The build is picking up some speed

[Kempo]

And also any ideas why all the added material is needed in the above pictures?

Are you seeing the need for this added material in the Gen II you have now?

Crash,
The material at this moment is not as much as it was when those pictures were taken, at least on one side the other one is in the works. It has now been sanded and rounded and there is now about 3/16 of an inch of material left in there. There is now gap between the body and the hood of a bit less then 3/16.

As for why this might have been necessary maybe is a combination of two things, the first one is that I'm too picky about things like gaps and the other one which I had not even noticed until you asked why had this material had to be added. I think that I drilled and riveted the side panels that support the hood a bit too high. I riveted them in the same location that they came bolted to the frame from FFR. After reading you post I took a second look and noticed I could have riveted them maybe 1/8 or a 1/4 of an inch lower, that that and that would have allowed the hood to go a bit lower. Still it doesn't isn't that much higher than my friend's Kenny's GTM when measured from the rear of the hood to where the lower part of windshield rests on the body.

[VD2021]

Crash,
The material at this moment is not as much as it was when those pictures were taken, at least on one side the other one is in the works. It has now been sanded and rounded and there is now about 3/16 of an inch of material left in there. There is now gap between the body and the hood of a bit less then 3/16.

As for why this might have been necessary maybe is a combination of two things, the first one is that I'm too picky about things like gaps and the other one which I had not even noticed until you asked why had this material had to be added. I think that I drilled and riveted the side panels that support the hood a bit too high. I riveted them in the same location that they came bolted to the frame from FFR. After reading you post I took a second look and noticed I could have riveted them maybe 1/8 or a 1/4 of an inch lower, that that and that would have allowed the hood to go a bit lower. Still it doesn't isn't that much higher than my friend's Kenny's GTM when measured from the rear of the hood to where the lower part of windshield rests on the body.

I was adjusting my hood and noticed that the passenger side was higher. I do still need to lower and set the ride height, but I could tell something was not right. I checked the aluminum and didn't notice a problem then I saw it. The headlight bucket's inside corner under the turn signal is contacting the hinge mount. I tried adjustion the hood with no luck. After seeking advice the only option is to grind the area (about a 1/4") and fill the bucket area. I am also hoping that some of the space above the wheel and the hood goes away with my ride height ajustment, but we'll see.

I've been looking at pictures of an many GTMs as possible to see how this area looks. I've notice that on almost all of them that the aft portion of the hood is a little short. Looking at my car it looks to me as if the hood was designed to be mounted (in this area) about .75" lower so that the wheel well and the aft portion line up Or that the hood was cut short from the mold leaving the gap...........?

[Kempo]

The headlight bucket's inside corner under the turn signal is contacting the hinge mount. I tried adjusting the hood with no luck. After seeking advice the only option is to grind the area (about a 1/4") and fill the bucket area. I am also hoping that some of the space above the wheel and the hood goes away with my ride height ajustment, but we'll see.

Thanks for the heads up. I will look at my headlight bucket tonight to see if there is a problem. That gap is the other thing bothering me on the right side. That wheel well looks like it has the shape of an egg instead of being rounded as the one on the left. That makes that gap look larger. I also have a different gap between the front an rear of the tire in relation to the wheel well only on the right of the car. I measured from various points of the frame to the same points on the A arms on both sides and everything has the same distances. and the suspension settings are all in the same location an yet I have this gap in there. I have looked around for pictures of GTMs taken from the right side haven't found many of not any. Don't know if this is common and that's why people avoid taking pictures of the right side. We will soon be cutting and redoing that wheel well.

[crash]

I must comment that on my body, a mid build # Gen I, the front wheel openings are off quite a bit. The place I can see the biggest difference side to side is in the nub that sticks forward near the latch area. I can't remember which side was longer, but one side was about an inch longer than the other and it carried down into the wheel opening. I want to say the drivers side was longer, but I can't remember and I cut this area out of my body.

Maybe somebody can check and see if this is how other bodies are also.

[Roger Reid]

Clean looking build. I like it.

[blackenedheart]

Just curious how you guys feel about the Katech tensioner... I just installed one on my LS1 Camaro SS and it feels pretty nice. Not extremely simple, and it's tricky to get the belt back on, but it's worth the hassle. I couldn't get used to a plastic composite pulley!

http://cdn.nexternal.com/katech/imag...%20lowres2.jpg

[crash]

Just curious how you guys feel about the...

With having only two posts and a topic that has virtually nothing to do with the current place in the thread, I'm thinking this is nothing more than a shameless plug.

I should know, as some would call me the King Of The Shameless Plug...

Hope this forum doesn't get over run with this crap!