Update: See post #36.

I've been doing some under-hood renovation lately, and the next thing I'm focused on is the air-pump. I've searched the threads for removing this thing and I came to the conclusion that I didn't like any of the available replacement brackets. Luckily, I work at a machine shop.
So, I did some measuring and figuring and a little dab of CAD work to come up with this. The bolts were just used to hold it all together while I was powder coating. Maybe I should have wiped it off a little more before I took good pics of it? What do you all think?

 

Very Nice, now I want one.. Nice work.

 

Why not just buy a S10 idler pulley and bolt in place of your smog pump? The 4.3 has the same size smog pump as a C4, just saying a lot less work.

 

Don't you have some tires to paint, or some more stupid threads to start
To the OP. Very nice work. It came out fantastic

 

Sure I can dedicate some for you. Pick a topic!

 

Because that would lack style, fabrication, craftsmanship, and imagination. I bet this guy could customize the interior of a vette with some class!

We'll leave the salvage parts, 30k mile oil changes, flashing vanity lights, and G.I. Joe interiors to the kids in the forum. (just sayin')

Nice work Cadwiz. It will interesting to see how it looks in your vette!

 

Nice. Have you considered making them for sale? If so, how much.

A side note for jeffp1167: you are not making friends very fast.

 

I think its really impressive.. It looks great from a design perspective.

You should do a run of 10 or 20 and sell them..
(after demonstrated success in your car of course)

Back when I had my '89 I searched high a low for a good solution and bought this one for $80 used:



It didn't look 'bad' but yours looks better..
I hope your pulley mount is stout enough~

 

Oddly enough, I think the pulley might be for an S10. But, I'm not quite sure how I should just bolt it in place of my smog pump. Perhaps some sort of machined aluminum bracket? I might even be able to powder coat it to make it look nice.

Thanks for all the kind words from everyone else. I guess I could start making then to sell, but I would need to get a vendor account first. As far as cost, what would you all say it is worth? I know I don't care for the look of the 2-bar system that runs around $150.

Yeah, I think it should be good. Going to be all grade 8 bolts and the bracket is 6061 T6. I would absolutely run it for a while before I ever thought of selling one.

 

I would find this a tough question/decision myself. For small-time sales, word-of-mouth may work and/or be appropriate. As an example, I know of a Canadian CF guy who makes and INFORMALLY sells his own CAD version of an AIR delete. But, his is rediculously priced and his personality sticks. (I wouldn't trust him with my money -- or anything else.)

I also know of a tuner on this forum who's also not a vendor but gets mentioned quite oftened. He makes a lot of people happy (though we didn't see eye-to-eye). Should he be a "vendor"? If it's not out-right advertising, I'm going to lean to saying no. Precedent point to an occasional sale/service as acceptable. I think you would be included in that category (unless you hit the bigtime!) LOL

Price is a big issue too. The requirement of a vendor license would affter that. The quality of parts would too. One thing I've noticed is the use of cheaper, plastic pulleys on all/most kits. But, I have seen alum/steel pulleys with replaceable bearings. That could be a bonus (and require more cost).

You're right in that most (if not all US-made) kits sell in the $149 range. Obviously, being able to beat that helps. Maybe you're design would be received better? You'll just have to play it by ear.

I certainly think an experimental, small-time project like this would deserve some latitude from the admins until you find you've got yourself a hit on your hands.

 

We also have a pretty decent sized CNC lathe, so aluminum pulleys wouldn't be too difficult to spit out once they were programmed. I have plenty of bearing suppliers to choose from, so finding one shouldn't be a problem. I should get a decent price if I buy a few at a time. I haven't added up time and materials yet, but he cool factor has to come into play a little. I mean, the others I've seen could be made in an hour our so if you know your way around a tape, band saw, and drill press.

So, what would be a fair price? I would think it could fetch at least $200 with an aluminum pulley, but that is just me.

 

Damn Canadians. I guess it must be our high dollar Greg

I'd say you'd be close

 

Maybe you should consider a poll (or at least ask) about the choice between price and quality. I think you need to figure out whether price is most important (as I would guess).

OTOH, having options might be good too....For example, I bought a TPIS unit but had to wait several months for a new batch to be made. At that point, they were able to pull one out and refrain from anodizing it. In my case, I wanted polished (which no one had).

Powdercoated, polished, natural, painted????
Plastic or metal pulley (with replaceable bearing)???
Zinc vs Stage 8 bolts?
Cheap and fast vs HQ.....

Something like the choices above.


BTW...Another option that I remember people liking was a cutout of a bowtie...or maybe it was cross-flags....Other ideas would be creative/unique.

 

All very good points. Most are depending on what it would cost me to get done (other than powder coating), as I don't polish, anodize, supply bolts or bearings. Figuring out what to charge for those kinds of options tends to be a bit of a nightmare. However, it gives the buyer a lot more control over what they are getting for their money (which is a good thing). I just wanted to see what everyone thought of my work before I took any bigger steps. I guess I'll have to do a little math to see what ballpark I need to be in before I start swinging for the fence.

On a side note. I don't know about using trademarked graphics, may tend to attract unwanted attention. Wouldn't be too hard to personalize them or something along those lines.

Thanks again for all the input/ideas.

 

Nice work

 

I'd try to design and offer two different versions. An all aluminum version styled similar to your original post with choices in colors or finish, could easily fetch the 160$-200$ that most AIR-pump delete bracket makers charge.

A second version could be more along the lines of a budget option. Something sub 100$ with shipping. You could make it two part construction with a polymer pulley, something similar to

http://www.zip-corvette.com/ProductD...L2-SR&CTitle=&

Make sure to withold custom colors or finishes on the budget version

By offering these two versions you could completely dominate this niche market!

 

looks nice!

 

Thanks.

I think the second version would be in direct competition with the registered forum vendors and not really what I was trying to accomplish. I wanted something that looked more like it should be there. In my opinion, the other ones look like a temporary fix waiting on something better.

Thanks! Can I put you down for 10?

 

Nice piece of work.

 

Nice work! I'm in for one!!!