GT90 from ground up

[Des]

rohan
yes in the front, late model C4 88/89 not the ones mostly used for 40s.
rear C5s I have a 2003 rear end (pic attached)
These are a nice unit with robust alloy wishbones and uprights as well as CV joints.
Des

[raca]

... very interesting ! the rear end has every thing integrated in it like sway bar, dampers, spring (leaf spring that is) and... even the bloody transmission

another interesting fact is that it is very different form the C4 rear end, in that they made the half shafts a stressed member of the suspension, using it like upper wish bones so to speak

what transaxle will you be using with that corvette rear end ?????

[Des]

raca
There are upper wishbones, see pic
The driveshafts have no weight bearing function that I can see.
I believe the upper wishbones were attached to the case of the original Vette transaxle.
Jury is still out on my transaxle, may start with a s/h G50 or G50/52
would like a new Albins, price difference is significant however.
for info, the engine bay overall is 1120mm wide and 1600-1700mm long depending on where you measure at rear
Obviously there are going to be some restrictions in width around suspension

[raca]

i think my post was not so clear, i was saying the old C4 rear end used half shafts in a weight bearing way

and yes the upper wishbones are attached to the chassis of the car

[raca]

a few more question:

how do you plan on mating the transaxle to the rear suspension ?

I ask this because the C5 corvette uses a torque tube drive train which enables the gearbox to be placed between the rear wheels,

here is a pic:

[Mike Dozier]

Raca

I could be wrong...but I don't think Des is planning to mount the rear suspension
on the tranny....I assume it would be mounted on the tube frame.

MikeD

[Des]

rohan
consider yourself duly listed, sorry did not mention in earlier reply.

raca
sorry my bad I thought you meant it the other way around, I was not aware the C4 was this way, not that I really looked.
I am not a big fan of driveshafts being load bearing even though many designs have had good success eg the jags (it's just a me thing)
remember this is a mid engine, transaxle is mated directly to rear of engine and as such it sits between the rear wheels already.
transaxle will at most be supported at rear end directly by chassis subframe, at the front by the engine itself which is chassis supported on it's mounts.
driveshafts then will couple directly to transaxle with appropriate adapters.
wishbones will be attached to chassis subframe.
Des

[rohan]

Many thanks Des.
Rohan

[Des]

meshing finally comes to an end
angled fuel filler recesses in place in the arch, yet another "not straight" panel on this beast.
Some pics attached
To mark the milestone, I took a couple of small mpg clips panning down each side .
at this point they won't upload, not sure why as they are inside size limits.
I will upload to a website and link to them shortly
Des

[Richard O'Clery]

A great milestone, Des - well done! Looking forward to seeing the videos.

[MReid]

That is really coming together, Des, and looking good. What is the next step?

[rohan]

Originally Posted by Des

rohan
yes in the front, late model C4 88/89 not the ones mostly used for 40s.
rear C5s I have a 2003 rear end (pic attached)
These are a nice unit with robust alloy wishbones and uprights as well as CV joints.
Des

Des
Any reason for not using C5 front?
Rohan

[Des]

rohan
no technical reason, probably availability at the time
the front was decided on and obtained first
the C5 rear was chosen later as it fit with what I wanted

I need to solve some issues with the video clips as Windows media player is squishing them left to right
I will post as soon as I can resolve it

currently smoothing and filling all the jagged edges (won't miss them), then the skinning can begin
Des

[Des]

movie clip links
www.waugh.com.au/video/gt90/mov001.mpg
www.waugh.com.au/video/gt90/mov002.mpg
www.waugh.com.au/video/gt90/mov003.mpg
www.waugh.com.au/video/gt90/mov004.mpg
www.waugh.com.au/video/gt90/mov005.mpg
www.waugh.com.au/video/gt90/mov006.mpg

Apologies for quality, hope they work for you
As far as producing movies goes, I will stick to cars.
Anyway you should be able to get an idea of the beast

Mesh edge grinding/sanding done, filling next.
The real dust begins.

Des

[Russ]

Des, Forgive me for cracking the whip . . .havn't seen an update in a while

[Des]

russ
no need to apologise, a timely reminder
not much visually has been happening
been busy putting up some dust control sheets and filling and sanding edges where f/glass will be stopping at the edge.

some pics and a closeup pic of the effect on a sample test piece.

a good cleanup now and I get to play with the sticky stuff.

let me know if this is the sort of stuff you guys want me to post or not
Des

[Brett James-McCall]

Des,
Please post away, I am completely fascinated by this project and am loving seeing it from creation (and also how to do it).

Brett

[Keith 'Baron' Hardy]

Don't stop now!

It'd be like, like, like, no, I can't say it on here......

[Mark Clapp]

Des, post whatever you have. This project is fantastic. I've read where some people weren't so keen on the GT90. I doubt they have ever seen it in person, because if they could, they would understand why you are replicating it. And doing a super terrific job I'm glad to say.

[MReid]

You can never post too many pictures and updates! It is a wonderful project and I look forward to reading your updates.