This weekend at the Bloomington Gold Corvette Show ‘09 The Nickey team showed the world their new 2010 Camaro Hood. The ACS validation hood is installed on Nickey’s development car 001. Car is equipped with its upgraded headers and exhaust system, Pedders suspension, Lorenzo wheels, and custom interior to name a few. This is the first Nickey prototype ACS Hood used to validate its design; the two tone paint scheme was completed by Route 66 Motorsports . Excitement surrounding the vehicle was phenomenal as Corvette enthusiast welcomed a new classic in the modern muscle car community. Hood development and tooling will be kicked off this week with production parts expected late this summer.
In production are ACS’s new Corvette C6 wide body rockers, pn 27-4-023. Panels are molded in RTM composite with a smooth finish on both sides of the panel. Panels are shipped prepped and primed. Advantages are higher part quality and a clean smooth look for safe cleaning and an OEM appearance.
Kit includes all necessary hardware including rivets, rear mudflap and instructions.
Item will fit all C6 Z06 and vehicles with front widebody conversions already installed.
There have been many inquiries recently about product availability and production. We currently have in stock the Zr1 smooth hood and windowed hood along with the Zr1 side rockers.
Hoods will fit all C6, Z06 Corvettes while the side rockers will fit only Z06 cars or cars with front end widebodies. We are currently completing and validating tooling for the front fenders. Orders are accepted and will be shipped out in submitted order.
Nickey Chevrolet was the “Original Super Car Headquarters”. Some of the most radical street/strip cars known to exist were created in the 60’s and 70’s in Nickey’s Hi-Performance Shop. Nickey was known for the monstrous big block Camaros, Chevelles & Novas they produced as well as their catalogue selling almost any high performance accessory a guy could imagine, literally “from Accel to Zoom”
I was fortunate enough to meet the Nickey Chicago team at their headquarter this past week. It feels like a flashback ! As I arrived the team was inspecting their first 2010 Camaro ! A yellow SS RS vehicle getting ready for it’s transformation. First on the agenda was the “Stinger” styled hood. I can proudly announce ACS is working on developing their new hood. Luckily times have changed from 1969 and modern age technology is enabling us to manufacture a high quality RTM hood for the Nickey Camaro. Similar to all our hoods Nickey’s hood will be made in RTM following our proprietary manufacturing philosophy. In the coming weeks I will be posting updates on its development and tooling process.
Follow the jump for Nickey’s official press release.
As with all our private label accounts; Nickey vehicles and performance parts are exclusively available directly from
ACS is manufacturing a flat hood for the new Dodge Challenger. The hood is molded flat. Hood is available trough CDC as either a flat “sleeper” version or with a shaker system. Images are the first prototype assembly to be test fitted on a vehicle. Article is currently under evaluation for production release.
ACS is proud to announce they are currently tooling the various RTM composite panels for the Group 2 CDC Challenger package. Package includes a functional RTM hood along with front fenders and rear quarter extensions. See below for CDC press release. Tooling and production images to follow.
Classic Design Concepts new GROUP 2 Wide Body package captures the powerful, aggressive and seductive attitude of the original 1970 SCCA Trans Am race Challengers but takes it one step beyond to create a modern street-legal extreme G-Machine.
COMING MAY 2009!
Now you can transform your 2008-2009 Dodge Challenger into a serious one-off street machine with attitude, or an all-out race car with the ability to put serious rubber under all four corners. Our innovative Composite Flared Front Fenders, Three-Dimensional “Billboard” Quarter Panel Extensions, and Aerodynamic Front Canards add the perfect balance of styling and functionality. By adding six inches (that’s right, SIX inches!) to the width of the Challenger, the GROUP 2 Wide Body package can easily accommodate an 11.5” width rim in the rear and a 10” width rim up front. The GROUP 2 package can handle anything up to a 315-series tire. The re-arched wheel wells visibly lower the vehicle while retaining adequate ride height so you don’t have to sacrifice ride quality and handling. GROUP 2 Challenger Package Includes:
* Left and Right Composite Wide Front Fenders
* Left and Right Composite “Billboard” Wide Quarter Panel Extensions
* Left and Right Front Spoiler Canards * Left and Right Front and Rear Fenderwell Extensions * 20X10” Front and 20X11.5” Rear Forged Wheels
* Z-Rated Tires Don’t want to buy the entire package? All of the parts will be available separately so you can build your Challenger as you wish. Our Challenger GROUP 2 Wide Body Package is designed and engineered to meet or exceed O.E.M. standards and comes with a 3-year/36-month warranty. Coming soon for the 2008-2009 Dodge Challenger from Classic Design Concepts:
Just returned from the Strictly Corvette Show in Atlantic City April 18-19. Quite a nice turn out of Corvettes. I did not make a physical count but i was under the impression C5’s were the most popular. We brought a new Zr1 window hood to the show along with a newly released ACP WC hood.
Ready for production is ACP’s new world challenge C6 hood. The hood design is extremely popular in the Corvette Community. Designed after ACP’s race winning, wind tunnel tested World Challenge bodywork, It has been hand manufactured by ACP. Using ACP’s master model ACS converted the model to create new molds and manufacture using its proprietary RTM process. Note the smooth inner finish and excellent fit on the vehicle. Each hood will be RTM’ed, robotically bonded,trimmed, prepped and primed. Production will begin in the coming weeks.
As announced in our original C6 Corvette Wide Body panel post ACS is working on a series of panels to transform any current model Corvette C6 (2005-current) to a wide body exactly like the legendary ZR1. Not only will the conversion make the C6 much more aggressive it will enhance performance by permitting owners to install larger and wider wheels/tires for better handling and consequently the ability to upgrade the brakes. Rest assured the ACS fenders will not have the Zr1 badge holes cut and will come prepped and primed.
The conversion itself does require a series of parts, but most importantly the front fenders are required. ACS has been developing molds in order to manufacture the fenders in RTM. Tooling is very extensive as the bounding box for the fenders is enormous, unlike our hoods the fenders will need to be molded in our largest RTM press. This press has generally been reserved for large components like awnings, bus shelters and marine parts. Table size is over 12′x10′ with a height span of 8′. To say the least the press is a monster but adequately perfect to handle the 7500 lbs fender mold.
A total of 4 mold sections will be used to mold the fenders, 3 of 4 molds are completed and currently awaiting press availability in order to begin testing prior to production. Still on schedule for a late March order delivery. Images will be posted as molds are opened and installed in our press.
ACS Zr1 Fender Tooling Update (March 3rd 2009)
Our ACS Zr1 RTM tools are complete and ready for production, a total of 4 tool inserts are used to mold a set of fenders. Tool weight is well over 7500 lbs, next Monday will be the inaugural production session for the tools. Similar to the hood, we will be determining the production parameters for the parts. Press molding pressure, injection pressure and glass distribution are only a few parameters that need to be validated. Inner mounting hardware needs to be developed in order to accommodate the stock scoop insert and various other mounting points that need to be molded separately. A robotic trimming fixture also needs to be made in order to begin programming.
ACS (Advanced Composite Specialties) is a hood manufacturer building hoods for some of the greatest American sports cars including Corvettes, Camaros, Mustangs and of course Ford’s Centennial Ford GT. The Camillo Pardo design was presented in 2002 as a prototype to celebrate Ford’s upcoming 100th anniversary… public reaction was phenomenal and to everyone’s surprise it was launched into production in 2004. Ford worked with SSV (Saleen Specialty Vehicles) and Roush in order to create the niche vehicle. The program showcased Ford’s ingenuity and engineering capability.
As production neared Ford was searching for suppliers to build components for the company’s new Pace car. The hood design being very intricate limited the manufacturing possibilities. As the launch date approached they selected to have the hood made in hand lamination. A series of molds were made and production was kicked off.
In 2005 ACS meets the Ford GT team at SSV. Visiting the Ford GT plant was one of the most breathtaking experiences to date. Walking into a warehouse and seeing hundreds of completed Ford GT’s all waiting for its last component, the front hood, was overwhelming. With over a dozen molds and a huge staff prepping and sanding hood panels the mountain seemed too high to climb. A class A panel needs to be perfect; painting, baking, stripping, paint buffing are all labor intensive procedures. The slightest imperfection in a panel will breakthrough and cost the plant thousands of dollars and most importantly keep another Ford GT owner waiting for his life long dream.
Most aftermarket hood panels are hand laminated, the traditional and simplest of composite process. Corvettes were originally built this way and still today almost all aftermarket panels are either hand laminated or infused. The process uses an open female mold and gel coat is sprayed on. Once cured a layer of fiberglass mat is layed or chopped on. Liquid catalyzed resin is applied to soak the fiberglass. The labor intensive process requires a technician to remove any air pockets and manage the part thickness by properly distributing the glass in the mold. A slightly more sophisticated approach is to vacuum infuse the resin. Once completed the part is cured at room temperature. Once produced both parts will cosmetically look great, the quality of the composition itself is dependent on the technician’s ability.
Assembly and preparation; a good fitting hood needs to match the fenders. Proper arc and adequate stack height are critical. In order to do this, hand laminated or infused parts need to be verified for part thickness. If parts are too thick they need to be sanded and matched up. The assembly will then be sanded, primed and prepared for paint. With a gel coated part it is near impossible to inspect underneath. Small air pockets may be present, during bake or exposure to extreme heat like on a hot summer day, the air pocket will expands and cause a blister. On a production line, the deficiency is very costly, part will need to be returned to the body shop for inspection and if possible rework and repaint.
After establishing some critical specifications for ACS’s new Ford GT Hood, a timeline was set to deliver a first article matching the engineer’s specification with a 6 week tooling and testing period. The Ford GT Hood is ACS’s most complex part, weighing only 18 lbs and requiring a glass content of 40%. ACS’s proprietary RTM process was a perfect match for the GT’s requirements.
At the end of the production run, ACS delivered and ramped up production to 64 hoods a week with only one set of molds, reducing the assembly’s plant fall out rate by 80%, drastically reducing the overall cost of the hood, and most importantly improved the quality of an American Legend. Today all of ACS’s hoods are built following the exact procedures proven on the Ford’s GT and of course the 4th gen Camaro SS.
New ACS Ford GT WD (Wiper Delete) Hood (2009)
The centennial Ford GT prototype was a design marvel. It proved Ford can build a world class supercar honoring the original… The original design was kept, but like any concept car some modifications are needed in order to comply with safety regulations. Most noticeably on the GT is the rear bumper and the addition of wipers.
Car collector and enthusiast take pride in their vehicles and enjoy the possibility of personalizing their vehicles. After many request ACS is addressing Ford GT owners with a true passenger side wiper delete hood. ACS’s GT WD hood is built the exact same way as the original using the same materials and specifications; of course the wiper arm notch has been eliminated for a smooth clean look. Owners will appreciate the added visibility on the track and collectors will pride in restoring the car the way Ford designers intended.
