If it were easy everyone would do it?

[Richard Oben]

Lots and lots of great work, looks really good. Richard.

[sk7500]

Awesome man! Just plain awesome! I'm actually kinda jealous !

Thanks. Don't be jealous, be inspired.

[Stage7]

I love your creativity and attention to details. I'm anxious to see the finished product.

[sk7500]

Installed one of Shane's engine covers after adding some quickie stickers. As usual the parts fit and quality are second to none. What a difference it makes.
Finished up the dash enough to make it to the party. The leather on the center console is just temporary.

[kabacj]

Wow Steve. Your GTM looks awesome. I'm sure it got lots of attention. Funny how the GTM easily upstages super cars like the Audi R8. The Audi was in the background of one of your pictures. Even though its a beautiful car it still looks like everything else. Mass produced. Factories can't duplicate the time and care you put into every detail.

I especially like your interior and polycarbonate rear hatch window. Those are on my list.

I could not make it out to your party this year but next year it's on the list. I need to see your car in person.

Thanks for the inspiration.

John

[scottvette1989]

Do you have any pictures of your rear spoiler? It looks very cool from what I can see. Did it start off as an existing spoiler or did you make it from scratch?
Thanks Scott

[sk7500]

Do you have any pictures of your rear spoiler? It looks very cool from what I can see. Did it start off as an existing spoiler or did you make it from scratch?
Thanks Scott

Thanks Scott,
The rear spoiler started out as a rear spoiler from probably a early 90s Honda accord. I widened it front to back and stretched it side to side and made my own stands. The main thing I liked was the shape and the row of leds behind a nice lens. One down side is since there is so much glasswork done on it the rear hatch weighs a ton. Funny thing, I put it on because I just thought it looked good but you can definitely feel the difference when the speed gets into the triple digits. I don't know if it's the shape or the weight but the car definitely tracks better at speed with the wing.

[sk7500]

I mounted a string of LEDs behind the front grill. I pulled the dash and most of the interior so I have access to the wiring. I mounted the under dash LEDs. Mounted the front hood release handle under the dash (just in case the electric sol ever fails). I sealed up some a/c air leaks under the front hood. Installed a nylon molding on the front air dam (for those times when I forget to lift the front end). There are no pop rivets on our car. All panels are held on by 8/32 stainless button head screws. So I screwed on most of the under body panels. I cut a hole in the front and rear of the underneath center panel , in an attempt to let air flow through the tunnel instead of just building heat.

front 1.jpgfrint 3-4.jpglf 1.jpgLF1 lit.jpg

[Darkpiggy's dad]

What a beautiful job. My hat is off to you.

[LCD Gauges]

I love the photo on the hoist that makes it appear the car is floating. Nice job on the rear lights!

[sk7500]

I've been wondering what I would do for the rear hatch lifting struts. The stock ones were never going to hold up the hatch and they had an annoying habit of pushing the rear hatch back. Since I did a one piece body we didn't use the front end struts and they are pretty stout so I figured I would give them a try. They worked perfectly. I have about 4 inches of clearance between the strut and the closest exhaust pipe when closed so I hope they don't get too hot and loose their charge. With this configuration, the struts push the hatch into the body, which makes the glass fit awesome. WIN WIN for once,

I also removed the rear tail light lens in preparation of finishing the light buckets. I kind of like the chrome look better than the stealth look with the lens on. What do you guys think. Should I chrome the buckets and make a clear lens?

[sk7500]

I was able to build and fit the last grills I needed. Now I just need to remove, powder coat and reinstall for the outside to be complete

[flotowngtm]

Man those grills look awesome, Bugatti level of craftsmanship. I think that's the most tasteful grill I have seen on any GTM.

[sk7500]

Man those grills look awesome, Bugatti level of craftsmanship. I think that's the most tasteful grill I have seen on any GTM.

Thanks. Openings to me are sort of like potato chips. You can't fill just one.

[timmy318]

Thanks. Openings to me are sort of like potato chips. You can't fill just one.

Once done with the 818 this is the type of GTM I'm going to build! This is just plain damn sexy!!!!! Exactly how can you do all this stuff?????

[sk7500]

Thanks Timmy.

I do these things with talent on loan from God, being too dumb to leave well enough alone, and having a wife who says "you can do it". With all that going for me how can I fail? Well maybe one day I'll post the wall of shame of all the things that didn't work out so good. I try not to keep track of the failures, but I'm willing to bet that for every success there are two or three failures. If you look at some of the early posts on the other forum, you'll see these are actually the second set of grills I did for this opening.

Once done with the 818 this is the type of GTM I'm going to build! This is just plain damn sexy!!!!! Exactly how can you do all this stuff?????

[sk7500]

Santa brought me some new front lifting rams. The original ones were just not reliable enough. But of course the new rams don't have internal limit switches, so I had to make brackets and mount some external switches to stop the rams at full extension and compression. Then had to rewired the control relays.

Mounted some LEDs under the hood that come on when the hood opens.

Finished mounting all our new LED switches to the switch panels and then installed them onto the the Rosewood console insert. Now I just have to make the trim ring for the AC outlets

[kabacj]

Optimism is the key to success. If you dont believe you can of course you cant! I love those grills too. I have never seen that done! Great progress on the details. All these little things take a ton of time but its worth it. Makes a very special car even better.

John

[fastthings]

Oh boy, what alot of good work youv'e done. Looks like it all worked out great. Back a couple posts you were asking opinions about the tail lights.

I think the chrome look goes well with the theme of the car, but I think it's almost too much? How about using the dark covers with a white or chrome stripes. There is chrome striping tape you could lay them out simular to the grills you have. I think it would end up looking like another hole with a grill in it, matching the rest of your car.

Looking good man, keep up the good work.
Gene

[sk7500]

You nailed it. Something in between is just what I need. Thanks for the compliments and suggestions.

Oh boy, what alot of good work youv'e done. Looks like it all worked out great. Back a couple posts you were asking opinions about the tail lights.

I think the chrome look goes well with the theme of the car, but I think it's almost too much? How about using the dark covers with a white or chrome stripes. There is chrome striping tape you could lay them out simular to the grills you have. I think it would end up looking like another hole with a grill in it, matching the rest of your car.

Looking good man, keep up the good work.
Gene

[Taz Rules]

I really cannot overstate how much I love those louvres!
For me, its the creative element as well as the execution that sets a great build apart from a truly spectacular one.

BTW, I'm with Gene on the taillights...all chrome is a bit too much, but a chrome highlight around a black or body coloured bezel.... well, here's a sample.
If you have any other ideas for variations, let me know and I'll mock them up in Photoshop for you.
SK Taillights-Red.jpg
SK-Taillights-Black.jpg
SK-Taillights-Black-outer-R.jpg
SK-Taillights-smoked.jpg

[shagydeep]

Hello,
That's a very hard work then make the out structure of car...

[sk7500]

Just have to make the lenses. I'm going to try both a clear lens and a red lens to see what I like best.
Side view.jpg back lights.jpg back lights on.jpg

[shinn497]

I'm really digging this is inspiring me as well.

[Vman7]

sk7500, Your GTM is amazing! I love the paint scheme, all the detail work, the rear area is outstanding!

[WIS89]

I have been watching your build and posts for a while now. Your craftsmanship, attention to detail, and artistry are magnificent!!

Your interior is second to none, your lighting and various grills are superb, and I am running out of superlatives.

Would you be interested in moving to Chapel Hill for a few months to help me build a roadster? You can have one of my boys' rooms, since they are away at school. The pay is lousy, but my wife is a great cook, as measured by my waistline!!

Please keep us posted, and then let us know whenever you travel so we will know when we can come take a close look at it.

Once again, keep up the amazing work, and please keep those pictures coming!! Excellent work!

Regards,

Steve

[sk7500]

Since I wanted to use custom door rubbers I had to move the pinch weld in. So I had exposed spacers all around the door opening. This forced me to make the sill plates wider and make cover plates for the front and rear of the door openings.
Then I go to the Ford dealer thinking I can just order up some brand new door rubbers for a 96 Taurus, install and I'd be styling. WRONG!!!! no longer available.
I'm sure there is a plan B (or is it C) out there, just haven't discovered it yet.

[sk7500]

When doing the body I glassed in some round flanges sealed to the side scoops. From there I wanted to tube fresh air into an air box surrounding the stock GTM air cleaner. Here are some along the way pictures. Should have the finished pictures hopefully by this weekend.
The back of the box is not as close to the exhaust as it looks but I might need to do some more work back there. We'll see

[kabacj]

SK That intake looks great. An intake to pump in cold filtered air is on my short list. You have a very sanitary design I hope i can make mine look as good.

John

[The Stig]

Since I wanted to use custom door rubbers I had to move the pinch weld in. So I had exposed spacers all around the door opening. This forced me to make the sill plates wider and make cover plates for the front and rear of the door openings.
Then I go to the Ford dealer thinking I can just order up some brand new door rubbers for a 96 Taurus, install and I'd be styling. WRONG!!!! no longer available.
I'm sure there is a plan B (or is it C) out there, just haven't discovered it yet.

Very nice door sills Steve. Did you guys make these? Really nice!

Mike

[sk7500]

John,
Yours will wind up being better than ours and I'll be happy if I have inspired a little bit of your creativity.

Mike,
Yes we had to make our own sill plates to fit our door mods.

Got the air box painted today and I think it turned out pretty good?

[Taz Rules]

John,

Got the air box painted today and I think it turned out pretty good?

Hell YEAH, it does!!!!

I'd love to heap superlatives on you, but all I can say is....damn!

[timmy318]

I'm at a loss of words right now..... I'll just second what Taz Rules said....... Damn!

[sk7500]

Thanks guys

I spent the day today with a good friend of mine doing some Glamor shot video. I think you guys are going to be blown away. It should be ready in about a week. After that I plan to do a video series on our car. I have been taking pictures for the last four years as we were building the car and I plan to do a narrated series of videos talking about the changes we made to our car. I think we will create a separate 3-5 minute video on the engine, chassis, body modifications, paint, interior.
In the mean time after looking at the car for nearly 8 hours today I had to take my buddy for a ride. He pulled out his I phone and shot a little video of us going down the road. Were scooting along at 60 and it feels like were idling in the driveway. It's OK, after we got of the main highway I gave him a 150 mph blast. I guess my new airbox didn't slow us down to much.
This will be the last boring video. I promise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOCEa...ature=youtu.be

[Presto51]

Are there any boring GTM videos


I haven't seen one yet


Thanks for sharing

Ron

[sk7500]

Just received our new Momo GTR2 steering wheel. Finally, something that truly just bolts in. Fit was perfect and the size is just right for the larger Corvette gauge cluster. If you are considering a Momo wheel its good to know it will bolt right onto the FFR adapter. It also makes slow speed steering in a non PS car easier.
Also finally finished the latch on our glove box.

Just in time for me go watch my GTM buddies @ team PDG run around the race track at Buttonwillow. It's going to be a good day!

[sk7500]

Are there any boring GTM videos


I haven't seen one yet


Thanks for sharing

Ron

Thanks Ron, but wait until you see what we have coming up.

[Taz Rules]

That is one fine looking interior.

I still love the way you lit it up. Glove box latch all hidden away is a nice touch.

[sk7500]

That is one fine looking interior.

I still love the way you lit it up. Glove box latch all hidden away is a nice touch.

Thanks Ash.

[LCD Gauges]

That is some amazing detail, and finish. I'm so impressed with everyone on this site, the talent is incredible.

Every time I check one of these threads, my wishlist bank account loses $1000.