Saved a Gen 1 GTM : DAY 65 Build Graduated 3/17/2022

[Erik W. Treves]

You guys crack me up....

[Erik W. Treves]

Work was pretty busy this week... today I was supposed be off and that didn't work out too well... managed to get the wire harness all laid out, the rest of the powder coated aluminum hung, the steering wheel completely wire, AC wired, ECU hung on the Shane's bracket and then started to fit the firewall (since the engine should be here soon. Brake line and flare tool showed up so should make some pretty good progress tomorrow I hope. The front harness is all done - I cant lay in the rear until I get the brakes and coolant tubes back in the tunnel. The engine bay is starting to look pretty good I think.

[Shoeless]

Not sure about a Gen 1, but the Gen 2 instructions are backwards on what coolant tube to put on the passenger/driver side of the tunnel.

[Erik W. Treves]

so smaller tube on pass side?

[Shoeless]

so smaller tube on pass side?

The smaller tube goes on the drivers side. Here's a pic of my setup. It has to do with how you route the cooling hoses to the water pump. You don't want the hoses to cross each other. The top port is smaller than the thermostat housing. BTW if you would like to ditch the corrugated crap hose, here are the coolant hoses you can pick up and are a perfect fit.

AC Delco 26030x 26022x or Gates 20893 20827

[Erik W. Treves]

Thanks for that! Perfect timing as the tubes will go on today.

[Shoeless]

Thanks for that! Perfect timing as the tubes will go on today.

Glad I can help!!! Its nice to actually be able to give back after being the guy asking all the questions and trying to use the crap search function on this site

[Erik W. Treves]

Got quite a bit done today... cleaned the car up a bit, finished up the clutch lines and the front coolant lines and well as the AC lines up front - I need to buy a new dryer before I can hook it all up final. Engine should be here soon so I started cleaning this transmission - right now I am not sure why but I only have R and 1st and 2nd - from the neutral position it doesn't seem to want to go into the other gears... I tried to rotate the input shaft but it just want to let the gear engage... anyway I cleaned the case some more cause it was really nasty... gave the garage a good cleaning too since the chassis was such a mess.....good day all in all....

[RR46]

While you have it at that stage, plumbing coolant pipes on the outside of the cockpit is doable.

PLEASE NOTE: This is an early photo, the OEM reservoir was deleted shortly, only running a rear reservoir.
coolant.jpg

[Erik W. Treves]

Thanks - too much fabrication at this point - I did manage to throw in my air lift system or at least the pucks... which I thought was going to be more of a problem than it was.... but not so much.... it actually fit.

[beeman]

I 2nd RR46. Many if not most builders say that if they could go back, they would run the coolant lines outside the cockpit. FFR addressed this for the 818. They tuck in nicely under the rocker panels with p-clamps. I ran the lines to and from the water pump in sheet aluminum insulated channels on the cockpit floor along the firewall, rather than up and over like RR46. So I have a couple feet of coolant lines in the cockpit. But this is very different from running them in the backbone tunnel - the tunnel receives pressurized air from the front of the car (preheated by the radiator to some degree) which forces the hot air into the cockpit. My short cockpit lines are in stagnant air and insulated.

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[Slow and Slightly Angry]

Hey Erik,
Following the build and excited to see what craziness will come out of it. A few questions about your suspension.
What brand of cups did you go with, stanceparts?
What size tank are you going with?
Thanks.

[Erik W. Treves]

I am using stanceparts - I am not running the tank right now.... I wanted to see how slow it was without it first since the tank is pretty large.

[Erik W. Treves]

So I had a long day at work and had only intended to mount the air pump for the air lift - that task actually went a bit better that I had expected, since I repurposed the battery tray to support the pump..... since..... I move the radiator overflow tank to the back......so..... it opened up a space to mount the battery in better location..lol.... so once I mounted the pump I went ahead and mounted the valve and tee and then it was just a matter of cutting the plastic feed lines and push/click it all together.... I sat there and looked at it for a second and said to myself.... ya know.... I could just run it hot to the battery (since it's right there) and I could see it lift..... I have to say I much prefer this system over the hydraulic system. Both in operation and PRICE!! well worth it!!!!

here are the pics and video - pretty neat.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Yeah...that looks like it works pretty slick.....and definitely fast enough with just the pump and no tank......quicker than hydraulic.

[RR46]

This is a pump only lift (Stance).

[johnnybgoode]

I am using stanceparts - I am not running the tank right now.... I wanted to see how slow it was without it first since the tank is pretty large.

Nice! Looks like a Viair 400C? I replaced the pump in my 37 with a Viair 400C last year and it fills the 2 gal. tank in less than a minute, twice as fast as the old Ridetech pump. You probably won't need the tank with that pump and will save you running more lines that tend to leak. Scott
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[Erik W. Treves]

Been a few good days - kinda been working on a lot of things while I am waiting for the Crate Motor to show and a call from the transmission shop. I ended up having to pull the pass side tank due to low fuel flow during my system check.. while trying to pull the fuel pump out of the holster the plastic cup shattered.... so I moved on from that and attacked the door that had been destroyed by the first owner... had to rebuild the the rear of the door latch area.... I finished up the rest of the wiring , I have a few odds and ends to finish (one of which is to run the battery cable to the engine compartment...... I mounted the windshield washer reservoir, mounted the wiper and motor (waiting on pigtail for that); installed the new DBW pedal; completely wired up the air lift system with the lit button; and then started to work on the interior dash and AC hoses...oh and connected all the heater lines (with proper bypass)... all that is left is to hook up the degas tank to the water pump and then to the heater valve and it should work. Tomorrow I will hook up the flashers and start building up the doors so I throw the body back on and start fitting everything.... not too bad I think. Here is where we are today...

Door with the "modification"



after rebuilding - I may need to shape it more.... we'll see.





Still need to clean up the engine bay - but it's ready to install

[Erik W. Treves]

So I was looking over the car thinking to myself - ya know I could probably start hanging the doors---- went out to the garage and I must have done this in my sleep last night....lol.... guess we are working on the doors tonight

[Erik W. Treves]

Well....I decided to start fitting the doors and was honestly figuring I could rough them in and hang them last night so I could spend the weekend gapping them and installing windows...... well...... eek! The Gen 2 Doors are different and good lord...lol....



was looking like we were in business - so let's throw in the window and see what needs to be tweaked...

well.... I wanted to know....



so - looks like we are going to put the bodywork clothes on and we are going to have to get the fiberglass out..... I am going to cut off that triangle and bond it to the body like the Gen 2... lol.... I wanted a project...

this should be fun ... wish me luck!

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

I would not do that....maybe I'm too late? IMO, moving that triangle from the door to the body is the worst mistake FFR made on the Gen II. What you have pictured there is the way it is supposed to be. Moving the triangle to the door makes it virtually impossible to create any sort of seal where the door meets the triangle. We do end up tracking the windows in all the way around, and it's much easier doing that on the Gen I doors than the Gen II doors, but even not tracking them in, I would still choose Gen I doors over Gen II any day of the week. The window is not supposed to overlap that triangle like the rest of the body. You are supposed to press a piece of bulb seal onto that flange on the triangle for the leading edge of the window to seal up against.

[Presto51]

FWIW: One of the main problems with fitting the doors, is that the window opening flange, is not the correct shape as the window itself, especially the rear post.

Look into making a mold from the windows, and making the correct shaped flange. Then cut and graft in that new shape.

Ron

[Erik W. Treves]

Shane... lol.... yeah I am moving pretty quick...would have been interested how you are able to get what I had to work out... the issue I had was that triangle was not allowing the door to close correctly.... I spent 2 hours on it last night and had enough.... my Gen 2 with some seal I found from a dodge truck which are like rubber channels worked really good to seal the window and keep it for sucking open at speed.... anyway.... here it is now - the door opens and closes easily and the latch has no stress on it... I made the window opening a little on the tight side ... so I will have to sand to fit when when the door seals show... I have to add the lip to the triangle to accept the seal as well... I am pleased with the alignment now... will hang the window in the morning...and start on the other side.

[Erik W. Treves]

Well I am pretty itchy - I guess I got spoiled on the Gen2 GTM body.... the rear window doesn't fit in the hole - so that was fun... the nose is wider than the body or something on the driver's side... so that will need some attention...just part of it... I am still missing a bracket for the driver's door so I am sorta at a stand still on that... I could bond the "triangle" in but I was honestly needing a day off from the fiberglass resin Also the rear deck latch is non-starter for me as well as the rear shock struts - so I will email Shane again!.... anyway - with all of that - we did make quite a bit of progress - the garage is a wreck from all the grinding.. but getting closer to getting off to paint so I can finish up the chassis.... the motor is stuck in a snow storm somewhere in Chicago - the tranny inspection didn't go that well and it is needing parts shipped from Germany - but good news is that it has an LSD in it. I decided to get all the synchros changed out as well.... should be a nice piece when it's all done...

anyway pretty happy on how it going - should be a nice ride when it's all done- if I can get beyond this bodywork prep....

Here is the token window video - still have to make a few adjustments - but the window moves well - I also still need to add some fiberglass for the lip that holds the seal - but that is easily done later...



and here we are as of the today...

[Erik W. Treves]

Token Engine arrival picture - Nice infusion of VeryCoolParts today! LS3 should work very nice and with a warranty to boot.

[Erik W. Treves]

Missed yesterday's post - but basically yesterday and today were about the driver's door and the both windows.... there is something wonky with the driver's side - it caused me some issue with the door and gaps - the pass side went so much better - but there driver's side needed some serious attention - basically took me all day yesterday to get it hung and closing - today went a bit better - got the driver's side window moving up and down with the seal in it and door closes pretty well - some tweaking to do but it's in the ballpark... I liked the fit so much I went back and started adjusting the passenger's side - I need to rework the window tracks on this side since the driver's side is so much better - I remeasured and the tracks are not parallel so I will tweak this tomorrow probably.... anyway the fit with the door closed looks pretty good....still have to put the rear seal in but this main seal is the one that keeps the windows from pulling out at speed.

[Erik W. Treves]

So it seems like the I have been working on the Doors and Windows for months now... I spend another hour or so on both doors last night - in speaking with Shane - the "storage" of body has really messed up the shape of a lot of the pieces - they have taken a set that is just off enough to make it really hard to get the fit that this car requires. The GEN 2 I did the doors and windows were not bad at all in comparison. I was unable to resolve the driver's side door gap issue at the bottom rear edge. The B-pillar was completely parallel and all the lines around the "bump out" by the door handle were all straight and clean - so twisting the door would make it a mess of all that. The Window goes up and down and the door cleanly shuts into the door lip seal so it seemed that there was only one path to take - I was very reluctant but after taking input from a few people (pros and cons) - I ultimately broke out the 90* angle grinder and cut the skin from the door from the door latch to the bottom edge (about 1/3 of the way) and placed a few wedges in there to bring the door into alignment with the body - took all of about 15 minutes to get the look I worked all weekend to get with the window still functional.... so now I need to take the door off and finish glassing in slice I made.... but at least we are getting closer now and there is no stress in the door skin and it relaxes right in the hole.... should make reassembly after paint a much easier path..... Hopefully should be finishing the body fit this weekend now that the doors are finally "close".... oh and I did have to cut the door frames to get the windows to work - so at least that is consistent with the GEN 2

[Erik W. Treves]

Starting to feel like I am making progress - I finally have the hood looking good - rear hatch is looking better - still kinda of odd line up on the GEN 1's at the back - will need some love... the front window of course doesn't fit in the hole so I will need to massage it some tomorrow - but pushed it outside and blew it off and cleaned the garage - about 2 weeks left to get it to paint - I think I am in good shape... I think it will come out pretty nice when all done... I oversized the side vents to give it a little more aggressive look... anyway - here it is out in the sun.... just a GTM - but it is coming back from the dead! - oh! and I got my transmission back from rebuild - all new synchros, seals and shifter rod... should be ready to go!

[beeman]

You are flying right along.
Love the Daytona too.

[Erik W. Treves]

High-Five! Thanks

[Shoeless]

Good lord man, you are moving right along I must have a different GTM as its taking me much longer for some reason LOL.

BTW thanks for demoing the front air lift system. I'm leaning towards getting the same setup now. Funny thing is my wife was the one that asked if there was such a system out there.

[DSR-3]

Great thread (and progress!), thanks for posting.
I was told that the yellow shocks are not OK to install body-up on my 818. 'Hoping "they were wrong"...

[Erik W. Treves]

oh that's ok - I have a set of reds if it comes down to it...with as dirty as the car will get at the body shop I am happy to leave these guys on there for now

[Erik W. Treves]

Didn't really work on the car today - but got another infusion of parts from Shane! - I think I like this better than the glass and it actually fits in the hole - which is a PLUS! nice piece !

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Glad you like it! It is the exact same size as the glass, but much easier to trim the aluminum to fit the body than to modify the body to fit the glass!!

[beeman]

Not to mention lighter and lets all of that heat out of the engine compartment. Great product and I plan to do the same thing with my car.

[hwoods864]

I had had Shane make mine with with the middle section open. Integrated it with the hatch and then painted it to match the body.20210117_153311.jpg

[Erik W. Treves]

Can you post pictures of the rest of the car ? I was actually thinking about that look initially. - or can you send the pics to [email protected].... thanks

[Erik W. Treves]

So day 22 ... Pretty good day yesterday - reset the rear wing mounting and gapping, installed Shane's rear hatch props - another nice piece btw. .. Had to cut the Driver's Side door frame to get the window to go down. I had to split the driver's door skin from door to get the gap correct - this made enough room for the window now go almost all the way down - the pass side one does have some interference still but I think I see where the issue is - so I can address that while the body is at paint. It still won't be able to go all the way down like the driver's side so I will limit the driver's to match the pass. I did double verify that the window will power up and down with the seals in them and that doors will open and close cleanly with windows up and that window falls into the "rain seal" which keeps the windows from sucking out at speed....so at least I know when I get it back from paint it is possible that the windows will all fit....lol... the paint guy always takes my doors COMPLETELY apart-- so all the fit work is lost when I get the door skins back....lol.... anyway! All done for paint... All electrical checked out... Everything pre-gapped for the body guy.... Loaded up and in the trailer... Waiting on the call to come down in 2 weeks... gonna start prep'ing the motor today since the garage got a nice wash down and is now free of fiberglass dust!!

[Erik W. Treves]

Well - not a lot to report since I am without the car as it sits at paint. I decided to move on to the motor and get it ready to drop in - needed some attention to ensure it looked the part.....looks pretty good I think