• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

427 engine (part 2) - RHS block

coating1.jpg

Techline ceramic coatings. i'm fairly impressed with them, they are more of a flat/satin finish instead of the semi-gloss/gloss finish i normally see. IMHO i like it better that way.

Rich, i welded completely around your tips since they were poorly spot welded in 2-3 places and showed signs of exhaust leakage. my welds aren't the prettiest in the world but they definitely aren't the worst, i media blasted everything except the SS tips that i made sure were completely taped off, coated over the new welds and up onto the tips a little bit, inside each pipe as far as the coating would reach when spraying it, i did inside the exhaust and compressor housings as you asked, on the compressor housing i did not coat the part that is directly where the impeller is housed, i made sure it was all taped up. i still have to coat 2 more pipes for you but i'll do that in the morning and get them to Aaron probably mid morning. he had 1 more pipe i believe that was still on the car that shouldn't take too long and i'll do that tomorrow morning too.

like i said above the color looks like aluminum as there isn't much color difference on the compressor housings but you can see the difference on the steel and cast iron. it is a flat / satin look so it is not going to match the X pipe you have BUT i am eliminating the rust that has come through the old coating as i will be sure to remove all that before i re-coat them.
 
Thanks for doing this. You didn't by any chance make sure those tips were perfectly straight did you? I'd been meaning to get someone to fix that for me, as they were not straight from the beginning when I had the system installed.

And yeah, NOTHING is pretty about rust.

In case I get to feeling ambitious when I get my car back home and up on the lift, does that coating polish up at all or would I just damage it by trying?

Oh yeah, I need to drill some drain holes in the bottoms of those tips as well. I don't have any idea why STS didn't do that to them....

Thanks again.. :thumbsup:
 
no i didn't straighten them up, they looked straight to me and with my luck if i had tried to straighten them i would have made them worse especially with them not being on the car.

i do want to note that i can not believe that STS uses crush bent exhaust piping instead of mandrel bent piping for the exhaust and intercooler piping...

and no it will not shine up. they do make a Stainless kit with polish and a shiny aluminum, both of which are not available to me through my current distributor. i am currently seeking another route due to needing more colors and hopefully better pricing, i just hope that i don't have to make a big initial buy in.
 
Benjamin said:
no i didn't straighten them up, they looked straight to me and with my luck if i had tried to straighten them i would have made them worse especially with them not being on the car.

i do want to note that i can not believe that STS uses crush bent exhaust piping instead of mandrel bent piping for the exhaust and intercooler piping...

and no it will not shine up. they do make a Stainless kit with polish and a shiny aluminum, both of which are not available to me through my current distributor. i am currently seeking another route due to needing more colors and hopefully better pricing, i just hope that i don't have to make a big initial buy in.
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No big deal. I can see where that would be tough to do without having them on the car to check. It's really only a minor thing that the owner (me!) would probably notice anyway.

Yeah, I wish STS had provided STAINLESS tubing instead of the cheap mild steel. Seriously, had I known that, it would have been a major reason for me to reject buying their product.

Since I had polished up those aluminum cradles of mine, and this is an aluminum coating, I wondered about the "polishability". At least now I know not to fool with it. Does it oxidize and/or need any specific care and maintenance?
 
mild detergent, and water, try not to scrub them real hard and don't use anything too harsh chemical wise. reason being as of now i don't know what all will or won't disrupt the coating. some things may not affect it initially but can cause problems down the road.

Aaron has all the stuff, he still has some pipes that i need to coat but they were still on the car so i couldn't get them. i should have a few days next week that i can do them if he gets them off Monday.
 
Here's some video I took of the transmission and differential when I was last out at Aaron's place...

 
I spoke to Aaron on Monday, I believe, and he feels my car will be ready to put the break-in miles on the clutch pretty soon. He said the drivetrain is back together, the clutch feels good, and he finished up the steel braided hoses for the oil lines to the turbos that Harwood neglected to finish up. He was putting the turbos back together after Benjamin Long had volunteered to coat them and much of the steel tubing for me. I probably need to run out to Aaron's while it's still on the lift to get some video of that coating, before I drive it home and get it all dirty.

After the break-in miles, then the remainder of the tuning can be completed. That incorrect clutch that Chris Harwood had put in my car showed burn marks on the flywheel, so it was obviously slipping like crazy.

Aaron is going to send the specs off for the alternator bracket to have it machined as Chris Harwood didn't use accurate specs, and nor did he use spacers when he mounted the alternator in it and the other arm cracked when tightened down. The first arm cracked on him initially so he merely welded it, and now the other one cracked as well. So time to get a new one made up, before I want to drive it anywhere. Would really hate to have that alternator flapping around under the hood.

The crossover fuel line at the front of the intake manifold needs to be shortened or otherwise adjusted, as it is rubbing against the hood when it is closed. There is also a bolt on the alternator bracket that is sticking out about a half inch that is apparently either jammed against the bracket, or else cross threaded, that was that way when the car was towed out of Chris Harwood's shop. I'm sure there are a handful of other odds and ends needing to be done as well before Aaron will be satisfied that it is completely finished.

Too bad I didn't go see a psychic when I was considering having this done. She would have said, "Rich, I have good news and I have bad news for you. The good news is that your car will be done right after Thanksgiving. The bad news is that the YEAR will be 2010." :ack2:
 
please do get some pictures or video as I'd like to see everything bolted together and installed. I assume Aaron got the last 3 pipes I left for him over the weekend.

keep your head up, once you get it a little squirrely when passing someone or light them up at 70+MPH, it'll help drown the bad memories while you are giggling like a school girl with a crush on someone.....

when will it be back at Aarons for the final tuning? i assume you will be putting the clutch break in miles on it here in the near future? i want to go by and check on the uncured coatings once they have some time to bake in on the car and make sure they are OK and don't need any attention.
 
Benjamin said:
please do get some pictures or video as I'd like to see everything bolted together and installed. I assume Aaron got the last 3 pipes I left for him over the weekend.

keep your head up, once you get it a little squirrely when passing someone or light them up at 70+MPH, it'll help drown the bad memories while you are giggling like a school girl with a crush on someone.....

when will it be back at Aarons for the final tuning? i assume you will be putting the clutch break in miles on it here in the near future? i want to go by and check on the uncured coatings once they have some time to bake in on the car and make sure they are OK and don't need any attention.
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Aaron didn't give me any definite date as to when I would get the car for break-in. I think the holdup will be that alternator extension bracket. Depends on how long it takes the machinist to make it, and for Aaron to do any final fitting. Thanksgiving is next week, so I don't know if this will happen before then, otherwise we're probably looking at the first week of December.

It won't take long to put those miles on, as it is about 55 miles one way to Aaron's place from my house. So I could virtually just drive home and just turn around and head back to his place. I could drive around downtown Tallahassee to give the clutch a good workout. It might take me a bit to get used to the new clutch with that aluminum flywheel and lighter carbon drive shaft, though. I'm sure it will feel a LOT different from the stock setup.
 
I think normally to tweak the tune you want to drive it a few hundred miles and have several start ups. Be sure to check with him on that. Mike too.
 
Bob K said:
I think normally to tweak the tune you want to drive it a few hundred miles and have several start ups. Be sure to check with him on that. Mike too.
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Oh yeah. I don't think anyone is expecting everything to be absolutely perfect when I drive the car out of there. Actually the street tune part of it is a whole lot more important to me than the dyno tune. Throttle response and acceleration is the measure I use for appreciation of performance. The feeling that acceleration is only limited by the amount of pressure your foot applies to the "go" pedal.

Plus I'm sure there will be some nagging rattles and stuff going on here and there. Hopefully I can find most of them myself with the car up on my own lift, and not have to bother Aaron with that sort of thing.
 
That's what I was talking about, the street tune. It takes awhile for the computer to learn and compensate and then the tuner goes from there. I would say a few hundred miles and several start ups. Maybe a real tuner can add to my comments.

BTW, you will be driving it down on Jan 15?
 
Got some encouraging news from Aaron just a bit go. He said that I should be able to drive the car home next week to put some break-in miles on the clutch. We figure I'll just drive the car home and then bring it back in a few days when Jim Smith can do the final tune on it. Aaron says he will drive it about 20 miles or so beforehand to make certain there isn't anything that needs attention before I get it.

So, with any luck, this will be drawing to a close real soon.... :dancer01:
 
Wow, I'm really happy for ya Rich. What's it been, almost a year? Mike's car should be getting done soon also. I sincerely hope there won't be any new problems creeping up and that you can enjoy the car in spite of all that's transpired.
 
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