Thread: C5 gto
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Old 08-03-2011, 02:35 PM
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heinke heinke is offline
MetalShaper of the Month Jan 2018
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Prescott, AZ
Posts: 487
Default Chassis Progress

As is the case I’m guessing with every hand/home built car, you make a lot of progress but it just doesn’t show it in pictures. I’ve been working steadily on the C5GTO project over the last few months (except for a bout with appendicitis and emergency surgery – another story altogether), but the pictures don’t really show much . I’ve been doing some engine work, painting, detailing and assembly. Not much of what I’ve been doing is “metal shaping” but hopefully you’ll find this stuff interesting.


The front and rear suspension are now done and assembled on car. It’s suspension from a 1998 C5 Corvette with coil-over shock conversion in place of leaf springs. The use of coil-over shocks enables me to set the ride height and coil pre-loads on each corner individually. I filed off the forging/casting parting lines, sandblasted and clear coated the aluminum A arms.












The 2004 Chevy LS6 engine is getting outfitted with an SOHC conversion in addition to a supercharger. With the engine accessories, supercharger and SOHC belts all fighting for the same space, it’s taken a bit or work to figure out positioning/routing on the front of the engine. I plan to metal shape some aluminum pieces to cover up all the electronics/coils that mount on top of the valve/cam covers.





The chassis is now “push-able” so I rolled it out of the garage for a picture. I sure like the look of it much better down on the ground instead of up on jack stands. The aluminum siding on the chassis is just to keep the weather/water out. It’s only visible through a couple of small side vents with the body in place.








And lastly, the engine compartment that is where I’ve recently been doing some metal shaping. I chose to use anodized aluminum sheet there so I had to be very careful not to scratch it during cutting, shaping, and mounting. All the chassis needs now is to put the engine in place so I can stop making those vroom, vroom noises with my lips and start making them with 5.7 supercharged liters of fun!!!
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