Things you'd have done differently.

[Gareth]

Somebody recently made a comment about '"standing on the shoulders of giants " which is most defenatly the method I'm using to build my SLC.

That being said we all make mistakes or look back on our builds and think "If I did it again I'd do this or that differently "

Anyway I thought it might make a good thread.

For me and it's only a personal thing, I wouldn't have covered the engine bay in Reflet A Gold.

It looked great when first applied but the instant you try and screw anything down against it the washer bites in and drags the foil around into a swirl pattern.

Also I had a problem with the backing glue that had ridges that caused ripples when laid down and were impossible to get out.

Long story short, I hated it and it took a week to get it all off and cleaned.

Gareth.

 

[Cam]

Do you have any photos of this? I think you're the first person I've heard about who has removed their covering.

 

[Gareth]

Sorry Cam,

I'm working from an IPhone and it won't let me drop a pic into the message.

As I said it was a personal choice for me and I didn't like the look of it when applied but I don't think I'm the only one who's had problems with it.

I did have a fairly lengthy discussion with DEI and they sent me some replacement foil but this still had the same issue with the backing glue and when I email them back with pictures of it they didn't return my message.

 

[Alex]

Bigger engine ... always need a bigger engine.

I had problems with the reflect-a-whatever on a firewall once; i'd never do a chassis in it. Fvck it, not like the chassis is going to catch on fire and you're going to cook alive anyways

 

[Cam]

There aren't very many criticisms of the SLC but one of the few things I've picked up on is heat management of the cockpit area. Deflectors for the front foot box so radiator exhaust isn't warming up the front and heat shielding in the rear bulkhead. I was also planning to apply all along the sides as well in addition to wrapping the coolant tube.

Heat reflection on rear chassis seems to be for bling but it sure looks good! I've also read that the wrapping, because it is comprised of threads, can trap dirt and water making cleanup a bit painful if you're really anal.

What about polishing of the aluminum components? I've seen photos where people have polished their control arms and uprights - really nice. Anyone do that to the rear chassis members? Ballistol seems to be a popular protectant but I wonder how difficult maintenance will be. I'm somewhat close to the ocean and uneven/patchy oxidation would drive me to continual refinishing.

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Have a look at what supercars do for heat management
All of those products are available in the aftermarket

We have always had a footbox deflector available
It's shown in the manual too

 

[Michael Fling]

Somebody recently made a comment about '"standing on the shoulders of giants " which is most defenatly the method I'm using to build my SLC.

That being said we all make mistakes or look back on our builds and think "If I did it again I'd do this or that differently "

Anyway I thought it might make a good thread.

For me and it's only a personal thing, I wouldn't have covered the engine bay in Reflet A Gold.

It looked great when first applied but the instant you try and screw anything down against it the washer bites in and drags the foil around into a swirl pattern.

Also I had a problem with the backing glue that had ridges that caused ripples when laid down and were impossible to get out.

Long story short, I hated it and it took a week to get it all off and cleaned.

Gareth.

A dab of oil on the washer before you tighten the screw eliminates the foil from turning. I have drilled through my foil without any problems too.


Regarding "what would I do different?"...
1. I was told not to buy "stuff" for the car until I was ready for it. So, of course I bought stuff as I was an eager virgin to this venture. Now I have stacks of "stuff" i will never use.
2. I would have chosen the bigger LS motor with 520 hp. I understand that it is not as street friendly, but nothing about the car is subtle.
3. I would move next door to Allan and become his best friend. This guy is an amazing builder who makes the complex seem simple.
4. I would have postponed my rear clam vent install so that the new ones offered by RCR would be available instead. I love the new ones by RCR but I am tired of doing everything on the car at least twice.
5. I would drink more.
6. I would go with the RCR seats instead of trying to create a new seat. $3000 dollars later, we still don't have it right and I suspect we never will.
7. Did I mention I would move next door to Allan?

 

[Will Campbell]

Here's a list of some of the things I would have done differently:

1. I should have waited to apply any soundproofing stuff like Dynamat until the very end, when the area is to be sealed up for the last time. Drilling through it, and every other related task becomes a real mess. Messed up a couple of shirts and jeans with smeared asphalt from that stuff just from working in the car with it on.

2. I didn't use reflect-a-gold on my car, but would have never used it on the frame. It doesn't really need it, and you can't see cracks anywhere when it is covered. Using Ballistol to keep it clean.

3. I shouldn't have listened to the windshield guy I hired who didn't want to use my molding. It would have looked much better with it. And I could/should have done it myself, especially after I saw how he did it. Just too risk averse about the windshield at the time.

4. I should have focused more on sealing around the engine bulkhead to the body. I have a lot of insulation stuffed back there, but still have air leakage from the engine compartment. A good bulb seal against the body would have solved this problem.

5. I should have built (as Allan does) small FG covers to seal off the area along the side of the car where the coolant lines enter the body. This simple change keeps water, dirt, leaves and stuff out of that area. I had an electrical problem when wires there got wet. These are on my list for this summer.

6. I should have never mounted anything electrical on the chassis but under the body where it is hard to get to. There is a temptation to use all that open space for things, until the body goes on and makes it completely inaccessible.

 

[Mesa]

Hahaha -
I think we would all move in next to Allan for one aspect or another of our builds!
Maybe I'll buy up all the property around him on spec

I think this is going to be a valuable thread for the new guys.

 

[John]

I think this is going to be a valuable thread for the new guys.

Yes, very much so. Thanks to all who contribute. :thumbsup:

 

[Cam]

Definitely a helpful thread! Was thinking about how I would proceed and it seemed a lot of people do the dynamat/heat shielding pretty early on. It struck me that it might be an issue drilling through that stuff which led to a search which turned up the consensus that dynamat sucks to drill through. I've heard lizard skin isn't so bad however.

Thanks Fran - I'm interested to see what that manual has! Currently working on trying to nail down configuration and timing before I give you guys a call. I'm on vacation this week so too much time on my hands, perhaps will give you a ring to get more details on latest option availability.

 

[Mesa]

I have the Lizard Skin product (applied to the bottom of my chassis).

Like: Light weight, dry coating, no issues drilling through it.

Dislike: Does not seem to stay attached all that well, leaves imprints from the jack pad in the coating and dislodges the coating in extreme cases. I wouldn't be surprised if the coating is scraped off relatively easily it actual driving situations.

Would work better if applied to the inside of the car at least from getting damaged. No info on how well it works from a sound/heat standpoint as I'm not driving it yet.

 

[Scott]

The wiki has a builder hindsight section... I'll consolidate with some of the above...

• "I should have started with a more by-the-book build and added features later. Deviating from the standard added a lot of time and complexity. I could have been driving the car much earlier."
• "I should have had all of the major components in place before I started plumbing things. I didn't purchase the engine until well into my build and the number of things that I had to rework was frustrating."
• "Get all of your 'honey do' and other household items out of the way before your car shows up."
• "I was planning on going with a gel coat finish. I spent a lot of time being extra careful and patching the gel coat as I went along. While the car looked good in gel coat, I ended up having it painted. I sure wish I didn't spend the effort trying to keep the gel coat perfect."
• "I wish that I had less horsepower" and there are just as many "I wish I had more" sentiments.
• "Think about all of the pieces you want powder coated so you can get them all done at the same time. Much cheaper that way."

 

[Gareth]

I did the dynamat first because it was the least daunting thing to start with, if I hadn't I think I'd still be stood there staring at it.

With my time over again I would have left it till much later in the build but hey it does feel good getting going!

 

[Scott Rowland]

A dab of oil on the washer before you tighten the screw eliminates the foil from turning. I have drilled through my foil without any problems too.


Regarding "what would I do different?"...
1. I was told not to buy "stuff" for the car until I was ready for it. So, of course I bought stuff as I was an eager virgin to this venture. Now I have stacks of "stuff" i will never use.
2. I would have chosen the bigger LS motor with 520 hp. I understand that it is not as street friendly, but nothing about the car is subtle.
3. I would move next door to Allan and become his best friend. This guy is an amazing builder who makes the complex seem simple.
4. I would have postponed my rear clam vent install so that the new ones offered by RCR would be available instead. I love the new ones by RCR but I am tired of doing everything on the car at least twice.
5. I would drink more.
6. I would go with the RCR seats instead of trying to create a new seat. $3000 dollars later, we still don't have it right and I suspect we never will.
7. Did I mention I would move next door to Allan?

I agree with #5.

 

[Grant S]

I would have bought Roberto's lied to every one, tell them I built it and called it a day LMFAO

 

[Cam]

1. I was told not to buy "stuff" for the car until I was ready for it. So, of course I bought stuff as I was an eager virgin to this venture. Now I have stacks of "stuff" i will never use.

4. I would have postponed my rear clam vent install so that the new ones offered by RCR would be available instead. I love the new ones by RCR but I am tired of doing everything on the car at least twice.

6. I would go with the RCR seats instead of trying to create a new seat. $3000 dollars later, we still don't have it right and I suspect we never will.

1. I imagine there are several folks who are sitting on a lot of stuff they no longer need/want. Why don't people create for sale ads for this stuff and place a link in their signatures? I'm sure if you're sitting on a spool of wiring or 100s of bolts, specialty tools etc that a new builder would be interested in purchasing stuff like this at a reduced cost to help offset budget run overs. Given the lead time for the kit and some other items (power train, carbon seats) I can see how it would be difficult not to pull the trigger early on some items so they all arrive at about the same time as the kit. What were items you purchased that you wish you'd held off on?

4. Hopefully when the new site launches we'll see what's out there! I've been struggling a bit because as I go through everyone's builds I'll see something that's now offered by RCR that I want to include but even today there are items not posted.

6. Bummer about the seats - have been following that portion with interest. I'm inclined to go with different seats - the factory ones just don't do it for me. Touch points in the car are very important so in likely to just source my own seats/steering wheel at the least. I think the factory options here are nice, just not my cup of tea.

 

[Cam]

5. I should have built (as Allan does) small FG covers to seal off the area along the side of the car where the coolant lines enter the body. This simple change keeps water, dirt, leaves and stuff out of that area. I had an electrical problem when wires there got wet. These are on my list for this summer.

6. I should have never mounted anything electrical on the chassis but under the body where it is hard to get to. There is a temptation to use all that open space for things, until the body goes on and makes it completely inaccessible.

5. I tried searching through threads but couldn't find any examples of this. Would you happen to have a post number I could look at or some pics that show these? I've seen the sheet metal close outs in one of his videos but the wiki mentions he uses tape/fg to build up some close outs as well. Been looking for a few days now to see what and where these go.

6. I see a good number of folks securing their ECUs to the are just forward of the rear vent. I've also seen a few locate the electronics along the driver side pod. Where else would you recommend those be installed? Based on videos I gathered 2 portions of the Isis modules up front, one on the rear bulk head. Engine computer near rear vent. Are there other major electrical items I'm not thinking about? I was thinking fuel system on a panel just aft of the tank, oil/trans coolers just behind rear vents. Thoss are the major things and there's not much space left under that. What did you mount under the body that you would have moved elsewhere?

Thanks for all the info guys - I'm at the point where I'm just trying to figure out how I would do this and what options I want. Maybe I'm overthinking things but I'm trying to plan and layout as much as I can before stepping into this. I want to get the vision/plan as clear as possible so I can move quickly forward once I actually get parts and start construction.

 

[Aaron H.]

Fran...

Where do we find all of these special parts that RCR builds that nobody knows about? Like the front box heat deflector? I asked RCR customer service about this part two years ago and it did not exist according to them. Is this a part that you just brought back into production ?

 

[Aaron H.]

I tried to buy a completed car.