Grimoire.E #10: Superlite GT-R Build

[Nick Diasio]

After messing around with the seats a little and staring at the car for a few weeks we decided to strip it down to the bare chassis and build up from scratch.
We made some wooden frames to hold the parts and pushed them onto our lift for safe keeping.

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Stripped down chassis:

 

[Nick Diasio]

The Centerlock Dilemma: By now I realized I had an issue. The wheels needed to Come off but the centerlocks were torqued on (or way tighter than they probably shouldve been for delivery and transport). The issue was there were no brakes to hold the car in place while we wrenched them off. We tried chocking up the wheels but the car was so light it hopped over the chocks. We tried putting a rod in the wheel lugs to brace it but it still wasn't working.
So we resorted to buying the obscenely expensive Hytorq gun that the Porsche Centerlock owners tend to use. Now you can buy this as a kit for wheels for like 2k+ and it comes with a torque arm that braces itself against the wheel spokes, or you can buy the gun directly for about 800 and make your own torque arm for about $100. Tough Choice right?

This worked great for 3 of the wheels, but the 4th one still wouldn't come off with the gun maxing out at 700ftlbs.... so we sprayed it with penetrant repeatedly and let it sit for a while and it came off.
Probably should've done that in the first place but live and learn....and then forget the painful memories of the past and repeat the same mistakes again

Sidenote for those who have center locks: center locks are both counter clockwise and clockwise threaded depending on the side of the car; the hub adaptors have markings for which are right and which are left. However, Mine were put on at random with both left hubs and right hubs on each side so there was no consistency. So if you're struggling to remove the center locks. first make sure you're loosening the correct direction by looking at the threads.

 

[Nick Diasio]

Back to basics:
I read in the manual that one should carefully track all spacers/bolts while disassembling the I found myself in a perpetual state of surprise/ annoyance and decided to heck with that and chucked them in the spare parts bin. The spacers were all over the place-some brackets had huge gaps between spacers, some brackets were bent in from lack of spacers, and the bolt size and lengths weren't even consistent side to side. I took photos as a reference of what things should look like and decided to start from scratch using what I could.
Stripped down Chassis:
(no my car does not have chicken pox, those are scanning dots. More on that later)

Here's an example bracket where three things I hate are happening:
1. Ton of washers to deal with rather than a few spacers
2. The metal tab is bent in
3. Despite #2, There's still a huge gap
and then #4 which isn't visible in the picture- The bolt isn't properly sized. I'll provide a photo later in this post, but the unthreaded portion of the bolt is too short and the threads start inside the rod end which is a problem as explained below.

Notes on properly sizing bolts:
As mentioned above, many bolts were improperly sized, or sized properly on one side but not the other. There's two things you should look out for
1. Proper thread stick out.

*You're using lock nuts. Those don't work if the bolt doesnt engage in the nylon as was the case with several of mine.​

*to fix this- get a longer bolt, or if space doesnt allow- using a different locking nut system (i.e. jet nuts?)​

2. Length of the unthreaded portion of the bolt.

*Threaded portion is the weakest point of the bolt, so you really dont want the threads inside the parts most susseptible to shearing.​

*To fix this- you must buy a longer bolt and cut it down to size.​

​

Below is an example of the bolts in the front upper control arms where the rod end attaches to the chassis. I had two issues- that the threaded portion was inside the bracket/ lug and thus more likely to shear/break and that the bolt was too long and interfered with the other ones.
the fix: purchase a longer bolt with longer unthreaded portion and cut it down to length. I chose to leave 3 threads exposed as that's what i read was required in most cases.
​

Above is an example and as much as I'd love to document every bolt, I haven't had the time or the memory as i did this weeks ago. Nonetheless, if you use those rules to examine your chassis, you should be able to sort them all out.
Next post I'll briefly cover spacers

 

[Joel K]

Nick,

Love those Podium seats. Nice choice!

I came up with a simple way to hold the washers in place when assembling the suspension. Also, I used different thickness washers to keep them as square as possible when tight them. See post #352 in my build thread…

Joel’s SL-C Build Thread

Have you given any thought to the fuel filler Joel? I’m not sure the Sparco fuel filler would pass a strict emission requirement.

www.gt40s.com

 

[Larry J Kishel]

You will enjoy this build it was a ton of fun I built the GTR with the first Eco boost Motor what a powerplant.

 

[Nick Diasio]

Nick,

Love those Podium seats. Nice choice!

I came up with a simple way to hold the washers in place when assembling the suspension. Also, I used different thickness washers to keep them as square as possible when tight them. See post #352 in my build thread…

Joel’s SL-C Build Thread

Have you given any thought to the fuel filler Joel? I’m not sure the Sparco fuel filler would pass a strict emission requirement.

www.gt40s.com

I'll have to do that with those bolts. The ones the car came with were too short. I got the stack down to only a spacer and washer but its still a PITA so this will be nice. I was doing something similar with a punch but it didn't work as smoothly.

 

[Nick Diasio]

You will enjoy this build it was a ton of fun I built the GTR with the first Eco boost Motor what a powerplant.

ooh what an oddity in a world of V8s. cool choice!

 

[Nick Diasio]

Need to get more pics of spacers but in the meantime...a random note on suspension. Walking around the shop I kept finding these tiny metal cylinders and was wondering what they were. Figured they might be from some sort of thrust bearing for the suspension and sure enough there's one in the coil overs to prevent the spring from binding. The roller bearing they come with was pretty crappy and so when the suspension was unloaded they fell apart. We replaced these with sealed bearings of the same size, though it won't be of any importance for a while.

Here's the stock thrust washer on the red collar. Two plates with slits for a roller bearing (all of them fell out)

Here's the replacement parts

 

[Joel K]

I'll have to do that with those bolts. The ones the car came with were too short. I got the stack down to only a spacer and washer but its still a PITA so this will be nice. I was doing something similar with a punch but it didn't work as smoothly.

Glad it will help. By the way. If you are machining up solid spacers I would wait till you align the suspension and mount the body. You may need to move the suspension points slightly forward or aft to get the wheels to align/center in the body,

 

[Ricky]

Back to basics:
I read in the manual that one should carefully track all spacers/bolts while disassembling the I found myself in a perpetual state of surprise/ annoyance and decided to heck with that and chucked them in the spare parts bin. The spacers were all over the place-some brackets had huge gaps between spacers, some brackets were bent in from lack of spacers, and the bolt size and lengths weren't even consistent side to side. I took photos as a reference of what things should look like and decided to start from scratch using what I could.
Stripped down Chassis:
(no my car does not have chicken pox, those are scanning dots. More on that later)
View attachment 133372

View attachment 133371
Here's an example bracket where three things I hate are happening:
1. Ton of washers to deal with rather than a few spacers
2. The metal tab is bent in
3. Despite #2, There's still a huge gap
and then #4 which isn't visible in the picture- The bolt isn't properly sized. I'll provide a photo later in this post, but the unthreaded portion of the bolt is too short and the threads start inside the rod end which is a problem as explained below.

Notes on properly sizing bolts:
As mentioned above, many bolts were improperly sized, or sized properly on one side but not the other. There's two things you should look out for
1. Proper thread stick out.

*You're using lock nuts. Those don't work if the bolt doesnt engage in the nylon as was the case with several of mine.​

*to fix this- get a longer bolt, or if space doesnt allow- using a different locking nut system (i.e. jet nuts?)​

2. Length of the unthreaded portion of the bolt.

*Threaded portion is the weakest point of the bolt, so you really dont want the threads inside the parts most susseptible to shearing.​

*To fix this- you must buy a longer bolt and cut it down to size.​

​

Below is an example of the bolts in the front upper control arms where the rod end attaches to the chassis. I had two issues- that the threaded portion was inside the bracket/ lug and thus more likely to shear/break and that the bolt was too long and interfered with the other ones.​

the fix: purchase a longer bolt with longer unthreaded portion and cut it down to length. I chose to leave 3 threads exposed as that's what i read was required in most cases.​

​

View attachment 133373View attachment 133374View attachment 133375View attachment 133376

Above is an example and as much as I'd love to document every bolt, I haven't had the time or the memory as i did this weeks ago. Nonetheless, if you use those rules to examine your chassis, you should be able to sort them all out.
Next post I'll briefly cover spacers

Why not just buy AN bolts from one of the major suppliers like Aircraft Spruce, Pegasus etc. They are available in 1/16" increments and are designed for this sort of stuff. Saves lots of time and probably more cost effective in the long run.

 

[Alex]

The Centerlock Dilemma: By now I realized I had an issue. The wheels needed to Come off but the centerlocks were torqued on (or way tighter than they probably shouldve been for delivery and transport). The issue was there were no brakes to hold the car in place while we wrenched them off. We tried chocking up the wheels but the car was so light it hopped over the chocks. We tried putting a rod in the wheel lugs to brace it but it still wasn't working.
So we resorted to buying the obscenely expensive Hytorq gun that the Porsche Centerlock owners tend to use. Now you can buy this as a kit for wheels for like 2k+ and it comes with a torque arm that braces itself against the wheel spokes, or you can buy the gun directly for about 800 and make your own torque arm for about $100. Tough Choice right?
View attachment 133370
This worked great for 3 of the wheels, but the 4th one still wouldn't come off with the gun maxing out at 700ftlbs.... so we sprayed it with penetrant repeatedly and let it sit for a while and it came off.
Probably should've done that in the first place but live and learn....and then forget the painful memories of the past and repeat the same mistakes again

Sidenote for those who have center locks: center locks are both counter clockwise and clockwise threaded depending on the side of the car; the hub adaptors have markings for which are right and which are left. However, Mine were put on at random with both left hubs and right hubs on each side so there was no consistency. So if you're struggling to remove the center locks. first make sure you're loosening the correct direction by looking at the threads.

Can you tell me what equipment/reference you have for the center lock? socket, gun and torque wrench?
there is not a lot of information on that on the forum.
Car is coming soon and I will be happy to have this in hands before!
Thank you

Alex