added all the gussets and will do a 4-point roll bar (no cage for this roadster... along with the JMRP front end and 5-link at the back it'll be interesting to do comparisons to my previous project...

 

Whoa, I never said bolt-on.

I stated "ready to go" as in Pre-Fabbed parts, set of instructions, where to weld, support from a Vendor and other customers here on the board, etc.

I have no qualms about cutting and welding. I just don't want to end up downtown next to a CNC machine instructioning Joe operator on how to program my parts into his machine. (It's happened before....it will happen again...) Biggest bonus is that others have already ran it and the feedback I've found has all been good so far.

Full tube has its perks, I'm not beyond that point yet. But...

I do think I will enjoy the engineering challenge to bring what started as an original 70s Vette chassis up to speed with the modern performance cars. Then again, the tube setup would bring it all together that much faster, and probably more stable in the end.

Anybody here ever titled a tube-frame car?

 

it will be a major headache trying to turn that odl chassis into something that will hopefully handle like you want it to..ask me how I know. Wrestling all this stuff into the original package is harder than building a complete clean sheet of paper frame from scratch...seriosuly.

 

I know that, I just wanted everyone else know that too. When I ordered mine, Bobby, the sales guy told me that no frame mods where needed to make it work. Man I would love to see Bobby to come down to my shop and help me put it on with out any modifications...

Have you thought about using C5 or C6 stuff? It's possible to make it work with our old frames...

 

SRIII ??

Based on what is necessary and the amount of fabrication involved, the pre-fab "ready-to-go" chassis package appears to be the right track. C4/C5 parts are readily available and fairly inexpensive if not purchased from over the parts counter at your local Chevy dealer.

I think I found an interesting series of posts on how to follow through from here.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...post1552171974

Well, now its down to body style.

I like 68-69 but the body on 70-72 appears to have mods to allow larger wheels/tires without flares. Hey Ray! Any perks to your year over the previous ones? Specifically the structural/body stuff, the interior will get gutted and fabbed.

I would have enjoyed the challenge (I say that now), but for a stable platform and ease of assembly, the SRIII looks to be the best bet.

Anyone here ever take an SRIII chassis based Vehicle out on a real track and run it through the paces?

 

You can download a copy at www.corvettefaq It isn't a crisp, clear copy (so obtaining a hard copy isn't a bad thing) but it is entirely readable. Go to the "Misc" section and look for "Chevy Power Book on Corvette".

 

Hot sidepies and climbing in over/through the cage keeps the non believers away...

a$$ cheeks on the bar and swing yourself in via the roof hoop. It gets easier after a bit... Oh yeah quick connect steering wheel is a must.

40K will get you the parts barely but no labor and no paint
Assuming no car to start with...

Body with mods to cover the tires you'll need $5k
New repro frame $4K
500-600 HP more would be better $8K
Tranny for the 200 MPH club $3K
Engine accessories/Clutch pressure plate ext $1.5K
drivetrain behind the the tranny to the wheels $2.5K
fuel system $1K
Guages $1K
cage/bracing (Asuning you have the fab tools) $1K
front brakes rear brakes rotors hubs lines master ect $2.5K
Steering complete/front suspension $ 3K
Interior seats fire supression harness nomex helmet $3K
Wiring plumbing/cooling $1.5K
Lexan/glass/bracing to keep it attached and out of your face $2K
Wheels Cheap but good to 200 $0.5K
Tires for 200 (non DOT) $0.5
Wheels Light alloy racing $2K
Things I forgot/problems customizations $5K

$47K no labor no paint no testing/dyno Thats assuming you have all the tools or access to them. Hmmm Ask me how I know... Sure you can do it cheaper. If you raced Motorcycles at the expert/semi-pro level you know what it takes to go fast and live. Saftey and Seat time....

You would be further ahead buying a well sorted SCCA Vintage racing corvette if you dont care about street legality

IMHO