Kurt H (hoffkm) SL-C build thread

[Kurt Hoffman]

Well, I ran it down to the last day but the SL/C is ready for our car show at work tomorrow and the final Super Cruise In uptown for the summer.

Wiring (as usual) took way longer than anticipated but advance planning and a lot of labeling insured that everything worked perfect right out of the chute.

She is tucked away in the garage up at the house ready for tomorrow so long as the rain holds out. 70% chance or thunderstorms. I am not ready to test my limited waterproofing that I have done to the doors just yet.

She looks very small parked next to the 66 GTO.

 

[Alex]

Hi Kurt,
I love the tail lights. What model are these ?
Mounting and fitting look also really good!

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

Hi Kurt,
I love the tail lights. What model are these ?
Mounting and fitting look also really good!

I bought Del's old Lotus Elise tailights that Allan had fit with ring LEDs. I made my own custom mounts, CAD designed and 3D printed. These are bonded into the RCR tailight housings. There are some pics earlier in my build log.

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

Photos from my SLC's first outing. We had a car show at work (rained all day so turnout was not too great) and then I took her uptown for our final supercruise of the summer. There I got an invitation to a race car only car show that is going on up in Michigan this weekend but unfortunately we are busy. I only spent an hour with my car at the supercruise uptown at the end of the evening but I have never answered so many questions in my life.

Next I need to get the car registered so I can drive it more and do some more testing. I promised the DW that I would not risk it any more driving it illegally.

I have not driven it in earnest yet but she is begging me for it. So far I only have a short list of items to improve/fix. Most important is a professional tune on my Holley system. I have it running decent but I am no tuner by any stretch of the imagination. I am sure there is more meat on the bone as far as power and it is stalling sometime when it comes back down to idle.

The SLC even makes a Fiero look like a larger car than it is. My boss is a BIG Fiero fan.

I think if I sharpened the leading edge of the splitter and drove fast enough thru the yard I could mow the lawn. Luckily my front lift raises the splitter just enough to clear the peaks and valleys in my yard as well as the steep incline of my driveway.

 

[Jeff W]

Super clean. Nice.

 

[Neil]

Photos from my SLC's first outing. We had a car show at work (rained all day so turnout was not too great) and then I took her uptown for our final supercruise of the summer. There I got an invitation to a race car only car show that is going on up in Michigan this weekend but unfortunately we are busy. I only spent an hour with my car at the supercruise uptown at the end of the evening but I have never answered so many questions in my life.

Next I need to get the car registered so I can drive it more and do some more testing. I promised the DW that I would not risk it any more driving it illegally.

I have not driven it in earnest yet but she is begging me for it. So far I only have a short list of items to improve/fix. Most important is a professional tune on my Holley system. I have it running decent but I am no tuner by any stretch of the imagination. I am sure there is more meat on the bone as far as power and it is stalling sometime when it comes back down to idle.

The SLC even makes a Fiero look like a larger car than it is. My boss is a BIG Fiero fan.

"I only spent an hour with my car at the supercruise uptown at the end of the evening but I have never answered so many questions in my life."

You will get used to that. There are 3 questions that you are guaranteed to get:

1. What is it?
2. How fast will it go?
3. How much did it cost?

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

Well, like when I spent a year assisting my wife with her new job my build is once more on hold. This time it is due to my career. My family is in the process of relocating from Ohio to South Carolina. I am moving to our sister company there to better serve our growing and young engineering staff at that location. since May I have been traveling back and forth every other week, working from either Ohio or SC. This has given me and my wife a good opportunity to get to know the area ahead of this decision.

This is also a "retirement" move for us to get to a warmer climate and a better location for our camping and boating hobbies. Also, it does not hurt that the car driving season will be much longer there.

Thru this forum I have already been in contact and will be meeting up with a fellow SLC builder. It looks like there will be at least three SLCs in the Greenville, SC area under construction.

We have been hunting for houses but my "I need a shop" requirement is making this challenging. Also need parking spaces for the toys (camper, boat, etc.). Time to contact a realtor and get serious about this. We may end up building, I have always dreamed of a barndominium with a larger shop area that living space. Now may be the time.

So, other than getting the car registered once I get it moved down to SC progress will be halted on my build for a while. Hopefully I will be able to find some time to continue test driving it once it is registered.

 

[Alan P]

We have been hunting for houses but my "I need a shop" requirement is making this challenging.

If you plan to do the paint and body on your car yourself make sure you have room to build a small (could be temporary) shop for all of the sanding. It's a nightmare trying to get your primary shop clean if you every do body work in. Decades later you will still be trying to get the body filler dust out of places.

 

[Joel K]

Kurt, good luck with the move and house search. The Carolinas have some beautiful lakes. I was looking on-line at the Savannah lake area, looks really nice but haven’t made a trip there yet to see the area in person.

 

[Ian]

Kurt, don’t forget about all the fantastic mountain roads we have around Greenville!

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

We have our first of three SL-Cs in Greenville, SC now. Big shout out to Ian Henderson who was on hand for the occasion and to help unload. My partially completed car is tucked away in her storage unit until we find a new home (apartment living until then) and the project will restart after that.

 

[Ian]

Thanks Kurt! It was fantastic to finally see this amazing car in person! Can’t wait till the two green cars get here and we can all go stalking around Greenville together…. You know… in like 2 - 3 years haha.

 

[Alex]

good to see a SLC on wheels in Greenville

 

[Hector]

Strong work Kurt. Glad you made your first car show. I am certainly looking forward to my first one but decided against driving around a partially finished car. Getting close!!! I have been away from the forum for a while, I will post lots of updates soon . Glad to see your progress , very well done .

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

Even though the car is currently in storage I managed to spend a "little" time working on it today. I attached my custom engraved VIN plate that I purchased off of Amazon in preparation for registration here in South Carolina. My MCO from RCR included a VIN number on it so that is what I had stamped into the VIN tag. This saved the step of needing to apply for a VIN thru the state as you have to do with a lot of kit cars (Thank you RCR for making this easy!!)

Next step is to pay my vehicle property tax, then I need to take the car to the BMV to have them verify the VIN that is on the car, then I file A LOT of paperwork via the US mail to the state motor vehicle office to get my title, registration, and plates. It is a pretty easy process here in South Carolina. Only hiccup I have is my trailer is fully loaded with stuff and I am supposed to trailer the SLC to the BMV for the VIN verification. I may have to drive it there or rent a trailer.

 

[Alan P]

Only hiccup I have is my trailer is fully loaded with stuff and I am supposed to trailer the SLC to the BMV for the VIN verification. I may have to drive it there or rent a trailer.

YMMV, but I have always found southern states very accommodating for this type of thing. I would just drive it.

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

A little disappointed right now. Just got off the phone with Haggerty, everything was going along smoothly with getting my SLC registered and licensed in South Carolina until insurance. Haggerty does not offer insurance on "this type of vehicle" in South Carolina.

Does anyone have any suggestions for another carrier who may/does offer insurance in South Carolina? They are about to get a two for one as I will certainly pull my other policy from Haggerty for the wife's 66 GTO.

Moving across states was hard, all the paperwork for vehicles, toys, etc. is even harder!!

 

[Steven Lobel]

A little disappointed right now. Just got off the phone with Haggerty, everything was going along smoothly with getting my SLC registered and licensed in South Carolina until insurance. Haggerty does not offer insurance on "this type of vehicle" in South Carolina.

Does anyone have any suggestions for another carrier who may/does offer insurance in South Carolina? They are about to get a two for one as I will certainly pull my other policy from Haggerty for the wife's 66 GTO.

Moving across states was hard, all the paperwork for vehicles, toys, etc. is even harder!!

I use Hagerty on my GT-R in Georgia, but MT tags.

 

[Joel K]

Kurt,

I spoke to this gentleman a few years back and they insure a friend of mine’s GT-R. Maybe worth a call…

Robin Terry
Midwest Class Insurance 888-271-4000

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

I said, what the heck, I'll give it a try and I called my provider for my daily drivers, camper, and boat (I am a frequent customer as you can see). Progressive said, no problem and they now have Michelle's GTO and my SLC insured with them for much less than what Hagerty was (same coverage). Surprised me based on other's experiences trying to insure classic and custom cars with a company that does not specialize in that. Happy to have all my policies in one place now!

Lesson for the day, the simplest approach is often the best approach! Next up is a visit to the DMV.