Project No-Flight Update
November 2007
The weather has turned cold and the boat is put away for the season so it's time to get back to working on the Neverending Corvette Project. One thing I had been planning to try for months was to mold a carbon fiber top rail for the side windows to give them added stiffness when partially open. I was able to mold the carbon in place, using the window channels to hold the proper curvature. They were not vacuum bagged, just the pressure of the window channel held them tight enough. Once cured they were trimmed and attached to the Plexiglas using silicon. They way they were molded makes them a tight fit, so the silicon just keeps them from sliding off when the window is opened.
I also installed the fuel tank and the remainder of the fuel feed and return lines. Somehow I remembered the tank as being much easier to install when I was doing the test fitting. I did have to reroute one wiring bundle as I had put it on the inside of the frame rail and it took up enough space that the tank would not slip between the rails with it in place.
One unusual feature of the Mallory EFI pump is that it needs a vent line from the bottom of the impeller housing to the top of the tank to make sure no air gets trapped during prime and running. The vent is the small blue covered Kevlar line in the photo.
A last minute modification was to relocate the steering rack to correct a problem with the steering geometry in the original location. I originally had left the rack where the prior owner had installed it, just cleaning up the brackets. To get the correct alignment to the steering arms on the spindles it had to be moved back 1-1/4", which also required moving it up by 1/2". I was able to fabricate some 1/2" thick steel adapter plates to relocate the rack without having to weld on new mounts, which would have been difficult will all the other parts installed and the frame already painted.
The radiator was also installed and the wiring to the electric fan completed. Since there is no fan shroud with the electric fan the top radiator mounting bracket was relieved of the excess tab and the edge rolled over. With the original rack location the fan "just" cleared. With the relocated rack there is a little more room available to work on it. Next is to plumb the main coolant lines from the radiator to the motor, which will get done once the next CARE package from Jegs arrives.
