Mark's GT-R Build

With the shifter area of the console outlined, I wanted to add the rear portion and have it go back to the area of the original console that started to turn upward. Going this far back also hides all of the wires and shifter cables under the new portion of the console. I made the top portion of the console around the shifter 7.5 inches in length, then made the rear portion of the console 18 inches in length.

To complete the console there will be four sections that will need to be fiber glassed together, then the sides of the console will need to have added vertical height to meet, and even overlap the original console. To achieve the fiber glass junctions in a precise way, I made a "mold box" the I can position the cut and trimmed sections of the of the removed section of the original console, and hold these pieces in place to add the fiber glass junctions.

The interior of this box is the exact width of the console. A "floor" was made that is 7.5 inches in length of match the fiber glass section of the original piece of the console that I made. An 18 inch section of "floor" was added to the box that is at the correct angle to allow the second piece of console to meet the shifter section and end up meeting the uncut portion of the original console at the back. The fiberglass sections were then cut to approximate each other, placed in the mold box and glassed together.

It fit rather well when put back in the car.

This is just the start of the process that will allow me to add two more sections to the area ahead of the shifter, then I will add vertical height to the sides where needed, all using the mold box to assure a stable proximity to the pieces to be joined. All of the junctions will be refined with body filler and sanded, to have a "one piece" look.

When it is all done, I should have a complete, one piece console that will overlay the edges of the original console. As for attaching this new console, I am thinking of making a few support posts around the shifter base, then using Velcro at all of the contact points to avoid having to use screws in such a visible area. (again, sorry about the rotation issues with the photos.)
 

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Continuing with the fabrication of the console, section three will be the piece just forward of the shifter. It is a compromise having the shifter so close to the vertical portion of the dash, but I had no choice because I changed to the Audi shifter after designing the dash layout.

The vertical section of the console, section three, is 7 inches in length. Measuring the angle between the top of the console and the new section three, then transferring that angle to the mold box allowed for the proper angle to hold the sections in a stable position. The sides of each section needed to be cut at the proper angle to minimize the gap between the sections to be joined. Fiber glassing the sections together is really easy when there is a minimal gap between the sections.

One more section to add in front of section three, then add the sides going down past the level I cut out from the console area of the tub originally and the console will have the needed shape.
 

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Again, continuing with the console, I added section 4 to the area between the shifter and the vertical addition to the dash housing the audio system. This area was 5 inches in length. Similar to the other sections, I took the angle between the vertical section three and the newly added section four and transferred it to the "mold Box" and attached it with fiber glass.

The angle required that there be a rather large void on the sides of this area, but I will take care of the next.

While the console was in the car, I sat in it and found the console to be REALLY COMFORTABLE as an arm rest.
 

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I should call this console Frankenstein because I am grafting pieces for all over the place to get it to come together.

I needed to add to the sides of the console made up to this point to get overlap with the original cut in the console of the tub. Using the Mold Box, I added flat pieces, puzzling them in place, to get the final shape needed. Again, fiber glassing all of the pieces together worked out well.

After removing it from the mold, I started with body filler to blend the seams. I have a little more to do to finish that aspect.

This fits like a glove, but I will make some support posts and attach with Velcro.
 

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The guys building race cars are going to be aghast, but the street car guys will appreciate this. I coated with inner aspect of the doors with Second Skin Audio Spectrum, then added Luxury Liner Pro to the entire inside surfaces of the door.

The doors went from being, basically, fiber glass drums, being SOLID SOUNDING, BENTLEY - LIKE doors. It was incredible the difference this made. I know it adds weight, but IT WAS REALLY WORTH IT. Quality door feel and no noise transfer.
 

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Ron McCall

Supporter
A big "THANKS" goes out to Ron McCall for spending the time and the energy to have the bumper developed and made available to us. For me, in building a street car, the bumper is a great addition to the finished look of the car.

My pleasure Mark. I originally went through the hassle so that I could have one for my car as well as the car that I'm building for a customer. It was a bonus that builders like you can benefit as well.

Ron
 
I was able to get the console sanded, trimmed and back in the car. Fits great!

Starting to work on some brackets to hold it in place. Once I get those done, I will trim the hole for the shifter gate plate.
 

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Still working on some remaining wiring. I decided to put a battery fed block and an ignition fed block in the rear of the car to handle any light switches, etc. that I might add.
 

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In making the bracket for stabilizing the console, I wanted vertical adjustability to idealize the junction between the shifter gate plate and the console. I plan to use Velcro to attach the console to this bracket.

The bracket worked great. So well, in fact, that I went from having the console be on top of the gate plate to having them be at the same height. With vertical and lateral adjustments, I can get the console aligned ideally with the gate plate.
 

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In designing the A/C manifold, I do not want to have to use a control valve to select between A/C and defrost. These valves are complex and I just do not want to do it. As an alternative, I have opted to have two outlets on each side of the dash, one in the traditional location and the other on top of the dash. I will have them all open and facing the cockpit when I want A/C and I will direct the vent on top of the dash towards the windshield and close the conventional vent when I want defrost. I live in Florida, so defrost is not going to be used much, if ever.
 

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Good idea Mark, I had planned for similar. The defrost vents on the SLC don’t seem to be the most efficient way to handle air flow.
 
I saw in a post that Fran may have had some medical treatment. If that is the case, I truly wish him well in his recovery.

In reflecting on the year, I want to say that my car build has been one of the highlights of the year and for that I want to thank Fran, Vicki, Kristen and everyone at RCR for their efforts to make such special products.

I also want to express my appreciation to Allan, H, Ken, Scott and all of the other contributors to this site for making this hobby feel like an individual effort, but having a well trained team behind you.

Happy Holidays!
 
I have returned from the holiday travel. Had a great time visiting with my children and grandchildren. When I got back in my shop, it took a few minutes to remind myself where I left off.

Oh yeah, wiring. Those of you with the GMPP electronics for engine management have somewhat plug and play with the Infinity System. I am using the Holley Dominator II for engine management so there are a few difficult areas as a result. One of them is the cooling fan control wiring. The guys at Infinity were able to come up with a solution, but it involves re-programming the Dominator. Not something I would like to get into.

Instead, I ordered the Iceberg fan controller from Ron Francis Wiring. Great company with great products. This is a complete system that offers total control of temperatures for the dual fans to operate, has the AC On/Off wiring and has a feature that monitors the power needed to run the fans to overcome the airstream created by higher speeds. At speed, the power to the fans is shut off because the fans are not needed. Beats re-programming the Dominator.
 

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I trimmed the edges of the dash board to make it easier to get in and out. Soon, I will be sending it off to the interior shop for surface finish, and when I get it back, I don't want to have to fight to get it in place.

With the Dash removed, I finished with AC manifold tubing.

I also mounted the stainless GT-R face to the glove box area. With it mounted, I used JB Weld to attach the nuts to the back side to make final installation easier.
 

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Thank God for YouTube. I have been spending time with the wiring diagram sent with the Vintage Air System and with the wiring harness they provided and I was going NO WHERE!

After reviewing a YouTube video put out by someone who spent some time talking to Allan, it showed how much of the provided harness is not really needed. Now the wiring diagram makes some sense.

The first photo shows the original harness provided by Vintage Air. The second and third photos show how much of the harness you actually use.

Now to get it wired.
 

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When I had the exhaust system fabricated, it was never really installed. As a result, the system needed the header gaskets added. So today I disassembled the exhaust system and reinstalled it with the header gaskets in place. While doing this, I also wanted to add header wrap to one section of the system. The goal of adding the header wrap was 1) to reduce the heat around the rubber goods in the axles, 2) to reduce the heat in the air stream entering the oil and trans coolers immediately rear of this area of the exhaust, and 3) the cats are more efficient when they are hot, so the header wrap will increase the heat in the cats.

The exhaust is not ready for the Start Up.
 

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In laying out the interior, there is not much room for switches, etc., and the audio system I planned has a few things that need to be accessed, like the USB for the laptop computer tuning of the Holley Dominator, the USB for Apple Play and USB for audio. I also need to have access to the subwoofer volume control that is attached to the sub amp.

Not having good access on the face place of the audio system or on the dash, I opted to add a side plate to the vertical console. This will hide any side view of the back of the audio components and will provide a mounting surface.

I have a great idea for mounting the switch to the hydraulic lift system. That is for tomorrow.
 

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Finding room for the lift switch was a little bit on an issue, in part to keep the look of the interior the way I want it and to have easy access to this particular switch due to fast approaching road conditions needing the lift activated. With those things in mind, I decided to put the lift switch on the front of the console next to the shifter. In this location I can feel the switch without having to look at the switch, much like the volume controls on modern steering wheels, and have fast access to it while driving.

An air void cropped up along a seam in the console, so I drilled and beveled the edges, filled the void with resin to make sure the structure was sound, then used body filler to make sure it was level.
 

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The wiring continues, wiring the lift switch and slowly getting the AC wired. Earlier I posted the simple AC wiring that was suggested on the internet, eliminating most of the components provided by Vintage Air, but I have since received comments that would suggest returning a number of those components to the AC wiring, so I still have not finished the AC wiring.

Between wiring frustrations, I like to see some progress on something, so I decided to start work on the body by opening up the rear window.
 

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