More progress made on the body : )

[carbon fiber]

trimmed hatch.jpg

[The Stig]

Here are a couple of pictures of the hatch insert, bonded to the original GTM hatch. Almost done.



Just a bit of finish work to blend the edges flowing to the rear of the hatch.



It's looking great Jason!!! Thank you!!!

Mike

[The Stig]

Some people have asked how the rear window will dissipate heat. I have tried to show diagram of how the window fits into the hatch, and how the carbon fiber piece will cover the top.

Here is a picture that may show it a little better. The red lines outline where the polycarbonate "window" will be mounted in the Hatch. The yellow lines outline the carbon fiber cover that mounts across the top and overlaps the top edge of the hatch window. This space between the window and the CF cover should allow more than enough space for heat to dissipate quickly from the engine bay while driving, and while stopped. It should prevent the chance of any excessive heat build up while idling as well.



The side edges of the CF cover and the window are beveled to fit flush against the sides of the hatch. This should make for a much cleaner transition from the roof and rear fenders into the hatch without the abrupt humps and gaps that the standard glass window brings.

Mike

[Aman]

Love it, can't wait for the finished product!

Aman

[carbon fiber]

the new part lays flat to the ffr hatch, when I laid the glass from my gtm on it, there was a 1/4" gap at the top! (in the middle). the polycarbonate is abrasion resistant on both sides and has uv protection also.

[The Stig]

The place where the bottom section of the hatch meets the window section has long been a "weak" point due to the small amount of material in those "joints". As such, the hatch tends flex quite a bit when we open and close it. I know, my current hatch will flex at least an inch when I lift up on it to raise it. The glass is fairly heavy, so there is a bit of weight induced stress at the bottom corners of the window. I can't help but believe that due to the reduced weight of the polycarbonate window, a lot of that stress will be relieved.

With the insert overlapping the original hatch opening, and being bonded to it all the way around, the hatch becomes much stronger and should not flex nearly as much. Here is a picture of Jason glassing in the point at the bottom of the "window section" where the insert meets the original hatch. This is to provide a smooth transition from the insert to the hatch, but it also provides even more strength to that section.

All in all, I can't help but believe that he has come up with an excellent design for the functionality, look, and fit for the GTM's hatch. All the credit and Kudos go to Jason for the design and implementation. He had this concept (or one very similar) in his head from the start, so I let him run with it. And through this entire process, I've not seen a single thing that has caused me the least amount of concern.



This piece will need to be prepped for paint while the car is being fitted with it's new interior. Murray Pfaff is currently working with my interior guy to produce a rendering that gets us all on the same page in terms of what it will end up looking like. I should have that from him in a few days... I'm pretty stoked about that too!


Mike

[The Stig]

Jason is Vacuum Forming the Carbon Fiber Cover that will span across the upper hatch window "vent". Pretty cool stuff!

Mike

[The Stig]

Courty finished the wiring of the Gauges, Hazard & Fog Light Switches, and the Mirrors. (Thanks Ted for making up another wiring harness for the Mirrors!)

I was in West Palm when he called, but was able arrange to have it picked up and brought back to my garage!

My wife took a couple of pictures to show me that the GTM was back. It's been a while...







Now I have the task of arranging to have someone come out to remove the windshield in order to install the dash for the new interior. That'll make it a little easier to finsh the clean up of the wires and the close out panels for the wiper linkage (transmission).

Mike

[WIS89]

Mike-

Inching ever closer to getting her done. I know it weighs heavily on your mind I am sure. It has been a pretty rough ride,

I can't wait to see her all done, as I am sure that you are!!

That's a fine ride sitting next to her as well. I remain envious.

Looking forward to seeing the GTM out and about soon; best of luck!

Regards,

Steve

[The Stig]

Hi Steve,

Yep, it's getting there, little by little. It was too cold to get out in the garage today, and I'll be in West Palm for a couple of weeks. So I'm really pushing against another deadline for getting a couple of things done before it goes out to the interior shop.

The GTM Battery is dead... So I need to let the trickle charger run for the night, and see if it's still good or if I have to replace it.

And the motor ran a little hot as the driver unloaded it and brought it up to the garage. So I'll need to "burp" the coolant system again...

And for some reason the ride height is down about 1 1/2". The splitter & side skirts are only about 2 1/2" to 3" off the ground. I don't know how they got the car in and back out of the hauler... But I get to set the ride height again.

Once I get these things taken care of, I'll get the wiper "transmission" installed into the body below the windshield.

The Stable mate is an Original 1930 Model-A Ford. Runs great and gets it's share of Thumbs up's and smiles also.

[The Stig]

Here are a couple of "In Progress" pictures of the Carbon Fiber Cover that will span across the hatch window vent.

And... The battery charged back to 100%. So it looks like I don't have to go through the process of getting it out and replacing it. I was sort of dreading that...

All I know is that The Car is WIRED! That line is scratched off on the "To Do" list! (Or the "to have done" list).

More news to follow soon.

Mike

[Aman]

Nice! Part quality looks top notch guys

Aman

[The Stig]

Nice! Part quality looks top notch guys

Aman

Thanks Aman! But as always, I have to direct the praise to Jason. Does he do some cool work or what?!? At some point, in the not so distant future, this car will be done. Then I can look at it and see all the cool things that went into it: and all the cool people that I've been fortunate enough to meet.

Cool Stuff!!!

Thanks Aman for all the props!

And Thanks again Jason for all that you've done to help me with this.

Mike

[carbon fiber]

I'm making the attachments for the cf cover now. I'm making the mounting points and fitting the cover. I'm making it all repeatable with templates, etc. sorry it's taking so long mike, I'm planning on having it done by this coming week.

[The Stig]

No worries Jason!

[The Stig]

I'm pretty aggravated... again...

I've mentioned in the past that I work as a software consultant, contracted to various projects for companies around the world. As such, I've been in a critical phase in my current project, that we're about to take live at the end of next week. I've been head-down in my computer for the past couple of months, trying to meet ridiculous deadlines imposed bu the client and allowed by the project manager. As a result, I've barely seen the GTM since it came back from Courty Stone's repair shop (A-Tech Automotive Center & Car Sales), at 10900 Nation's Ford Road, Pineville, NC.

I sent it to his shop on October 25, 2013. When it came back on January 21, 2014 I was told, by my wife, that the battery was dead, and had to by jumped so they could get the car out put the trailer, and up the driveway, to be parked in my garage. I was also told that the Hydraulic Lift system would not lift the front of the car. I was also told that the engine ran up to 250 degrees while the driver was farting around with it, trying to get it off the trailer and up the driveway. (So I knew that there must be air in the coolant hoses and/or heads again.) I had just gotten it completely "burped" prior to sending it to Courty's shop.

When I came home, I saw that it was sitting a little low, but I didn't think much of it. It had been sitting "in his shop" for 13 weeks having the gauges and mirrors wired. So I reasoned that the tire pressure was probably down a little, causing it to look like it's lower than it was. My wife and I went to dinner, and when we came back, I remembered that I needed to put the trickle charger on the battery, and see if it would hold a charge or not. It was about 19 degrees outside (and probably 30 or 40 in the garage). So I made quick work of connecting the charger, putting the hood back down, and getting back inside.

I did glance down into the car, and notice a lot of things that looked like they were just tossed into the passenger side of the car.
The next day, I was back in an airplane headed to West Palm Beach for two weeks to baby-sit the "Go-Live". So not much time was available to even go out to the garage to see the car...

I got back to Charlotte on Thursday. This would be the first chance that I've been able to take time for myself to go out and do a couple of things to the car before it goes to the interior shop... (delayed again for two more weeks). I was pretty eager to get out and get my hands back into it again.

I figured that the first thing that I would need to do, was to clean all that crap out of the car so I could get in and work. There was an old bed sheet; print outs of wiring diagrams that I sent to him; my build manual; MY BATTERY CHARGER that I sent along so he could keep the battery charged; the box that my Gen-2 gauges were in, and the bag that I had everything in when I sent the car to him. There was an unbelievable amount of discarded pieces of wire and terminal ends, on the passenger side of the car. I really couldn't believe what a mess the inside of the car was in.

Then I looked down, what I saw made my blood boil. The Sound deadener / Heat shield that I installed was pretty much ruined on the driver's side. Ripped and torn where he or someone there got in and out of the car. it seemed odd to me that the driver's side would have been damaged so much when the passenger side was barely touched. Then I figured that since he was wiring gauges (for 13 weeks), he must have been on that side of the car most of the time...

Then as I was trying to get all the cut wire and terminal ends vacuumed up and cleaned up, I noticed that there was rust in the corner of the floor next to the gas tank and seat belt mounts. The rust extends past the break, and under the fuel tank. Right now it's just surface rust, but what made it start in the first place? Then it hit me...

I went to his shop on about week 9 or 10, to get an idea of what progress was being made. When I got there it was about noon, so I went into the front door figuring that they would more than likely be inside having lunch. They were. We chatted for a few minutes, and he told me that he figured that he would have everything done by the end of the week. Cool.

I left to go back out to my car and leave. Then I saw my GTM sitting outside, just as filthy as it could be. He and I had a conversation about the fact that the GTM wasn't water tight yet, and I did not want it outside for any reason, unless it was coming out in order to let another car out, and then put back inside. He assured me that he had plenty of room in his shop, and that it wouldn't be a problem at all.

Well, apparently there was some gap in communication. At some point, my car was left outside in the rain, and got quite a bit of water down in the floor board of the driver's side.



A week or so later... There is was again.


The Quiet Ride sound & heat shield became soaked, and eventually dried and "rotted" or began to decompose. With him or his workers getting in and out, they pretty much ripped it up. I can't imagine how he and his people treat the other cars that go through his shop. Here's a car that the owner had already told him need to be kept inside, and kept on the trickle charger. I guess he didn't feel the need to do either. I was there a couple of times and found my car sitting outside. And the fact that the battery was absolutely freakin' dead, told me that he didn't keep it on the charger either.

Before...


After...


Passenger Side...


When he was finally done with the car, he called to let me know that I could come and pick it up. I was charged $2559.08 for him to wire my gauges and mirrors. Of course that was literally about 1/10th of what I was charged by the last place that had it and partially wired it.

I will say right now, that I'm not upset at all about the cost. Do I think it's too much for the work that was done? Absolutely! Am I upset about it? Not so much. I simply wanted the car to be wired, once and for all. I knew that I was going to take another hit. Well, I did... And it is.



I will also say this; he had to un-do the bundles of wiring, (that was left there from the previous attempt of a well known FFR builder), try to figure out what was done, and then finish it. He told me that would take him 1 to 2 days to trace the wires back. He also told me that he would not be working on the car every day start to finish. He wanted to be able to work on it when other business in the shop wouldn't interfere with his train of thought and interrupt his progress. When I asked how long he thought he would need the car, he said that it would probably take 2 to 3 weeks. I was fine with the fact that he wanted to take his time to do it right. 3 weeks somehow turned into 13 weeks.

[The Stig]

What I am really pissed about is that it took him 13 weeks when he said that he was estimating 2 to 3 weeks. That's a bit of a miss in my book.

But above all else, I just can't believe how he treated my car with complete disregard. He did exactly what I asked him not to do, and what he agreed not to do; and left the car outside to be rained on.






I don't know who and/or what he had around the car, while it was in his garage, but the dirt and the dust that collected on it was wiped across the car, causing scratched in the paint. There were a couple of scratches on the passenger door that I caused, and I knew would have to be corrected.

Now there is a large scratch on the panel behind the passenger side front wheel, just below the windshield.





As well. the aluminum panel just below the center of the windshield is scratched pretty badly. I can't have it re-powder coated. So it'll have to be re painted.






Am I pissed off? You bet I am. Can I do anything about it? You bet I can! And I absolutely intend to.

I am sick and tired of sending my business to the shops around here, and spending major amounts of money, just to come out worse. It has happened to me both times that I've sent my car to someone else to work on it.

It sure makes me nervous to know that it's going to the interior shop in 2 weeks where another load of cash will change hands.

[Kempo]

I feel you pain Mike. I hate and don't understand how can some shops can treat customer property like that. I hope you have better luck with the interior guy.

[kabacj]

Mike that's just terrible.

I don't understand it. It's the same everywhere. Very very few shops actually take pride in a perfect job. Sadly they get paid even for a mediocre job. That's the root of the problem really.

I'm sure there are good guys out there. It's just so hard to find them.

Sunshine is the best antiseptic. Give the guy a chance to explain why he did what he did an make it right. If he does the wrong thing. At least you can worn others to stear clear of that establishment.

I just can't understand when people don't take pride in their work.

John.

[Boostaddiction]

Mike- so sorry to hear about this- I know you have worked so hard on this car, and it is disheartening to have people treat your car so poorly.

[WIS89]

Mike-

You have my empathy! I am truly sorry for the trouble you have experienced.

I hope the various troubles you have had don't sour you to the project! That would be the biggest shame.

I hope you find the right folks to help you sort out what remains and get her properly completed. Best of luck.

If you need a cold drink, come on over and I will be happy to listen! Fight the good fight and hang tough!

Regards,

Steve

[Ray]

Thought you might like this. The Stig.jpg Just ordered one for my shop....

Ray

[Presto51]

It sure makes me nervous to know that it's going to the interior shop in 2 weeks where another load of cash will change hands.

Sorry for all the trash that you going through Mike.

When you take it to the interior shop, explain in very clear language what you expect, what your experience has been, (just so they know where you’re coming from), and tell the owner that you are going to hold them to what they promised.

Don't pay, don't take the car home, until you are completely satisfied with not only the job preformed, but also the condition of your car when they are through with it.

Wish you all the best of luck, and hang in there

Ron

[crash]

I'm a guy who charges a lot of $$ for my time. Wiring can be a serious PITA. I have literally used gold plated connectors and wired entire cars for less than you paid. That was a rip off. Plain and simple.

[The Stig]

I'm a guy who charges a lot of $$ for my time. Wiring can be a serious PITA. I have literally used gold plated connectors and wired entire cars for less than you paid. That was a rip off. Plain and simple.

Wow... I was expecting, "I told you so" or something similar. Thanks Mike.

I know that wiring is a pain in the A$$. But I've talked to various people on this forum who build these cars on a regular basis and I've been told that 40 hours is about as much as they bill for wiring a car. Usually much less. When I told Shane Vacek and Allan Uzwiak that I was being charged for roughly 130+ hours for PARTIALLY wiring my car, they both busted out laughing. Not at me, but at the "Balls" that anyone could have to try that. I still had to wire the headlights, blinkers, Fog Lights, Mirrors, and Gauges. This guys charged an additional 25 hours in labor @ $95.00/hour, simply to wire my gauges, and mirrors.

Ron, before I sent the car over to Courty's shop, I asked him to come to my house and have a look at the car, and give me his estimate. While he was there, I explained exactly what my expectations were. I told him what I had been through recently and that I was don't want it to happen to me again. He said that he was not someone to take advantage of others, and that he would take car of my car as if it were his own, and he would make sure that when i got it back, it would be wired the way that it should have been the first time I paid to have it done. As well, he has built his own Factory Five Roadster, and said that he would be glad to help out a fellow builder, because he remembered what his car meant to him when he bought it and built it. I thought, Great! Finally, someone I could trust.

Oh well. Fool me once shame on you, Fool me twice, shame on me. So I guess it the goal of the majority of these shops to make a fool out of their customers and try to squeeze them for everything they possibly can.

That's a pretty lame way to go through life if you ask me...

I remember when I bought this car from Reginald Herd, in Lowell, MA; it was a pretty happy day for me. For the most part, I've enjoyed it, and I really count myself lucky to have met some of the people here that I've had a lot of respect for. And I was happy to find out after meeting them that the respect that I held for them was deserved. You guys know who you are. But there have been a few as well that I trusted and learned an indelible lesson as to why I won't again. I guess that's just part of life though. But is doesn't make it any easier to stomach.

I'm trying to make this car, what I wanted it to be when I made the decision to buy it. I've had a specific picture in my head, and so far, I've been able to stay on track towards that vision. But lately each time I think I'm making advances, I found out I'm really backing up.

I want so bad to enjoy building this car, and then be able to enjoy it when it's done. But it's getting tougher to do.

Someone asked me recently how I liked building my car? He asked me whether or not the experience was what I thought it would be? What was the best thing that I've learned in the process that I would pass along to others?

I told him that I love to go out into my garage and spend time getting through items on my punch list, and knowing that I did it.
I told him that since I had never built anything this complex before, I really didn't know what to expect. So I just approach it in small bites, and then appreciate any progress that I have made.
And Last I told him that in the course of a project like this, you'll find yourself at a point where you don't have any choice but to trust someone else for something. And that for me this has been more about learning who I can trust and who I can't.

I'm sorry. I guess I'm just venting.

I do love the car. And it will get finished. I decided a while back that this build would not end up as a statistic of those who start but never finish. So I'll do what needs to be done to get it back in shape, and show ready. I'm still aiming to have it in Warham at the open house, Huntington Beach at the Cruise In, and if Possible, I'd really like to have my car at SEMA this year. Those are my bucket list items for the car. Oh yeah, My wife and I are still planning a trip to cruise down the Pacific Coast Hwy in it. So I'm far from giving up on it.

I just despise having to pay for the same thing two or three times because of other's incompetence or complete lack of caring.

Mike

[LCD Gauges]

For the price they quoted you, I would have expected a steak dinner with delivery of your car. That's pretty insane as everyone else has pointed out.

I'm surprised you left the shop without someone's head on a plate after seeing the damage, and poor workmanship.

[The Stig]

For the price they quoted you, I would have expected a steak dinner with delivery of your car. That's pretty insane as everyone else has pointed out.

I'm surprised you left the shop without someone's head on a plate after seeing the damage, and poor workmanship.

I was in West Palm Beach working. This was a Tuesday and I wouldn't be able to there until Friday. I knew that there was bad weather coming in, and I had already seen that he had left the car out before. I called Courty and paid him (his wife) over the phone, so I could make arrangements to have the car picked in an enclosed car hauler, and brought to my house that afternoon. I didn't trust that he wouldn't move it outside into the weather after seeing it outside before.

The driver didn't know if it was in that condition before I took it in or not, but thought is was strange. At least that's what he said to my wife when they got it into the Garage...

Again, part of this comes back to my inability to be able to be here during the week and drop in to see what's going on with the car. Working in other cities on my projects tends to get in the way of that. I would go there when I was in town, but if I saw that everything looked ok, I'd leave them alone and let them work.

Mike

[fastthings]

Ya know, this is BS on a few different levels. Lying to your face, disrespecting, taking advantage, quality of work is unknown, and probably more.

You can't reason with the unreasonable. I think you should simply do nothing, why should you get your blood preasure built up over this jack ***.

You have explained your position so well in this thread, I think you should print off about 4 or 5 pages of this thread and send it to him in the mail, and then move on. Let him decide if he can sleep at knight.

IF HE'S ANY KIND OF A MAN AT ALL, HE WILL CONTACT YOU TO MAKE IT RIGHT.

All my gages came with Sheilded wire, just run it to the sensor and hook it up, then suply the gage wit power, ground, and a feed from the park lights, done. The mirror thing is simply sorcing a harness with a controller and hooking it up. Did he charge you all that and not even get ahold of the sheilded wires?

[LCD Gauges]

You have explained your position so well in this thread, I think you should print off about 4 or 5 pages of this thread and send it to him in the mail, and then move on. Let him decide if he can sleep at knight.

IF HE'S ANY KIND OF A MAN AT ALL, HE WILL CONTACT YOU TO MAKE IT RIGHT.

Perfect!

However, I don't think his shop is capable of the quality that Mike is expecting. I'd be seeking funds to cover the dynamat, and
damaged paint, etc.

[crash]

This kind of stuff is what really burns me. I did a frame up truck restoration about 25 years ago. I put my heart and soul into making that truck back to pretty much exactly as it came off the production line. I sand blasted and epoxy primed all the body parts, the frame, the tank, axles, everything. I sent it to the paint shop with everything done except the final color coat on the bodywork. I wanted it RIGHT and done in a booth because anything less was not worthy of all the work I put into it. I go to pick it up and the interior is trashed! The owner said they had a break in and that a bunch of cars were damaged. He showed me the other ones that had the stereos, seats, etc ripped out. So he gives me the name of his insurance and tells me "have a nice day".

Then I start looking at the work on the truck...WTF! There is overspray all over the frame, etc. Then I notice these HUGE holes at the rear of my fenders DOUBLE WTF!! Well, I am irate. I took the truck in almost finished and it came out five steps, at least, from where it was when I took it to him. He says, "Oh that overspray will wipe right off. Just use laquer thinner." Well the paint I took him was a PPG Urethane so it sure as hell better not come right off! Then I go ballistic about the fenders. He says "Yeah, well I fixed those, see how your tires go right into that hole. They used to hit the fenders." I asked him to take a look at the detail on the truck, and then take a good look at the rims and tires that were on it, then asked "Do you really think those are the wheels I am going to have on this truck? I put those on because they are junk and I thought you might get a little bit of overspray on them or something. The real wheels are safe at home!" His answer? "Well how was I supposed to know that. I was just working with what you gave me!"
I swear if he didn't have ten guys in the shop I would have strangled him right then and there! I had paid him half up front and half was supposed to be paid on completion. Needless to say I took my truck and got out of there. He got no more money.

Insurance refused to pay much of the damage because they said the vehicle was being restored and there was no proof all the items were in the vehicle that I claimed when the damage took place.

Not to be a downer, but that was kind of the last straw on that project. It still sits in my yard on blocks today.

Bottom line, I feel your pain...and my blood pressure has now come up again, even 25 years after the event!

[carbon fiber]

I've got a mustang I was restoring, sitting because of bubbles in the paint. paint that I payed a so called professional to do. I'm planning to strip and repaint it myself. the problem is I was almost done putting it back together when the paint de-laminated. who knows how many hours I had in that, it was stripped to the bare shell for paint.

[The Stig]

Ya know, this is BS on a few different levels. Lying to your face, disrespecting, taking advantage, quality of work is unknown, and probably more.

You can't reason with the unreasonable. I think you should simply do nothing, why should you get your blood preasure built up over this jack ***.

You have explained your position so well in this thread, I think you should print off about 4 or 5 pages of this thread and send it to him in the mail, and then move on. Let him decide if he can sleep at knight.

IF HE'S ANY KIND OF A MAN AT ALL, HE WILL CONTACT YOU TO MAKE IT RIGHT.

All my gages came with Sheilded wire, just run it to the sensor and hook it up, then suply the gage wit power, ground, and a feed from the park lights, done. The mirror thing is simply sorcing a harness with a controller and hooking it up. Did he charge you all that and not even get ahold of the sheilded wires?

That's not a bad idea... Of course if he's willing to treat customers and their property with such little regard, I really don't expect him to do anything but get pissed off that anyone would dare question his integrity. But who knows?

[sk7500]

Mike you have got to take off the hat that says "please rip me off" when you go into these shops. You have enough experience already. My heart aches for you. If it makes you feel better my car sprung a radiator leak after driving it on Valentines day. Everyone has problems, but you are getting more than your share of he big ones. Thanks for taking my share. Hang tough buddy it'll be worth it in the end.
Steve

[The Stig]

Mike you have got to take off the hat that says "please rip me off" when you go into these shops.
Steve

You know, I really don't know what it is, other than the fact that I try to treat people with the same respect that I would hope to get back from them.

As a consultant, I travel to projects in cities around the world for a living. As a result, I am not able to be in their faces 24/7 until the jobs are completed. Nor would I. I check on things as I am able to, but I also try to give them room to do their job without me telling them how to do it.

But it would seem that there are some out there that think that my price of admission for building the GTM, is to empty my pockets to them, and put up with whatever load of BS they toss my way. In their eyes, I don't deserve to be treated fairly. But when my property is damaged as a result of them being the ***** that they are, they've definitely crossed the line. This guy took my money over the phone and never said a single word about the damages to my car. He offered NOTHING in the way of excuses or apologies.

Sorry, I don't mean to get off on another Rant... But you're absolutely right Steve.


And I am sorry to hear of your trouble with your car...

[fact5racer]

Man Mike, If there was anyone that now has the "assets" to share a cell room with a big guy name Bubba it's you! I firsthand know that the toughest part of building these cars are finding reputable "sub-contractors" to pay to do the things that we don't feel comfortable doing ourselves. Forget using the theory "Well seeing they are so much more efficient and therefore faster than me" its financially smarter for us to work on our jobs making money and paying them while we are working, than doing it ourselves. Having built 14 cars has really helped me sort out the good from the bad to the point that I can trust, at least $$$ wise, the guys I use. I wish I had an answer...........Maybe get a electronic translator that converts your voice to the late Marlon Brando's "Godfather" voice and strictly deal over the phone with them. That way when it runs behind schedule simple mail them a horses head.

There should be a picture of your wife next to Mother Teresa's in the Vatican because she is surely eligible for sainthood for having to firsthand witness how badly you have been getting screwed by EVERYONE that has touched your car.

I still think you should of saved a bunch of $$$$$ and just bought a Bugatti Veyron in the beginning. You could of probably spent the additional money you saved over this GTM so as to visit their factory and drive it a bit over there before shipping it home and still be ahead money wise

[The Stig]

There should be a picture of your wife next to Mother Teresa's in the Vatican because she is surely eligible for sainthood for having to firsthand witness how badly you have been getting screwed by EVERYONE that has touched your car.

I still think you should of saved a bunch of $$$$$ and just bought a Bugatti Veyron in the beginning. You could of probably spent the additional money you saved over this GTM so as to visit their factory and drive it a bit over there before shipping it home and still be ahead money wise

You joke, but you are probably not too far from the truth. And thank you, but I really don't want to consider myself a compatible cellmate for Bubba... There is just no way I can intentionally make that work in my head.

And you've met Pam a couple of times, so you know that she does deserve sainthood. but not for what she witnesses through me, but what she puts up with because of me... She is exactly what has kept me grounded enough to not go postal on Jeff or this new guy, "Courty".


Like you said, you learn from experiences... I've certainly had my share.

Thank you for your efforts to help when you could. It's MUCH appreciated.

[The Stig]

Jason has sent a few pictures of the hatch with the Carbon Fiber Cover. I'm not sure if it is mounted or just held in place. He was looking into an alternate way of mounting the cover onto the hatch.

In any event, maybe these pictures will give you all a better idea of what we've been up to. Again, I could not be any happier with the way this has turned out.



In this picture you can see how the cover over laps the top of the window, where the opening will be to let heat out of the engine bay.



The carbon fiber fits perfectly into the top edge of the window opening. The sides and the top edges fit flush with the hatch.

[carbon fiber]

it's just sitting in place in the pics. I've got to finish sand the edge and glass the mounts in. it'll be better than the original way I had planned to mount the cover.

[Aman]

Looking really good Jason, can't wait to see it mounted up! The contrast of CF on paint in that area will be a nice focal point

Aman

[carbon fiber]

thanks Aman. I can't wait to see it finished on mikes car. It should vent air quite well with the opening at the top. we'll see soon!