C5 gto

[heinke]

Originally Posted by 123pugsy

Very cool.

Just checking if you know not to use Windex type cleaners on Plexi. It will look like a shattered glass eventually.

Thanks for the tip, I didn't know that. I do know I have a bottle of plastic cleaner/polisher stuff. Now I'll just need to remember to use it

[heinke]

The C5 GTO has been at the paint shop for a few months now so there hasn’t been much content for me to provide an update. I’ve been busy starting my next scratch built car project but that’s going to be the focus of a different build thread.

I decided to make new rings that secure/seal the headlight fairing covers in place. I had purchased a couple of these about 15 years ago when I started the GTO project but they turned out to be poor fitting and generally not up to the quality level I’m putting into this car. One was .063 in thickness and the other only .050. While the thicker one might hold well enough to keep a seal the thinner one seemed very flimsy. I decided to make the new ones from Al 3003 .090 to keep the flexing to a minimum and for consistent clamping all the way around the ring.

This is the first time I worked and shaped aluminum sheet this thick. My first impression came from cutting. I was able to cut with aviation snips but it took quite a bit of muscle and I raised a blister on my index finger in the process. As for shaping, it wasn’t all that different from shaping .063. It’s stiff enough that bending it over my thigh like I can with .063 didn’t work but bending it on the English wheel with a go-kart slick worked great.

I had cut the nose off my fiberglass GTO body buck just behind the headlights and it’s been collecting dust around the garage for a few years now. I was glad I had it as it was very useful for checking shaping progress and to use as a hammer form for fine tuning the edges. After raising the middle and bending on the English wheel, the edges needed to be shrunk. The edge at the back needed the most.



After a few minutes of shrinking on my TM power hammer, the fit was much better.



A little bit of fine tuning with a rubber hammer over the fiberglass buck had it fitting good.



Next I used the Plexiglas fairing lens that had previously been fitted to the headlight opening as a template to mark a cut line. This way I could get an consistent overlap for the ring over the car body. This is where the other rings really fell short. In some areas they barely covered the lens edge and in other areas they mostly overlapped on the body.

After cutting off the excess material, there’s a consistent 3/8” gap around the lens.



I wanted the ring to have a slight domed shape and I figured this would be easier to do before cutting out the middle. I added the doming by forming the edges over a bit using a flipper over a round edge die from my power hammer. Given the .090 material thickness, I’ll also probably fine tune the domed look by tapering the edges with a file during the finishing/polishing stage.

Now comes the harder part, cutting out the middle. I carefully marked a line ¾” from the edge along with little finger shapes to go around the mounting screws.



I setup my trusty “bench mounted” reciprocating saw for the cut operation. I find it easier to control the inevitable bounce by holding the material in my hands versus the actual saw. Also key is to lubricate the saw blade with WD-40 to minimize its grabbing effect on the aluminum.



After cutting and about an hour’s worth of filing to clean and straighten things up, a nice fairing ring emerges.



A test fit to the buck shows the ring retained its shape through all the cutting and filing.



I’m going to hold off on polishing/finishing these rings until I have the chance to test fit on the actual C5 GTO. I’m guessing that some fine tuning of screw holes will likely be necessary. With the new cleanly shaped rings it really accentuates the warping in the fairing lenses. I guess that means these need to be redone as well.

[68rustang]

I always enjoy the updates and hope to be able to see your car in person someday.

As an aside, these engines were featured in one of the recent Hot Rod magazines and I couldn't help but think of your car. Yes, they are ridiculous and very expensive but it is just the right amount of C5(LS) and GTO(v12)

[Gojeep]

Nice to see an update on this.