StreetRoadandTrack SLC planning thread

[Tom W]

Greetings SuperLite owners, enthusiast, and dreamers!

I have starting contemplating purchasing a kit. I have read Kens build several times. I have also read Fling build and a few others. I will continue to read the build threads prior to purchasing. So please forgive me if I start asking questions. I am trying to read everything prior to posting a question or idea. I wish this in the clubhouse sub-section for build threads only. It would make it a lot easier for me to read them all however, I am the outsider.

I have also been reading the unlocked material in the Wiki section. This along with talking with Fran via email has encouraged me to consider this over other vehicle options. I am surprised no one has produced a time-lapse build video yet or one that I have found yet.

I have some ideas for my “build”. This build will not be a fast build I want a production feel to the car. I want a reasonable fast car that is very reliable. One that my wife, or another person I trust can hope in and go. So I am going to purchase a C6 Corvette Z06 “donor”. Hopefully this will add hours to the build and not hours later trying to fix something. Much like Kens build I will be grafting the wiring harness over. I want to take advantage of all the sensors, electronics, and such. I will be sourcing many items as I can from this donor. What I do not need will be sold off. As my name implies I will want to use this car on the streets roads and the occasional light track events. The following is the list so far in my head on top of the basic build. (Ken I am taking a few of your ideas too). I want everything I can to be a production piece that I will not hunt for too hard hopefully.

Production Car level feel
C6 instrument cluster
Cruise control
TPS
Auto headlights
C6 computer units (ECU & BCM)
Z06 Wheels
Good interior lighting
Dry sump
Front and rear reflectors similar to Kens
Side repeaters
High mounted third Brake light
C6 steering column (Kens idea)
Modified door hinges (this will be discussed later)
LS7 engine (for now upgrade later?)
Gear Box: Graz from the Audi V10
One Gent’s seat, one Standard
Splice connections for pigtails from Metra Turbokit (wire) not engines
Sound proofing from Metra Ballistic brand
Custom paint

I am younger than most builders from what I can tell. I am still working full time and have 2 children. Hints why I say this will take longer. I was an aircraft mechanic for 15 years. During that time I also assisted building several experimental aircraft that met or exceeded production level quality. I plan on going with street tail as of now. Though that is up for debate still.

I am debating if I should the interior tub (fiberglass) and the fender well returns. These are not must haves because I may want to take a different approach there.

I am comfortable with composites, while I may not tig weld I have a good understanding of metalworking and fabrication. If need be I will cleco the parts together for welding. Cardboard is our friend

Many of you mention other people’s builds or thoughts in your threads. I am going to try to make an effort to hyperlink to those areas that I am referencing. Hopefully this will help out later. I will also try to link to any websites outside as well.

The Dash will have to be modified to take the Corvette’s instrument cluster and other items. I may intrude in to the passenger area some so I can have a slight angle to the dash to make it more driver focused. Like the 1992-1996 Corvette or the 1994 and later supras.

Door stuff two piece windows or one piece? I am interested to see the two piece windows and how people have made them open. I am also interested in changed the hinge assembly to an aircraft system like that from the Cirrus SR20/SR22

Race or street tail? I live in Florida I have to worry about blue hairs not seeing the car. Hints why I want a high mounted third brake light. I worry that the blue hairs might hit it in the parking lot of the grocery store.

I like Ken’s small window in the firewall. I may try to incorporate this but that will be after I get the kit. I plan on running the stock headlights like Ken. The other lights that I have considered are from of all things a Volvo Truck.

I have a lot of pre planning still to do. I will use this post to do that planning and if I buy the kit this will be my build thread as well.


I will most likely edit this post to flow better later.

 

[Frank Clark]

I still have one kid at home. Does that make me younger than most builders?

I think age wise there is actually a mix. But I think fewer of the young guys have a build log.

The car is low. If you are concerned about being seen.... Well the car is low. A bit lower than my Evora. I've never had issues being seen from behind in a short car, so I have no concern about a third brake light.

The low cars I have are only marginally worse at being seen than my Freightliner. But my cars are LOUD. Most issues with not being seen is simply drivers being distracted. A LOUD vehicle will usually wake them up. We never get noise tickets in our cars, but do get stopped several times a year with noise as the excuse.

 

[Scott Davis]

I've now torn apart two cars for my current build (not an SLC but one was a C5). While it's not terribly difficult and only mildly time consuming I would not do it again for sourcing parts unless a very large number of parts are required from the donor. Its somewhat tedious selling the parts...and you have to store it all. Unless you have plenty of room and you are really tight on budget I'd prefer sourcing new parts (especially for an SLC). I'd spend all that extra time for a long build doing something fun and unique. Just my 2 cents. Good luck with the build!!

Oh...my preference is race tail...and loud.

 

[Tom W]

Cirrus door.

we have several of these in the neighborhood. I plan on going over to one of my friends houses that owns this type of aircraft and looking at how to mimic it for the car. It may add a bit of time to the project but the flush door hinges I think will be worth it.

 

[Ken Roberts]

Welcome aboard Tom. It's been a pleasure sharing ideas with you. If you have the room buying a salvage C6 is a pretty good idea (assuming you're planning a build similar to mine). One side benefit is the programming will be easier as all the modules are from the same car.

Some of the items to keep:
-engine
-engine harness
-ecm
-bcm
-rcdlr
-body harness
-gauge cluster
-hazard switch
-start button
-interior dimmer switch
-dash headlight sensor
-hud
-display buttons on either side of the gauge cluster
-fuel filler pipe and cap (if emissions compliant)
-the key fobs (for keyless start)
-steering column
-wheels (if not using RCRs)
-charcoal canister (if emissions compliant)
-glove box located key fob slot
-rcdlr remote receivers
-tire pressure sensors
-hvac receiver strictly for on/off control of a/c system.

 

[Tom W]

Welcome aboard Tom. It's been a pleasure sharing ideas with you. If you have the room buying a salvage C6 is a pretty good idea (assuming you're planning a build similar to mine). One side benefit is the programming will be easier as all the modules are from the same car.

Some of the items to keep:
-engine
-engine harness
-ecm
-bcm
-rcdlr
-body harness
-gauge cluster
-hazard switch
-start button
-interior dimmer switch
-dash headlight sensor
-hud
-display buttons on either side of the gauge cluster
-fuel filler pipe and cap (if emissions compliant)
-the key fobs (for keyless start)
-steering column
-wheels (if not using RCRs)
-charcoal canister (if emissions compliant)
-glove box located key fob slot
-rcdlr remote receivers
-tire pressure sensors
-hvac receiver strictly for on/off control of a/c system.

If I do this I will make it OBD2/ Emissions compliant the exhaust will have OEM style catalytic converters too.

The RCR wheels just don't do it for me, I may upgrade later to something else but I am will run the Z06 wheels at first. Thats is an advantage of living where we have a few custom wheel companies near by. One of my last adventures down that road I took the car to the shop they measured everything and went into their design program and cut them. That coast a little bit more but it allowed me to know that the wheel/tire combo wasn't going to interfere with my aftermarket suspension.

I may keep more than that and adapt over. Currently watching 3 Z06's to see what they sell for. I may buy one before I buy the SLC kit and sell off extra parts.


With this very beautiful suspension with spherical bearings has anyone thought about seals for the rod ends? I was talking with my friend about this last night.
He mentioned I may want to consider using these boots to help keep water, road grime, and dust/dirt out of them.

 

[Ken Roberts]

I really don't know what else you can use from the Corvette. The dash won't fit (I have one here). Seats won't work. Fuel tanks won't fit. No room for the stereo equipment. The a/c equipment won't fit either. The engine accessory drive will not fit in the engine compartment. The high mounted alternator is the problem. The headers and cat convertors are being used on my SLC. I even have the bi mode mufflers but they are too big to fit the space.

You could use the horns, coolant tank and possibly the headlights if your clever.

Nice find on the rod end boots. Very interested in them.

 

[Eric McClellan]

I am younger than most builders from what I can tell. I am still working full time and have 2 children. Hints why I say this will take longer. I was an aircraft mechanic for 15 years.

I have two kids, a wife and a full time job. I think I'm younger than you. Finished my build in roughly 8 months. It's doable.

 

[A.J. Schreder]

I am surprised no one has produced a time-lapse build video yet

I'm working on it! I'm beginning to understand why nobody else has done it tho. It's a project in its own right. The build is also MUCH longer than I envisioned. Even at 6000% speed (1 minute = 1 second in the video) a segment of time lapse is between 60 and 90 minutes long. There are 9 of them so far.....and my engine isn't even running yet. It's my own fault for the length of the build. I am doing a lot of custom parts.

Time lapse

To assist in searching the SLC forum, use Google. If you're searching for "time lapse" type :

time lapse "SLC clubhouse" site:The SLC Clubhouse - GT40s.com

This works wonders.

A.J.

 

[Eric McClellan]

I'm working on it! I'm beginning to understand why nobody else has done it tho. It's a project in its own right. The build is also MUCH longer than I envisioned. Even at 6000% speed (1 minute = 1 second in the video) a segment of time lapse is between 60 and 90 minutes long. There are 9 of them so far.....and my engine isn't even running yet. It's my own fault for the length of the build. I am doing a lot of custom parts.

Time lapse

To assist in searching the SLC forum, use Google. If you're searching for "time lapse" type :

time lapse "SLC clubhouse" site:The SLC Clubhouse - GT40s.com

This works wonders.

A.J.

I know exactly what you mean AJ. I thought about doing one as well and then the staggering amount of HDD space would just... not work.

And lord knows it would be me to forget to flip the switch on the camera for like an entire month....

 

[Howard Jones]

That's a really good example of how much there is, put it together........take it apart.........put it back together. I also noted that the wife (?) disappeared pretty early on.........also typical.

It might be good for answering the question about what is it like to build one of these cars.

 

[Tom W]

Sounds like building the airplanes. We must of taken it apart to build it 3 or 4 times per item. Not including building a few of the same part making it more "pur-dee". Would the first one work sure but could we make it lighter, stronger, and better looking yep.

 

[Aaron H.]

Tom:

Those rod end covers are 2x the cost of the rod ends..

 

[Tom W]

I got an email notification of a new reply, came on here to reply but I don't see it. It's not on another page. Did someone delete from the administration side?

So yes the rod end covers cost some money but then again it saves you from havin to tear apart the suspension to replace them. So I guess it comes down to what is your time worth.

 

[Tom W]

I have assumed (which I know what you get out of that word) that this body's are hand laid and vaccummed bag down at least. However looking at some of the pictures through out the site it looks like they are just hand laid wet matte, no chop gun. Can some one confirm this either way?

 

[A.J. Schreder]

That's a really good example of how much there is, put it together........take it apart.........put it back together. I also noted that the wife (?) disappeared pretty early on.........also typical.

Haha, yes I have completely isolated myself working on this car. Having a woman around is totally out of the question. It's hard enough not losing touch with my friends. Luckily my son's social life has exploded and his friends drive now. So HE doesn't have time for ME. Perfect timing. I guess that's where I'm supposed to feel sappy like my fatherly duties are approaching their end. But I got work to do!

"Do SOMETHING every day"

A.J.

 

[Scott Rowland]

Haha, yes I have completely isolated myself working on this car. Having a woman around is totally out of the question. It's hard enough not losing touch with my friends. Luckily my son's social life has exploded and his friends drive now. So HE doesn't have time for ME. Perfect timing. I guess that's where I'm supposed to feel sappy like my fatherly duties are approaching their end. But I got work to do!

"Do SOMETHING every day"

A.J.

Lol. I am surprised my gf is still with me. She just comes out and visits me in the garage from time to time. Work has been insane lately, but even if it is 10pm when I finish, I go out and do something to the car atleast.
While I have not been posting pics, I am still putting in like 30+ hours a week on it. Getting the front end perfect is taking a long time.

 

[Tom W]

So as I mentioned I plan on going with a complete donor to get most of the parts from. However I bought a pair of stock LS7 exhaust manifolds. Thought it would be worth while to start gathering random items.

does anyone have good pictures of the two part windows?

 

[Scott]

Tom,

There a couple of good pictures of the two-part windows in the wiki's Window page:

https://slctech-slcbuilderswiki.pbworks.com/w/page/76531190/Windows

If you find better pictures please let us know.

 

[Tom W]

Tom,

There a couple of good pictures of the two-part windows in the wiki's Window page:

https://slctech-slcbuilderswiki.pbworks.com/w/page/76531190/Windows

If you find better pictures please let us know.

Thanks! I had not seen those before on the WIKI. I try to research before posting. I am planing on ordering these. I may see if Fran will sell me a set prior to buying the car so I can look at them in person. I may end up having to have both :idea:

Thanks everyone for being helpful and returning my Private messages or replies on other sites (youtube and such)

 

[Tom W]

Thanks so far!

Fran and potential buyers.

Let me first off by saying thank you to some very dedicated forum members on here.
Ken, Eric, Yos, and Jack

THANK YOU!:thumbsup:

The chassis looks freaking AMAZING!! or as my "mates" across the pond say thats a brilliant looking piece of al-oo-min-em. It really does look like a piece of jewelry for the garage. Having a chance to see a car in real life really helps in the process. Jack's car is not driving however, it allows more mental thought to happen. He also has come up with some nice mod to his body.

There is more room in the car than I thought there would be. I also see why some people may have a problem with height and a helmet. However, since I do not plan on doing any serious track time in my car that will not be an issue.

I think this is a very well thought out kit from what I can see. it far surpasses FiberFab cars my father helped with back in the 1960's and 70's. The people mentioned above Fran have nothing bad to say, Hell I would have thought I was talking with your sales team if i didn't know any better. I had some doubts however, like I said these people really went over and above to help another forum member.

I have also heard many more good things about the character of Fran as a Builder, Designer, Car enthusiast, and Salesmen than anyone will ever know. I know that not everyone may like how he runs his business from what I have been told by some others. However, any criticisms I have heard or read about appear to be with out merit. This is a great thing considering the cost involved in the potential new project.

 

[Denny Hughes]

I'm new to this forum stuff so bare with me, my wife was OK with this endeavor even after she saw the invoices for parts. All I had to do to keep peace was remodel the master bath with a walk in shower LOL. I looked at a lot of different possible car builds
and Frans kits are the best I have seen. I'm used to building my chassis from scratch out of round tube chrome moly and hanging the body of choice on it. Things area lot simpler in the drag race world. So sold all the drag cars to get into road racing and having fun again
Fran is working on my chassis now, we just sent him the rain tires to put on the F14 wheels. My set up is more race than street, I opted for the big brembo brakes, penski shocks, race wing and race splitter, full cage, FIA fuel cell bladder, etc. I've been getting everything else made while RCR has the car, Mendeola powertrain is building my sequential transaxle with a Chevy bell, Dailey engineering should be starting on my drysump around the 10th, I bought a LS3 crate motor from Jegs, I'm using a Infinity ecu with there plug and play harness for the LS3. I picked up a Data logger dash display from AIM the MXL2, just got the load cell shift knob ordered and the auto blip controller is sitting on my desk. While they build the car I worked on finding the rest of the parts that would work together, this way when I pick it up from Fran I have everything here and the plan for the build has been figured out. With the information that everybody has provided on this forum it really helped me sort out and see problems before I even start. I plan on documenting my build, I haven't seen a lot of builds that are mostly race car oriented. I hope to get this one done in 6 to 7 months. Would really like to get it on track in Oct or Nov.