Gotcha

Sorry it took so long to get this posted.

I didn't do a very good job of getting all the pictures and steps documented. My digital camera died during the winter after taking really poor quality pictures for a while. So I have a mix of old camera, cell phone and new camera pics.

My car is an 08 Z51 coupe that was museum delivered in Sept 07. I planned on tubbing the car eventually but I also wanted to see how much wheel/tire I could fit with minimal modifications. So I bought a set of 08 take-off split spokes before I even had the car and sent the rears to weldcraft for widening. Here's the thread

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1860988

Although I was really happy with that setup I really wanted to get a 12" wide wheel on the back and Z06 Brakes / softer tires (non runflat). Winter was right around the corner so I decided to go ahead and tub it. I knew it would be a bit of a challenge because my 11" widened wheels had about zero clearance to the upper control arm with the suspension unloaded (car jacked up or airborne). And although Lingenfelter mini tubs the C6, they don't sell a kit for the C6 like they do for the C5.

So after a couple calls to Kevin at LPE I drove up there to do a little research and hopefully buy some parts. Kevin and a couple guys out in the shop were very helpful and I convinced them that I could do the job. Kevin photocopied some "shop notes" for me and sold me the parts that they use. There were a few items they didn't have in stock, but they got them in within a week or two. Kevin even delivered them to RPM Transmissions which is a lot closer to me than LPE and saved me shipping charges on these big items (rear custom carpet and inner fender liners).

The parts from LPE were:
Custom rear carpet by ACC
Left and Right fiberglass wheel tubs
LPE spec Koni Sport shocks
LPE shock brackets
Inner fender liners
Hardware Kit

OK, lets get started. The first thing I wanted to do was the shock brackets and shocks. The shock brackets raise the shocks up about 1 1/8" . This shortens the unloaded wheel travel which will give us clearance to the upper control arm.

Heres a picture of my control arm which was slightly clearanced for my widened wheels. This is where the wheel will want to hit the control arm.



Here is a picture of the shock brackets. Note how the stock ones are about 1" tall and the LPE ones are actually recessed for the shock. Stock bracket on left.



Here's the bracket installed and compared to stock.



The LPE brackets were not a direct fit to the upper shock mount on the frame. I had to enlarge the hole in the shock mount so the recessed part of the LPE bracket would fit in it and let the bracket sit flush to the mount. I repainted this area with black chassis paint before mounting the shocks.



Getting that done first helped me take some measurements and decide how much offset I could have and get some wheels ordered.

Next I got the car ready for some cutting to the factory wheel tubs. I covered the car in plastic and taped off the cabin from the trunk area.



Heres the drivers side after being cut



I did the cutting with a dremel tool and extension wand with a diamond cutting wheel that I got from Lowes. Note the fiberglass LPE tub piece.



The factory cutout pieces



The LPE tubs were bonded and riveted to the factory trunk tub with Duramix, good stuff.



Heres the LPE tubs bonded. I used some duramix to build up the pads for the removable top storage brackets, they were a little narrow.




I then used brush-on Herculiner truck bed coating on both sides of the LPE tubs. 2 coats each side. I then used Dynamat Extreme in the whole trunk followed by the Exotic Vette insulation kit in the trunk and front of the car.



I then put down a 1/2" thick cool-it mat before laying the carpet. The carpet came out better than shown in this picture. It was pretty creased up from the box it came in, needed to get the car out in the sun a couple times to straighten it out.




Heres one of my new wheels, CCW C140's, being mocked up with Z06 brakes. I had the calipers powdercoated by Corvette Pilot Mike.



I was worried the DBA rotor color would clash with the wheel color I was going to go with. So I had the rotors ceramic coated black. I later sanded most of the coating off the braking surface before driving the car.



I had the wheels powdercoated with Tiger Drylac Champagne 304 metallic. I was shooting for something close to the magnesium wheel color on the C5. I always liked the look of that color wheel with the cashmere interior color. To give the wheels a special touch I CNC machined the CCW centers to accept the factory C6 logo from an 08 center cap.



I went with Michelin PS2's 275/35-18 and 345/30-19 Almost 50" of total combined treadwidth



I added the white face gauges from Pipedreams and used a 2" hole saw on the dash for an Aeroforce Intercepter scan Gauge.




And finally some finished photos













I'm planning on taking the wheels off and painting the inner barrel of the wheels flat black. Having the wheels such a light color makes brake dust and dirt pretty visible on the inside of the wheel and I think the black will set off the outer wheel color some.

Engine work is next. I've got a custom ground Comp cam on the way and just got the Yella Terra LS3 ultralite rocker arms and new PAC springs and titanium retainers...Waiting patiently for LS9 supercharger kit...

NYC6

Well Done!

QuikZilver

Sweet!!!

06.Z51.MontRed.Vert

Wow, you really are a craftsman!! I wish I had the stones to take on a project like that. That looks fantastic from the back, really looks like a "supercar" with all that meat showing. I would so much prefer this than a widebody kit. Excellent job, congrats!!

PowerLabs

Amazing! How is traction now? Must be out of this world... Does it tramline much?

pwoolford

Damn good work! That is just incredible looking.

Now the question is how does it hook? Is the LS3 still stock and can you roll all the way into the throttle in 1st gear and hook? I would think if you got those tires hot you would find any driveline weak links!

Gotcha

Thanks for the compliments.

Traction is very good, quite a bit better than the 325 ZO6 tires I had. I cant get a real aggressive launch to stick (on a slick track at test and tune night), but with a mild launch I can roll into the throttle pretty quickly to wot in 1st gear.


I'm especially impressed with ride and handling of the shocks and tires. Very smooth and supple yet handles like its on rails.

97C5ENVY

Looks great!

dkrhardy

Very impressive! I am not a big fan of wide fender kits and YOU have done a nice piece of work to fit large wheels and tires without using a kit.

glennhl

Fantastic job!!!!! Love the look and I'm betting you love the handling.

Tony B4

Looks GREAT!

NEV3R L8

That looks badass. What was the total price of the doing the minitub?

knkali

Gotcha= "mod god" if that moniker is offensive in any way then how about the "mod master"

MHL0015

That looks great!!

Wayne O

Good post and good on you for tubbing your wheel wells!

My friend has a highly modified C6 with tubbed wheel wells. I really debated whether I should tub my wheel wells. I was all ready to go....I had the instructions and talked with LPE a couple times and then I decided to wait because of the changed geometry of the dampers. When I finally decide to abandon the F55 suspension for coil-overs, then I may tub the wheel wells. I've got a decent 'interim' track solution but there's just no getting around the fact that tubbing the wheel wells is the way to go.

VET4LES

Good job and looks great.

bosco 08

wow, outstanding.

Gotcha

I want to thank forum member scottycards for buying my widened stock rims and what really makes me happy is seeing them put to good use



Note speed indicator at 165 mph

Mike V.

Exceptional project in both concept & execution! Enjoy, & keep up posted on the engine mods.

ILLUSHN

Excellent work!

I love lots of tire sitting inside the stock body lines!