Long overdue update. I've kinda lost motivation to work on the car, but I'm still trying to get things progressing forward. There is some small stuff here and there thats not really important, so I'll skip some stuff and hit the major things. It looks like I left off with the fenders and front end close outs. Well, the fenders still aren't done. Long story short, I'm waiting on a guy to model them in CAD and then another guy to 3D print them for me as I don't have a big enough printer. More on that to come.
Lets start with the exhaust. I had a set of 2" headers from a well known company. Turns out they wern't even close to fitting even though they were for a Corvette chassis. I cut them up and turned them into a set of Tri-Y headers. I ran full 3" to the back with 2 X-pipes and a set of cut outs. The muffler is a Holley part that a buddy that worked for their technical team was able to get me. Its an internal crossover muffler used on the 6th gen Camaro systems they sell. The cutouts skip the muffler at the back similar to C6, and C7 Corvettes as well as 6th gen Camaros and CTS-V's work. Its all vacuum operated and I'll have a controller that opens and closes them based on throttle % and RPM as well as a manual override for full open and closed. I used Sendcutsend to laser cut out exhaust tags with my cars name and logo that also reinforce the X-pipe. Also as you can see, the tail panel has been cut out for the future home of the exhaust tips.
**Its too big of pain in the ass to put them in order, sorry**
Exhaust 98% done I started roughing in the defuser in foam. This will eventually be made out of carbon fiber.
The bottom of the hood is also 95% done
I cut up some very nice and expensive carbon fiber A-pillar moldings. After foaming and shaping to fit my dash everything was fiberglassed. The foam was cut out from the back side and then everything was body worked and primed. I don't know if I'll warp them in leather or paint them yet.
At this point the shop I was working for moved into a new shop. With that we got our mill and lathe running. Knowing I wasn't going to stay working there for too much longer I knocked out as much machine work as I had/needed. I made bushings for the core support, lift pucks, cable adapters for the doors. The throttle pedal to match the rest of the Corvette pedals, but without the crappy wobble that they are known for. Most importantly I machined a ton of stainless bolts and whats a cool looking bolt without an awesome moto inspired aluminum washer? 1/4", 5/16", and 3/8" along with some metric so the engine stuff matches. I also machined threaded bungs for tow hooks for track days that are easily removable.
I also finished my engine and mounted the mirrors.
Oh, and the supercharger received some CNC race porting just to keep things spicy.
The mock up lower radiator mounts I finally got around to making out of aluminum and getting them finished.
At this point I went to work for another shop that supports my ideas instead of telling me that most places don't do what I have in mind. Thats 3D printing. I spent a bunch of money and bought a new laptop, 3D printer setup, 3D scanner, and CAD software and then took the youtube crash corses on how to do it all. The second car part I made was a mount for my BMW soft close trunk latch, which I retro fitted into my car.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
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