Wyoming GTM Underway

[jamesfr58]

Getting a few things done as staying at home is in style now. I fabricated a new hatch latch pin bracket as the on from FFR did not have enough adjustment for me so I made a new on from aluminum angle that set the pin back just a little over the bent version and kept it from touching the body as it just barely cleared if you were careful closing the hatch so made this new on and it works much better and has some adjustment on the height of the pin.

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Fabricated the hatch louvers from VRaptor Speedworks, they went together easy and fit perfectly in the cut out from the factory with only slight shaping of fiberglass. Used cleco’s to hold it to the fiberglass hatch until the 3M 8115 dries.

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Here is view of the aluminum hatch cover in place in the hatch looking through it toward the front and from the front looking through the back and out the rear. As you can see, when in position you can see through the louvers with virtually no obstructions. I know I mentioned this before, the aluminum hatch cover is also from VRaptor and Shane thanks again.

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[jamesfr58]

After multiple adjustment on the hatch hinges, the aluminum hatch cover is now in place. Below are some picture of the hatch and the clearances around the hatch and body. As you will note the aluminum hatch just barely fits between the driver’s side and passengers side of the body, which is good thing as I can make adjustments by removing some of the edge on the aluminum hatch cover and get a good gap around the hatch with very little fiberglass work or the amount of work required to match up the glass.

The gap is pretty much closed on both the driver’s and passenger’s side so will remove some aluminum to get approx. 3/16" gap.

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This is the gap at the top next to the roof line. As the hatch opens it closes to about 1/8" before lifting away as the hatch swings back away from the roof. And the corner of the hatch, it sits just above the body with the hatch open.

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Here is the hatch in its final resting place prior to attaching with urethane wind adhesive.

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[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Very nice! Does the leading edge of the alum seem to match the rear of the roof fairly well?.....in other words...does the gap across the leading edge stay roughly the same or did you have to grind the outside corners back to move the whole panel forward to close the gap in the center? I don't have a GenII body here to test fit, and I know that is a problem with the factory glass....you end up really tight at the outside corners and have a huge gap in the center?

[jamesfr58]

Shane,

I did not trim anything on the panel yet it is just as you sent it to me. The gap along the leading edge does stay the same or with in 1/16th+ inch the same across the leading edge. The span from fender to fender is tight but it still fits down on the hatch and I will have to lay out with trim tape (the 1/4" stuff I use as a guide) the edges on each finder side and remove some aluminum material to set the gaps but it really fit well and as you mentioned will greatly reduce the amount of work required to finish the hath and make it match the body and give you a little leeway on juts how you want the back hatch to fit. I plan on blending it into the body (hatch) to make a smooth transition from the aluminum to the fiberglass, or at least that is my plan now.

Bottom line it worked out really great and I think it adds to the look as you can still see engine through the cover with the side befit of letting heat our of the engine compartment. I would recommend this to anyone building a GTM looking for an option for the hatch window glass. You did a great job on the cut out and was easy to build. Thanks again.

[beeman]

I think you're absolutely right, James. I have the same glass replacement piece coming from Shane, as soon as I figure out what louver pattern I want...

[jamesfr58]

Again, I need to give credit where credit is due, this is a great option for the back glass from VRaptor Speedworks (Shane) and he had done a exceptions job on making this aluminum hatch cover very easy to install and work with compared to working with the glass and the amount of body work required, not to mention giving you the ability to remove heat from the engine bay.

Been working to set the gap on the hatch cover and I can tell you that it was relatively easy compared to the amount to ow work required to get the glass to match up with the body. You can work both the fiberglass body side to straighten the edges and the aluminum hatch cover side to set the gap. Below are pictures of the gaps around the hatch cover, and as you can see, I worked both the fiberglass and the aluminum side. The aluminum hatch cover is attached to the fiberglass hatch with window urethane sealant.

Drivers Side
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Passengers Side
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View from rear of car
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This is a video of a walk around on the thatch cover so you can get a good idea on the fit. I plan on blending it into the body and will show everyone what that look like when completed. Needless to say, I have a lot of time to work on it now so getting some things done.

[beeman]

You are moving along nicely, keep it up!
I was supposed to be in Hilton Head with the family this week, we're on the homestead so I've been sneaking out to the shop to knock some things out. 33 degrees here, 75 in Hilton Head...

[jamesfr58]

Was 16 low and 27 high in Wyoming yesterday but going to be around 50 today go figure. Yea we would be down south in Arizona of Nevada doing so side by side riding this time of year but staying close to homestead in Wyoming for now. Oh making the best of the situation we in for now and at least I have something to do besides watching what is going on nationally.

[jamesfr58]

Mounted the hatch popper on the flange for the hatch. Build a plate with two studs welded to the plate a ground flush on one side. The plate was attached to the flange with 8115 and rivets as the heads can be made flatter and the gasket will sit on top of them. Here is w view from the back side and from the hatch side.

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Also laid out he rear wheel vents and cutting them out. My little Dremel tool worked great with thin steel blade to cut these out.

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[dlud]

And since I had the transmission out I decided to look for better mating flanges for the CV joints. Not sure is anyone else has had any problems with this but the normal Porsche CV joint mating flanges for the year of Porsche transmission I have are very hard if not impossible to keep the CV joint boot in place. I tried the normal crimp on bands and now have bands that tighten like hose clamps. The boot would eventually pop off the mating flange given enough time and movement. So I set out the find a better mating flange design and ran across this on shown in a side by side comparison. The aftermarket mating flange has a lip and grove to help keep the CV joint boot on the flange and they appear to work great. I wanted to get this done since the tranny was out and access was fairly simple. Thought I would pass this along as they really din make a big difference and now I don't have to worry the CV boot will pop off the mating flange.

Attachment 115089

The one on the left is the normal mating flange with CV boot attachment you would get for sat Pelican Parts, the one on the right is the new ones I found on Parts Geek that have a groove and ridge on the mating flange for the clamp to fit into with the ridge keeping the whole thing in place.

You wouldn't happen to have the part # for this flange. I searched Parts Geek and couldn't find it. Thanks!

[jamesfr58]

dlud

Here is the information on the companion flanges; 2002 Porsche 911 CV Joint Companion Flange Price: $29.87 Qty: 2 Part #: W0133-2746870 I checked to make sure it worked and it takes you to the companion flanges.

[dlud]

Thanks!

[jamesfr58]

Ok I must admit Shane (VRaptor Speedworks) is more than right when it comes to the hatch hinges and the hydraulic cylinders they send to use with the hatch. Since I decided to run my cold air intake different than the way FFR does and in my case, I needed to as the space was taken up with other electronics and equipment so needed to find a better way. And, since I am not using the glass but Shane’s aluminum hatch cover glass replacement, I was having an issue with the hatch flexing especially when you went to close it. It takes some force on the hatch until the hinges break the opposite way and this is causing the flex and the aluminum hatch cover to separate from the fiberglass when using window urethane to attach the aluminum cover.

I purchased a set of hatch hinge attachments from Shane but in the end, they would not fit with the 4” CAI tubes in the way. Shane had mentioned turning them around, but they still would not work but I needed a better way to keep hatch open than using the hydraulic cylinders. So today I went down to the shop to figure out how I could modify and use the hatch hinge pieces I got from Shane.

After many hours of looking at the problem and trying several different things I settled on modifying the pieces. Here is a picture of both sides, the one on the top is the design Shane sent and the one on the bottom is the pieces modified and will be installed backwards from the way they were designed. Had to narrow the longer aluminum arm to clear the CAI tubes and will have to relocate them down a little but they will still be in the same location. Even though they are cut down the aluminum hatch cover is much lighter than the glass and they are still heavy enough to hold the hatch open.

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Got one side done and installed, had to modify a small portion of the spacing and bolting at the hatch hinge itself where it attached to when the arm swings down it missed the bolt head on the hatch hinge. Here is what it looks like of the hatch and it is holding the hatch up…

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[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Very cool! Sometimes you gotta get creative. I'm glad you were able to modify those and get them to work for you.

[Presto51]

" I was having an issue with the hatch flexing especially when you went to close it. It takes some force on the hatch until the hinges break the opposite way and this is causing the flex and the aluminum hatch cover to separate from the fiberglass when using window urethane to attach the aluminum cover."

Even though you overcame the force/stress factor, you might want to consider switching out the window urethane, to an epoxy designed to bond aluminum to fiberglass to eliminate the two from separating in the future.

Ron

[jamesfr58]

Ron, I was planning and have removed the urethane along the edges back until it was solid and used pushed bonder into the space and re-clamped, it is drying now and should do the trick. Thanks for the tip and here is what the modified hatch props look like after I completed the other side and the are hold the hatch up. They look a little different that you designed the Shane but had to modify to make the thinner over the CAI tubes and the end that bolts to the hatch hing needed to clear the hex head screw used to assemble the hing. I might even change the hex head bolt for a standard bolt to gain just a little more room.

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[jamesfr58]

Really need to check my grammar better when it get late at night. Meant to say:

They look a little different than you designed them Shane, but had to modify to make the arm over the CAI tube thinner and the end that bolts to the hatch hing modified to clear the hex head screw used to assemble the hing.

Only slept about 2 hours last night, grand daughter here as I shows....

[Shoeless]

HAHA no worries on the grammar. I'm going a little nuts myself working from the house full time now. They finally got our VPN upgraded to handle the full load of Pratt & Whitney employees across the globe. I'm glad I ended up on the "priority" VPN so I can still get things done.

I think I need to take a walk around the house just to get outside for a minute LOL.

[jamesfr58]

Sean

Doing the same thing using a VDR with the data for separate locations, so when my eyes bug out I go down to the shop for a while but still come back up and do a little more work into the night as nothing better to do. If it would get warmer and stay that way I would get out side some more as we live on acreage with no one around but us. Temperature have been crazy, it was 60 2 days ago so pretty nice for a day then back down to 30's and some snow again. Hope spring comes soon getting tired of winter as well as being more or less locked down.

[jamesfr58]

Today's progress report and because I could not help myself, with the aluminum hatch cover on I had to see how the engine looked through the hatch cover with my engine bay LED light on. So here is a picture of two of different colors under the aluminum hatch cover. The LED’s are multi-color with different lighting patterns controlled by remote.

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Finished the install on the hatch popper and got it wired up.

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Also I have been working on blending the aluminum hatch cover into the body. It is almost complete, just have some edge work to finish but it looks pretty good.

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Also still working on the 1/4 window scoops to finish them out. This is the passengers side scoop I am working on now to hope to have a finished product with the next coat. Have it basically shaped and with the second coat I intend to blend them into the rear fender.

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That's all for today report, from the imposed social distancing, hiding in my shop which by the way is good distance from wife. Haven’t yet figured if this is good or bad, but with the new rules thought I would try it out. LOL

[jamesfr58]

Getting my exercise at home now, doing this body work is really a lot of work, physical work. Not sure I haven't worn my shoulders out already but have to keep going anyway. Lots and lots of sanding, filling sanding then do it all over again but it is starting to take shape. Still working the seam up front and prepping the body for the glaze coat to begin blocking. Want to again mention as I know Shane mentioned to check the fiberglass body for holes, bubbles on the edges of the mold or other places. Here is a close up of a big hole that was not on the seam or on the edge but in the middle of the part that will need to be fixed and filled from the back side.

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some pictures of prepping the body for glaze and blocking all the shiny gel-coat gone in some place and roughed ready for first coat of glaze. Still have more to do and will start working the doors today as well. I am going to have to sand a while then work on something else or I might not be able to move my shoulder after a week of sanding. LOL

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[Shoeless]

Is that you inReserve button in the last pic above the wheel? I need to get mine mounted and was thinking similar location.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

You will want your inReserve button mounted somewhere accessible. On cars where we install our Side Scoop Louvers, I always install the button in the top louver blade on the driver's side so that you can walk up to the car, reach into the scoop opening and power up the car. Having to figure out how to pop the hood every time you go to drive the car is going to be a real pain IMO. There is no real reason to "hide" the button. If you arm/lock the car with the fob, then hit the inReserve to power it down.....the system will still be armed/locked when you power it back up....so even if someone sees you push the button in a parking lot to power the car down, it's not going to do them any good to know that switch is there.

[Shoeless]

You will want your inReserve button mounted somewhere accessible. On cars where we install our Side Scoop Louvers, I always install the button in the top louver blade on the driver's side so that you can walk up to the car, reach into the scoop opening and power up the car. Having to figure out how to pop the hood every time you go to drive the car is going to be a real pain IMO. There is no real reason to "hide" the button. If you arm/lock the car with the fob, then hit the inReserve to power it down.....the system will still be armed/locked when you power it back up....so even if someone sees you push the button in a parking lot to power the car down, it's not going to do them any good to know that switch is there.

I like your approach here Shane, I think I'll be doing that.

[jamesfr58]

Sean

Yes it is my inReserve button, yo have to reach just over the tire to reach it, but should be able to reach without opening the front. Although Shane's idea is also a good place and I am sure easier to reach. I just did not think of that and seemed to be good place to locate it as I had not made provisions early on and add it when wiring was complete after seeing how fist the battery went down. But Shane is right you really don't have to hide the button, it was just a handy location for me with less wiring work required to make the change from the manual cut off I had under the front hood so this was where I located the button.

[Shoeless]

Sean

Yes it is my inReserve button, yo have to reach just over the tire to reach it, but should be able to reach without opening the front. Although Shane's idea is also a good place and I am sure easier to reach. I just did not think of that and seemed to be good place to locate it as I had not made provisions early on and add it when wiring was complete after seeing how fist the battery went down. But Shane is right you really don't have to hide the button, it was just a handy location for me with less wiring work required to make the change from the manual cut off I had under the front hood so this was where I located the button.

Thanks for the feedback James.

[jamesfr58]

Relocated the CAI, it is in the same configuration but moved a little so the hatch props had enough room between them and the CAI tubes. You can see in the picture where they were as I cut the ears off the frame and will clean the frame up when I take the body off to make some fiberglass repairs from the inside shortly. But I was able to get the CAI installed with the hatch props and have good clearance.

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But there is going to be some creative metal (aluminum) work to close off the wheel well as the tubes cross two of the rear wheel close out panels so more to come when I get this figured out.....

Took a picture of the overflow/holding tank for the coolant that was located on the frame in the rear of the car (the one Crash sells) to show that you can reach the cap and see the fluid level with the hatch open on the props.

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[jamesfr58]

Here is yesterdays and today's progress on building the side scope louvers from Shane (VRaptor Speedworks) and getting them installed. Took quite while to fit it into place like I wanted them to look and since I cut the hole to large (should have built the louvers first) had to make a few repairs along the way. But I have the driver’s side installed temporary for now and 3M 8115 in the outside on the find on the inboard side now with it held in place. Just need some body work to smooth everything out and it will be ready to go. Here are a few pictures with the last on showing the K&N air filter on the CAI behind the louvers.

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[jamesfr58]

Got one of the side scoop louver install completed with required body work. Have the second on roughed in and will complete the install on it tomorrow. Thought I post picture of VRaptors side scoop louver as it looks when assembled and ready for install and here it the drivers side complete with body work and shaping of the inside of the side scoop complete. Have to keep busy doing something these days so who know might get more done on the GTM than I thought I would and maybe ready for paint in a few months......maybe!!

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[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Very nice! You've been making really good progress.

[jamesfr58]

Update, I have no fingerprints left after all the sanding, but thought I add an update on my progress. I have a lot of time to ready the forum these days and it give me something to read beside the bad news on the internet.

I finished the install of the side louvers from VRaptor Speedworks here is the passenger’s side installed.

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Started to look at installing the Diffuser and working with a set of Between the Strakes louvers and the new Gen II Diffuser grill with square cut out for the back up camera again from VRaptor Speedworks. I have figured out how to mount the back up camera, trial fit done. Have the first plate bent to match the rear of the body and ready to install. Will figure just how I want the Diffuser louvers to look, cut the holes, mount them and the fins prior to installing Diffuser and the Diffuser grill. Think I will make it so the Diffuser is screwed in so it can be removed if needed.

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Also still working on some of the seams and chasing air bubble or voids in the body here are some on the rear section of the body. Again, must mention this as one really needs to check the body now and repair the all air bubbles and void before painting then having one of hem pop out. There are quite a few in the body mold as you can see the large one is on the rear and the other smaller ones are on the driver’s side rear seam area. Shane at VRaptor has some good advice on how to find the air bubbles so they can be repaired, you can see it in an earlier post.

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[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Dang....you're really moving along!

[Shoeless]

Making me look like a slacker LOL

[jamesfr58]

Sean, you are doing good and I started before you did so keep it up....

Been working on the diffuser with VRaptors (Shane's) between the strake’s louvers and the diffuser grill. Below you can see the diffuser grill as it is fit into place. This is a two-piece grill and the first picture is the backing for the finish piece that goes over the framework. The second picture if the finish piece clamped to the framework. I need to reinstall the diffuser and position everything before attaching the finish piece to the framework.

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Here is the diffuser cut and ready for the louvers to be installed and view of the diffuse with the louvers in place ready to rivet.

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So tomorrow hope to get diffuser reinstalled and start to match the diffuser grill with the diffuse and the rear of the body. As I mentioned before I am trying to make the whole works removable if needed with out having to drill out rivets, hopefully I can make this happen. More to follow as trying to keep busy in today world...but did have 4 hour conference call today so cut down on my shop time!!

[jamesfr58]

Forgot to mention the diffuser itself required quite a bit of modification to fit properly, from shorting the underside part to fit the larger transitions plate and bell housing for the G96 transmission and where they had cutout for the A arms was no where near where the needed to be or big enough. Any wish I had take a picture of the before and after as the modified one looks nothing like what they sent to install.....

[jamesfr58]

Today’s update since building the car is about all I have been doing being stuck at home and the weather is not good enough yet to start outside choirs. Going to snow tomorrow, maybe up to 6” go figure its April… So, I work in my home office until sometime between 12 and 2 in the afternoon then go down to the shop and work on the GTM, helps keep me sane. Anyway, finished building out the modified rear diffuser today using the between the stakes louvers from VRaptor and the stakes from FFR. Make for a great look and way to let air flow through the engine bay and out the back taking the heat with it…..

This is what the bottom looks like

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This is what the top looks like

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A view looking from the back through the louvers

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I have had the diffuser on the car already and have drilled the hole so it is ready to mount. I hope to get it mounted and mated up to the diffuser grill in shown in the previous post.

[beeman]

Dang....you're really moving along!

Making me look like a slacker LOL

Ditto that! You're like the Energizer bunny. Keep it up, it's great to see your progress!

[jamesfr58]

Thanks for the kind words, just need more to do while being locked down in todays world....

Well back to the shop today with the goal of finding a way to get the diffuser to fit the hole in the back of the GTM. The Gen II diffuser really does not match the hole FFR put in the back to fit the diffuser in so, after some thought and wanting a much better fit using VRaptors diffuser grill I decided to hack the back at the flanges that are angled and do not match the almost straight edges on the diffuser and I needed to gain about 1/4” on each side so the diffusser would fit up to the frame for the grill.

I got the grill frame mounted and bolted in place. Then taped a line to cut a small section out of the back so I could move the side over and twist the lower flange on the body to match the diffuser.

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You can see my scabbed in cuts but the diffuser in now in place and being held there with clecos. Then removed the clecos one at a time ensuring the measurement were the same from side to side and installed 10-32 SS Panhead machine screws with lock nuts. You can see how it sits looking down the rear as far as spacing goes.

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There was plenty of room for the transmission and the shift cables so everything looked good and I started to fiberglass the sides back together tonight and will finish tomorrow. Just have first layer on the inside and will grind out and add build layers from the outside and reinforce the flange. Plan on putting an aluminum strip on the back side of the flange then use rivnuts and 10-32 SS Panhead machine screws. Believe tis would be better than rivnuts into just the fiberglass.

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[jamesfr58]

Finished the diffuser grill this afternoon, here it is on the back of the car with everything in place.

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Have to had it to Shane at VRaptor Speedworks on the quality and fit of the accessary parts he builds of the GTM. The rear of my car as several items but they all look good and fit well. I would recommend Shane accessary parts to anyone who what to build a GTM that is both different and should be functionally better and removing heat from the engine compartment.

[dlud]

That really looks great. I'll add that to purchase order # 3 from Shane. I agree with your assessment: Shane's products are great. Just finished assembling Shane's storage bin today.