News: Subframe support

[Stella]

Was talking with friend that road races. He says a lot of the vette guys replace the subframe aluminum plate for a beefy one or double up stock ones to tie the frame together better. Saw stock plate on craigslist for 20bucks gonna install this weekend. Only problem is it's suppose to snow, probably won't know anything about performance till spring

 

[Popbigguy]

Are you talking about the tunnel plate?

Elite Engineering - Corvette Tunnel Reinforcement Plates

This is what I put on my "X".

 

[SanDiegoXLR]

Hi Popbigguy....can you tell a difference?
I've always wanted to tighten mine up a bit more. Unfortunately we can't use a strut tower brace because of the magnetic suspension set-up, so was looking for alternatives.

 

[Stella]

Tunnel plate

Yes that's exactly what I'm talking about. I'm just gonna double two up but I will put some sort of thermal matting on one for sure. Do you happen to have the torque specs on the tunnel plate bolts? How did the stiffer plate help with the ride anyways?

 

[mtrocket]

I hadn't heard about this mod... will be interesting to know the outcome.

 

[ChicagoDave]

Do you happen to have the torque specs on the tunnel plate bolts?

Here is info taken from the INSTALL PAGE on the webiste:

Starting at the center of the tunnel and working side to side and then front to back, torque the screws to 89 in.- lbs. in. (yes, that's 89 Inch-Pounds or 7.4 Foot-Pounds). Don't over-torque as the screw heads are likely to break off.

http://eliteengineeringusa.com/Installation_Instructions_Thermal-Abs.pdf

Its for a C5 Corvette, but would imagine it would be the same for the XLR.

 

[SanDiegoXLR]

Here's a thread I found on one of the Vette boards: Tunnel plate for C5 - Page 2 - CM

Seems like it makes a bigger difference for the C5s instead of the C6s, which makes sense since the C5's stock plate is so thin.

One guy with a 2008 Vette stated: "I had one put in and wasn't that impressed with the end result. I wouldn't recommend this mod."

However, this thread is from 2007, so his car was brand new at the time. And he has a Z06, which I don't believe comes in convertible form.

I've test driven lower mile XLRs (ones with <20k), and they feel a lot tighter than mine with 70k miles. With age, most convertible start to loosen up....so I'm wondering if this is a good way to help cure that for our cars?

I previously owned a Honda S2000, and the structure seemed more rigid/stiffer than the XLR. However, I sold it at 45k miles, so not sure how they hold up beyond that.

 

[Stella]

Thanks for all the replies! Just wanted to update the forum on new mod. Stella has only 8k on her, still tight. I installed the new tunnel plate looks awesome put a engine turn texture on plate looks like jewelry"for who"? ME! I'll post pictures some time. Anyways also put rear sway bar off z06 26mm. Was nice last couple days "rare" so took took her to work and she feels REALLY tight now. Should of did one mod at a time but, that ain't gonna happen too Ancy!
Just wanted to let you all know that I think it's a great mod. First convertibles have less support any extra support will help in the long run. Second when u have the h-pipe down go get it ceramic coated looks awesome and will cool down the tunnel area big time, I'll let you guys know about that when summer hit's but I can almost guarantee that! Just wanted to inform the mod junkies out there what's good.

 

[Stella]

Here are the pictures of the tunnel support plate, sorry it took so long.

 

[jjsea55]

That looks pretty darn spiffy! I need to look into installing one of those down the road a bit.