What did you do on your GTM today?

That's awesome Joel. You beat me to it. I had my first opportunity to drive an indy car last year and I just have to have one. The performance is just amazing. The perfect blend between a motorcycle and car. Sadly, I have been banned from getting any other projects until the gtm is complete.

What chassis is that? Looks like a late 80s March Penske? I have been looking at 1200 cc motorcycle motor powered cars as I don't want a car that has lots of expensive hard to find components. BUT if the right car comes along...

Congratulations. Nice purchase.


John

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Originally Posted by kabacj

That's awesome Joel. You beat me to it. I had my first opertunity to drive an indy car last year and I just have to have one. The performance is just amazing. The perfect blend between a motorcycle and car. Sadly, I have been banned from getting any other projects until the gtm is complete.

What chassis is that? Looks like a late 80s March Penske? I have been looking at 1200 cc motorcycle motor powered cars as I don't want a car that has lots of expensive hard to find components. BUT if the right car comes along...

Congratulations. Nice purchase.


John

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It's actually a Swift DB-4 Formula Atlantic. 1.6 ltr Toyota engine so the cost is not hateful. Lighter than an IndyCar but makes less power (~280 HP). Still it's REALLY fast. Should be fun.

IIRC an Atlantic car is what holds the overall track record at Thunderhill, where the 25 hour race is held every year. Atlantic cars are WICKED fast, but the engines do require a bit of maintainance. Not sure I would feel real safe running one at speed with others on the track though, and depending upon the track layout, I might not even feel safe running it by myself! Great car though.

My former employer bought an ex Gurney 1996 vintage Indy car for $40k with TONS of spares. It was almost two cars worth of stuff.

There are certainly some "deals" to be had on race cars right now.

Took the GTM down from the jack stands Sunday after almost two months. Took it for a drive this evening, around the neighborhood, to test the magnasteer power steering addition.

Picked the final color. I will say it will be one of a kind.

I had installed the fix for the belt pulley from Shane At VRaptor. I had to get my lathe out and cut it into two pieces, then machine the ends down. With out the lathe would have been hard to get them straight. Also had ordered the hatch props will install at a later date. Thanks again for the great work Shane.

Attachment 8522Attachment 8521Attachment 8523Attachment 8524

Put the motor in tonight. Puts new meaning to the word shoehorn. The motor was a thing of beauty. Headers, ac pump, serpintine system, and thermostat had to be removed to get the engine in. At least I didnt have to remove the clutch. Now that the motor is in I get to put all those things back in.

http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/o...nirgtm/184.jpg
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/o...nirgtm/186.jpg
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/o...nirgtm/191.jpg
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/o...nirgtm/192.jpg
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/o...nirgtm/193.jpg
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/o...nirgtm/194.jpg

Awesome Roger! Not long till you are lighting up those slicks!

How was it?

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Originally Posted by VD2021

Took the GTM down from the jack stands Sunday after almost two months. Took it for a drive this evening, around the neighborhood, to test the magnasteer power steering addition.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by rev2xs

How was it?

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Just like it was in the donor.

The effort required to turn the wheel, while not moving and at low speed feels close to how it did with the manual rack. I can turn the wheel with a finger with the GTM at a standstill, but not with the ease of a luxury car.

A lot of the feedback that was felt with the manual rack is gone and I like how it gets stiffer as the speed increases. I also like that it takes less time to get going when I back out of my driveway because I'm not turning the wheel for three minutes. Its 2 1/4 turns from lock to lock so it’s a lot quicker than the manual rack.

It's a nice to have, but I wouldn't put it in the must have list.

Cool, how much does the magnasteer system suited for the GTM go for these days?

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Originally Posted by VD2021

Just like it was in the donor.

The effort required to turn the wheel, while not moving and at low speed feels close to how it did with the manual rack. I can turn the wheel with a finger with the GTM at a standstill, but not with the ease of a luxury car.

A lot of the feedback that was felt with the manual rack is gone and I like how it gets stiffer as the speed increases. I also like that it takes less time to get going when I back out of my driveway because I'm not turning the wheel for three minutes. Its 2 1/4 turns from lock to lock so it’s a lot quicker than the manual rack.

It's a nice to have, but I wouldn't put it in the must have list.

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Sanding down more flash today, and remove tape residue. I might even order some headers!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rev2xs

Cool, how much does the magnasteer system suited for the GTM go for these days?

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Vidal can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you need all the Vette electronics to make that system work properly. It is not your average build we have here.

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Originally Posted by crash

Vidal can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you need all the Vette electronics to make that system work properly. It is not your average build we have here.

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You're correct.

The EBTCM controls the a magnetic actuator that varies the steering effort, but the rack requires the entire traction control system to function fully.

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Originally Posted by VD2021

You're correct.

The EBTCM controls the a magnetic actuator that varies the steering effort, but the rack requires the entire traction control system to function fully.

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I am not shure if you can, but you might be able to make it work with out the body control module. In the corvette all system modules comunicate thru the star connectors and the bcm connects to the data link. you would need to bypass the bcm and a link from the ebtcm to the pcm and use the harness of the ebtcm that conects to the abs, traction control and steering sensors inputs and outputs with the magnasteer rack also need the corvette engine driven p/s pump.

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Originally Posted by mikespms

I am not shure if you can, but you might be able to make it work with out the body control module. In the corvette all system modules comunicate thru the star connectors and the bcm connects to the data link. you would need to bypass the bcm and a link from the ebtcm to the pcm and use the harness of the ebtcm that conects to the abs, traction control and steering sensors inputs and outputs with the magnasteer rack also need the corvette engine driven p/s pump.

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It may be easier to just keep/add the BCM. It may work, but I don't think I'd add it without the complete system. The steering wheel position sensor and the lateral accelerometer are two important items of the system. And if you're adding these the BCM is only one more module. If you install this without the BCM you should plan on working through a lot of trouble codes and emulating the nodes on the bus, relative to any DTC that would put the rack into a service mode. Just my 0.02 cents.

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Originally Posted by VD2021

It may be easier to just keep/add the BCM. It may work, but I don't think I'd add it without the complete system. The steering wheel position sensor and the lateral accelerometer are two important items of the system. And if you're adding these the BCM is only one more module. If you install this without the BCM you should plan on working through a lot of trouble codes and emulating the nodes on the bus, relative to any DTC that would put the rack into a service mode. Just my 0.02 cents.

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Hi Vidal, You're right ,but when I rerouted the wiring I think that all of those sensors run to the ebtcm as an independent system and use the bcm as the link. But the best safe and easy way is to use the complete corvette system like we did, it was just an idea that it might work as a stand alone .

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Originally Posted by mikespms

Hi Vidal, You're right ,but when I rerouted the wiring I think that all of those sensors run to the ebtcm as an independent system and use the bcm as the link. But the best safe and easy way is to use the complete corvette system like we did, it was just an idea that it might work as a stand alone .

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Yeah, I concur. Especially when something as simple as unplugging the hazard swt causes a DTC and the system to go into service mode.

Got the transaxle installed. What a bear.

Now I can measure the axle length.

http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/o...nirgtm/005.jpg

Met Spdmon2791 and Jeremy of Fastproms. Kbentzel was also there with his GTM.

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/z...427_101458.jpg
http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/z...427_101412.jpg

Wish I could say it was as easy as changing a tire but it wasn't. I can say it was 10 times easier than putting in the ABS cover that came with the kit. The only hard part is our car is almost ready to put the body back on and it's kind of awkward working and arms length in the foot well. But the Shane's kit was well worth the money and I wish is would have put it in a long time ago instead of just following the GTM instruction manual. Pulling in air from behind the radiator and trying to cool it and blow in into the interior just doesn't make sense.

I got some great news today. FINALLY all the parts have arrived to complete my motor. Mast sent me this shot of the first bank of Hillbornes installed.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attac...7&d=1336005680

Those stacks are gonna look pretty sexy John, very nice.

Ding-friggin'-DANG!!! You GO big boy!!!

Decided last night NOT to go with the power seats. I was planning to use the donor power seat tracks (modified) as Mike (MikesPMS) did. Mike and I (mostly mike) spent a few hours grinding/fitting/prepping one of my seats to accept the modified donor power seat track. Last night I was able to set the seat in the car, sit in it and make a decision. I also considered potential passenger fit.

Attachment 10370Attachment 10371
My Dad sent these pictures on Fathers Day. This was his latest project after working on the Paddle Wheeler with the Steam Engine. I need to get back to the garage.

......Nothing:)......Well I did stare at it for about 30 seconds when I had to grab something from the garage this evening.

Bolted the rear suspension on and installed the axles to measure the distance between them to explore transmission options.

I started working on the brake line routing. I decided to modify the front bracket the same way as RumRunner did.

http://supercarbuild.blogspot.com/20...ket-front.html

Based on the advice from Kempo and Joe Mush I swapped out my clutch master cylinder from 3/4 to 13/16. This is the hot setup for the Mendiola Transaxle as it will prevent driving the clutch slave cylinder too far and damaging the clutch return fingers.

The mounting bosses on the willwood master cylinders always bothered me so I removed them off the front and rear brake and the old clutch master cylinder.

Of course that means I needed to remove them from the new 13/16 master cylinder.

This is what they looked like before.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attac...6&d=1343615089

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attac...5&d=1343615087

and after

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attac...3&d=1343615084

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attac...4&d=1343615085

Another thing that nobody sees but me, however it makes me happy.

John

Started working on the seat belt install. Got partially through the set up of the seat belts, and then learned that my plumbing in the house was showing signs of backing up. Called the plumber, who charged me 315.00 for 30 minutes of work to clear the blockage. Turned out that a root had grown into one of the joints on the main line going out, cause it to split. "Joe the Plumber" quoted me $1000.00 + dollars, (above the $315.00 that I had already paid), to fix the problem.

He quoted me a rate of $177.00/hr plus materials. Estimated 4+ hours to do the work. I thought to myself, "Not in my lifetime"...

So my neighbor and I dug it up, and replace the bad parts, and covered it back up. Took us an hour to dig it out, and about 45 minutes to change the joints and line, and 15 minutes to cover back up. The temp was well into the high 90's, and I was spent afterwards...

Needless to say, that my time in the garage was cut short for the day... But I saved $1000.00 from "Joe the Plumber".

Materials cost me $26.00.

So it was a very productive day!

Yeah, I'm always amazed at what plumbers charge. It's like they went to medical school or something. On the other hand, if I was a plumber, I would probably charge big $$ too as the job description usually involves dealing with other peoples...poo...so to speak.

Yeah. I definitely think the poo factor has a huge role in their rates.lol

Plumbed up the master cylinders. Purchased some banjo's and a slick banjo bolt with integral pressure sensor switch (eliminates the installation and adjustment hassle of the mechanical actuated switch). Cleaned up the look and leaves the bleeders in the correct location.

Attachment 10916 Attachment 10917

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Originally Posted by JCHRacer

Plumbed up the mater cylinders.

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As in "Tow Mater"? LOL

That banjo sensor is pretty cool. Where did you get it?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JCHRacer

Plumbed up the mater cylinders. Purchased some banjo's and a slick banjo bolt with integral pressure sensor switch (eliminates the installation and adjustment hassle of the mechanical actuated switch). Cleaned up the look and leaves the bleeders in the correct location.

Attachment 10916 Attachment 10917

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Joel,
That same switch came stock in my Atom. I had two of them fail before making a mechanical switch an replacing that one with a regular banjo bolt. Thankfully my failures were just leaks around the plastic area where the wires come out. Others at the Atom club forum reported complete failures. This allowed all the pressure to escape from the system and a complete loss of brakes occurred on that master cylinder. If you still plan to use it do it in the rear wheels master cylinder. In case it fails you will still have some stopping power at the front.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crash

As in "Tow Mater"? LOL

That banjo sensor is pretty cool. Where did you get it?

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Got this one at Pegasus Racing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kempo

Joel,
That same switch came stock in my Atom. I had two of them fail before making a mechanical switch an replacing that one with a regular banjo bolt. Thankfully my failures were just leaks around the plastic area where the wires come out. Others at the Atom club forum reported complete failures. This allowed all the pressure to escape from the system and a complete loss of brakes occurred on that master cylinder. If you still plan to use it do it in the rear wheels master cylinder. In case it fails you will still have some stopping power at the front.

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Thanks for the feedback, it is on the rear brakes and I will keep a close eye on it. I have gotten good feedback from other people that have used them on their race cars without incident. Not a big fan of complete brake failure....now I'm nervous....any special circumstances involved?

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Originally Posted by JCHRacer

any special circumstances involved?

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Not really some car like mine are cars that are used mostly at the track. In other cases they were street driven cars. The second one I installed started leaking fluid when I was bleeding the system after installing it. My car is used 90% of the time on track that is why I decided to remove that part from the car. Didn't want to have that in the back of my mind every time I braked.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Stig

Started working on the seat belt install. Got partially through the set up of the seat belts, and then learned that my plumbing in the house was showing signs of backing up. Called the plumber, who charged me 315.00 for 30 minutes of work to clear the blockage. Turned out that a root had grown into one of the joints on the main line going out, cause it to split. "Joe the Plumber" quoted me $1000.00 + dollars, (above the $315.00 that I had already paid), to fix the problem.

He quoted me a rate of $177.00/hr plus materials. Estimated 4+ hours to do the work. I thought to myself, "Not in my lifetime"...

So my neighbor and I dug it up, and replace the bad parts, and covered it back up. Took us an hour to dig it out, and about 45 minutes to change the joints and line, and 15 minutes to cover back up. The temp was well into the high 90's, and I was spent afterwards...

Needless to say, that my time in the garage was cut short for the day... But I saved $1000.00 from "Joe the Plumber".

Materials cost me $26.00.

So it was a very productive day!

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Wow! I thought I had a wasted day after breaking a window regulator. It just goes to prove. The worst day of working on the GTM is better than the best day of digging sewer pipes. On the other hand, now you have to use the money you saved on the GTM? :D At least that's what I would tell my wife. Sometimes it even works!