FlyDoc

the plans are to put on belly pans, there is just too much under coating, and with belly pans I can smooth out the bottom and have them silver.

I did not have the third member or the half-shafts powder coated because they wanted almost $400, for the three pieces, so they are panted. I think it will be a good contrast, or there would be to much blue, can you guess what color the stripes will be on my white car?

lees02ws6

hmmmm not sure, blue?? I do like that color, a lot.

I had all the parts on my c4 irs powder coated a dull silver, except the brake calipers which were red, rotor hats and edge are black as are the sway bar, and end links. Total cost was $425. What did they charge you for the other parts total?

I polished the half shafts which took quite a while, and would not do it again. Probably would get them anodized.

FlyDoc

yes I agree I would not polish the 1/2 shafts unless it was a full show car (trailer queen).

On price you have to remember that I live on Plaint Oahu, with lots of tree hugger's, 2 shipping companies, and 2 powder coaters, The one that I did not use has had there quality for smaller jobs go down. I believe they do not want those jobs. which leads to how much can I charge and get away with it? This time around I had 17 pieces done and it was $395.82.

FlyDoc

in the time since the last update, I have just finished the fab work and cleaning up, under coating, and painting the rear of the car. I did remove the gas tank, that was to clean and Paint, which changed. I was going to put in a accesses door for the sending unit and shorten the lines so I would be able to get the thing out. But I have a external pump and decided that it would not be worth the effort. so the bottom for the tank got a cleaning and sanding then a shot of clear coat. and the tank straps got hit with some blue. I pulled of the off the strap padding so now I am going to use a bike inter tube for a narrow tire. had my son bring one home form sports authority (his job) i believe this give it a good look, with nice constant edges.

FlyDoc

some more photos

FlyDoc

As for the interior of the car I think it looks good also.
a little seam sealer, primer and paint goes a long ways.

FlyDoc

and one more of the interior.

FlyDoc

NOW this is what every on has been wanting to see including me.
so how much work am I going to have to make the rear seats fit.
















































none, the just fit right in, this took me by surprise. I had said before I was expecting to have to do some mod work to the uppers, but win I put them in they just fell in. where the upper lock for the fold downs is a little tight but that is nothing compared to what I was expecting.

FlyDoc

for the rear seats this is a close up of the leaching mechanism on the drives side, it is the tightest.

Project 3.4 Camaro

I'm surprised you're keeping the rear seats in it.

lees02ws6

I'm glad they fit, can't wait to see how the trim pieces fit.

scooter

iTrader: (11)

In this picture looks like you did a little mini tubbing like 1MeanZ did, was that necessary for tire width you are looking to run, or was it because of rust damage? Went back throught the thread quickly but I may have missed an explaination, if there was one, or maybe that was just necessary cutting patching for the whole deal

FlyDoc

did the mini tub for tire clearance. I have seen somewhere that about 285mm. I don't know if I can believe this. in this mini tub I only took it back to the "frame" and will have 2-3" clearance with 295's if my squash is working I think 1MeanZ said that he could get at least 325's in, and up to 345's.

so the short answer is to be able to big tries in.

FlyDoc

this what I got done over the weekend.
the deferential reassembled with all new bearings.
finished and installed the gas tank, undercoated the top side, striped, sanded and then cleared the bottom side and straps painted. for the new rubber I used a bicycle inter tube. and installed the bat wing. with the bat wing being mocked up with out the pinon being at correct angle, it has puts lots of pre-load on the support, I'm hoping that by adding an 1x2 the entire length will do the job.

screeminchicken

iTrader: (2)

I could not quite understand what you were typing.

Looks like
You got a 295mm tire in there (whats your final tire/rim size?)
1MeanZ got 325mm tire in there. (whats your final tire/rim size?)
Scooter, post up what tire/rim combo you are thinking ?

I am thinking of a 285/40/17 on a 17X9.5" wheel. I am still reaserching if I can go bigger on that rim. I have heard any where from 275/40/17 to 295/35/17.

From yor guys's experience in fitting it, what size you think will fit without mini-tubing?

Thanks

scooter

iTrader: (11)

I was already running a 275/40/17 on a 17x9.5, the Ronal R15 wheel, that fits with quite a bit of space. With a stock rear you are limited more by the bump stops and the LCA if I understand correctly. My friend //<86TA>\\ did special offset LCA's and like at least a 1" minitub on his car, but I dont remember what size tire he is running but I think he got his wheels widened in the back to 11" or something, maybe more. He posted all his work up here somewhere.


I am just asking about the work because I dont necessarily WANT to cut and paste up there like FlyDoc and 1MeanZ did, unless I absolutely have to. It seems these guys want to run as wide a tire as possible under there while I am going to do this mostly for the hell of it. I have a plan in place now and my "materials" and I just need to get to work, but I have possibly 3 other projects that will be going through my garage so I havent started anything yet. I will be able to do this for almost $0 if I can sell the Corvette I bought for parts. I will post progress and pictures when I am done, my approach will require less thought and fab skills (sort of) I will give out the details once I get started though.

1MeanZ

iTrader: (9)

I ran 11" wide tires with sumitomo 315s (more like 305s) on my stock rear. I had to hammer the lower front of each wheel well and they almost stuck out flush wiht the fender lips. It's as much tire as you can really fit on a stock configuration. I minitubbed to the frame rail and I'm tucking my 315s like 275s now. I could easily step up to a 12" rim and run a 335 wide tire and still keep it within a gently rolled fender lip. see the pix in my build thread for how far my 315s tuck in now...

scooter

iTrader: (11)

Any updates on how the interior panels fit with the slight tub you did?

FlyDoc

Here is the latest picks
The exhaust is done, true dual 3” with an X-pipe and glass pack type mufflers, the headers are long tube by stainless steel works for the 3rd gen. the e-break cables are in, as of now I think the rear-end is done I hope, we’ll see what ankle biters sneak out. During this “rear-end swap” lots of other things got thrown in to the project. Every thing from front suspension to interior mods. As of now I’m hoping in a week or two it will be driving and working out those bugs.

FlyDoc

more picks

lees02ws6

Planning to run a sway bar?

1MeanZ

iTrader: (9)

Overall this looks like a great job so far. I do like that you kept your rear seats. It's the cleanest job at keeping the rear seats I've seen yet. Fitting the rear plastics won't be any trouble, thats one of the easy parts of the job.

From what I can see one of our major differences is the batwing mounts. I've got a lot more steel and bracing in mine, but my car is seeing track time with slicks and high lateral loads. I purposely overbuilt mine so yours will likely be OK given your purpose with the car.

I'm curious to see how you manage the rear sway bar. Cutshaw got away with using the stock one but I don't think his setup has any bumpstops that I can see. My bumpstops are where the stock bar mounted, it was the only area that I could make them work. People will scoff at this, but if your car is lowered, you probably won't need a rear bar on the street with street tires. I drive mine on the street with no rear bar and the car is balanced nicely. The combination stiff springs, stiff shocks, low CG, lack of traction, and roll resistance inherent to the leaf spring work together to balance the car. If my car was strictly street duty, I wouldn't go to too much trouble to run one because frankly I'm not sure you'll notice it being gone.

lees02ws6

Koni bump stops on the shock shafts, that's what i'm doing. it's the only place I have for them. One thing I have noticed with out the bar on the rear is the car feels like it wanders a little, I am running 315's so that plays a role.

FlyDoc

for the steering stops I put tabs o n the spindles similar to what is on the stock spindles.

as for the rear sway bar I don't know what I'm going to do? the exhaust runs right where I was planning on putting it, and there is going to be an issue with the bump stops.

lees02ws6

Look at the pics of the way 1meanZ mounted his.

lees02ws6

Koni Bump Stops

FlyDoc

the patching of the rear plastic was simple, did it in two days.
I have driven it about 10 miles, with this short shake down run, the only thing I need to do is fix a break line, lower the front. I am going to cut the springs. I guess with 18" wheels, the Lbs that have been removed, the 2" drop spindles are a wash. the front of the car sets at 28" at the top of the wheel well.
the next two weeks will be busy, then I'm off to the main land tell mid Jan.

VAN454

Great write up. Now that you have had it done for a while, was it worth it? What would you do differently/better if you had to do it again?

FlyDoc

Yes it was worth it!
the motor that I have now is getting week and I have no mercy on it, so in turn the suspension is getting a full work out, I have no signs of any fatigue, SCCA starts in two weeks, we will see.

1st
I would have done it on a frame table, I have seen one out of 2x4's and plywood.

2nd
knowing where to cut, and what to totally remove & reinstall other than cutting and piecing back together. a. body supports that are on the side.
b. removed a larger section of the floor in one pice.

3rd
I would have taking the car to a frame shop and made sure it was square.
& used the 6 control points to ensure that it is in square. this way would have been easier and faster overall.

4th
I would have not used bolt on parts for the front-end. should of put on a C5/6 front suspension. $ for $ don't think think there would be a cost difference, better availability of after market parts for handling & brakes.

FlyDoc

I don't know for sure what I'm going to do for a sway bar.

1MeanZ

iTrader: (9)

Drive the car first and see if you even need one. On the street I don't need one at all. Street tires don't provide enough grip to need any additional rear roll stiffness that the leaf spring in the back does not already provide.

FlyDoc

the SCCA season starts the 15th so I will know in a few days if I need one.
the way I have planed is to use a blade type, in the cargo area.

1MeanZ

iTrader: (9)

I'll be interested to see how you run the linkage rods to attach that.

evo-offer

really good job. do you havbe any idea how long the project has taken? as the torque arm neassesary when swaping to the corvette rear axel?

FlyDoc

It looks like I can run the rods from the factory attachment points on the rear end and go straight up into the cabin of the car and have brakes (similar to dual shock mounts for a 4X4 the bolt on ones) that go down to the "frame" for the torsion bar to mount to.

got it? about as clear as mud.

FlyDoc

no you do not need a torque arm, BUT you must support the pinion. take a look at people that use a viper rear end. the viper has mounting points cast into the housing.
as for time to do?
that is up to you or your shop.
I would think a shop with a plan and 2 guys working on it should be able to do in it two weeks. that is 2guys working on nothing else and not having to wate for parts, paint, or powder coating.
it took me about 5 months to get it drivable, but I'm retired and got about 3-4 hr's -/+ work done a day, but I also have something going at the VA 2-3 days a week.
so time frame for you to do it your self is ???, just depends on your skills, tools, friends helping, friends holding you up, and space to work.
about 1hr a day was moving stuff out and back in before and after.
good luck
let us know if you need and help.

evo-offer

thanks. it help me a little more. have you taken the car to the track and test it or have you only useed it on the streets?

1MeanZ

iTrader: (9)

I have done a swap similar to FlyDoc's setup and I will say my car is very competent on a real road course with slicks. The track is fairly smooth, so I don't have a huge advantage over solid axle cars, but it does stay planted well over bumps and transitions fairly well, especially compared to the old solid axle. That doesn't mean that solid axle cars can't handle well or that IRS is a silver bullet. I'm still ironing out the minor adjustments, but I am posting lap times the same as other competent drivers in C5 Z06 corvettes and late model mustangs with similar sized or larger slicks. My car weighs 3300lbs without me in it and I'm a novice driver.

My point is not to bragg about my setup, but to illustrate that when executed properly, this swap can work with the best of them...

evo-offer

sounds that is a good swap for a street car and maybe take it out on the track sometimes.. Do you have a project thread on your build?

FlyDoc

the track is smother than the roads are here in Hawaii.
the roads here are are honorably! they just patch here and when they do repave a section they only put down about 1 1/2" of asphalt.
the ride and handling is outstanding!
I have been having brake issues, the rear calipers are leaking out the bleeder screws, I have change screws several times. with no luck!
so I welded a set of screw solid, this will only be a temp. fix. the owner of the vet that it came out of had a break failure casing an accident, along with stupidity! driving with break issues & trying to power slide a corner.

evo-offer

sounds like is gonna be worth the swap if i deside me to do it. is it a very big difference between dana 36 and 44? i saw that the price for a dana 44 is twice as much as a dana 36.

1MeanZ

iTrader: (9)

Yes I do, the link is below. My swap was approached from a strength and durability standpoint because the car is rigorously tracked. That is why my setup attaches to the roll bar etc.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...uspension.html

FlyDoc

It is like comparing a 10 bolt to a 12 bolt. but a Dana 44, is more comparable to a 9"

TheMonster

Is it really comparable to a 9"? I've been interested in a rear end swap for some time. I keep going back to the 9" but some fabrication, or expensive and only solves the strength issue. I'll be keeping my eye out for a D44, cheapest i've seen is $700. I might buy a cheap 3rd gen to mock up the fabrication needed.

Basically if it isn't car related delete it.