I am covered with shame

[G B.]

I want information on aftermarket tilt front end fiberglass kits that were sold for mid-years. I'd like to discuss installation details with a current owner of a '63-7 Corvette with such a front end. I know these kits were offered by J&D as well as Acme Fiberglass in CA.

I promise I will keep this deviate conversation off the Discussion Board.

[Bill W.]

Re: I am covered with shame

Call Dick at D&A Corvette in Il. He built lots of station wagons & tilt front ends in the old days . Now they pay him to take them off.

[Chuck R.]

Re: Why didn't Vettes have both ?

I for one think tilt noses are a sharp (and functional) accessory Jerry.

Wouldn't it be sweet to just pop the pins and have it all at your finger tips from the the water pump back

Ahhh to dream.

Chuck

[Patrick H.]

They did.

We call them C4's commonly.

Patrick

[Chuck R.]

Re: HA HA HA Good one Pat !

Duh I didn't know that, but then again, I can't count past C-3 either

[Chuck S.]

Don't Get To Excited ...

Chuckster, all the tilt front end did on a C4 is let you stand a little closer to your problem...uh, that is if you wanted to hike one leg up on that big, fat, dirty tire. It was better, but you were still working deep in a close hole for anything not right on top of the engine; e.g. spark plugs. Try getting to that oil pressure sender and distributor wiring on the back of the engine (heh, heh).

[Chuck R.]

Re: Your right Mr. S.

Who in their right mind would want to own something with those big fat tires tuned suspension, wide track, 4+3 tranny and 350 + Hp power plant anyway?

Yeah but just think of the possibilities if we had this ability on these very clean and basic C-3s C-2s and C-1s

Motor mounts, plugs, shielding, oil filters, fuel pumps, head light actuators, steering boxes distributors and on and on and on!

I'm getting a warm and fuzzy feeling all over just thinking about it.

What's that guy's number Jerry?

Chuck

[Chuck S.]

Oh...You Were Talking About DRIVING THEM??!!...

Well, hael yes, C4 beats a C1, C2, C3 all to hael for driving, handling and touring pleasure...no contest. I thought you were talking about working on them. Shudda' got you a C4+ for driving, Dawg! Gonna git me one of them C6s soon as they work the bugs out. Watch out for warm feelings at your age, Chuckster...might be early-onset incontinence.

[G B.]

I give up

Thank you all for your responses. I've decided to abandon the idea.

There are significant drawbacks to the designs offered by the aftermarket. Most of the problems center around the wheelwells and core support. If you leave the wheelwells on the chassis to hold up the core support, you must make additional attachment points for them at the rear. Then, when the nose is tilted up, they are still in place to interfere with your engine work. If you leave out the wheel wells completely, you have to support your wiring and core support with new fixtures.

Effectively sealing the air leaks around the radiator is another design issue that can be solved, but not easily.