My Official GTM Build Thread!

[LCD Gauges]

Not bad for a rookie glass install! The trim looks great, and the glass is sitting flat.

Another shout out to Ron (Presto) for getting the body straight and allowing the
glass to fit properly.

[Presto51]

Thanks Tino for the props.

Your so close to getting out on the street, keep on plugging away, can't wait for the finally on the road video

Ron

[bbksv]

Not bad for a rookie glass install! The trim looks great, and the glass is sitting flat.

Another shout out to Ron (Presto) for getting the body straight and allowing the
glass to fit properly.

What did you use for the glass trim? I have a 33 HR and I just installed it the way the manual has without any trim ..but I think it looks like crap.

[LCD Gauges]

Seems like it's the starter AGAIN!

After inspecting the flywheel area as per Dave's suggestion, I found that the
start gear was engaged to the teeth of the flywheel. I'd stay away from the
MSD and B&M High Torque starters. There must be a design flaw (yes, I do
have a heat shield and thermal material around the starter housing).

20150722_135800.jpg

It was tough to retract which is not normal because the clearance was set
correctly.

After disengaging the starter, I was able to rotate the engine via the balancer
bolt and long torque wrench. Just be sure, I put the transmission into 1st gear
and rotated the motor from the balancer while watching the tires rotate.

The oil is drained and looks pretty much brand new (about 10 hours, 500KMs
of use). With a magnet through the oil stream and oil filter, there was nothing
odd to be found. That's a relief as the clutch stop was installed very early in
the build process!

magnet.jpg

[LCD Gauges]

What did you use for the glass trim? I have a 33 HR and I just installed it the way the manual has without any trim ..but I think it looks like crap.

Sorry about the delay, I forgot to answer this.

It's made by Flexi-Trim, PN# FT1630-75

16mm, 5/8" channel

Brother Jim! I can't really gauge the acceleration as the car hasn't been aligned or tuned properly. I've been working out some bugs
with the EVAC system and bumping up the Air / Fuel ratio for the end of the season.

For the handful of times that I punched the throttle, it was very
Impressive. Lots of torque off idle and the 1st gear ratio helps
to rip apart the tires fairly easily.

I'd say we would have a lot of fun crusing around.

[Kalstar]

Sorry about the delay, I forgot to answer this.



Brother Jim! I can't really gauge the acceleration as the car hasn't been aligned or tuned properly. I've been working out some bugs
with the EVAC system and bumping up the Air / Fuel ratio for the end of the season.

For the handful of times that I punched the throttle, it was very
Impressive. Lots of torque off idle and the 1st gear ratio helps
to rip apart the tires fairly easily.

I'd say we would have a lot of fun crusing around.

I'm looking forward to it. Open house this June!!!!!

[LCD Gauges]

No love from the GTM after many failed attempts and ideas to start the motor. I've ruled out a few items that I thought would contribute to laboured starts including additional grounds between the engine/frame, parallel batteries for more current, and even a dedicated battery
from a running vehicle to power the starter itself.This yielded the best result, however not enough to spin the motor fast enough.

starter.jpg

My next step is to remove the transaxle. This is something I planned on doing anyway, so it's not a huge deal. I have noticed that the gear
shift is a bit sluggish, but I've attributed that to cold gear oil. Perhaps with the transaxle out of the way I'll be able to reduce any drag from
the input shaft and other internals.

Worst case the engine has to be torn down to inspect the bearings, but everything turns freely with a breaker bar on the crank bolt. As
mentioned above, the wheels spin when leaving the transmission in gear and turning the crank by hand. It doesn't feel like anything is
seized.

So confused over what seems to be such a simple task. I can't think of anything that would have caused this to happen before shutting down
for the last time.

Welcome to building cars, right?