lapd tunnel plate
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 802
Likes: 0
From: Bueche Louisiana
lapd tunnel plate
did i miss something about the lapd plate they sell that would make it worth how much it costs
correct me if im wrong but its just a 1/4 inch piece of t6 aluminum with holes drilled in it right
cant really tell by the pic but does it have any weird bends are anything
i have a machine and fab shop right down the street from me which i know both the owner and a few coworkers well enough that if i give them a cardboard template they will make me one for free out of whatever i want (stainless aluminum even titanium)
just wondering if its worth the trouble of getting it made
im about to pull the h-pipe to gut the pup cats so while its off it wouldnt be nothing to make a template
what are the advantages of it
correct me if im wrong but its just a 1/4 inch piece of t6 aluminum with holes drilled in it right
cant really tell by the pic but does it have any weird bends are anything
i have a machine and fab shop right down the street from me which i know both the owner and a few coworkers well enough that if i give them a cardboard template they will make me one for free out of whatever i want (stainless aluminum even titanium)
just wondering if its worth the trouble of getting it made
im about to pull the h-pipe to gut the pup cats so while its off it wouldnt be nothing to make a template
what are the advantages of it
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 988
Likes: 4
From: Livermore CA
That fab shop sown the street would be giving you a $25 piece of aluminum plate and probably 2-4 hours of their time to cut the external shape correctly and drill the holes. That's a nice gift. The vendors of these plates like Elite Engr. waterjet cut them and have running orders of a couple dozen with their fabricators and material suppliers to keep costs down.
Supporting Vendor
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3,641
Likes: 7
From: Beautiful CO
St. jude Donor '14
Keep in mind, Elite Engineering along with the other vendors also offer a coating to reduce the amount of heat transfer from the exhaust pipes to the interior cabin.
Yes, you “could” make a template, cut, drill one for yourself. But unless you have the machining capabilities, it would be like painting your car with a paintbrush.
Yes, you “could” make a template, cut, drill one for yourself. But unless you have the machining capabilities, it would be like painting your car with a paintbrush.
Resident moron
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 4,746
Likes: 20
From: Assachusetts
There's nothing special about them at all. Just get the materials (cheap, $25-40), and cut it yourself or have the machine shop cut it. With the right tools it takes maybe...30 mins to cut and drill the plate. It's a very simple design.
I cut mine with an angle grinder because none of my other tools were powerful enough to cut through the aluminum. It was easy, but came out rough. Here's a pic before I smoothed down the edges:
http://fear.net/~dope/corvette/suspe...nnel_brace.jpg
Who cares how it looks, you have to disassemble part of the car just to see it! It's like buying a chrome crankshaft.
Dope
I cut mine with an angle grinder because none of my other tools were powerful enough to cut through the aluminum. It was easy, but came out rough. Here's a pic before I smoothed down the edges:
http://fear.net/~dope/corvette/suspe...nnel_brace.jpg
Who cares how it looks, you have to disassemble part of the car just to see it! It's like buying a chrome crankshaft.
Dope
Pro
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 528
Likes: 0
From: Thousand Oaks CA
Originally Posted by Elite Engineering
Keep in mind, Elite Engineering along with the other vendors also offer a coating to reduce the amount of heat transfer from the exhaust pipes to the interior cabin.
Yes, you “could” make a template, cut, drill one for yourself. But unless you have the machining capabilities, it would be like painting your car with a paintbrush.
Yes, you “could” make a template, cut, drill one for yourself. But unless you have the machining capabilities, it would be like painting your car with a paintbrush.
Coating makes a big difference in heat reduction.
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Drifting
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,589
Likes: 0
From: Fontana CA
Originally Posted by Vette 4 Fun
Coating makes a big difference in heat reduction.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,589
Likes: 0
From: Fontana CA
Originally Posted by gmosley
did i miss something about the lapd plate they sell that would make it worth how much it costs
correct me if im wrong but its just a 1/4 inch piece of t6 aluminum with holes drilled in it right
cant really tell by the pic but does it have any weird bends are anything
i have a machine and fab shop right down the street from me which i know both the owner and a few coworkers well enough that if i give them a cardboard template they will make me one for free out of whatever i want (stainless aluminum even titanium)
just wondering if its worth the trouble of getting it made
im about to pull the h-pipe to gut the pup cats so while its off it wouldnt be nothing to make a template
what are the advantages of it
correct me if im wrong but its just a 1/4 inch piece of t6 aluminum with holes drilled in it right
cant really tell by the pic but does it have any weird bends are anything
i have a machine and fab shop right down the street from me which i know both the owner and a few coworkers well enough that if i give them a cardboard template they will make me one for free out of whatever i want (stainless aluminum even titanium)
just wondering if its worth the trouble of getting it made
im about to pull the h-pipe to gut the pup cats so while its off it wouldnt be nothing to make a template
what are the advantages of it
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 7,393
Likes: 7
From: Los Angeles CA
Mark, let's not overreact. We can all agree that this product does not involve rocket science - it is a more substantial substitute for the GM part, which may or may not be made out of aluminum, or stainless, in varying thicknesses, and with or without coating. If someone has the time, skill and/or contacts to make it themselves, fine. If someone wants a coated stainless part, already made, to be purchased and installed by the vendor locally, then we know where they should go 
and if they want the aluminum part, and do not wish to make it themselves, we know where they can go, also, etc., etc. I did not view the original post on this thread as being offensive (being a lawyer I may just have developed a very thick skin). Happy Holidays, Mark, by the way
and if they want the aluminum part, and do not wish to make it themselves, we know where they can go, also, etc., etc. I did not view the original post on this thread as being offensive (being a lawyer I may just have developed a very thick skin). Happy Holidays, Mark, by the way
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 7,393
Likes: 7
From: Los Angeles CA
Originally Posted by mountainbiker2
"what are the advantages of it"
Only 1. Cooler interior.
Very rough ride after install.
Not any faster in corners. Not even 1 mph.
Only 1. Cooler interior.
Very rough ride after install.
Not any faster in corners. Not even 1 mph.
Last edited by allanlaw; Dec 16, 2004 at 07:13 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 24,333
Likes: 1
From: VA
St. Jude Donor '03-'11
Originally Posted by mountainbiker2
"what are the advantages of it"
Only 1. Cooler interior.
Very rough ride after install.
Not any faster in corners. Not even 1 mph.
Only 1. Cooler interior.
Very rough ride after install.
Not any faster in corners. Not even 1 mph.
I chose the Elite Engineering product. When the plates first came out, I thought the price was high enough that I could justify making for myself.
But at $130, you can't make one yourself (at least one with that level of finish).
...and, if you're making ONE, I'm gonna bet you can't do it in 30 minutes with hand tools
If I still had access to machining equipment, I'd do it myself just for the fun of it, but saving money wouldn't be the motivation when you can pick it up for $130
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 3,604
Likes: 396
From: Austin, TX
Originally Posted by gmosley
anyone know the difference in strenth between aluminium and titanium
obviously the titanium would be the lighter of the 2 but not sure of its strenth
obviously the titanium would be the lighter of the 2 but not sure of its strenth
A typical Al alloy, 6061-T6, has a yield of around 276MPa and a density of 2.7g/cc.
A typical Ti alloy, grade-5, has a yield of 880MPa (3.1X that of 6061-T6) and a density of 4.4g/cc. Note that its NOT lighter than Aluminum....but it is 60% the weight of steel or stainless steel.
Additionally the modulus of elasticity of the 6Al4V Ti alloy is 1.7X that of the 6061-T6 (i.e. much stiffer).
Because of these properties you could make a Ti plate that is thinner than the Al plate and have better stiffness and strength...but it would be quite pricey....would depend on the design as to whether it was actually lighter weight or not.
Last edited by SnowyATX; Dec 16, 2004 at 07:54 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,118
Likes: 2
Originally Posted by gmosley
anyone know the difference in strenth between aluminium and titanium
obviously the titanium would be the lighter of the 2 but not sure of its strenth
obviously the titanium would be the lighter of the 2 but not sure of its strenth
Last edited by HIGHRPM; Dec 16, 2004 at 07:48 PM.
Supporting Vendor
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 7,302
Likes: 1
From: Los Angeles, CA
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06
Originally Posted by gmosley
did i miss something about the lapd plate they sell that would make it worth how much it costs
correct me if im wrong but its just a 1/4 inch piece of t6 aluminum with holes drilled in it right
cant really tell by the pic but does it have any weird bends are anything
i have a machine and fab shop right down the street from me which i know both the owner and a few coworkers well enough that if i give them a cardboard template they will make me one for free out of whatever i want (stainless aluminum even titanium)
just wondering if its worth the trouble of getting it made
im about to pull the h-pipe to gut the pup cats so while its off it wouldnt be nothing to make a template
what are the advantages of it
correct me if im wrong but its just a 1/4 inch piece of t6 aluminum with holes drilled in it right
cant really tell by the pic but does it have any weird bends are anything
i have a machine and fab shop right down the street from me which i know both the owner and a few coworkers well enough that if i give them a cardboard template they will make me one for free out of whatever i want (stainless aluminum even titanium)
just wondering if its worth the trouble of getting it made
im about to pull the h-pipe to gut the pup cats so while its off it wouldnt be nothing to make a template
what are the advantages of it
It is really up to you. If you feel that you can make a quality plate like what we offer for less, go right ahead. There is nothing wrong with that. If you would like to purchase a plate and simply bolt in on without the headaches of doing it yourself which most forum members would probably rather do, we offer two versions of the tunnel plates.
We did what we could to drop the pricing of our plates. Our 1/4" black ceramic coated tunnel plate is now: $199.95 and our 3/8" black ceramic coated race plate is: $275.00 which is worth it for those C5 and C6 owners that want the ultimate in chassis stiffness and road holding characteristics.
You can see them both on our site under Exterior Accessories under sub-section Protection and scroll to the bottom.
Thanks!
Shawn
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 802
Likes: 0
From: Bueche Louisiana
man
ok i can see where maybe someone could get the idea of the post being negative the main thing i was wondering is the bends
like i said i can get the plate made for FREE
out of whatever matierial i want just wanting to know what everyone else would make it from like i said FREE matierials cost me nothing machining costs me nothing
have any size thickness in just about any alloy you could name
this is a machine shop that specializes in building exotic metal fabrication for chemical plants and what not
they have about 4 waterjets and numerous cnc machines all i have to do is give the man what i want made and thats it
no cost nothing
seems like everyone is on edge around here
must be the stress of Christmas
oh well like i said what would you get if you had those options
im thinking the thinner titanium would be best but dont know
like i said i can get the plate made for FREE
out of whatever matierial i want just wanting to know what everyone else would make it from like i said FREE matierials cost me nothing machining costs me nothing
have any size thickness in just about any alloy you could name
this is a machine shop that specializes in building exotic metal fabrication for chemical plants and what not
they have about 4 waterjets and numerous cnc machines all i have to do is give the man what i want made and thats it
no cost nothing
seems like everyone is on edge around here
must be the stress of Christmas
oh well like i said what would you get if you had those options
im thinking the thinner titanium would be best but dont know
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,589
Likes: 0
From: Fontana CA
Originally Posted by allanlaw
Mark, let's not overreact. We can all agree that this product does not involve rocket science - it is a more substantial substitute for the GM part, which may or may not be made out of aluminum, or stainless, in varying thicknesses, and with or without coating. If someone has the time, skill and/or contacts to make it themselves, fine. If someone wants a coated stainless part, already made, to be purchased and installed by the vendor locally, then we know where they should go and if they want the aluminum part, and do not wish to make it themselves, we know where they can go, also, etc., etc. I did not view the original post on this thread as being offensive (being a lawyer I may just have developed a very thick skin). Happy Holidays, Mark, by the way
and if they want the aluminum part, and do not wish to make it themselves, we know where they can go, also, etc., etc. I did not view the original post on this thread as being offensive (being a lawyer I may just have developed a very thick skin). Happy Holidays, Mark, by the way Any takers at $500 a plate??????
Last edited by 30yeardream; Dec 16, 2004 at 09:18 PM.