Project Viper, cutting holes in the hood :)==

[Jay Herbert]

The fun has really started, marked hood, time to drill:

Time to cut:

Louvers in (note stripes are marked and louvers will be inside stripes and same color as stripes (black)):

Rear fender getting prepped for racing style fuel filler lid:

Now for the funny one. We needed a way to mock-up the side pipes, so what better than 3" and 4" PVC pipe, it worked great. It was easy to cut to length, and we tweeked it until we were happy. The real thing is now on order from Heart Throb Exhaust

 

[Sellshomesdrivesviper]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

Nice job Jay, thanks for sharing.

 

[01sapphireGTS]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

You guys who dive into body work sure have large brass ones.

 

[GimmeTheSpeed]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

Mucho Kudos for building that thing! I'm having trouble with my 18:1 Viper GTS toy model! Good luck

 

[Silver Snake]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

I would buy anything from Ms. Heartthrob!

 

[Jay Herbert]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

I would buy anything from Ms. Heartthrob!

I have to laugh, when I was printing off their home page so I had the phone number for my files, Ms. Heartthrob was the first page to print..... I never rolled that far down the page.....did not even know she was there

They are quite a shop and can make about anything in any size. For the 4" OD, 3" pass-thru, 33 1/2" long side pipe (custom length), a 2 1/2" to 3 " stepped infeed pipe, and a 3" turnout all welded together, it was $175 for each side. Very reasonable considering the custom length. The entire setup is 53 1/2" long. It would have been half that if I would have been happy with a 30" muffler. Of course it is aluminized steel, not stainless steel, but I'll be ceramic coating them.

I asked how long the pipes would last, he said a long-long time, on average folks seem to get 20 years out of them. Good enough for me. They also can make a set out of stainless, but I figured I'd start out with these. I did try to get these from folks like Borla and Monroe, but none of them would do anything longer than their stock lengths.

By the way, if you look at the second picture, you can see the roll-up window doors and the windshield surround are now installed. We put the hardtop on were very pleased that it fit nicely. This is a '94, being upgraded to Gen II doors, it is taking a LOT of parts: doors, electrical harnesses, hard top, soft top, windshield surround, windshield rubber trim, door rubber trim, sport bar pad, seat belts, window switches... the list seems endless. Ed will not be doing the wiring to make it all work, I get that task when the car comes home after paint.....

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

Jay,
Had you planned to add a hole in the hood, under the speaker grill on the driver side? It seems like numerous people have done this....looks symetrical, is functional, and now is the time to do it.

 

[Jay Herbert]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

Jay,
Had you planned to add a hole in the hood, under the speaker grill on the driver side? It seems like numerous people have done this....looks symetrical, is functional, and now is the time to do it.

Yep! Ed will be sawing a hole in there too. We discussed it while I was there.

 

[Gerald]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

what the heck happened to that car in the first place?

 

[Jay Herbert]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

What the heck happened to that car in the first place?

It was a "light rollover"

The fellow I bought it from said he slid off the road into some grass..... slid for a good bit, thought he was going to be in good shape, and then at the last second, the wheels dug in and it went over. The only frame damage found was the drivers side rear rail, behind the suspension mounting points and the cowl the windshield mounts to. I knew about the rear rail when I bought the car, it was fixed many-many moons ago, all the rest of the frame checked out perfect.

When Ed recently went to put on the windshield frame, the bolt holes did not line up.... he looked a little closer and found the cowl had been tweaked in the accident. Ed got out his come-along, tied one end to a steel column of his building, the other to the passenger side of the cowl and pulled like mad (wish he had taken pictures of this Rube Goldberg frame puller). He called me tickled to all get out with the results after everything settled in for a day. "Perfect". It even pulled out the small wrinkle he had found on the drivers side area of the cowl in front of the door. The windshield frame lined up perfect, and when we checked the frame to the sportbar top mounting points, all was square. For good measure, the hardtop dropped right on.

With mounting experience on repairing a damaged Viper I can say with some knowledge, when smacked.... LOTS of stuff cracks that you would not notice until the car is all the way apart. When I first saw the car, all I could see was the damage to the hood, drivers side door, sill cover, the sportcap, and the rear trunk tub. We have found additional fiberglass damage to the inner wheel hubs, the fan inlet box, the deck lid, one hinge cover.

The driver for going to the roll-up windows was the fact I needed to get a windshield surround and one door anyway. So I sold the good door, and bought the roll up window doors and the correct windshield surround to go with them.

Now you know "The rest of the story."

 

[malcoll]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

What is different in the windshield surround between the Gen 1 and Gen 2?

I have looked at them both closely..... the windshield itself is the same...... what is the surround difference?

The sport cap is the same from Gen 1 to Gen 2........ just the pad is different.

Lance

 

[Casey 111]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

Looks great so far, keep us updated, cant wait to see the final product.

 

[Jay Herbert]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

What is different in the windshield surround between the Gen 1 and Gen 2?

I have looked at them both closely..... the windshield itself is the same...... what is the surround difference?

The sport cap is the same from Gen 1 to Gen 2........ just the pad is different.

Lance

Yes, the glass is the same, but the windshield surround has a different profile to allow for the mounting bracket that holds the weatherstrip which mates with the roll up window glass. It appears the mounting pins on the top are a different design too, but I'd have to get a gen I and Gen II top side by side to see the exact differences.

The sportpad is different (bigger holes) as the hardtop changed so the sportpad (and rear top mounting studs) did not need to be removed to install the top like it did on Gen I hardtops. The Gen II sportpad bolts right up on the Gen I sportcap.

Here is a picture with the hardtop on the car, the rear decklid is in the foreground:

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

I see where the louvre idea came from?

http://www.mi6.co.uk/media/gallery/misc_jaguar/xkr3.jpg

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[Jay Herbert]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

I see where the louvre idea came from?

http://www.mi6.co.uk/media/gallery/misc_jaguar/xkr3.jpg

Yep, you are very observant! I saw one running down the street in Hot Springs and thought, "Perfect". It always seemed wierd to me that the Gen II's had square louvers when everything else on the car is curved. I ordered a pair from the local Jag dealership. From the picture above you can also see how much more subtle the louvers will be when they are body colored (or in my case, stripe colored).

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Re: Project Viper, the fun has really started:

Jay, I do like the "organic" look and had something similar on the Cobra I built (that later paid for the Viper.) I was really cheap and used door vents (where the tire pressure sticker is, on the edge of the door) from a '77 Gran Fury in the hood. I used another one on the fender because that was the only way I could fill the master cylinder (remove vent, remove MC cap, fill, be careful.)

The reason for this picture is another option for your NACA scoop; the Cobra hood scoop was only an inch tall. So I combined the original scoop with a NACA scoop and thought it came out really nicely. Air flow requirements for the 340 (Dodge!!) engine underneath indicated either alone would not have provided a sufficient opening area.

1970 340cu from a Plymouth Duster, aluminum A-833 4-speed with 3.09 first gear, 3.55 gears in an 8 3/4 posi rear, Pinto front end, no radio or A/C, E-Mod champ for several years (but pretty sucky before that while I figured out proper rear suspension geometry.) When it was finally sorted out, it fit my driving style like a glove.

 

[Rollin4]

The project is looking good Jay. Any idea about when it will be completed?

 

[Jay Herbert]

The project is looking good Jay. Any idea about when it will be completed?

I've got high hopes for about six weeks. The last of the OEM parts he'll need should be at his shop this week, and the side pipes from Heartthrob should be there by the end of next week. I'll still hve some electrical to do once I get it home, but all the cosmetics should be done and it will be drivable, the side windows just won't go up and down At the outside, I'm sure I'll have it back by the midwest zone rendezvous in St. Louis.

Tom, Nice Cobra, I'd like to build a GTD40 at some point....
interesting comment on the airflow. I agree, that's why we're still routing some air into the intake via the front fascia too. We have a VipAir in there now, may just modify the Gen I airbox front intake piece when I get it home.