Aussie built GTM 418

[scud71]

G'day all,
Well I thought it was about time I get on the forum and reveal my build. I'm so happy to introduce to the Factory Five Community my GTM - build No 418. I started my build in March 2013. I had the kit shipped to Melbourne and collected it from the docks to bring it inland to where it would come to life. Through some great advice from a couple of other builders in Australia who have become a great friends, I took on the massive task to build this kit and couldn't be prouder of the end result. As anyone who has undertaken one of these kits would appreciate, its been a massive challenge right from the beginning. Left to right hand drive conversion for a start. New steering rack, relocation of the pedal box and steering geometry, remaking of all the aluminum panels in the cockpit just to start! It was a huge undertaking to say the least. Particularly since I had no mechanical background and had never undertaken anything more than a model car or plane as a kid. I found the doors to be the major pain in this build right to the end. I spent months and months on the body work. Reshaping the front wheel arches, the rear roof line for rear glass fitment, hood, hatch and every other bit of fiberglass on the car it seemed. Thankfully my brother manufactures fiberglass surf craft and I had a some great advice from him after working in his factory for a while during this project. I had the interior completely re trimmed and couldn't be happier with the result. Paint was completed in January and Final assembly completed this month. The heart is a LS2 crate engine with the standard Corvette headers. G96 Trans with the cable shift 6 speed option. Forgestar rims with Pirelli P Zero shoes. Colour is the 2016 Lamborghini Aventador Arancio Argos. As soon as I had it roadworthy I had a permit to drive it 600K's to Sydney for emission testing. It drove like a true sports car. You couldn't get the smile off my face. By the end of that first drive I had 1200 Kms on the clock. Its amazing to drive! I think there were about 300 photos taken of it that day by passers by and I believe it was the talk of the Hwy between Melbourne and Sydney that day. I couldn't keep people away from it at the service stations along the way. So here are a few photos. Thanks for everyone advice along the way. I spoke to a few of you guys over the last 5 years. I certainly appreciate your posts and videos because its been a great help to me along the way. Just have to finish the engineering process now and I'll have it registered. Cant wait to drive it every day.
Dave

[beeman]

Congratulations! Looks amazing! I like your front LED DRL's.

Are you planning on sealing the belly pan area between the fascia intake and the radiator? It would significantly improve both aerodynamics and radiator efficiency.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Very Nice!! Congrats!

[crash]

Beautiful. This should inspire those that have a "standard" GTM as you completed this and it was much more difficult than a regular GTM build.

[TheBabyBadger]

The LEDs and Fender inserts actually REALLY compliment the car and make it stand out. Good on ya, mate! GORGEOUS GIRL!

[Shoeless]

Now that is a fine build, congrats!!!!!

[scud71]

Thanks guys,
I hadn't really given much thought to closing off the belly pan area of the car. At this stage Im working on ways of keeping the air flow up. I found when I was sitting in traffic on the motorway the temp was sneaking up a little more than I was expecting. I'm not sure what you guys have experienced however the stationary temp was getting up near 230 deg. I'm not comfortable with that. Ill get the fans to kick in earlier than 220 to try and fix that as well.
The DRL's I love! There was a lot of work involved getting them in. I had to cut and re shape the front of the car to make them work. That also meant cutting significant chunks out of the driving lights to help with the re shaping of the front as I couldn't change the shape of those DRL's. The side lights are a requirement in Australia and I didnt just want to stick a indicator on the fender. So to get that " different look " I found these inserts and molded them into the side of the car. I'm really please with how the look of the car has been changed just enough to make it mine, as have so many others.