The Start of a Journey - Metros Build Thread

[Frank818]

That is exactly what I plan on doing, ducting somehow the air through it. There are so many "somehows" I did already, it's not one more that'll be a problem. lolll

[metros]

It's been a few weeks since I've updated this thread. I worked out a bunch of little things over the last few weeks.

Friday I dropped the car off at Mach V Motorsports. They're going to tune the car for me as well as do some welding/fab work. They're creating my seat mounts, welding a muffler into the exhaust system, fabbing an additional trans mount at the rear end, and welding together the VRaptor Motorsports wing support I purchased.

In the mean time, I'm looking at some heat/sound barriers to paint inside the body panels. Many builders report how surprised they are to see how hot it gets inside the engine bay. Having an additional layer of heat protection on some of the panels seems like a worthy investment. Plus if I get the car painted down the road then it'll help protect the paint from heat damage.

Feels a little odd not to have the car in the garage.

I'm spending this weekend doing oil changes on the daily vehicles and giving them a simple detail.

[Frank818]

That's true, I forgot about heat damaging paint/wrap! Damn, I'm not even sure I have enough clearance to put a heat repellent over the turbo anyway. Oh well, I'll cook some fiberglass, then!

[metros]

Got some disheartening news this week. Mach V was doing the above work for me on the wing support, harness tabs, tuning, etc. They discovered that 2 cylinders (opposite heads) are showing 0 compression. I must have seriously botched the timing belt install as they suspect the valves are stuck/bent open. 1 cylinder was scoped and showed some scuffs on the piston. Not sure if I'm going to need to look at pistons as well.

Costly lesson to learn to say the least.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Hey metros,
One of our engines had bent valves as a result of a front crash.
From rock auto:
head bolts $49 per head
gasket set $129
Valves $7 each
Labor: The cost to teach my son Michael how to do a valve job. PRICELESS.

P1030953.jpg

[metros]

Well after moping around for a few days I'm ready to get back in the saddle. I did get some work around the house done while away from the car. Also was fortunate enough to have some good family time.


Good news - the intake valves in 2 cylinders were bent, but the pistons were undamaged. I'm wondering if I bent the valves while I was trying to time the timing belt as the damage to the piston was non-existant. I would think turning the cam slowly and bending the valves this way would leave the piston unmarred like this. As opposed to starting the car and having the 2 come into contact at a high speed/force.

Either way, both heads were sent to the machine shop, decked, hot tanked, and rebuilt. Pictures to be added in the future. They should be as good as new now. Waiting for Mach V to re-assemble for me and then dyno tune the car.

In the mean time, I actually made myself scuff/sand the inside of the fiberglass panels. Used a green scotch brite followed by 100 grit sandpaper. Then cleaned with a degreaser and rinsed. They should be ready for spray on sound deadening next weekend. I'm also going to rhino line the insides of the front fenders. There aren't splash shields for the front so rocks will hit the inside of the fenders, they'll need some protection.





Not pictured: bumpers, engine cover, trunk cover, and hood.

Looking forward to one day having the car finished and looking back through this thread.

[Frank818]

Is that guy the owner of the machine shop you sent your heads to? He looks like a hard worker, though.

[STiPWRD]

Glad the engine is getting fixed up, I've gotta do the same thing to my fiberglass.

[metros]

Frank - Don't let the pictures fool you. He'll get distracted with pumping the floor jack or removing/replacing random bolts at the drop of a hat. Looks to be lining himself up for government employment in the future.

Slava - I recommend long sleeves and gloves. I'm still itching. I didn't anticipate just scuffing the panels would result in this level of itch, I was mistaken.

[Frank818]

Looks to be lining himself up for government employment in the future.

HAHAHAHAH!!!!! I laughed that one out so loud and so long!

[metros]

Should be an excellent weekend!

My car is just getting finished with tuning. The heads have been decked, hot tanked, new intake valves and all put back together. I can't wait to drive it around the neighborhood. It sounds odd, but I actually miss working on it a bit as it's been gone the past several weeks. Looking forward to seeing what numbers it ended up with as well.

Last weekend I finished with the sound deadening of the exterior panels. Still need to do the F/R bumpers and hood/trunk covers. I was happy with the way the DEI spray deadener turned out. A nice coating that seems to foam up just slightly.





Stand by for rwhp numbers!

[Frank818]

Yeah the result really looks good!!! I'm jealous, I got EZCool but damn your DEI stuff seems a lot better and it's spray. How much was it? And did you somehow test its efficiency? Before and after coating.

[Hindsight]

Yeah I agree, that looks fantastic. I was going to just spray mine with some flat black spraypaint but I really like the look of yours. Do you have any idea if it added much weight?

[metros]

I got it off amazon for around 11 a can. The 2 rear qrtr, 2 doors, and 2 fenders took 5 cans to put a nice coat on. Of course, most of the actual work is in the prep.

The before and after comparison is that the panels feel much more rigid and there is a noise difference when tapping them, but that isn't really something I can describe.

I'm sure this added weight but I have no before and after comparisons. I'm sure this is a lot lighter than using the dynomat style sound deadener that you stick on. I have some of that and a 1' square of that is heavier than a can of this spray.

[Mechie3]

That does look nice. It'll look finished when you pop the hood/trunk vs the "oh...uh.....that's very yellowish"

[metros]

^Agreed, another one of the reasons I wanted to use spray deadener.

[Rasmus]

Nice look. I'd imagine it foams up because it's designed to make small gas bubbles throughout the product's layer. Gas bubbles that help reduce the sound passing through the panel.

[metros]

I successfully picked the 818 up from Mach V Motorsports on Friday. They were able to wire in the fuel temp sensor directly to the ecu, which set it up for tuning. However, they had some staffing issues and weren't able to give it the proper tune it deserves before I picked it up. They were able to tweak it enough for it to idle nicely and drive around the neighborhood, but not to romp on .

While it was there, they corrected some minor things that I had set up incorrectly.
-Where I had connected the radiator overflow - The radiator I had purchased had 2 nipples (one at the neck and one on the other corner). I had the overflow connected to the neck, but it should have been at the corner.
-Rear lateral links - I had adjusted them to the stock sizes when installing, but then brought them in more when giving it an eyeball alignment. This was causing some mild binding, which is why I was having some resistance in the rear. Lesson learned.
-Welded on a stud for one of the ground points. I had previously used a pop rivet to secure this ground, which I have learned is not ideal.
-Wired in fuel temp sensor - it'll read ambient right next to the tank, which will give the ecu accurate enough information (I believe).
-Tacked my muffler onto the exhaust - waiting for body installation to weld perfectly center. But this'll cut down on the noise for now.



On top of that, they discovered 2 cylinders with 0 compression due to bent valves. Pulled it all apart and sent the heads to a machine shop for rebuilding. I could have trailered it home and pulled it apart myself. But head work is over my pay grade at this point in the learning process. A newb mistake here could cost a whole lot more than paying Mach V to handle this.

Overall, the car starts and runs very smoothly, idles nicely, and drives without a hiccup.

Mach V also welded in the appropriate tabs for my harnesses and mounts for the seats. It's hard to see from the pictures but those cross braces are L pieces and welded on the top (pictured) as well as the side.





Nice looking welds


This is the 1 step forward part of my update.

Next comes the 3 steps back part of my update. On the way home I decided to throw some gas into the car as we were already at a gas station for the truck. Drive it around the neighborhood a bit and park it for the night. The next morning I come out to a garage full of fuel fumes. The seal for the fuel level sending unit **** the bed. Previously I had only enough fuel in the tank to where it hadn't yet reached this seal.

Pull the seats out, pull the fire wall, pull the engine/tank firewall, pull the shifter, and finally get to the seal. I thought that I would be able to use the FFR fuel tank because I had gone the extra mile to use a tank sealer. Now I'm dealing with the consequences of accepting the **** design of the FFR tank. So frustrated with that. I'll be taking this tank for target practice and purchasing a Boyd tank. That was one area I had planned on saving funds while using the stock tank. Now I'm feeling that bite my ***. FYI, gasoline turns dynomat sound deadener into a tar like substance.

Ugh.

[Frank818]

A lot of things happened here.

Are you fixing the exhaust pipe onto the trans? No flex bellows no rubber?

Nice oil cooler.

I had the sender unit's seal leak too. I put some sealant gasket on both of them now, so I am sure it will be ok. The tank is really kitcarisch, way too simple in its simple, which causes issues. Hopefully we will get used to them without too much trouble.

[STiPWRD]

I got a dollar for my FFR tank at the metal yard, it's worthless lol.

Great to hear you got the car back and at least drove it around while the weather's nice. They got a lot done over there. How come you didn't just let them tune it and picked it up later? Would there have been a long wait?

By the way, I might need to buy one of these airlift tools, that thing is amazing.

[metros]

I will be out of town next weekend, which would mean it was sitting at their place for another 2 weeks. I actually hadn't anticipated it wouldn't be finished. If they had called and told me that they weren't able to get to it then I may have waited. But getting there I thought all was good and it was ready to go.

Glad you like the Ulift - now you can see why I was so excited about it. I never anticipated it would work as well as it does.

Hey - how did you order the 818 tank from the boyd site? Will they know what I'm talking about when I specify FFR 818?

[STiPWRD]

You can order directly from their site:
http://www.fueltankparts.com/factory...-340-pump.html

I also called them to confirm lead time, they're very easy to talk to. You'll have to remove the sender and flip the float for the resistance to read correctly. Otherwise it will read full when actually empty. Mine is still reading empty with 5 gallons though, I'll have to remove it and see if it's getting hung up.

[metros]

It has been awhile since I last updated my build thread.

During this time I ordered & received the Boyd fuel tank to replace the FFR tank with poorly designed seals. I'll lose about 3 gallons of fuel capacity (now 10 gallon total), but gain several inches in legroom as a result of the tank being slimmer. The tank also came with an aeromotive stealth 340, which is overkill but a nice unit.

I've since tweaked the wiring for the Boyd tank and modified the fuel level sender to provide the correct information to my ecu. I've also spent a bit of time painting all of the newly added seat mounts/bracing.

Otherwise I took a vacation and have just recently gotten caught up since returning from Mexico.





To those of you with the Boyd tank and first gen firewall - did you take the firewall somewhere to be bent to allow more legroom or flex it back further and bolt it in?


Also enjoyed some family time. My son was VERY in to Halloween. He's almost 2 now, I had no idea he'd get so into trick or treating. His cousin was mario.

Pre-mustache application.

[AZPete]

Great Halloween photo! For the firewall with a Boyd tank, I took the upper piece to a metal shop that had a big bending brake and they bent the upper bend more so I could keep the flat ledge for some storage behind the seats. I think I had them bend it 20 degrees but check yours to make sure. I remember another builder on this site saying he cut the aluminum piece at the shelf and then riveted the two pieces together.

[Frank818]

Where are the candies?
Oh, the car is a big candy, just can't eat it.

[metros]

It's been a few weeks since I had the homefront squared away and got to work in a bit of garage time.

Last weekend I tied up a few loose ends - leaking clutch master, replaced a brake hose from reservoir to master, modified the shifter plate mount for easier removal/re-install, re-installed the shifter, mounted the gas tank, re-installed the upper heat shield and took a quick look at how the firewall needs to be modified for the new tank and additional leg room. Lots of little things that really needed to be addressed before I could move forward. The only thing I'm waiting on to finish the new gas tank is welding a bung into the filler tube. Then I can vent the tank up towards the top of the filler for faster/easier fueling.



This weekend I got some grunt work done prior to the garage getting real cold. I mocked up the floor pan for underneath the seats and drilled all the chassis holes for riveting. Laying under the car with not a lot of leverage for drilling while shards of steel/aluminum fall on you isn't one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday. But better now than before winter really sets in and I get frozen doing the job. That panel is currently rhino-lined and drying after its second coat.





This weekend I hung the side sails and front fenders for the first time. All of the body panels have been stored in the basement since I received the kit 1.5 years ago. I'm sure they've conformed to storage a bit, regardless of how carefully I attempted to store them in appropriate positions. I really just clamped these on today to let them sit and re-conform for this week before I add anything else. Not to mention freeing up some garage space is really nice.





The passenger side is contacting my oil cooler just slightly. I may need to 'enhance' the passenger side scoop cut out a touch to allow them to play nice together. Otherwise the positioning of my oil cooler is great for access to cool air.



In family news, I took my son to the local track (Summit Point Raceway) for Mach V's sponsored NASA day. This was his first time and he seemed to enjoy it. He wasn't as impressed with the cars on track as the cars in the paddock. He really wanted to get up close and look inside all the cars. I made sure he could say Porsche before we left.



I'm hoping to get some time in the garage this week. Going to bolt my Mach V 'Awesome' wheels on again and see how they fit compared to the body panels. Really excited to see what they look like as well.

[svanlare]

Just reading now, but I did exactly what Pete did and had the top sheet of aluminum bent to a new angle for the boyd tank.

[Flamshackle]

I successfully picked the 818 up from Mach V Motorsports on Friday. They were able to wire in the fuel temp sensor directly to the ecu, which set it up for tuning. However, they had some staffing issues and weren't able to give it the proper tune it deserves before I picked it up. They were able to tweak it enough for it to idle nicely and drive around the neighborhood, but not to romp on .

While it was there, they corrected some minor things that I had set up incorrectly.
-Where I had connected the radiator overflow - The radiator I had purchased had 2 nipples (one at the neck and one on the other corner). I had the overflow connected to the neck, but it should have been at the corner.
-Rear lateral links - I had adjusted them to the stock sizes when installing, but then brought them in more when giving it an eyeball alignment. This was causing some mild binding, which is why I was having some resistance in the rear. Lesson learned.
-Welded on a stud for one of the ground points. I had previously used a pop rivet to secure this ground, which I have learned is not ideal.
-Wired in fuel temp sensor - it'll read ambient right next to the tank, which will give the ecu accurate enough information (I believe).
-Tacked my muffler onto the exhaust - waiting for body installation to weld perfectly center. But this'll cut down on the noise for now.



On top of that, they discovered 2 cylinders with 0 compression due to bent valves. Pulled it all apart and sent the heads to a machine shop for rebuilding. I could have trailered it home and pulled it apart myself. But head work is over my pay grade at this point in the learning process. A newb mistake here could cost a whole lot more than paying Mach V to handle this.

Overall, the car starts and runs very smoothly, idles nicely, and drives without a hiccup.

Mach V also welded in the appropriate tabs for my harnesses and mounts for the seats. It's hard to see from the pictures but those cross braces are L pieces and welded on the top (pictured) as well as the side.





Nice looking welds


This is the 1 step forward part of my update.

Next comes the 3 steps back part of my update. On the way home I decided to throw some gas into the car as we were already at a gas station for the truck. Drive it around the neighborhood a bit and park it for the night. The next morning I come out to a garage full of fuel fumes. The seal for the fuel level sending unit **** the bed. Previously I had only enough fuel in the tank to where it hadn't yet reached this seal.

Pull the seats out, pull the fire wall, pull the engine/tank firewall, pull the shifter, and finally get to the seal. I thought that I would be able to use the FFR fuel tank because I had gone the extra mile to use a tank sealer. Now I'm dealing with the consequences of accepting the **** design of the FFR tank. So frustrated with that. I'll be taking this tank for target practice and purchasing a Boyd tank. That was one area I had planned on saving funds while using the stock tank. Now I'm feeling that bite my ***. FYI, gasoline turns dynomat sound deadener into a tar like substance.

Ugh.

Great to follow this.

Is there a way to remedy the poor seals on the stock tank? I dont have the boyd and would really appreciate a fix for the factory tank if possible. What seals are we talking about that leak? can they not be replaced or modified to work?

[metros]

The gasket that ffr includes is total crap. I've heard of at least one person finding a better rubber o ring. I chose an overkill solution but won't have to worry about it again.

I assume you guys took your firewall to a machine shop to be rebent. What did you tell them and how much does it need to be bent.

[svanlare]

After calling around I found a shop that builds aluminum gutters and they bent it for $20. I taped some cardboard to the chassis and marked the angle I wanted (i think it was 20 degrees more bend) and then they put it on a BIG brake as the small one wasn't getting the job done.

[idf]

Great to follow this.

Is there a way to remedy the poor seals on the stock tank? I dont have the boyd and would really appreciate a fix for the factory tank if possible. What seals are we talking about that leak? can they not be replaced or modified to work?

These worked for me with a little tightening of the tabs on the tank: Buna-N N90 O ring (model B90229) 2 3/8 in ID, 2 5/8 in OD and 1/8 in cross section which gives a perfect seal without RTV. $0.13 ea with a minimum quantity of 4 and $8.00 priority mail shipping from the O-Ring Store.

[metros]

Took advantage of some last minute good weather this weekend and worked on the car with some good company, my father. The extra pair of hands is nice but the frequent jokes and good natured ribbing makes for an enjoyable day.

Since I've ordered the new nose for the 818, I can't really work on fitting the panels because they all need to be fit together. Instead I worked on some things that I could address. I cut the gas cap hole, and cut the driver/passenger side vents. The passenger side required more in order to clear the oil cooler, but not really noticeable. The passenger side scoop should be the oil cooler very nicely as it sits in direct path of airflow. Plus I have an aux fan on the back of the oil cooler to pull more air through it.

BTW, those of you who recommended the IR airsaw for this purpose were spot on! That saw cuts through the fiberglass like butter and cuts into some tight radius corners.



See the oil cooler peeking out?


I was also able to fit the instrument panel to the dash board, cut/fit the control panel, and cut/fit the hazard switch. None of these are mounted fully below as I'm planning to put a fresh coat of trim paint over the dash. It's got a few scuffs/scratches from transport to address.



Next up - mounting the dash to chassis and getting the windshield installed.

[tmoretta]

What size real wheel spacers are those? Made by whom?

[lennyspecv]

This is a great build thread. Very thorough.

[metros]

Tmoretta - they are h&r spacers, either 10 or 15mm.

Lenny - I'm not sure what your post means. I guess thank you for congratulating me on putting my build thread in the appropriate sub forum.

[lennyspecv]

Lenny - I'm not sure what your post means. I guess thank you for congratulating me on putting my build thread in the appropriate sub forum.

Sorry--I could see how that could sound sarcastic. My bad. But really, this is a great thread...you address many of the common problems and have a lot of tasteful mods. Very similar to what I am planning for mine, even right down to the wheel choice. Although I would get mine in matte black.

Keep up the good work!

[metros]

I squeezed in some time to address the dash today. Came out pretty good IMO. The finish now no longer looks faded at all and has covered blemishes in the color/light scuffs that were present.

Before: Notice above the cluster - there were several similar marks in other places.


Before - Wiped down with brake clean to de-wax the surface.


After:




I really need to get the windshield glass in and the firewall re-bent so I can button some things up (for good?)

[metros]

^^^Thanks!

My shop helper has turned 2! This is one of his gifts. It's completely disassemblable. You can remove the headlights, wheels, engine, spark plugs, steering wheel, switches, hood opens and closes, etc. Plus you can push it around. Pretty cool toy. Now he asks dad to help him work on his car.



Also jumped up to a real bed!


On to the 818 build!

I've finally got all of the body panels in my possession coated with sound deadening. It really stiffens up the fiberglass panels nicely without adding much weight. Now I'm waiting for the new fenders, and front bumper to get them sprayed.



The unsprayed portion to the front is where I anticipate I'll have to epoxy the front hinge mounts. I'll spray that surface after that's done.




Got the sides of the center console painted. Just finished cutting the holes into the panel that Mach V re-made for me, after I cut a hole too big the first go around.

[metros]

Now that I have the Boyd tank I'm looking at the stock fuel filler and deciding where to shorten it. Have you other builders cut and joined back together at this location?


^Also pictured a bung to vent the tank to. That way when I'm filling the gas tank it won't potentially spray fluid down the side of the car.

Looking at how much the fire wall needs to be re-bent for the new gas tank. There is a good 3-4" difference in where the new position vs old position is.

[shoeish]

Great build! Can you provide the amazon link for the sound deadening product you are using? I would like to copy you. Also, does it do anything for heat or just sound?

Thanks!