My Official GTM Build Thread!

Yes, I have the rubber seal. It definitely makes the glass look more finished IMO. This car is not ready for paint; I have so many body mods to make that it will take at least one more season
to complete.

The car is 4 years old this week (Aug 28th), and it's killing me not to drive it. I'm willing to redo all of the primer, and remove the glass for paint. It's a small price to pay, and minimal work to
allow me some tuning time, and LCD gauge testing for the remainder of this year.

I think it's important to have a completed working model of the gauges with documented video sooner than later!

The front wheel arc is looking better. The hood lines are almost there; more body work is required to get straight cut, but this
is looking good enough for cruising around. Once the hood latches are installed, I think it will come together nicely.
Attachment 44741
Here are some shots of the door modifications required to clear the hood. If there's a better/easier way, I wish it fell into my lap
months ago. The bars had to be cut and bent closer together to allow additional clearance around the edge of the hood. This area
will have to be filled in to seal off the outside air.
Attachment 44739Attachment 44740

Just a couple of days until the 4 year anniversary. I'm starting to install the interior next, so who knows? We might get some cruising done this
weekend!

Happy 4th anniversary to MONEY PIT! It has been 4 years to the day of messing around with this car.

Wheel arc's are pretty much a done deal. Once the car is off the hoist, the spacing will be even all around.

Interior time now! Hoping for two months of good weather before the insurance comes off. I can't wait to drive it!

Attachment 44915

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Procision-Auto

Happy 4th anniversary to MONEY PIT! It has been 4 years to the day of messing around with this car.

Wheel arc's are pretty much a done deal. Once the car is off the hoist, the spacing will be even all around.

Interior time now! Hoping for two months of good weather before the insurance comes off. I can't wait to drive it!

Attachment 44915

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Time really slips away with these cars, doesn't it?

Mine was delivered on August 2009. It's now August 2015. And at least 1.5 to 2 years of that time was spent with my car sitting in someone else's shop... Go figure.

Stay after it buddy!

Mike

Thanks Mike! I'm so close that I can taste it! I've been buttoning up the lower under-body panels, cleaning up the essential wiring,
and installing the vent hoses to the dash. Last night the fuel filler hoses got connected, and the battery is charging. :cool:

For those not using the Corvette harness and need wiper/stalk wiring, here’s the deal for the wiper stalk wiring:

Yellow wire is the voltage source wire. Connect this to a switched source voltage
that is fused for 30 Amps and run a parallel wire to the stalk column yellow wire,
and wiper motor Pin B

Purple is the High-speed signal. Run this to Pin C on the wiper motor

Grey is Wiper Switch Signal 2 which goes to Pin D on the wiper motor

Dark Green is Wiper Switch Signal 1 which goes to Pin E on the wiper motor

Pink is the fluid motor pump supply wire. Connect this to the pump on the fluid bottle.

Attachment 45088

It took me a while to get a wiring diagram, so I opened up the motor cover to try getting
the info myself. There is not enough labeling on the circuit board to determine circuit
paths, and using a mutli-meter wasn’t clear enough to make me comfortable. In any case,
here are the guts of the motor. That plastic wheel and the cammed switch is how your
wipers know where to park.
Attachment 45089
If you’re uncertain, remove the hardware from the motor spindle and run the motor using
low, or high speed circuit. When you switch to off, the spindle will rest in the home/park
position. Now connect your hardware and wiper transmission (connecting rod). It will end
up in this location.
Attachment 45090
Clearance from the cowl is tight, but I managed to get about a ¼ inch of spacing without any
Interference.
Attachment 45091
The fuel filler hose still has me baffled. I’ve tried a few automotive suppliers for flexible, fuel
Safe hose, but have come up empty handed. For the short term I’ll used the supplied FFR
Hoses. Cutting them down at the large mouth end fits the filler cap assembly fairly well. Using
a slip style, high tension clamp should prevent leaking at both ends. These types of clamps
retain their shape as you tighten them and can handle higher tension forces.
Attachment 45093Attachment 45092

Not bad for a rookie glass install! The trim looks great, and the glass is sitting flat.

Another shout out to Ron (Presto) for getting the body straight and allowing the
glass to fit properly.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0d&oe=5672502C
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...fa&oe=56646F21
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...7d&oe=567634A3

Thanks Tino for the props.

Your so close to getting out on the street, keep on plugging away, can't wait for the finally on the road video

Ron

You deserve it! It's a shame you don't live closer as we would be cruising this weekend. I have had many compliments on the tail lights, doors, and even the winshield.

All of which had some massaging with your crafty hands.

If I could only have you here for the hood adjustment and paint, my life would be complete!

Ah another buildcation or ......

Slap some tags and insurance on that bad boy and drive here and we'll really take of you :)

Ron

Today was my first drive since last season. I've been working hard to get the car prepped for the weekend in order
to meet up with "TwinTurboGTM" (Scott), and also attend a car cruise. The test was cut short due to steering and
shifting problems.

I thought that maybe an alignment and eliminating interference with the wheel arcs would cure the clicking
that had been felt when turning lock-to-lock. In fact, the universal joint on the steering link was installed at too much
of an angle. It is causing the u-joint to bind when rotated. I'm not sure how I'll resolve this, but it needs to be
addressed.

http://htsmall.ecklerstrucks.com/ass...sku/153164.jpg
Going into 2nd, 4th, and 6th gear is difficult. Sometimes the shifter will pop out. This is probably a shifter cable adjustment,
and/or clutch bleed. The slave will have to be removed and flipped right side up to get the air out properly. Re-installing it
will be loads of fun. The G96 has a preloaded fork which is tough to depress.

The tunnel insulating worked out really well. The heat is almost non-existent aside from what is escaping from the engine
cover area (I don't have that screwed down yet). Worst case, I'm planning to vent the lower tunnel cover if more cooling
is required.

Lastly, the ventilation fan is a bit on the warm side. Probably because the main fan is open to the under-hood heat. I'm sure
I read that someone (Shane?) developed a cover to isolate the fan from the heat.

That is all for now. Not a very good impression for this time around, but a few days to get my "stuff" together yet!

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...g=eyJpIjoidCJ9
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...d1&oe=565DAF54

That's the spirit! Drive it!

Great job man.

It's the car you earn ownership of. You built it ! Well done.

X4 What John said. You got her out of the shed that is a very huge

Enjoy

Ron

Right on guys. It's never as bad as it seems.

What I thought would be an intense modifcation turned around quite quickly.

By adding a second u-joint on the steering cloumn, the maximum
angle was cut from about 60 degrees down to 20 degrees (approx.).
http://www.ffcars.com/forums/attachm...917_124307.jpg
You can see in this image that the angle is severe:
Attachment 45478
The end result:
Attachment 45479
Had the previous owner not welded a portion of the shaft, I may have
completed the task in half the time.

The shift action should be better as the rear cable bracket was adjusted
about 1/4" to the back allowing the transaxle lever to lock fully.

Lots of testing to come this weekend, and possibly a car show Sunday.
Hopefully the primer, and pin holes shine bright with the morning sun.

I had the car out for a good 20 minute drive. Up to 80 Km/H with no problems.
My steering wheel needs to be rotated 45 degrees because of the u-joint modification.
Other than that, everything felt good.


Here's a quick video from the interior. Don't you love the sound of these action cams?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9cySN4hOo


The weather is looking good for the car show tomorrow. Hoping to get on the highway for some higher speed testing as well.

This morning was amazing, and humbling all at once. Meeting the car club members and their amazing cars was awesome. The GTM received a good deal of attention and many questions were answered. Some were no stranger to Factory Five and their line up of kits. As for the GTM, we need to step up our game just a touch. I was hesitant to bring the car because of the half completed state and primer finish. There were many genuine comments, but I saw some snickers from a few. My bad for being over anxious to sit amongst the supercars!

After 2.5 hours of high speed cruising, I really got a sense of how much more work is still required. Hitting the highway gives you a benchmark of how good your home alignment really is. For the most part the steering felt tight until hitting bumps at 120 Km/H, then the car wanted to skip over (or at least it felt that way). At no point did it feel like I lost control, however knowing things weren’t perfect kept me tentative and more alert. It was certainly easier to turn right, than left which indicates a camber/toe bias. Hopefully the tires didn’t wear too badly.

A warning to the G96.00 users: let me say the stock gearing is terrible. If you’re planning on installing one “out of the box” you may want to think again. On the highway, the RPM is about 2700 which is excessive in my opinion. 1^st gear goes like a blur and 6^th gear hardly feels like overdrive with the ease of acceleration. Do yourself a favour and drop the ring/pinion to a lower 3 series ratio.

Glasspack straight through mufflers make conversation near impossible. One of the first things I’ll be changing is the exhaust setup. Even at the cost of some power, it needs to be quieter for my liking. If anyone has recommendations on quiet mufflers, please list them!

The only issue that soured the drive was an over-active EVAC system. There was quite a bit of oil getting drawn out of the engine creating a smoke show. I’ll have to make a better baffle, but otherwise the system generates a great deal of low pressure for PCV.

On the way home we stopped for fuel and topped up the oil for safe measure. Filling the tanks is a bit of a task because of the fuel splash out the neck. In my case, I had to ease on the nozzle trigger to reduce fuel flow. Not a deal breaker, but a bit annoying. Maybe some smaller fuel caps will reduce the splash.

Here is a link to the car show. Over 150 cars participated including a McLaren and an Aventador!

https://www.facebook.com/tino.deside..._album_comment

A short video of the finish. It was the coolest part of the show to hear all of these engines firing up at once!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maznLEt7g5s&feature=youtu.be

Looks like a great show with a lots of high end cars. You should be proud of yours because you BUILT IT. Most of theirs were bought. Keep up the good work and if you're ever south of the border give me a call.

Steve
315-576-4792

Tino,
I have had mine in primer sitting on supercar row at Coffee and Cars with similar feedback.
Real car guys saw it as a work in progress and were very encouraging while I did hear mine referred once as a “Rat Rod Supercar” from someone whose primary mode of transport was his parents .
Be very proud of what you have done.

Hey Tino,

With the fix below, do you think that this sort of thing could suffice?

http://www.flamingriver.com/index.ph.../s0012/FR2594#

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Procision-Auto

Right on guys. It's never as bad as it seems.

What I thought would be an intense modifcation turned around quite quickly.

By adding a second u-joint on the steering cloumn, the maximum
angle was cut from about 60 degrees down to 20 degrees (approx.).
http://www.ffcars.com/forums/attachm...917_124307.jpg
You can see in this image that the angle is severe:
Attachment 45478
The end result:
Attachment 45479
Had the previous owner not welded a portion of the shaft, I may have
completed the task in half the time.

The shift action should be better as the rear cable bracket was adjusted
about 1/4" to the back allowing the transaxle lever to lock fully.

Lots of testing to come this weekend, and possibly a car show Sunday.
Hopefully the primer, and pin holes shine bright with the morning sun.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sressue

Looks like a great show with a lots of high end cars. You should be proud of yours because you BUILT IT. Most of theirs were bought. Keep up the good work and if you're ever south of the border give me a call.

Steve

---

The show was excellent! My buddy and I estimated about $12 million in car value sitting in the parking lot; an insane level of machinery for sure!

Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of how far this car has come along, but I felt awkward parked next to such 'pretty' cars having essentially guide coat
for paint and tie wraps holding my rear-view camera. No regrets though, I'd do it again.

Thanks for the offer to meet up. I'm not in the USA often, but I'll keep your contact handy. As always if you're in the Toronto area, be sure to look
me up!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fraser D

Tino,
I have had mine in primer sitting on supercar row at Coffee and Cars with similar feedback.
Real car guys saw it as a work in progress and were very encouraging while I did hear mine referred once as a “Rat Rod Supercar” from someone whose primary mode of transport was his parents .
Be very proud of what you have done.

---

I consider your car light years ahead of mine at this point. You've done a great job with the engine upgrade and body work mods! I'll be stealing those rear heat vents
for mine. :cool:

Quote:

---

Hey Tino,

---

Quote:

---

With the fix below, do you think that this sort of thing could suffice?

http://www.flamingriver.com/index.ph.../s0012/FR2594#

---

Tom, that looks like a good solution, however in my case I think the angle of the joints would be excessive being so close together.
Tough to say without testing; the price is also more than double.

Are you getting a click when turning?

Yeah unfortunately :(

I thought i had fixed the problem but obviously not. The angle is simply much too steep and i get a little bit of binding when i turn the wheel.

Another 80 KMs on the clock this afternoon. The alignment feels much better, but it will certainly need a computer to get it right. As soon as next season breaks I'll be setting up for a full suspension tune
Including four corner scaling.

Damn does it ever get hot in the cabin without the rear firewall closeouts. It's not the safest thing to attempt, so I will be tending to that next.

If you bought used window regulators and have trouble lining up your windows,
make sure the brackets are riding on the correct side of the rail.
For whatever reason, one of the brackets was mounted on the inside
lip which is smaller than the outer lip. It prevents the bracket from reaching the top of the rail by nearly 2 inches.

Thanks to Shane for the troubleshooting tips as he saw my photos on social media.

Wrong side
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...g=eyJpIjoidCJ9

Correct side
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...g=eyJpIjoidCJ9

The door panel buttons worked out really well and stay fastened nicely. There is only a minor hump through
the vinyl covering, but I think some 1/4” foam padding will fix that and also give the door a better look.

What are your thoughts on the lens covers with screws? If I’m being honest with myself, I think it looks better
on the GT40, but we’ll see how it pans out once there is some colour on the hood. I’m still torn between black
light buckets, or colour matched.

Either way, there is optic grade silicone that can be used to make a transparent gasket. If applied properly, you
would have to get up pretty close to notice it’s there. The only thing left is to clean up the edges and blend them
into the buckets. Adding some tape along the lens and putting filler between the gaps will be the next step for body work
over the Winter.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...8c&oe=56A2E9D3
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...36&oe=56A43E8B
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...d9&oe=569092F3

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/attachm...001_174503.jpg
http://www.ffcars.com/forums/attachm...001_174356.jpg

A first draft of a new layout for the LCD gauges. This was done using MS Paint so it looks a bit animated.
This is definitely a better use of space, but it needs some high resolution graphics and nicer colour tones.

I'm checking out options to draw maps using the GPS co-ordinates and incorporate vehicle position, lap times,
etc. Call me a geek, but I'm loving this stuff!

Attachment 46462Attachment 46463Attachment 46464

Closing out the firewall and hoping for a gas tight seal. I've done my best to add heat treatment, sound dampener, silicone, and foam gasket
at most junction points.

I think the weakest link is the engine cover and the lexan window. Some modification is needed in my coolant hose routing
to allow the engine cover more clearance to sit on the rails. A 90 degree elbow coming off the pump should be enough.

For those without side windows, what have you done to cover the area? I'd like to have some suede covers made. Probably
not too difficult with a template.

The stereo amps are mounted and then I'll need ideas for rear speaker locations. I've seen some of you install enclosures
between the seat and console that looks really nice. There aren't many options otherwise unless we insert speakers into
the upper seat!
Attachment 46465Attachment 46466Attachment 46467Attachment 46468

Sunday was the last car club cruise for the year. Being Thanksgiving long weekend it was a mild turn-out;
approximately 60 cars attended. The weather was great and I figured it was safe to take the windowless
GTM for a final appearance.

Despite being a smaller crowd, the car receive a great deal more attention. Proably because it stuck out
like a sore thumb and people were uncertain about the type of car. As I was getting out, two guys approached
the car thinking it was a GT40. He just happened to own a beautiful 2007 Ford GT. Unfortauntely my phone
decided to delete about twelve photos which included the Ford GT, but you can see the hatch in the background
of the first photo. The owner (Nick) was nice enough to open the doors and rear hatch to reveal the sexy
supercharged beast beneath.
http://www.ffcars.com/forums/attachm...011_094731.jpg
http://www.ffcars.com/forums/attachm...011_095957.jpg

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/attachm...011_095042.jpg

More photos here:

https://m.facebook.com/tino.desideri...4250544489148/
Today is also the last time I'll take the GTM on a long cruise. 307 KMs since mid September! I have done enough
road testing to know that I'm miles away from completiing the build. Installing the door windows and silencing
the rattles, should keep me busy for the rest of the year.

I'm still feeling some heat coming off the main console area. After installng a heat sheild, and thermal
wrap to block off the cooling hoses, I'm shocked at how warm the interior feels. The engine cover is definitely
an issue, but perhaps a vented underbody cover is required?

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/attachm...72230535_n.jpg

Less than 10 hours of run time on this new set of wires and one of them is already
broken. After inspecting the boot it appears to be only mechanically torn/stressed.
There are no signs of arcing through the boot, or misfiring on the plug.
Attachment 47036

For the short term I've added the stock aluminum sleeves to shield the heat. I moved
the faulty wire to cylinder #7 for easy access/inspection. We'll see how it performs
next season before swapping the entire set.

The last mod for the year goes to the oil/air separators. This should cure any smoke
out the exhaust. Vibrant makes a nice looking product with a clear level tube.

Hooking up this mess with braided wire with such a short run from the valve cover is
not going to be fun! I may have to forego the braid to get the flexibilty.
Attachment 47034

What a crappy day for me, all because of haste on my part.

With sunny, dry weather far and few between lately, I wanted to get some tuning/logging
done this afternoon.

I had loaded the original tune back in the PCM to start fresh. When I started the engine,
it was running a bit rough (tune related), so I pulled the MAF sensor to smooth out the idle
instead of setting the MAF to "Fail" and setting Frequency to zero (mistake #1).

Mistake #2 was not fully charging the battery before going for my joy ride. The car has
been sitting for weeks, draining away. The battery was boosted just enough to crank the engine
over, and then I relied on the alternator to charge the system while cruising around.

After hammering the throttle a few times, the PCM must have entered a region of a table where
timing and/or fuel mixture was not configured properly. This is my theory based on the screen
shots from HP Tuners. The engine shut off almost instantly as if I had cut power to the system.
Attachment 47435Attachment 47436
When trying to re-start, there wasn’t enough juice in the battery to crank the motor! There I
was dead on the road, less than 1 KM from my house.
My wife had to drive down the street with booster cables and 20 month old daughter in tow.

She did not like me very much in that moment. Thankfully, the car was revived and babied home
for a good rest. No damage, just very inconvenient and embarrassing. I have a video with some
decent engine tones, but the end is laced with a few choice words. It's probably not the best video
to show off! :P

Last cruise of the season? No way that I can put it to rest on a low note!

I miss visiting the forum and working on the car! It has been a rough 2nd half
of the year and Winter cold isn't helping with motivation either.

This year I've treated myself to a little GTM art which will likely hang in the
garage or my future man cave (whenever that happens!). Our little buddy
Taz has some skillz!
Attachment 48253

Besides that I'm pretty much done with the LCD programming. I was a little
lax on road testing and getting a real-time video uploaded, however that will
happen soon.
Attachment 48252
My next little task over the cold months is to draw up another skin to make
my dash resemble an aircraft display. I think it'll be my favourite look!
Attachment 48250Attachment 48251

Thanks for the shout out, my friend!
Now I've got to get you into one of my guitars! :cool:

But, but, I play the drums!Attachment 48260

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Procision-Auto

But, but, I play the drums!Attachment 48260

---

Not by that picture. All I see is a nice looking drum set. Now if you were to throw up a video of you playing :rolleyes:

Ron

With the recent stranding of the GTM and now hard cranking by way of a high torque starter and Winter temperatures, I’m thinking it’s time to reassess
my battery selection. Last year I swapped the battery for a smaller sized unit to facilitate removal.

By doing so, I think I’ve setup for failure. The current specs are: 75DT, 525 CCA at 0’F and 630 CCA at 32’F, 85 Reserve Capacity (ouch).

With most low compression motors and OEM starters, we can expect to see 130-145 amps of current draw (peak), with a continuous
cranking current of 100-120 amps.

The starter I’m using right now is a B&M 77106, high torque starter. It can draw up to 300 amps depending on the engine load with a
continuous cranking current of 160-180 amps (again depending on engine particulars. IE: compression, friction, etc.).

I’d like to consider an Optima RedTop 75 that significantly increases the available current at 720 and 910 respectively for 0 and 32’F
temperatures, with a reserve capacity of 100.

I’m sure this battery is miles above what I have now and more importantly will have the extra kick if I need to restart the engine many
times within short charging periods.

I'm curious if anyone used/uses a smaller battery and survived long term?

P.S. Ron, no video for you!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Procision-Auto

P.S. Ron, no video for you!

---

Vid nazi! :p

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Taz Rules

Vid nazi! :p

---

Well Mr. Tino knows the rules.....No Pictures or Video it didn't HAPPEN!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Procision-Auto

Not bad for a rookie glass install! The trim looks great, and the glass is sitting flat.

Another shout out to Ron (Presto) for getting the body straight and allowing the
glass to fit properly.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0d&oe=5672502C
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...fa&oe=56646F21
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...7d&oe=567634A3

---

What did you use for the glass trim? I have a 33 HR and I just installed it the way the manual has without any trim ..but I think it looks like crap.

Sorry about the late reply, I"ve been a bit removed from my car and forum lately. I"ll get you the part number for the glass trim ASAP.

For about the last week I've been setting up to take video of the LCD Display for the promo threads and advertising but my engine won't start!

I think my engine is done? The start solenoid engages, but won't crank. If I put in 1st gear and try to roll the car, it's stuck solid.
My last drive was after the stall a few weeks ago. The engine was boosted, it started up without a problem and I drove it home.
All fluids are topped up. The engine has never been stressed (overheated, over-rev'd).


I'm at a loss as to why it will not start. I've put two fully charged batteries in parallel, plus a 50 AMP charger, and the most it would
yield was a "electrical buzz" and pull down the interior back-lighting.


What the hell is going on between shut down of my last test drive and this week?

:mad:

Seems like it's the starter AGAIN!

After inspecting the flywheel area as per Dave's suggestion, I found that the
start gear was engaged to the teeth of the flywheel. I'd stay away from the
MSD and B&M High Torque starters. There must be a design flaw (yes, I do
have a heat shield and thermal material around the starter housing).

Attachment 48572

It was tough to retract which is not normal because the clearance was set
correctly.

After disengaging the starter, I was able to rotate the engine via the balancer
bolt and long torque wrench. Just be sure, I put the transmission into 1st gear
and rotated the motor from the balancer while watching the tires rotate.

The oil is drained and looks pretty much brand new (about 10 hours, 500KMs
of use). With a magnet through the oil stream and oil filter, there was nothing
odd to be found. That's a relief as the clutch stop was installed very early in
the build process!

Attachment 48573

Confirmed. Hopefully this is still covered under warranty.
The crackling you hear is the arc off the solenoid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuatsqIb1xw

By Wednesday night I'll have the new starter installed and engine running. LCD functional video to come!

Check out what our BC buddy Taz drew for me. It's a GTM leading an Aventador across the finish line.
How cool is that? With this drawing, I have enough to start a GTM shrine!

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/attachm...214_220649.jpg

A much more versatile unit with unlimited clocking positions, and side mounted posts. It's also a bit smaller which helps clearance with the exhaust.

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/attachm...6_190237-1.jpg

Looking great buddy. How does if feel (power wise) compared to mine?