Quote:
Originally Posted by SPCBA
great work Bannonm. the 2 piece idea to make oil changes easier is genious. have you looked into self tapping self seating screws for your fastener issue? also are you afraid of the thin aluminum flexing and sort of flaping without structural support?
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Thanks. I picked up a threaded rivet tool from Harbour Tools. Just drill a hole and put the rivet in and squeeze with the tool. Leaves a threaded rivet up to 1/4" threads. I was hoping to find a metric one because the body panel bolts the ZL1 pan uses are perfect for this. I can buy those at Ace HW for about a third of what GM wants. But I could only find those in metric sizes. Still looking.
As for the thin aluminum, yeah that concerns me. But we're going to give it a try with the tools my friend has for metal working. You can create ridges and edges with them that help stiffen thinner metals. If you have ever seen metal signs where they have raised edges and lettering, it's sort of that idea. I like the idea of aluminum over plastic because I can shape and bend the aluminum to fit the contours of the frame.
If you look at the first picture between the headers, that's were the NACA ducts will be placed. That area of metal has nothing to support it so potentially it will flap. If the ducts don't tighten things up, I'll use aluminum angle to give it support. The ducts will go between those two black curved lines. Looking at aftermarket ducts I can buy, or fiberglass molding to make my own.
Now that I have a pattern from fiberglass I can cut as many pans as I need for trial and error in different thicknesses, or materials.
Forgot to mention, the pan will complement my new heat extracting hood. It is vented in the front and the rear of the cowl. The cowl is an inch taller than stock so I should get some decent air exhaust.
