1988 Convertible for sunny day drives

[Tourmax]

Ah, this showed up today:

Corvette lower TPI intake.

Grabbed it for 50 bucks.

I wanted a manifold to weld, port and polish up that wasn’t the one on the car. That way the car srays in running shape until I’m ready to install the manifold and I can take as much time as I want polishing it.

Also allows me to go pretty heavy on the porting and if it gets messed up, I can toss it and only be out the 50 bucks and whatever time I woukd have into it.

Measured the ports and they come out to 1.70”, but if you go in just a little bit they neck doen to 1.40”. Plan is to open up the whole runner to 1.70”, maybe 1.80 or 1.90 with a little welding on the runner port roofs.

I plan to open up the port at the head transition as well. The manifold ports are smaller than the head ports and it makes a pretty sharp turn at the fuel injector bungs. Looks like I’ll have to weld to the runner tops and port them out from inside.

Once thats up to snuff, time to look at making bigger runners and sone upper plenum work.

Starting to look like the LT1 intake is going to go on the back burner...at least for a couple years. If I can get the TPI to 300-350 hp (crank, 250-300 RWHP) with some custom TPI fab, a cam and some tuning, the LT1 will probably never make it on the L98.

I really enjoy the way the TPI delivers power, but like everyoneelse, I just want more of it!

LOL!

 

[Tourmax]

Ah, ordered my TIG welder today!

As you may notice, it's not blue or red, but that also means it wasn't $5 grand to buy. Everlast actually gets decent reviews, both in use and durability.

It will do stick welding (I suck at stick) but it will also do AC and DC TIG.

DC TIG is good for steels (stainless especially) and the AC TIG is what you need for aluminum. You can do aluminum with a spoolgun and DC short circuit, but you don't get very good results, unless you're a pro welder tat is. I'm just a "hobbiest", so I need an AC TIG for aluminum as the AC wave form punches through aluminum surface corrosion and pushes it away from the puddle for solid welds. The foot peddle also helps, as I can use the higher amperages to punch through the aluminum corrosion and then back it down to the amps needed to keep the puddle fluid (aluminum needs power to punch throught and then you have to back it down or the parent material will turn to liquid). 250 amps is plenty to blow right into those cast aluminum manifolds. As a side bonus, this unit will go right down to 5 amps on AC TIG. That's basically low enough to weld soda cans together, should I ever have a need to weld pop cans together.But what it really means is there's no end of ducting and piping that I can now weld.

When It gets here, I'll have to build a welding cart for it. Nice easy warm up project for the TIG and me.

I can also start building the water cooler for it soI can plug right in once it gets here and start working on the TIG cart. I'll still need to grab some "consumables" (ie: tungsten electrodes, gas lenses, etc), but that's all stuff I can grab local and it's not expensive.

Luckily, I've already got a tank of Argon, so that's a big chunk of cash I don't have to put out right away. The tank is 500 bucks and it's 80 bucks a fill. You have a choice to rent or buy your tanks, but there's a 500 deposit if you rent and you still have a rental fee every month. It just made more sense to just pony up and buy my Ar/CO2 tank and my pure Ar tank.

Hmmmm, I guess I'm getting my xmas present early.....lol!

 

[Rotor57]

Congrats on your new Tool. A man of your ambitions and capacity can do anything with the right tools. I enjoy reading about your projects. Thanks for taking the time to do the interesting write ups. More importantly, THANK-YOU for your service in the Military for our country. Good luck with all your projects and have a long and healthy retirement.
Cheers

 

[Tourmax]

oh.... yeah.....that's what I'm talking about:

Went out today after it arrived and bought some 1/16 and 3/32 ceriated tungsten, some 1/16 and 3/32 er70S-2 filler rods, some 1/16 and 3/32 5356 aluminum rods and grabbed some assorted bit to help build my torch cooler.

This weekend will be mostly occupied with building a new cart for my new TIG.

AH, a Tig. So many more options for building stuff are now open to me.....

 

[Tourmax]

So I just had an unexpected insurance claim pay out. What's the first thing I do?

Why, spend some of course!

and:

Moates.net, apu1 chip programmer. Does emulation and real time tuning. The second pic is the ZIF adapter that goes into the ECM to allow you to use the 27sf512 chips without having to tear up your original memcal.

You do you data-logging run with the APU1 in place, then make your changes while the car is running, data-log and verify your run, then burn your chip directly off the APU1 and pop it into the car.

Super jammy setup for OBD1 GM vehicles.

 

[Tourmax]

So I've never made it a secret that the "breadbox/breadloaf" on the passenger side dash has been not much more of an eyesore in my opinion.

Looking at whats available in the aftermarket, I'm shocked by how much they want for a flat piece of plastic with a square hole in it (for the vent).

I just can't bring myself to spend 100+ bucks on a chunk of flat plastic I could make myself. I also want to put a limited size glovebox where the breadbox is. Something like this:

The only problem is; those have been out of production for years. Finding a used one is near impossible.

So what I'm going to do (once I get my TIG skills down a little better) is build one myself out of aluminum. Will be a decent bit of fabrication, but there isn't anything there that wouldn't be too hard to replicate with a little time and patience...It's all flat panels and square edges, pretty standard stuff.

 

[Darrin kirby]

Well, you seem to have blown away my thread about "stupid s**t previous owners did to my car", which I will eventually get back to!

Welcome to the fun! I haven't found anything quite this crazy with electrical, although my starter wire is hanging loose underneath the car. I also have issues with the power seats - the driver's seat kinda works but when I switch it to the passenger seat...it still controls the driver's seat. I'll be pulling the console out over the winter so I'll be digging around in there. The rest of the electronic stuff works perfectly, so far! Even the electronic A/C works fairly well.

Sounds like your previous owners were even more bonkers than mine. Congrats. Not sure what the "prize" is for that...

 

[Tourmax]

Well, sent an email to Moates and added their "switchable tunes" hardware to my order.

In a nutshell, it allows me to load up to 8 different calibrations on one chip and switch between them at will.

Why woudl you want this you might ask?

Well, one calibration can be bone stock, one can be optimized for HP, one can be optimized for 1/4 mile, one for autocross, one for MPG, etc....

 

[Tourmax]

I don’t know what it is about this car:

I often find myself just sitting and staring at it.

The funny thing is: I’ve always been a Ford guy. Every gm product I’ve ever owned, and I seriously mean EVERY GM product, has been nothing but a major PITA and a breakdown queen.

I’ve had faster cars, newer cars, better handling cars (my 83 Fox ticks off thise boxes right now), a couple “exotics”, a couple convertibles, and several other cars that will put this old Vette to shame any number of ways.

Yet.....there’s just something about it. I can’t put my finger on it.

Maybe it’s becuase it’s the first vette I’ve ever bought. Or maybe it’s just a nice, all around, summer cruiser.

I dunno. All I know is I’m never going to get enough practice with the TIG if I don’t stop staring at it everytime I go out in the garage or maybe I just have to put the car cover over it.

Doesn’t help that it was 17c and sunny yesterday and I got to take it out for a burn. Was sorely tempted to again today, but sunny, dry and -4c just didn’t appeal to me at all....lol!

 

[Rruuff Day]

I don’t know what it is about this car:

View attachment 34171

I often find myself just sitting and staring at it.

The funny thing is: I’ve always been a Ford guy. Every gm product I’ve ever owned, and I seriously mean EVERY GM product, has been nothing but a major PITA and a breakdown queen.

I’ve had faster cars, newer cars, better handling cars (my 83 Fox ticks off thise boxes right now), a couple “exotics”, a couple convertibles, and several other cars that will put this old Vette to shame any number of ways.

Yet.....there’s just something about it. I can’t put my finger on it.

Maybe it’s becuase it’s the first vette I’ve ever bought. Or maybe it’s just a nice, all around, summer cruiser.

I dunno. All I know is I’m never going to get enough practice with the TIG if I don’t stop staring at it everytime I go out in the garage or maybe I just have to put the car cover over it.

Doesn’t help that it was 17c and sunny yesterday and I got to take it out for a burn. Was sorely tempted to again today, but sunny, dry and -4c just didn’t appeal to me at all....lol!

We go through a psychological change once we own a Vette Tour... Some go through it even after their first drive in someone else's Vette... I still auto-grin every time I look at my car... which is a lot...

 

[12cents]

I even talk to mine when I am out in the garage.

 

[Rruuff Day]

I even talk to mine when I am out in the garage.

Yeah. Me too. Have coffee with her almost every morning...

 

[Tourmax]

I even talk to mine when I am out in the garage.

Oh, thats a given. For some reason, I’ve always “talked” with all my machines....

 

[Rruuff Day]

Oh, thats a given. For some reason, I’ve always “talked” with all my machines....

I talk to my plow truck too... usually when something breaks...

 

[Tourmax]

So I normally don't "name" my projects. I usually just call them by what they are (corvette, truck, etc) or maybe by the year if I have more than one.

But I think I'm going to name the Vette project.

I'd like to stay along the lines of the Corvette tendency to use "shark" names, but I don't want to copy something that has already been done. So Stingray, Mako, manta ray, etc are all off the table. There never was a C4 stingray, so hanging that name on it or sticking Stingray emblems on it just isn't going to cut it.

Looking at the other shake species, The names start to loose thier appeal: Great while, reef, blue tip, white tip, Tiger is OK, but has been used, Lemon, nurse, greenland, etc. Well those all suck.

With only one really viable choice (aggressive name, cool looking shark, etc) I settle on "Hammerhead".

It's a name that hasn't been used by Chevy (although you can find a few stillborn personal "hammerhead" projects on the web) so that's a plus. Hammerheads are fast (for a fish) and that big "bow plane" makes them freakishly maneuverable. Qualities My C4 with the Z52 package (for the most part) has, at least as far as it goes for a car.

When I stand in front of my C4, it kind of looks "hammerhead-y". It's wide, low, flat and comes to a tapered leading edge. Just like a Hammerhead's...errr, Head.

Hammerheads also have a favorite food: Rays. They hunt down and kill Stingrays:

They are pretty much singularly designed to be masterful Ray hunter/killers. If it's a C3 Stingray, yeah, that's my C4: hunt and kill. If it's one of the newer generation Rays, well, not much chance there.....as it sits right now.



The "Great Hammerhead" gets up to 20 feet, pretty close to the length of a C4. They top out at around 25 mph. Fast for a fish, not so much for a C4. LOL!

They're not particularly dangerous to humans, unless it's one of the larger species. Even then, humans pretty much aren't on the menu. They are described as "pugnacious and territorial"...perfect description for me and my C4!

I will want some side emblems and maybe something on the rear. If I was going to try and make a C4 Stingray "clone", easy peasy. You can buy stingray emblems off ebay for around 20 bucks. But a "Hammerhead" doesn't look anything like a Ray, or most other sharks for that matter. So I think I'll end up firing up the aluminum smelting furnace and do a couple castings.

Easy enough, I just have to do a little clay sculpting to make a positive for the sand mold and then do a pour. Since it's a flat back on the emblem, I don't even have to do a split mold, just make the impression in the sand and pour the molten Al. Lord knows I've got enough scrap aluminum laying around these days. Once done, it's be paint or chrome. Paint is obviously the least expensive and easiest, chrome no so much.....

I'm thinking something like one of these for the fenders above the "tuned port injection" lettering:

Kinda leaning towards this one for fenders:

And possibly something like this on the rear somewhere:

It's all just spitballing right now.

Thoughts?

 

[Zeeman28a]

Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust

"You can't improve on perfection." - Jeremy Clarkson The Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust (among other names) is a diesel-electric hybrid car that Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond made in the Electric Car Challenge in Series 14, Episode 2. It was built with the intention of making a...

topgear.fandom.com

Just thought I'd point that out. Sorry.

Great logos though.

 

[Tourmax]

Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust

"You can't improve on perfection." - Jeremy Clarkson The Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust (among other names) is a diesel-electric hybrid car that Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond made in the Electric Car Challenge in Series 14, Episode 2. It was built with the intention of making a...

topgear.fandom.com

Just thought I'd point that out. Sorry.

Great logos though.

Not a corvette, so not a problem.

 

[Tourmax]

Ran across this:

Why buy such an old print magazine? Well, look at the banner at the very top of the cover....

 

[Tourmax]

Well, that was unexpected.

Found a set of corvette script valve covers on ebay:

They were starting at 93 bucks, so I chucked a minimum bid on them and forgot about it.

Just got an email that I won. No other bidders.

So now I have a set of sbc covette finned valve covers. Those are C1/2 style, but I think they might be repo’s since they have a square bolt pattern instead of the early V8 staggered bolt holes. They were also listed as came off a 327.

The bolt holes are wrong (not center bolted) but there are a couple ways around that problem. I can either buy an adapter plate and bolt them down or I can rework them to just bolt to the 113 center bolt heads.

The vlavel covers will get a paint and polish and the engine bay should look something like this when done:

Sure, the script is from something like a C1/2, but it still looks damned sharp under that C4 hood and next to a highly polished TPI...

 

[Tourmax]

Xmas must be hitting the ebay sellers this year.

First, the covette script covers for 93 bucks, now an accepted offer for a 1988 owners manual. Was asking 60 bucks, I chucked in an offer of 20 bucks and they took it.

Sometimes, ebay is just beyond understanding....