"Open Source" C5 Corvette Parts
So I don't talk much about what I do professionally for work on this blog, but in that field, "Open Source" is a big deal. I love Open Source as well, since everybody shares what they've built, and everyone improves because of it. Products iterate faster, the feedback utilizes thousands of people instead of bottlenecking in all the places a product can... and it also is very empowering professionally. Contribute to the open source community a ton, then when you interview at a place they can say "do you know XYZ" you can say "Yeah, I helped make XYZ!".
I also love the internet for it's ability to share and empower others with knowledge, hence I write all this stuff here!
So combining all of that, I've decided to start to make all of the design files I have available to others. You can 3d print these, work with them in SendCutSend... whatever! So take the opportunity, contribute if you can, or just benefit from all the community designed bit!
Open Source & Available Designs
- C5/6 Corvette Tunnel Plate (untested)
- AIS (Air injection system) Blockoff Plates (untested)
C5/6 Corvette Tunnel Plate (untested)
The C5/6 Corvette has a transmission tunnel plate that helps stiffen the chassis. Lots of folks say these add notable stiffness to the car, and you can also add some insulation to them to help keep the in car temperatures down. You can take this design and utilize any variety of online resources and get these made, or even hit up a local machine shop that has a plasma cutting table. Standard thickness is 1/4" of 6061 T6 aluminum... but feel free to go thicker, or use some fancy material like titanium!
This is currently awaiting testing by myself!
C5 Corvette (early) Air Injection Systems (AIS) Block Off Plate - (untested)
Early C5 Corvette's had an air injection system to help with exhaust gasses. Later models wouldn't feature this system and would handle emissions via other configuration options. For whatever reason, you want to block these off on your car. Perhaps it's an offroad car such as a track car, or your system has failed and can't source a replacement so it's making problems. Just get this made in 3/16" aluminum, with a thin copper version of these to ensure they seal.
These should be 29mm between the bolt holes, and I believe this will set you straight. That said, this is an early design, so if you can just order one first to confirm it's right, I recommend doing so!
This is untested. I designed this up and the part arrived shortly after I'd converted my car to long tube headers. You should be able to print the file to paper, confirm size matches file, and check it will work as a paper version before ordering the actual metal.