Must be nice to be able to weld aluminum like that. I'm green with envy!

Brett :thumbs:

 

My friend built one of these in the mid-80's. I have been wanting one ever sense. :cheers:

 

Rolling Thunder: Thanks Dave, I'm looking forward seeing a project update from you soon :cheers:

79VetteMike: Thanks man, all you guys are already my friends, you've been so supportive through this project and I coudn't have done it with out you guys! Drop e a line when you are starting to this project, I can take you all the measurements, so it'll be easy for you to fabricate the parts! :cheers:

Crickett: Thanks :cheers:

74 vert: Thanks, I've done few "ball park" calculations and I'm hoping to see at least 300pound weight loss, maybe even more. :cheers:

Corey 68: Thanks man! :cheers:

81vette: Thanks man. Is the stock 81 rear bumber made out of aluminum? :cheers:

SmokedTires: :lol: Thanks Mike, you know I try. Ca't wait to see your car together with the new motor, it's gonna be :reddevil :cheers:

Eddie 70: Thanks Eddie, hopefully the maiden voyage will take place in two weeks time, next weekend we are going to fire it up. Stay tuned for some sound files soon. :cheers:

striker427: Thanks, did you know that you can get those headlight kits from another forum member called 69MyWay? :cheers:

FinnShark: Thanks Riku. Yes, I'll propably drop by at the Helsinki Show, looks like the show is turning into a HiFi/Tuning show.... :sad: Are you gonna go there? We'll meet up in the Tampere anyway. :cheers:

Mystery Machine: Thanks buddy, that colour of yours is :cool: :cheers:

'79ProwlerOrange: :lol: Actually it is powdercoated black now, I'm pretty sure that it would not pass the local safety inspection, so I had to have it disquised, I would have prefferd having polished it... :cheers:

Steve Adkins: Thanks Steve, guess you could say I'm hooked! Next thing will be carbon fibre :yesnod: Hood, Doors and dash, can you say winter project :lol: :cheers:

Flareside: Thanks Joe, and thanks for your help with the tranny the other day. I've been over protactive about the new paint. You should have seen me sweating last night when we put the motor back in. :lol: :cheers:

litevette: Thanks man. I wish I'd have the time to start making more of these, maybe next winter, if I can keep myself from starting another big project. What I could do is provide you guys the prints, so you could make your own. The front cross member, which also is a vacuum container is the heaviest bit and I believe Norval came up with a great idea how to make it lighter, he turned it into a Swiss Cheese. Now it don't hold the vacuum though. :cheers:

Lohkay: Actually I tested the headlights last night, and they worked like charm. I'd advice you to contact Chris McDonald (69MyWay) he will provide you the kit I'm using :cheers:

ZD75blue: Thanks man :bb When working with aluminum, one must always take the load under consideration, I would like to use even more aluminum in various places, but I've done the math and it would be too risky to go for aluminum everywhere. But like mentioned above, it will be much lighter than stock with the mods I've already done :cheers:

burners: Thanks man, how's the coil over kit coming along? The headlight kit is designed by a forum member called 69MyWay, he will be the guy to contact about the information about it. It is pretty much a bolt on job. :cheers:

kfede1: Thanks man. You are definately on the right track! Weight is :nono:
:lol: :cheers:

Budman78: Sounds like your friend is the true pioneer! Did he do any other cool aluminum bits he could share with us :cheers:

 

Quick Update: We just finished installing the engine and will put the headers and radiator in tomorrow, I think it should be ready to fire it up very soon... :yesnod:

 

I still have the vacuum operated head lights and I did away with the vacuum tube and run the lights directly off the motor without any problems. I swish cheesed by front tube and all the brackets.
My front tube lost 19 pounds after all the holes and acid dipping it. I then powder coated all brackets. Looks trick.
I am going to have to borrow a digital camera and post some pictures.
Nice job on the aluminum replacement.

 

if you do, please make sure you take shots of just about everything ;)

Jay, your stuff looks awesome as always
:thumbs:

 

:lol: Should have guessed. :cool:
where the pics of it coated?

 

Pictures, pictures, pictures and maybe even video clips! Groovy you are really teasing us... :jester

 

norvalwilhelm: Thanks Norval, can't wait to see pics of your install! :cheers:

Twin_Turbo: Thanks man :thumbs: :cheers:

'79ProwlerOrange: :lol: I should have a new update ready by the end of this week, I just finished installing the headlights and came inside to crab something to eat... :cheers:

FinnShark: Patience young Jedi! More pics and video clips to come :yesnod: :cheers:

 

Day-um, Jay, that is impressive.

I'm not sure how you are building these pieces, and I know nothing about metal fabrication myself, but if you are using CAD-CAM or other computerized/mechanized equipment, wouldn't it be easy to save the appropriate dimensions, and start a nice little side-line business cranking out aluminium Vette parts for C3'ers (like myself) who want to put our Vettes on a diet?

 

Jay,

The rear bumper in my 81' does appear to be aluminum. GM did put the 80-82 cars on a diet with the use of aluminum. The rear end housing and cover are are also made of aluminum.

mark

 

Jay Jay Jay you have way too much time on your hands. All this time/ money on this 79, your worse then me. :lol:

I'm buying you a plane ticket so you can come over here and do that elec. conversion to my 77.

David

 

Yes, 80-82 rear bumper/impact bar is aluminium.

 

Kevin Mason: Thanks Kevin, I'm using CAD for all the billet pieces we fabricate. These pieces in this topic however were just made from sheet aluminum to match the original measurements. I'm keeping all the drawings and measurement and I'm happy to share them with other forum members. It would be nice to do this for a living, but I've done my research and the market for this kinda parts is rather slim. Maybe one day :yesnod: :cheers:

81vette: Thanks for the info, I wish I'd known this 2 years ago! :cheers:

Cali,77,L-82: Thanks for the kind words David. ´The headlight kit is very much a bolt on job, you don't need me there to do it for you, however free trip to US would be very nice :lol: :cheers:

Twin_Turbo: Thanks for the info. Do happen to know how much the whole 80-82 rear bumber weights? Mine is 13pounds in total :cheers:

For those of you who have waited to see how the car looks with the full set of 20" AR TTIIs under it, I took some pics today and here's one for teaser:



Sorry about the crappy quality, I'm still waiting for my digi cam from my brother. I think the car is looking pretty nice, even now that I haven't lowered the rear yet! :cheers:


[Modified by groovyjay, 3:19 PM 4/15/2003]

 

Looking good Groovy! It must really great to finally see the car getting shape and see that all the spend money and time is well spent... :cheers: