New possibilities for GTM # 71

[sk7500]

A couple of weeks ago there was a GTM on eBay 4 hours from my house. I couldn't resist. So now I have a brunette and a red headed mistress to divide my time between. The car was originally purchased by a company that was going to build cars to sell. I guess that didn't work out so the second owner, who just finished building a Dragon, bought the kit and took it home. Then he decided he wanted to buy a house and couldn't find anyone to take the GTM as a down payment. So eBay was the solution for a quick sale.
The chassis is a roller but there was no cleanup of the original susp pieces so its pretty ugly down there. It's been 4 years since I've been at this stage of the build and I forgot how much there is to do and how much space all the boxes and donor stuff takes up, but I managed to get it all home and squirreled away.
I haven't decided what I will finally do with this car, but I'm real sure I won't put the work into it I did in our current car. I like doing the body and paint stuff. So I will probably start there.
One cool thing is the red head got some brand new drilled and slotted stainless brake rotors. No more rusty rotors on the showy car.

[Kalstar]

I say stock build, opposite of your last path. Try to do it on the cheap and see where it brings you.

[The Stig]

Very Cool Steve!

I agree that a stock build is the way to go for this one. However, I'm not sure how cheap it really is... My car is pretty much stock in terms of the Factory Five design, and it's is well past $100K.

I can't wait to see where you take it.

Take Care Buddy!

Mike

[flotowngtm]

Just WOW !!!!!!

[WIS89]

Steve-

Congratulations on your find. Not to take away from your thread, but that is one seriously fine garage you have there pal!! Great Gooogly Mooogly!!

I'm with the others; go ahead and do a reasonably priced stock build. Throw in a few "finer" details that will appeal to most, and then see what happens.

No matter which way you go, congratulations and good luck (he said dripping with jealousy)!!

Regards,

Steve

[crash]

I guess that answers my question in another thread about why you are looking for various GTM parts that I was pretty sure you already had for the "redhead".

[Movieman]

Reminds me of the story years ago.
I was a young guy running a gas station with a car wash attached.
I hear a 12 cyl engine and go outside to look.
There's a guy with a Lambo Countach on the entrance ramp to the car wash with the kid telling this guy "You can't take that through here!"
I walk up and quietly tell the guy that the wash will rip the wing off his car in a heartbeat then notice he has a flat tire on the rear.
I also notice that this guy is "coked up" to the degree that common sense has gone out of his mind.
I get him off the approach ramp and all I want is to get him out of the station so I ask if he has a spare tire and I'll change it.
His has one of those mini spare tires in the front "trunk" but the tool kit was the wrong size for the lug nuts.
He says " We can take a wheel off of one of my cars at home."
I say to him "You just can't take a wheel from any car and stick it on this!"
He says " I have another of these at home."Yes, he did. My blue collar mind just couldn't imagine that anyone could own two Countachs and the reality was he actually had THREE of them. :D

[The Stig]

That's over the top cool, but... He really should have held out for the Diablo... (s). :cool:

And by the way... Thanks Steve!!! Now I have severe Garage Envy!!!!

Mike

[Movieman]

That's over the top cool, but... He really should have held out for the Diablo... (s). :cool:

And by the way... Thanks Steve!!! Now I have severe Garage Envy!!!!

Mike

This was before the Diablo came out..:D

[sk7500]

Before you get the wrong impression. I am the "time" part of the above equation. The cars are at my buddy Franks house. I'm not sure "garage" is how I would describe the building where he stores his cars (and the GTM). Frank and I have been building cars for almost 20 years. We usually get about 1 done a year so he built a huge building to keep his toys in. I guess you could call it a huge "toy box" with epoxy coated floors, temperature controlled environment with mirrored walls. Because everyone needs a place for their stuff.:confused:

When the car comes to my house to be worked on its treated to a two car garage with a coated floor (fiberglass resin, primer, oil stains etc.) temperature controlled environment (fan in the corner) and I'm sure there's even a mirror in there somewhere. ;)
Life is good.

[sk7500]

I bought some new axles from the auto parts store to get the splined axle that goes through the spindle. I have been beating on the inner cv race like it says in the GTM manual but they're not coming off. Am I missing something? Also noticed that the axle does not fit the inner cv joint race as tight as I remember. Hope once I get it off it fits the GTM axle a little better.

[VD2021]

Steve,

If you are trying to get the corvette cv separated from it's axle you can try this. I used my vise. Open the vise so that the axle easily fits with ~1/4"-1/2" of space. hold the axle vertical, inside of the vise opening (cv up top with one hand on the cv end and the other at the bottom), and then move the axle down through the vise opening so that the cv makes square contact with the vise. Somewhat like a slide hammer...sort of.

HTHs.

[sk7500]

Thanks Vidal.
I'll give it a try tomorrow. Just wanted to make sure there was no way to remove that snap ring.
Steve

[sk7500]

I gave up on axles for a while but I have been working on the latest addition. Since I have a roller I'll be doing body and paint first and work on the chassis while the paint is drying. (maybe)
The first order of business for me is side windows. I don't have the patience to try and adjust the door and the window to all work in harmony as two separate moving bodies. I liked how the windows look and function on our red car so I wanted to do it again. But this time instead of just building it on the car and leaving it, I'll build the frames on the car and pull molds off of the plugs so I'll have replacements in-case something happens and it will also be lighter. I also did some extensive work on the door jambs on the red car and this time I wanted to see if I could build frames that would fit in a stock body. So I finished the plugs on the driver side, pulled the molds and laid my first set of parts. I laminated the glass channel into the outer skin. The outer skin and channel will be bonded to the outside of the car and then the inside skin will be bonded to the inside of the door and to the outer skin. This allows almost infinite adjustment to make sure the door and frame line up with the stock body. I'll probably do the bonding this week end.

[sk7500]

Picture #1 is the outer skin and window channel on the door.
picture #2 is how the door is cut to make room for the new frames.
Picture #3 is the inner skin in place but not yet bonded
Picture #4 is what the A pillar will look like when finished
Picture #5 are the three molds So far.

[kabacj]

Those window frames look GREAT Steve. Pulling plugs from the red car was a great idea to make GTM #71 a quicker build. I think you might have a good product on your hands there. I am sure everyone who built their own frames would rather have had a perfectly shaped skin to bond to the door and call it done.

John

[sk7500]

Thanks John.
I like frameless windows the best but when I see the challenge GM has with sealing and noise I'm convinced I could never pull it off. And I hate wind noise and rattles, so I figure giving the windows something to roll into instead of onto, I'll have the best chance of avoiding those gremlins.
I wish it was as easy as pullin molds off the red car. But I modified the jambs too much for that. So I have to recreate the frames on the black car then pull the molds. Then I have to cut all my work off to make sure the new pieces fit. Ugh!
Steve

[sk7500]

Hi guys,
I've been distracted by a little side project, but I've been working on #71 ever so slowly. The passenger side proved much more problematic than the driver side. I'm going to have to do something creative with the door handle linkage, as the back of the window almost hits the latch when going down. I didn't use out side door handles on our red car so I didn't run into this problem.

I have the passenger window just about done enough to start pulling molds. Just need to put the window back in and check frame fit and function one more time.

[sk7500]

My goodness it's been a while since posting about #71. Lets see if I can get everyone up to date.
Finished the passenger side window frame molds.
Glassed the bolt plates onto the front of the doors and started the bodywork.
Worked down all the body seams.
Mounted the rear diffuser so the alignment on engine cover could start. Mounted the engine lid, hinges, struts, latch and handle.
Worked on perfecting the hatch to body seams.
Work on getting the rear glass to body fit right. But I'm waiting on a roof scoop to install first.
Finished aligning the front end and worked on the side seam.
Glassed in and rough body worked the headlights.
Mounted the hood release handle and latches and struts.

[sk7500]

Actually I met the delivery truck in the parking lot of Home Depot. I bought the motor from Kalstar last year about this time and he graciously stored it for me until I was ready. Thanks Jim.
I Pulled it down to the Long block for cleaning. I actually got it all put back together except the exhaust and AC compressor. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures so you'll just have to trust me me. :-)

[sk7500]

Received my Roof scoop last week and installed it this weekend.
I cut the roof and created an opening into the engine bay for fresh air in. It also allows hot air out of the engine bay when not moving. Also started fitting the rear glass. Just have to build rear 1/4 window scoops, finish up the passenger door and cut the side scoop openings and it'll be ready to primer. Then it's just a lot of block sanding and the body will be ready for paint. Sound easy if you say it fast.:p

[Kalstar]

I have some more of your parts, harness, petal, ECU and motor mounts ready to send. I thought 100% they were in that create.

[sk7500]

No problem Jim.
I'm just glad you had them so I don't have to look for replacements. 😊

[sk7500]

Got a chance to put some more motor stuff on. Mounted the flexplate/flywheel and trans adapter plate. I had the pressure plate and disk mounted but couldn't find long enough metric bolts to put it back on the stand so I had to pull it back off. I just hope everything will bolt together when I try to put the trans on. I'll probably try to mate the two on the bench before wrestling it in the car.

[sk7500]

Spent the day today working all the seems on the passenger door. Finally got what I wanted.

Next will be side scoops and 1/4 window scoops.

[rev2xs]

Damn, you gotta make those door window frame kits man ;)

[sk7500]

Someone pointed out when I was building our last car that GTMs have an egg shaped front wheel opening. The fix only took me a couple hours and now I can sleep again.

Step 1, Locate the high spot and abrade
Step 2, Fill the area with a fiberglass reinforced filler.
Step 3, Sand wheel well opening round.
step 4, Blend everything back in

[sk7500]

Cut out my openings

[The Stig]

Nice work Buddy! I'm going to have to start learning these skills. You and some of the others here make it look so easy... ;)

Mike

[LCD Gauges]

Damn, nice find and awesome progress thus far! I'll have to keep a closer eye on this build thread; I joined this forum a bit late when you built the first GTM.

Love that storage facility too!

[sk7500]

Finally got my side scoops made. I had originally made them to fill the rear 1/4 window hole and bring in fresh air to the engine bay. I also thought I want to bolt them on so I made inner panels. But after looking at the roof scoop all molded in I couldn't resist. This is the last body mod I have to finish up. And I'll make some billet grills similar to our last car.

The whole body has been blocked straight to 180 and sealed with epoxy primer. Just needs to be wet sanded to 400 and it's ready to reseal and paint.

[Kalstar]

Are you going to Vagas?

[sk7500]

That all depends on if you were able to get a windshield on the truck? ;)

[sk7500]

Got my grills cut, polished, welded, powder coated and installed. Now I can pull them back out and get ready to paint.

[fastthings]

Love the jewelry, the two of them together look so nice.

[kabacj]

Hey Steve.

Great job on the upper vent behind the window. I like how you shaped the opening to compliment the lines of the car.

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w389/kabacj/Factory%20Five%20GTM%20roll%20cage%20modifications/73AAF984-1149-45E0-8B50-8C869B0630E1_zpsilkdmemo.jpg (http://s1073.photobucket.com/user/kabacj/media/Factory%20Five%20GTM%20roll%20cage%20modifications/73AAF984-1149-45E0-8B50-8C869B0630E1_zpsilkdmemo.jpg.html)

I am working out how tall the vent should be in order to grab some of the airflow but not create too much drag. The air detaches from the A pillar pretty smoothly. I'm just not sure what it looks like when it gets to the leading edge of the vent. Did you ever test it with yarn tufts to see if the air is flowing in?

At any rate the vent sure looks good.

Thanks

John

[sk7500]

Air flow? Yarn tufts? What are you talking about? Lol! It just has to look cool for me. My solution to too much drag is add more motor.
But seriously. These are shaped differently than the ones on our other car, but I can tell you that I can hear them whining at about 120. So they are catching some air and from the sound of it it's smooth air. The other cool feature of these scoops is they have an inner liner so it covers the stock window hole. So there is no need to glass it shut.


Hey Steve.

Great job on the upper vent behind the window. I like how you shaped the opening to compliment the lines of the car.

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w389/kabacj/Factory%20Five%20GTM%20roll%20cage%20modifications/73AAF984-1149-45E0-8B50-8C869B0630E1_zpsilkdmemo.jpg (http://s1073.photobucket.com/user/kabacj/media/Factory%20Five%20GTM%20roll%20cage%20modifications/73AAF984-1149-45E0-8B50-8C869B0630E1_zpsilkdmemo.jpg.html)

I am working out how tall the vent should be in order to grab some of the airflow but not create too much drag. The air detaches from the A pillar pretty smoothly. I'm just not sure what it looks like when it gets to the leading edge of the vent. Did you ever test it with yarn tufts to see if the air is flowing in?

At any rate the vent sure looks good.

Thanks

John

[mikespms]

Hi Steve,

Looking through your pictures came across this shot of your engine adaptor and was wondering,what are you using for a transaxle?36566

[sk7500]

Look here for what I hope to use.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?14856-Trans-clutch-starter-questions&p=159381#post159381


Hi Steve,

Looking through your pictures came across this shot of your engine adaptor and was wondering,what are you using for a transaxle?36566

[mikespms]

Is that a Kennedy adaptor kit? I am looking for an other source for an adaptor to use a 2.0l turbo ecotec with a g86-20 that uses the same adaptor as the g96 but kennedy does not want make one, they only make an adaptor for the g50/vw type transaxle.

[sk7500]

I'm afraid I really don't know it came with the Kit.
Sorry.

[kabacj]

Air flow? Yarn tufts? What are you talking about? Lol! It just has to look cool for me. My solution to too much drag is add more motor.
But seriously. These are shaped differently than the ones on our other car, but I can tell you that I can hear them whining at about 120. So they are catching some air and from the sound of it it's smooth air. The other cool feature of these scoops is they have an inner liner so it covers the stock window hole. So there is no need to glass it shut.

Ha ha. Well I understand the looks cool goal. And you definitely have that covered. Actually your feedback is helpful. I'll do some testing. Which will probably just tell you what you already know . Your intakes work!

Thanks
John

[sk7500]

I had a four day weekend (sort of) and I thought i should install my motor and transmission in the car and get them out of the way. This was not to be. Seems I have somehow lost the left motor mount that bolts to the block and the rubber mount that attached to it. Found one on ebay and I bought the two rubber mounts Jayman 174 had in the classified section. So maybe next weekend.
While I had the motor and trans on the table I decided to dry fit them together. Good thing I did. The pilot bearing bushing only engaged the pilot shaft about .100". In other words only the seal was engaged but that's about it. About 6 months ago I posted all the parts that came with the kit asking if I had everything. "Eric at Kit Car Chassis (eric@kitcarchassis.com) said he made that kit and would help me with any questions I had. So I shot him an email and he was most helpful in walking me through what I needed to do. He even offered to make me the new bushing if I sent him the flywheel and the measurements. Well I had all the parts in front of me and a lathe so with his instruction I made my own bushing. Now everything is right in the world again.

BTW the 966 trans is much easier to install onto the throw out bearing that the G50.;)

[sk7500]

Spent the weekend trying to tie all the loose ends up so I could take some full assembled pictures. Looks like it will probably be heading to Ebay in the next few days.:(

523275232852329

[sk7500]

WOW! Can't believe it's been over 3 years since I've worked on this car. but then again lot's of stuff has happened in that time.

Back to the car. Great news for me, for a new owner and for the car. When selling GTM#12, I had great response. One interested party I talked to didn't win the bid, but I told him I had another car that still needed much loving. I told him what the car needed, what I had already done and what I still wanted to do. Namely the paint work. Everything worked out and a deal was made. I get to finish up the body and paint it. Then he will take over the project to finish up the Go kart, wiring and interior.
I asked if I could continue this thread at least through the paint work. The new owner thought that would be a great idea.

So here we go!

[sk7500]

Letting a car sit for years in primer is not such a great strategy. Found a quit a few things I'll need to address. Worked on the front nose opening and I got the body ready to pull off and place it on the paint buck. Probably have that done on Saturday.115358

[sk7500]

Made pretty good progress. lots of sanding dust in the shop115503115504115505115506115507

[sk7500]

Just need to check that the dash doesn't hit the pass door. If there's clearance, the next pictures should have some color.

[beeman]

How did the fuel filler locations work as a lift point for the body? I haven't seen that before.

[sk7500]

How did the fuel filler locations work as a lift point for the body? I haven't seen that before.

It's almost the perfect balance point. The front needs a little lift. It allows me to remove and install the body slowly by myself without doing any damage.

[sk7500]

I received the center dash piece yesterday. Center piece fit OK but the right pod needed the vinyl pulled back and the fiberglass trimmed to fit the console. The good news is that after the trimming, the door was able to close with minimal interference.
I noticed that GTM #71 has no door stops built into the hinge. So I guess I'll have to build those before I paint.

[sk7500]

Started out spraying a good sealer coat of DP-90 epoxy primer. Sprayed the metallic base coat. Sprayed the pearl coat. Sprayed on a coat of inter coat clear to protect the red from the stripe taping. Laid out and sprayed the stripes. sprayed on 2 coats of the final clear. All of this went like clockwork. And everything looked great.

Then the trouble started. I should have just cut and polished the final clear but I like to sand everything and spray on a flowcoat. This USUALLY produces a smoother finish and it allows one to minimize the ridge the stripes produce. However when I sprayed on the flow coat I picked up contamination from somewhere and I was faced with a flow coat full of Fisheyes!! I've been fighting them ever since.

[beeman]

Sorry to hear that. Looks beautiful in the pictures.

[crash]

Sorry to hear that. Looks beautiful in the pictures.

Ditto.

[sk7500]

I fought fisheyes until I rubbed through the paint in too many areas and the patchwork was not cutting it. I found that my Tractor Supply receiver dryer could not filter out all the oil/moisture that my old compressor was putting out. So all I needed to do was buy a new compressor, install a dryer from the paint store, Spend about three weeks re prepping and apply $1800 worth of new paint/materials and it looks great again. Not the way I wanted to end my relationship with GTMs, but it is what it is and I got to see my dream car in paint. Now its off to Nebraska where the new owner can finish up the electrical and interior. I think he'll be happy. I know I would be.

[beeman]

The new owner is going to love it, Steve.
So.. done with GTMs... what's next?