The build is picking up some speed

[crash]

I see them, but it takes a little while to load.

[Kempo]

Can't see the pics. Are they jpg or png?

They are linked from my hotmail skydrive. I logged in from two other computers and I can see them on those too. If they appear as red "X" try refreshing the page or right click on the X and select show picture from the drop down menu.

[Radkat]

Hi Hugo, Impressive... as always!!! Good idea about the Porsche Transaxle mounting points!
Thanks,
Radkat

[LCD Gauges]

You know you're a hard-core, DIY, GTM builder when you replace the motor after a few months of road use. :8Sweet motor pics you have there! You need to rename your thread to, "The build is exceeding ridiculous speeds!"

[Kempo]

I was able to start the engine yesterday. After some tuning it now idles and starts the way it should. Here is a short video taken with my phone. I will try to replace it with a better quality one tonight.

[Kalstar]

Oh great, guess I need to plan another trip down.

[kabacj]

Nice job Hugo. Sounds pretty mean already. I'm sure when you are done tuning it its going to be a monster!

I'm interested to see what a 150 shot of nitrous does on top of that power plant.

John

[Kempo]

Oh great, guess I need to plan another trip down.

You are welcome when ever you want Jim.

Nice job Hugo. Sounds pretty mean already. I'm sure when you are done tuning it its going to be a monster!

I'm interested to see what a 150 shot of nitrous does on top of that power plant.

John

Thanks John. Today was a very cool day. I went to the dyno with the car and Mikespms met me there with his dad and his son. Very nice guys. It was a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Didn't have any issues during the dyno runs. I was able to tune to a safe AFR and removed all knock. I ended up with 499WHP and 470Ft/Lb of torque. Tuning using HP tuners is new for me so I'm sure there might be some more power hiding in the tune. I have a buddy that is very experienced with HP tuners so we will go back there soon to see what else he can get out of it. Mike took some video and said he will upload it to YouTube. Below is a picture of the graph.

[mikespms]

Back from P.R. went to Cabo Rojo met Hugo at the dyno shop,the car is awesome sounds great, maybe a ride next time.Great air conditioned garage at home with lots of toys. Went to the beach had lunch, good time all around 001.JPG003.JPGphoto (1).JPGphoto (3).JPGphoto (4).JPG http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=51WQ83tkMVI

[Kempo]

Thanks for the pictures and video Mike. It was a pleasure to meet you guys. That picture of the beach is from Annie's place in Combate right?

[mikespms]

Saturday when we left your house we went to lunch at Vista Bahia and fed the tarpons in Joyuda beach by isla de ratones. Tuesday I had to go to Mayaguez to take care of the ticket I got Saturday in Boqueron and went to Annie's place for lunch and EL Farro afterwards photo (2).JPG

[LCD Gauges]

Hugo,

May I ask the MFG, specs, and part# for your rims? I may have to return mine, and yours are a very close match to the pattern!

[Kempo]

Tino,
I just read that in your thread. Sorry to hear that. My wheels are the ones offered by FFR. They are Forgestars model F14. I ordered mine flat black. Here are the specs from FFR store site.

"Wheel Set Part Number: 26111Front Wheel Size (Diameter x width): 18"x 9"Rear Wheel Size (Diameter x width): 18"x 12"Front Wheel Backspace: 6.95" (50mm Offset)Rear Wheel Backspace: 8.49" (51mm Offset)Wheel Lug Pattern: GM style 5 lug x 4.75" bolt circleMaterial: Flow formed AluminumColor: Titanium

Weight: 18"x 9": 19.5 lb 18"x 12": 22.2 lb

FFR Fitment Applications: GTM

Front Brake Fitment14" Z06 Calipers and Rotors

Rear Brake Fitment:13.00" Z06 Calipers and Rotors

Recommended Tire Sizes:Front: 245/40 ZR18Rear: 335/30 ZR18"

http://www.factoryfiveparts.com/gtm-...rmance-wheels/

http://www.forgestar.com/v2/wheelsf14.php

[NickG]

Tino,
I just read that in your thread. Sorry to hear that. My wheels are the ones offered by FFR. They are Forgestars model F14. I ordered mine flat black. Here are the specs from FFR store site.

"Wheel Set Part Number: 26111Front Wheel Size (Diameter x width): 18"x 9"Rear Wheel Size (Diameter x width): 18"x 12"Front Wheel Backspace: 6.95" (50mm Offset)Rear Wheel Backspace: 8.49" (51mm Offset)Wheel Lug Pattern: GM style 5 lug x 4.75" bolt circleMaterial: Flow formed AluminumColor: Titanium

Weight: 18"x 9": 19.5 lb 18"x 12": 22.2 lb

FFR Fitment Applications: GTM

Front Brake Fitment14" Z06 Calipers and Rotors

Rear Brake Fitment:13.00" Z06 Calipers and Rotors

Recommended Tire Sizes:Front: 245/40 ZR18Rear: 335/30 ZR18"

http://www.factoryfiveparts.com/gtm-...rmance-wheels/

http://www.forgestar.com/v2/wheelsf14.php

Not to hijack your thread, but I have this exact set of wheels for sale in the classifieds section if anyone is interested =D

[Kempo]

Although the car is been done for some time now I've been doing a few changes and upgrades. The pressure cap on my header tank kept allowing coolant out when the car was hot due to expansion. Seems like its volume is not enough for the amount of expansion of the coolant in the system. After the car cools down the header tank is almost empty and when I start the car after it cools down the system sucks air until the coolant expands again. After that happens I still had some air trapped at the radiator's upper right corner as there isn't an tank there anymore. This meant I had to constantly bleed the air from the radiator using a bleed valve I left there and add water to the header tank to prevent the system getting air running thru it. The solution to the problem was adding a coolant overflow reservoir. The coolant coming out of the header tank goes to this overflow reservoir and when the engine cools down it sucks the coolant back from the reservoir to the header tank. I didn't wanted to use a plastic reservoir like most car manufactures use and ruin the looks of the car so I used an aluminum oil catch can with 1 liter volume. It also allows to see the coolant level in it with a small hose and fittings on its side.

This is the catch can I used



I painted it with wrinkle finish pain



This is the end result

[Kempo]

I feel like the car is missing a bit more of black so I requested Taz to photo shop me a few options of black roof configurations on my car. He did an awesome job. Thanks Taz!!!! This design is the one I liked the best. Did a test using Plasti Dip to see how it looks in 3D. What do you guys think?

[VD2021]

Hugo,

Very nice. I have that same catch can that I will be using as a catch for the transaxle. I really like how you've used it and will now consider a second one for use just as you have.

Now to find a suitable location..........

I like the black, as you have it in the first and third pictures, but not so much in the other two picture angles. Maybe a Plasti Dip preview, with the entire roof in black, as on the yellow FFR GTM.......

[Kalstar]

I like the roof black, a lot. I might suggest a second thin line (painted Black pin stripe) that runs from the corner of the windshield along the length of the painted area rounding around the bottom of the back glass. Or put a very thin 1/16 of an inch color over the white/black edge so that corner of the windshield would not stick out so much. Can be charcoal, silver does need to pop, just blend and define at the same time. I like it better then the all white even with that ackward corner.

[Taz Rules]

I kinda liked the one with the hood and rear deck in black, as well (not shown, but I have it on good authority that the images exist )

[fastthings]

Thanks for the heads up on the coolant tank. I will upgrade.

[crash]

Although the car is been done for some time now I've been doing a few changes and upgrades. The pressure cap on my header tank kept allowing coolant out when the car was hot due to expansion. Seems like its volume is not enough for the amount of expansion of the coolant in the system. After the car cools down the header tank is almost empty and when I start the car after it cools down the system sucks air until the coolant expands again. After that happens I still had some air trapped at the radiator's upper right corner as there isn't an tank there anymore. This meant I had to constantly bleed the air from the radiator using a bleed valve I left there and add water to the header tank to prevent the system getting air running thru it. The solution to the problem was adding a coolant overflow reservoir. The coolant coming out of the header tank goes to this overflow reservoir and when the engine cools down it sucks the coolant back from the reservoir to the header tank. I didn't wanted to use a plastic reservoir like most car manufactures use and ruin the looks of the car so I used an aluminum oil catch can with 1 liter volume. It also allows to see the coolant level in it with a small hose and fittings on its side.

That's very interesting. I will add it to the list of things to possibly address, but I must say that, so far, you are the only one who has said that the 1.25 liter header tank has had an issue running dry. Did you run it through a few heat cycles to get everything bled out as far as air? On the race car, once everything is bled after a couple of heat cycles, the tank level only varies about 1 inch or so within the header tank from cold to hot. We did have an issue when the head gasket went on an engine where it was constantly needing water to be added, but that is to be expected. Overflow tank is always a good idea as it ensures the header tank remains full, but certainly not a requirement.

[Kempo]

That's very interesting. I will add it to the list of things to possibly address, but I must say that, so far, you are the only one who has said that the 1.25 liter header tank has had an issue running dry. Did you run it through a few heat cycles to get everything bled out as far as air? On the race car, once everything is bled after a couple of heat cycles, the tank level only varies about 1 inch or so within the header tank from cold to hot. We did have an issue when the head gasket went on an engine where it was constantly needing water to be added, but that is to be expected. Overflow tank is always a good idea as it ensures the header tank remains full, but certainly not a requirement.

Sorry Crash, I had not seen this post. Yes, I ran the car a few heat cycles and always had the same issue when the car cooled down it didn't had a coolant source to "refill" itself as the systems cools. I've been thinking about it and my problem might have been caused because of the way the hoses are attached to my header tank. Instead of a T at the bottom I added two tubes at the bottom one for each hose. Maybe at high RPMs the hose sending coolant from the engine to the tank its helping the pressure that is already in the system open the cap as it points directly to it. Although I haven't had any more problems with the overflow tank in the car.

[Kempo]

Finally painted the roof. I took Kalstar's advice and asked Wally to paint a line thin line in order to get rid of the awkward corner. Wally also widened the area close to the windshield to help eliminate that corner.


This is the corner I'm referring to.



We used hot rod black paint. In this picture its still wet and looks shiny. The other ones are with the paint dry.








My exhaust was also staining the white paint under the exhaust tips so I also asked Wally to paint that area black. This is the end result.

[mmaragos]

Every time I see your car I fall in love with it a bit more. LOL

Awesome work!

[Edgeman]

Nice!!!! Very nice job on the finishing touches.

[LCD Gauges]

Good idea, the pinstripe looks killer!

I think some OEM's need to take notes from your build!

[Kempo]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

[fastthings]

Good show Kempo,

Thanks for the updates.

[Kempo]

Good show Kempo,

Thanks for the updates.

Thanks Gene.

Here are some more updates. The first one is on the coolant overflow reservoir. I have used the car a few times after installing it and its working as expected. Haven't had to add coolant again. The following picture will give you an idea on how much the coolant in the system is expanding. With the header tank almost full when cold and the overflow reservoir empty you can see how much coolant is sent to the overflow tank. The tank has a capacity of 1 liter (1.05 quart) and it gets a bit more than half full. When the car cools down it all goes back to the header tank.



The other thing I did this week was install the diffuser strakes and the hatch louvers. I had used epoxy to glue the louvers to the hatch but they kept getting loose. I decided to use some stainless steel #4 button head bolts painted black. Problem solved.

before


After

[fastthings]

This was my screen shot for a year or so while I was getting kit. It was a cool thread to follow, it deserves a bump.

Hows it running?

[Aman]

Agreed Gene, I've spent hours pouring over the pics in this thread. Amazing resource.

Aman

[Kempo]

Thanks guys. Gene, The car is running great.This month marks one year since its been registered and its been a fun one. As an example here is a short story. A friend is producing a calendar for the Durex company. The calendar will have exotic cars and of course lots of girls in it. He asked me if I could take the car to the studio for the photo shoot and I agreed. My car was the last one to arrive at the shoot. When I arrived the following cars were already there two Ferraris a 458 and a 430, Lamborghini Gallardo, C7 Corvette, Mercedes SLS AMG and a 911. As soon as I parked all those cars basically disappeared and everyone went over to look at the GTM and ask questions about it. At one point the GTM was in the studio along with the Gallardo and the 458. There was a group guys from the production team talking about the cars and I overheard them taking about the cars. They were saying how beautiful all three are and how exotic the GTM is. They also wondered how much more expensive the GTM was compared to the other two LOL. At that point I walked over and started talking to them. They were sure I was kidding when I told them the GTM was the least expensive car there and that its was a component car.

It was a very cool day. The GTM was chosen as the cover car for the calendar over all the others. Here are a few low quality pictures I took with my cel. When I get a copy of the calendar and the professional pictures I will post them on the forum.

[Kempo]

Sorry,for the low quality pictures but my phone was all I had with me. I'm sure you guys will love the pro ones when I post them.

[cozmacozmy]

Cool!

[LCD Gauges]

Would I be biased if I said...no wait, would it sound egotistical if I said...ummm...how do I say, with all sincerity that the GTM makes the Lambo...

Ah forget it, I"ll keep my thoughts to myself.

[Kalstar]

Oh my.......

[fastthings]

Awsome, if that's not motivation I don't know what is. I need to get mine done, quik.

[Kempo]

I got this cool picture today from the Durex guys. Hope you like it.

[VD2021]

Very much .

[sk7500]

That's an awesome picture Hugo.