Things you'd have done differently.

[Fran Hall RCR]

New website coming very soon

 

[Gareth]

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.

I'm hanging onto all the stuff I've brought, I desperately want one of the GT-R's now I've seen one.

 

[Bill]

Great Idea for a thread!

As I read thru all the posts, I see some items are contradictory each based upon the builders perspective. I think that is OK and reflects the many perspectives and ways to build the SLC.

Here is my list. Keep in mind that my SLC was mainly for the street and was built to be driven (not a trailer queen). Some of my insights will contradict others as well.

• The swirl pot takes a lot of room and complicates the fuel system more than a street car needs. I'd skip the swirl pot and add a reservoir to bottom of the fuel tank to draw fuel from. This reservoir would be about a 4" long x 4" wide x 1.5" deep box and would fit between the 2x2" aluminum tube structure under the tank. I would then cut an access hole in the pan below the reservoir box to keep maintenance easy. I saw another builder do this, but I don't remember who it was...Sorry)
• When I built my SLC, there was no infotainment system that would fit within the limited depth of the center binnacle. Recently the Alpine iLX 007 was introduced. The Alpine iLX 007 fits the limited depth, has clean face, and includes a rear view camera display as well. Bottom line, its a problem solver so just buy it!
• If my time were no object, I would have replaced the Infinity (ISIS) electrical system with a simple Painless wiring harness. The ISIS architecture makes sense on a large vehicle like a RV or bus, but it just doesn't work for a sports car that is only occasionally driven. On a sports car, the ISIS doesn't save much weight, but it does draw 0.3AMP while in sleep mode. That amperage draw will drain your battery in 10 days, so you need keep it on a charger or disconnect it. I chose to isolate ISIS with a main power relay because I wanted a reliable driver and didn't want to constantly worry about a dead battery.
• If money were no object, I would have focused on un-sprung weight at the 4 corners. I would have gone with light weight 2 piece brake disks and forged wheels. On a light weight car like the SLC, I think reducing the un-sprung weight would make a noticeable difference.

I think it would be insightful to also list the things you would do again. Here goes:

• It was a lot of work, but it was worth it for me to retrofit a trunk into the front bonnet. To me, its just not a real car without a trunk.
• As I built my SLC, I focused on making it as reliable as possible and making it easy to maintain. In other words, its cheap to keep!
• In every step, I thought about making the cabin as quiet as possible. I chose the quietest exhaust system, isolated the body, isolated the rollbar, added high frequency noise barriers, added low frequency noise barriers, sealed the engine compartment from the cabin, used noise absorbing material in the interior, chose the quietest tires available, etc. Its still not Lexus quiet, but its about on par with a Corvette.
• The powertrain combination of a stock LS3 and G50-20 6-speed was a good choice. Its a lot of power in a small, light weight, reliable package. You will be in the 460HP neighborhood if you let the LS3 breath with a 4" intake, flashed ECU, LS7 headers and 3" exhaust (no catalytic converter). When you're only pulling 2600lb, you have to feather the pedal to maintain traction is 2nd gear, unless you add traction control. I see where some builders wished for more power, and my subliminal motor-head instincts understand. But there is something to be said for having an overall balanced package. Any more power is just for bragging rights!
• Increase the rear coils to a 700lb 8" unit. It will keep the rear at the proper height and still provide a comfortable compliant ride.
• Smooth the edges around the headlights and forget the clear Lexan covers. It looks great and I'll never have to remove the Lexan to clean behind them.

 

[Cam]

[*]In every step, I thought about making the cabin as quiet as possible. I chose the quietest exhaust system, isolated the body, isolated the rollbar, added high frequency noise barriers, added low frequency noise barriers, sealed the engine compartment from the cabin, used noise absorbing material in the interior, chose the quietest tires available, etc. Its still not Lexus quiet, but its about on par with a Corvette.

Bill - I've really enjoyed reading your build thread and I've taken some inspiration points from it. Would you mind summarizing everything you did to keep the cabin quiet in one condensed location (either as a post on your build thread, separately, or maybe this though it may be partial derail)? I think this is one of the very key aspects of building this car that will really make an impression of "quality" once the build is complete. The SLC is a crazy race/streetish car but I don't think it means you need to live with a race car cabin.

In particular if you think there are some things you did which made a bigger impact than others I would be interested to hear about that as well. I've not used dynamat/other noise attenuators before so this is a completely new field for me. Have been trying to learn what I can but without having a drum in front of me with various products applied one after the other, I can't separate the efficacy of one versus another. I believe in the wiki there's a spreadsheet that has some relative comparisons but I'm not sure how that data was collected (real or advertised specs?). I'm interested in getting as much first hand info as possible.

Thanks!

 

[Gareth]

Buy clutch alignment tool.

 

[Grant S]

I have built a few cars, this will be my last as time go's on I find there is less of it. At the time I bought mine there was little out there for info, if you couldn't build a car with out a manual it wasn't the car for you. This Forum is awesome with a lot of great minds and talents pecking away at solving the issues. The info gathered with the different builds on here now has made this a car one, that most any one can do and gives you many options to the ways it can be done and will only get better as more people add to it.
The biggest hurdle for me was the interior I wish I would have made the trip to Fran's shop and sat in it, it may have been a game changer. I finally solved my issues by custom building seats and the console from scratch it was quite the undertaking. I have never done anything like that before but after spending a lot of time and money buying seats that didn't work it was my last choice, I was to deep into the car to give up. Looking back now I am glad i did it. If I had the energy I would redesign interior completely make Street version with a full set of gauges, blend the doors into the sills into the seats into the console into the dash and back into the doors making it seamless.
Cheers,

 

[Cam]

I have built a few cars, this will be my last as time go's on I find there is less of it. At the time I bought mine there was little out there for info, if you couldn't build a car with out a manual it wasn't the car for you. This Forum is awesome with a lot of great minds and talents pecking away at solving the issues. The info gathered with the different builds on here now has made this a car one, that most any one can do and gives you many options to the ways it can be done and will only get better as more people add to it.
The biggest hurdle for me was the interior I wish I would have made the trip to Fran's shop and sat in it, it may have been a game changer. I finally solved my issues by custom building seats and the console from scratch it was quite the undertaking. I have never done anything like that before but after spending a lot of time and money buying seats that didn't work it was my last choice, I was to deep into the car to give up. Looking back now I am glad i did it. If I had the energy I would redesign interior completely make Street version with a full set of gauges, blend the doors into the sills into the seats into the console into the dash and back into the doors making it seamless.
Cheers,

Good points Grant - I've read many of the earliest build threads and the challenges faced by the early adopters was significantly greater than what folks are faced with today. It seems like the kit today is much more suited for someone able to do light fabrication as opposed to outright fiberglass and metal fabrication. Refinement has also come a long way as well.

Could you touch upon your comments a little more with respect to the interior? Having never sat in an SLC (completed or raw) I've had to piece together most of my notions of what the factory setup is based on photos. I see a lot of great interiors but without being able to touch them myself it's difficult to know how I would react in person. Do you have photos you could share of the areas you say you'd blend?

On the sound and heat isolation front - I was thinking about covering the entire interior surfaces with something like dynamat/lizard skin and the exterior surfaces of the cabin with thermal isolation materials (lava mat). I was also planning to go with the interior tub kit and I would apply dynamat along portions of the tub (side not exposed to interior) as well as felt tape at all tub touch points. Also fab up some close out panels as others have done. Anything more folks would recommend?

Thanks!

 

[Grant S]

Hi Cam,
The interior was tight at the doors I am very wide in the shoulders I had to move my seats inwards as close to the console as possible make the console narrower and make the seats wider then whats available to get the door to close and slam the seat right on the floor to give me some head room. As for my blended idea I was thinking it would just be cool if the interior was seamless so that everything flows into each other "no gap's"