New APR Wing Mounting System Available!

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Hi guys,

I have to admit I'm a bit new to this forum. I've been building GTM's professionally for about 8 years now. I developed a wing mounting system for the GTM many years ago. I had another forum member here approach me about doing a wing mount set-up for the 818. I've been working with him over the past month to put something together that would fit the 818. We've pretty well finalized the design and are working on some possible add-ons that some of you seem to be also looking for, like incorporating some supports for the body in the rear as well as some protection for the shift linkage at the back of the car. If you're looking for a mounting system for the GTC-300 wing, we have everything here to do that for you. I also sell the APR GTC-300 wing, so the whole package can be ordered thru me. I see that some of you are also interested in the GT-250. I have APR sending me some pedestals for the GT-250 so that I can duplicate the upper mounting portion with all of the adjustment holes and make the lower portion compatible with my mounting system. If there is interest in this, I can probably have GT-250 wing stands available within the next month or so, and be able to sell you that wing as well, as it will have to be set up with the custom mount spacing required to fit my wing mount system.

This system (for either wing) mounts the wing directly to the chassis so there is zero contact or load on the body. The entire "sub-frame" is easily removable with 4 bolts so that you can get it out of your way if you have to do work on your engine or transaxle. I don't have anything posted on my website just yet, as we've still been in the prototype stages up til now. If anyone is interested in this, shoot me an email (via the contact info on my website) and I can share some photos of what we have developed so far.....and as I said above, if you already have a GTC-300, I already have everything here to supply you with everything you would need to build this mount yourself with the exception of about a 12' chunk of 1x1 square tube that you would have to purchase locally. It does require welding.

Looking forward to getting into the 818 community a bit more!

PS....please email me instead of sending me a PM.......

[metros]

I'd be interested if it was a bolt on affair. However, if welding is involved then I need to delegate it out to my goto shop whether I purchase your kit or request they fabricate something for me. At that point it's most likely more cost effective to have my local shop take care of everything.

Posting some pictures here would only help your company though.

[GUNS]

Badass! I'll be interested in this at some point down the road. Any rough quote on pricing? Thanks for the support!

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Metros,

That's the point of this kit....to prevent the need to spend hours reinventing the wheel. I provide all of the parts and all of the measurements you need to make it as simple and straight forward as possible. I fully expect that many/most home car builders don't have a welder or welding experience necessary to do this on their own. Welding shops don't give away their time, so if you can take them all of the parts they need and all of the dimensions, and all they have to do is stick the parts together.....they could probably have the whole thing welded and done in an hour. In my mind, that beats paying them for several days of trial and error (the part we've already done for you) to try and come up with something that may or may not work in the end.

I'll try to get some pics and prices figured up by tomorrow.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

First off, I'd like to give credit to forum memeber FFRSpec72, Tony Nadalin for doing all of the hard work on this project. He is the one who approached me about this and did all of the work on his own car of measuring, taking photos, test fitting, prototyping, building, tearing apart and rebuilding and taking more measurements and more pictures so that we could come up with a workable solution. We are still working on a solution to protect the shift linkage and the rear of the transaxle, and possibly some additional support for the body to incorporate into this design. We already have half of the shift linkage/transaxle protection figured out...just need to get things finalized. I received this message from Tony last night:

"I just saw the thread, I think people have to understand how easy it will be for them to put this together, as they can take the frame to a welder and get someone over to tack weld the mounts and no fuss no muss as it’s all laid out, supports the K-Tuned Shifter mount and Rori Shift Linkage and AJW Exhaust and if we can get the anti-intrusion and the lid mounst worked out it will be a killer product, and fairly light weight"


Here is what we have so far on mounting the wing:

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

The short steel uprights that you see bolted to the top of this subframe are completely below the surface of the body. There is an aluminum upright that bolts to that steel upright that just protrudes thru the body that the upper wing stand mounts to. So from the outside of the car, the only visible parts are going to be some nice aluminum black anodized wing stands that can either be bolted together down near the body, or I can provide quick-release pins so that you can quickly pop the wing off the car. As I said above, the entire subframe is very easily removable as it is attached to the chassis with 4 bolts....so you can quickly and easily get it out of your way if you have engine or transaxle work that needs to be done where this subframe might be in your way. Here are some more pics of the subframe and parts.....as you can see, the entire assembly is only 17 lbs:




Here are the steel parts you would receive. Note....there are extras in this photo for prototyping purposes, but you would receive everything necessary to build the subframe as you see it, as well as the mounting tabs that weld to the chassis:




These are the black anodized wing stands. The lower piece bolts to the steel upright and pokes up thru the body for the wing stand to attach to. These wing stands are set up to fit the GTC-300.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

With this system, you have the advantage of being able to adjust the wing mounts in every direction.....from side to side to get the wing stands centered on the car......up and down to get the lower aluminum mount to protrude thru the body the amount you desire and front to back to get it placed to come thru the body where you want it. The wings I sell are all set up with a 27" inside to inside mounting dimension, so this wing mount is set up so that the wing stands are 27" outside to outside. The GTC-300 wing that FFR sells has an inside to inside mounting dimension of 27.5", and there is plenty of adjustment in this system to make it work with either my wing or FFR's wing. As of right now, it looks like pricing for this kit, that would include all of the steel parts required to build the subframe (with the exception of 12' of 1x1 square tube that you would have to source locally.....Tony used .065" wall tubing) plus the 4 black anodized wing stands plus all of the grade 8 bolts to attach the subframe to the chassis and the steel uprights to the subframe.....looks like it will run around $399. If possible, I will try to include a solution for protection of the rear shift linkage in that price.

[FFRSpec72]

This is super easy to put together, the work that Shane does is TOP notch, the CNC (both the steel and aluminum) parts he provides are perfect. If you don't have a welder, just take the parts to a welder to build the sub-frame (they may even have the 1x1 needed) and then invite someone that has a welder over for some beers/food/whatever to weld the tabs on the frame, these are easily positioned for welding (and only take a few minutes to grind the powder coating off and weld these tabs on) and then attach the sub-frame via 4 bolts to the tabs and you are done. The system is totally adjustable to allow you to move the wing forward/backwards and side to side. I have the VCP K-Tuned Shift brackets, AJW Exhaust (with resonator) and Rori rear shift level and the sub-frame works with all these and will also work with the standard exhaust from FFR.

Also as Shane indicated will provide for anti-intrusion for the shift linkage/transaxle. Also looking into the sub-frame providing support for the rear deck lid droop (I think Mechie3 provides a bar now for same issue) and also provide support for the rear deck pins/latches and have something other than fiberglass to support the pin/latch.

It has been great working with Shane, I hope he carries over more of his products and expertise from the GTM to the 818.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Thanks Tony!

As for wing prices to go with this kit, I offer:

APR GTC-300 67" - $1350
APR GT-250 67" - $1169
APR GT-250 61" - $1099

Prices do not include shipping. I do not have wing stands for the APR GT-250 yet. APR is shipping me a set to measure. As soon as I get the design done I'll get some new stands made up and ready to ship.

[Santiago]

Shane, this looks like a really nice solution. Couple of questions:

1. Is the price for just the wing mount or is it for the proposed finished product incl. shift linkage protection?
2. I'm not planning on using the APR wings, so are you open to selling this without the aluminum uprights?
3. If so, do you have a price for that option? And if the price indicated above isn't for the shift linkage options, do you have a sense of price for that?

Let me know.

Best,
-john

[fryguy]

I am interested as well. Would like to see the shift linkage/transaxle protection when ready, too.

[FFRSpec72]

I am interested as well. Would like to see the shift linkage/transaxle protection when ready, too.

Here is a early picture of what the shift linkage/transaxle protection may look like that Shane made

WP_20150228_17_43_34_Pro.jpg

[FFRSpec72]

Here is a picture of what it looks like under the rear most deck lid (I have not cut holes yet), so the 2 stage aluminum pedestal mounts would attach here and thus all you see above the deck are Shane's very nice CNC cut black anodized mounts.

WP_20150308_14_07_01_Pro.jpg

[metros]

Ok, the pictures are interesting and I like that it's adjustable to fit a variety of wings.

What does the front most of the wing mount attach to? Weld on tabs or does it work with the crossbar from ffr?

Does it come with detailed instructions that my welder will understand?

Are shipping costs the driving reason for not selling completed mounts?

[kabacj]

Nicely done as always Shane.

That is a great solution. Looks great and will save someone a lot of time compared to making all those parts themselves.

John

[FFRSpec72]

Ok, the pictures are interesting and I like that it's adjustable to fit a variety of wings.

What does the front most of the wing mount attach to? Weld on tabs or does it work with the crossbar from ffr?

Does it come with detailed instructions that my welder will understand?

Are shipping costs the driving reason for not selling completed mounts?

I can answer a few of these.

The front has tabs that are welded to the cross bracre (shock tower or what ever its called) we talked about using the 2 bolts thyat hold the tower to each side but since we had to do welding anyway was it was no big deal as the shock tower can me removed for welding. The bolts are a little far away to create a bracket that bolts to those 2 bolts as you can see from picture

WP_20150310_19_23_32_Pro.jpg

I will work with Shane to make sure the instructiuons are right and with the measurements for easy positioning tabs for welding.

Last on Shane has to answer

[FFRSpec72]

Here are some pictures of the wing pedestals, they are adjustable up and down and back and forth (ignore the bolts I used) so you could use quick pins or bolts and slot the rear deck.

WP_20150310_19_05_10_Pro.jpg WP_20150310_19_05_19_Pro.jpg WP_20150310_19_09_55_Pro.jpg

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Here are some pics of the weld-on tabs that the new subframe mounts to:







Yes, shipping costs are the driving force of not wanting to sell this as a completed weldment. As Tony mentioned, you're going to have to weld anyway to get the mounting tabs welded to the chassis. The other cost would be my labor to weld it up, and then you have the possible issue with slight differences from chassis to chassis on the 818......what happens when I weld it up here, and it ends up not fitting your chassis? Time is also a factor as I don't really have the desire or the time to become a full-time welding shop.

Santiago/John.....answers to your questions:

1. I'm hoping we can include what you need for the shift linkage protection in the proposed price of $399....but until we finalize a design, I can't say for sure. It could possibly be a low-cost option?

2. Yes, If you want to figure out your own wing stands and don't want either of the aluminum parts, I can work up a price for that. The black anodized aluminum parts represent the largest bulk of the cost of this system....they are not cheap to have made in small quantities that I'm doing now for the GTM. Those are one of the few parts I still have to farm out to someone else as you can not cut aluminum that thick with plasma. That was part of the reason I was interested in developing this to also fit the 818 using the exact same aluminum parts that I use/sell for the GTM. If I can order them in a larger volume (to fill a larger demand), hopefully my costs for the aluminum parts will go down a bit.

3. Let us get the shift linkage protection figured out first and then I will be able to figure out some solid pricing on everything. As I said, the aluminum parts are the biggest expense of this kit, so if there is additional cost for any of the "add-ons", they will be steel...which means I can make them here in house.....which means they will be reasonably priced.

[metros]

All very good points. Thanks for educating me.

I'll keep an eye on this thread for updates.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Just an update to let everyone know that I had APR send me a wing stand for the GT-250 so I could copy the hole pattern and create a wing stand that will work with this wing mount system. That design is now done. I will probably not get any of these made until I hear someone tell me that they will for sure order these from me. Like I said, these aluminum parts are the most expensive parts to have made, so I don't want to be sitting here on a pile of GT-250 wing stands if everyone is going to end up using the GTC-300. Pricing on all of the APR wings I would sell is in post #9 above. I will carry and sell whatever wings you guys are interested in if there is a reasonable volume of orders for that wing.

We're still working on finalizing the rear plate/guard/ shift cable protection as well as coming up with something to support the body that attaches to the wing subframe.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Cut one of the GT-250 wing stands out of some thin aluminum to check/verify hole size and placement with the original stand from APR:

[metros]

Glad to see this is still making forward progress. Looks like this will be released just prior to my car going in for a tune. THAT would make for a convenient timing.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Well, we have a finalized version of the rear shift linkage protection:

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

The mounting tabs that are welded to the 1x1 vertical tubes are upside down in these pics, but they work either way. So, for this wing mount set up, I have decided to break it down like this:

You can buy just the parts for the wing mount frame (does not include the rear shift linkage protection). The only thing you would have to provide is a 12' length of .065" wall 1x1 square tube. Any local welding shop or metal fab shop should be able to source this for you pretty inexpensively. I just called my steel supplier, and they sell a 24 foot long stick of that for less than $16. So this kit would include all of the pieces you see in the photos above to make the subframe to mount the wing to, the tabs that weld to the chassis that the subframe mounts to, the steel wing stand uprights that bolt to the subframe and the nice black-anodized aluminum parts that show above the body, with your choice of either APR GTC-300 wing stands or GT-250 wing stands. Price for this would be $379. If you want to add the parts for the shift linkage protection, price would be $415.

We may still add some adjustable body supports that will fit with all of this....which will be an inexpensive add-on.....still working on that option.

[metros]

Love the rear end plate.

I'm 100% in. I'm not quite ready to worry about the wing mount so I'll wait a bit longer while you fine tune it. Hopefully it'll save me some money in the end not paying labor to design something. I'm using the apr 300 wing.

Keep this thread updated as to when you're 100% happy with it and I'll place my order.

[FFRSpec72]

Love the rear end plate.

I'm 100% in. I'm not quite ready to worry about the wing mount so I'll wait a bit longer while you fine tune it. Hopefully it'll save me some money in the end not paying labor to design something. I'm using the apr 300 wing.

Keep this thread updated as to when you're 100% happy with it and I'll place my order.

If you don't have the wing yet, you can buy the wing w/o the pedestals (and save $200) as the wing mount comes with better pedestals.

[metros]

Damn, already have it. Thanks for the heads up though.

[FFRSpec72]

The shift linkage weighs in @ just under 7.5 lbs, so just under 25 lbs for the wing mount and linkage protection.

[metros]

Any other builders with pictures of their completed set up?

[Scrmblr2]

Had this gone anywhere? I like the idea!

[EODTech87]

I believe they sell the kits still. I purchased one about 6 months ago and it was very well designed and fairly easy to install for a amateur welder such as myself. I'll have some pictures next week if anyone is interested.

[metros]

I would be interested in some good completed pictures.

[EODTech87]

I haven't had time to install everything yet but here are some pictures.