Sue's 59 Corvette project....

[TrifiveRichard]

Cool Richard, I'm amazed at how much progress you've made in just a little over a year, even with some help. That would take me 5 years to do. LOL! Nice work.

Have fun in Granby!!

thanks Laszlo. I don’t think I have as many irons in the fire as you do, and I just keep at it! Lol

[TrifiveRichard]

Safe travels Richard and happy holidays with your family. We'll all sit tight and watch your restomod corvette for ya while your gone. Lock up that garage!

Thanks, Paul, same you and your family. We’ll get back at it after the holidays!

[TrifiveRichard]

Turns out there are two mods required using the new valve/coil covers. The PCV lines were previously identified, but the dipstick tube mount is also different.

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The factory valve cover casting has a boss for the tube mounting tab, but the billet covers don't. So, with a little bit of aluminum and mill time, a bracket was machined. The bracket mounts to the nearest value cover bolt and provides the boss for the dipstick tube. One more detail done.

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[55 Rescue Dog]

Looks great! I would love to put some covers on my LS sometime after I get my car further along and I can't see the engine while driving it anyway, but it still bugs me.

[TrifiveRichard]

Looks great! I would love to put some covers on my LS sometime after I get my car further along and I can't see the engine while driving it anyway, but it still bugs me.

there are a number of styles available, RD. Choose yours!

[chevynut]

Hate to say it but those exhaust manifold covers look like someone made them with a hammer . Surprised GM didn't do a better job of forming them..... I guess they work though.
Are you planning to put headers on it?

[TrifiveRichard]

Agree, they aren’t the best looking. I do plan on using them though, given I’ve mounted the ecu and fuel pomp controller to the engine side of the firewall. I don’t want to take a chance on a heat problem.

[55 Rescue Dog]

Once you get past how they look, I think the beauty is that they are actually functional as designed to keep the heat in the exhaust Plus they hide the rusty manifolds on daily drivers. Form follows function is what engineering is about I thought, and how pretty is second on the list.
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[TrifiveRichard]

For the corvette, keeping exhaust heat out is important to me. Maintainability is also right up there with functionality, often times, updates are needed, as most designs aren’t 100% the first release.

[TrifiveRichard]

Continuing to work off items before the body goes on for the last time, in this case the H-pipe mount.

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The bracket is made from 16 gauge steel and 3 exhaust clamps. The two 2 1/2" clamps hold the H-pipe. The 3" clamp mounts to the rear trans tail shaft, and the plate opposite end mounts to the transmission side of the rear trans mount. The exhaust pipes and mufflers aren't final, but used for fitting purposes. The exhaust system will be stainless steel. I haven't yet decided how the rear pipes will be run (over or under the center section).

The mounting approach anchors the exhaust solid to the trans, just ahead of the mufflers. As the engine/trans torques, the exhaust H-pipe will move with it, so the solid mount won't put stress on the pipes. It also reduces the potential for pipe rattles significantly. I first saw this approach on a 1970 Corvette I owned, and have used it on 5 other vehicles since. It really works well.

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Prior to the H-pipe mod, a change was made in mounting the trans crossmember to the chassis. The trans crossmember came with the chassis. There are three items that were changed. First, the crossmember was too short, resulting in the mounting holes in the frame angle iron close to the inside edge. Second, the ends were open, not boxed or supported, so the bolts would crush the crossmember end. Third, the motor angle was a little steeper than the rearend (ref. the frame). These items were addressed as seen in the pictures: a plug was inserted in the crossmember ends, and a mount was made that raised the trans a bit, and it also bolted to the crossmember in the narrower holes, while providing centered holes to bolt to the frame angle iron.

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On to the next items...