Army Navy Fuel Line

One thing that all race cars share is the fuel plumbing system. Army Navy fittings or commonly known as AN Lines are anodized aluminum fittings used with braided stainless rubber hose. There are a few reasons to use this system: 1) They are more durable than standard rubber fuel line and barb fittings. 2) The connections are easily disconnected and reconnected with out damaging the hose, like with the barb fittings and hose clamps. 3) Race tracks only allow a few inches of rubber hose in the entire fuel system. 4) It looks damn good.

 The carb is a Holley 750 cfm street avenger with blue fuel blocks to match the theme in the engine bay. The carb comes with rubber fuel lines as a kit to get you down the road, but it looks a bit ghetto and not too safe in the long run. Pretty much they give you about six pieces of hose, connectors, and simple hose clamps (The non screw on type). The kit used above is Part#641090 from Russell Performance, it comes with a pressure gauge. We also had to purchase a -6AN fuel filter, -6AN 45 degree fittings, and a fuel pump fitting, and about 3 feet of -6 hose. The lines really clean up the fuel system and give the race car look to the top of the engine.

New Gears = Better Burnouts

Changing the gear ratio in a car or truck differential is very common among modifications you can do. Based on the need for quicker acceleration or higher top speed, changing gears will solve most of your problems. In our case the car came stock with a 3.08 ratio, commonly known as highway gears. Having these gears give better MPG when cruising since the engine rpm is lower, but for our case we don't really care about that. We were able to buy a slightly used rebuild complete differential with 3.55 gears. This will give better launches and more importantly better burnouts!

Changing out the differential on the corvette is a bit of a pain, due to the way the drive train in designed. The rear suspension is an independent mono leaf spring design. Meaning, the differential is solidly mounded to the chassis and the rear is supported by one leaf spring.

 The swap took about 8 hours to do, it had been the first time the rear had been pulled apart since installing it all 6 months ago. I was able to see how the new bushings were wearing and noted which stock hardware needs to be replaced before the car sees the open road.

You can see how everything is interconnected, making it a chore to change this out.

Since the differential cover is used to mount the whole unit to the frame, there is no easy way to drain the oil out while still being in the car. So the next best way was on the work bench.

The stock gears have somewhere around 100k miles on them, upon inspection they showed a good wear pattern. All of the bearings were turning free and no strange noises were found, but it was time for a much needed upgrade.

The axles are held in with c clips inside the carrier, they are easily removed with the right tool. Which I found out I didn't have and had to run to the parts store.

The new housing and cover were cleaned and shmeered with rtv, then a new gasket was applied and all bolts tightened down.

The blue rtv also matches the blue theme going on around and in the car.

By 6pm the car was ready for a test drive.

Building the Dash

In the custom car world, the dash is seen as either a canvas for creativity or a functional tool to mount gauges. Why can't we have both? Most american muscle cars have major aftermarket support, while the corvette has engine, drivetrain, and suspension products available the interior is limited.

Companies like ecklers corvette  and corvette central offer carpet kits and upholstery kits to restore the stock interior back to original factory condition. You can also get fancy race seats with special brackets to wedge them into the tight space, but no one offers a dash. Factory dash replacements can exceed $1000 since everything has been meticulously stored in a warehouse since the 70's. And since new go fast parts were put into the engine, how can you use modern race style gauges without just screwing on a big ole tach to the dash? You make your own.

It's simple to start, just rip everything out.

Surprisingly with the dash removed there is lots more room than I thought. But more on that when we get to it. The easiest way to put an idea into reality is to make a template. I used some old boxes and duct tape.

Since there was so much room for gauges, I thought about getting creative. My inspiration came from the Ford GT40 dash. I saw one at a car show and photographed it, even though it is a Ford the dash is molded for the driver. All of the gauges have a purpose and give the driver a clear view of sight for each.    

So here is my take on it.

At the time the layout made sense to me, but once the material was changed from flimsy cardboard to rigid MDF it was adjusted. However, being able to put an idea into reality for the first time made me overjoyed. 

Like all structures, there needs to be a strong section to support all the weight. In this dash the center section will hold the weight of the top and side panels, along with all the gauges. It took lots of trimming and measuring to get the correct height of the dash and have a snug fit over the transmission tunnel. 

Then you just fill in the gaps.

I really wanted to incorporate the stock dash since it fits really well, but after moving it around twenty or so times it broke in half. So an MDF one was made.

The steps to creating the dash are very straight forward. If you can paper machè then you can fiberglass. The MDF needs to be covered in felt fabric, then resin is applied, fiberglass is used to reinforce the edges, and then you sand it down. Just as easy as that, minus the fact that it smells and sticks to everything.

Remember a respirator is required when using resin, even outside.

Here are all the panels drying after being coated in resin and fiberglass.

The surfaces will be very rough and sharp, sanding will knock down the high spots and edges. However, to get a smooth finish you need to use a skim coat of bondo.

All of the panels were then wrapped in black leather. We actually went to Tandy Leather in San Bruno and bought a whole hide. There was a little bit left over, but it was the right amount for a dash.

Here is the finished product! It took a few weeks and lots of hard work but it all paid off. Just a few more tweaks and the car will be ready to hit the car shows this spring.

Stay tuned for more changes. 

First Car Show

The Sting Ray finally made its debut at the Dec 2014 Cars and Coffee at the Black Hawk Car Museum.

 Even though it was parked in between two brand new C7 Stingrays, both of those owners were loving the '75. There were other 70's Corvettes at the show, but none of them shared the same amount or type of character that this car has. More shows to come as summer nears, but also some major changes that will get more people stopping to take a look.

Updates Coming Soon

It sure has been a few months since the last update and so much has been done to the car. Over the next few days I will be adding the changes and show the big reveal! In the meantime you may notice the url has changed. That's right, we are legit! Now you can easily find the blog with the new domain www.andersencorvetteracing.com!

Here is a preview