Got a GTreproductions Chassis today......

[Chip Smith]

Got a call that it was comming today and sure enough it showed up. I have a lot of parts piled up and ready to start on it. I might have a friend of mine do an aluminum Can-Am or GroupC style body. I was planning on useing Sheridan Motorsports 914 wide body fiberglass shell but from looking on this forum I got an itching go change. Will post more as I get the LS6 and G50-52 and suspension on.
Is there a build log area for Can-Am cars?
thanks for looking, Chip

 

[Randy V]

HI Chip - Welcome to GT40's ....

Looks like you have a pretty good head-start on a scratch build going there...

I'd just put your build log in with the others here;

GT40 Build Logs - GT40s.com

 

[Chip Smith]

Well things are comming together but have had some plans change a little.
The chassis is the wheel base I wanted but the body is a variable. I thought of a 914 fiberglass race body but have headed in a new direction. The nice thing about the ZSR chassis is that it is basically adaptable to about anything. I came across a Porsche 912 shell and decided to integrate it into the ZSR chassis along the lines of a Porsche GT1. I have the roof line in place and will post pics as it progresses.

 

[John]

Hi Chip, i'm pondering going the same drive train route as you as was wondering , do you have any figures for weight of the LS1 G50 combo. just trying to work out some figures
Thanks John

 

[Chip Smith]

Seems I recall the LS6 weight like 435lb and the G50 165lb. Thats what I think I saw on Renegade motorsports site for 914's. If you do go that way I have an extra Kennedy adapter plate and flywheel that is new in the box. email me.
Chip

 

[Chip Smith]

I started to do the motor mounts and trans mount. To do any welding I always get the chassis good and flat and level. I dont have a full welding table so I use my machinist jacking levels and a laser level. I can move anywhere around on the chassis and get a measurement to the laser.

I now have a Porsche 911 roof and window frames that I want to use for the body. Should give it a GT1 look but on my 96" wheelbase

 

[Chris Bell]

deleted

 

[Chip Smith]

I got some time finally to get more on the Chassis done. I finished the motor and trans mounts useing the motor mounts in front, the adapter plate and the tail end of the trans. All solid mount but I am not looking for comfort. I also got the rack that I needed from Chris at GTReproductions. It took some time for the manufacture to get them to him but was worth the wait. I almost got to antsy and tried to locate one myself and was headed down the wrong road but after talking to Fran at RCR he set me straight and saved me making mistakes.
I got the Roll cage in and mocked up the Porsche 911 roof line. I am headed towards a 911 GT1 center drive look but a little scaled down since they are normally huge in my opinion.
I have some Z06 wheels for it but 10.5" just will not do. I am making up new centers for the HRE wheels that I have with so they fit and have the correct offset for the C5 suspension. I was about $800 per wheel for new HRE centers and only $600 for 4 slugs of aluminum and I have some open machine time comming up so it looks like I have some work.
I am going to run the headers forward and do a turn out to the side in front of the rear wheel. I like the layout and every little weight shift forward will help

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Looks friggin spectacular my friend!! Very nice build! Looks like it will be a monster on the track too. I'm interested to see how you're going to finish off the body. Have you ever heard of this place...

GT Racing - Porsche fiberglass parts. Manufacturer of quality lightweight body panels

Check out their catalog, there's TONS of parts you can use. I was looking at building a killer 944 a few years back.

Laters,

Brian

 

[Chip Smith]

I had some time over the weekend to do my fuel tanks. Nothing special but should work for now. They are aluminum with a stainless cross over tube that is 1.5" diameter and about 3/4 gallon surge tank in the middle that will be the lowest point of the system. After reading all post concerning fuel tanks and a surge tank I think I will run the return back to one of tanks rather than the surge tank. If you return the hot fuel to a smaller tank it just keeps going in circles and heating up, or atleast that was one theory.
I will use the four tabs for rubber mounted bolts plus two straps, that should keep them in place. I put in one of the floatless sending units that uses ohms, very nice part

 

[Chip Smith]

Got a little time again so made some progress. Stuffed the fuel tanks with the ATL foam they cut for me, 9x9x26 was tuff to get in the opening but with some cussing and a little blood I did it.
I got the C6 Z06 6 pot calipers and 14" rotors the other day so new wheels where now needed to fit over them. All the Corvette guys are crazy, they buy a $75K Z06 and put chrome fake 3pc chinese junk in place of the forged Speedline made in Italy one's that are 4 lbs lighter. Good for me though $900 to my door. 19x12 and 18x9.5 and real light wieght.

 

[Dave Deerson]

You may want to look into your method of mounting the engine/transaxle.When I was installing a LS6/930 trans into my tube frame race car,I was told by a race team owner who had factory engineering contact that the LS series of engines did not "like" to be solid mounted,and suggested that I at least used some sort of poly mounting system.So I used a universal "street rod" type of poly bushings that I modded to my requirements.They are of a very high durometer,but "give" just enough to soak up some vibrations.Maybe he was just being overly cautious,I don't know.I just wanted to share some info I got along the way.As always,your results may vary.
Dave D.

 

[Chip Smith]

I had thoughts on that as well. I went solid mount because I know so many guys running solid mounts on the desert race cars with the LS motors. I hope it is OK and if the vibration is the only concern in the end, I can live with it. I wonder what Fran at RCR is doing for mounts on the SLR since it seems so many of them are getting the LS7.

 

[Chip Smith]

I got to playing around with dialing out any bump steer. Can you ever get it to Zero or is a couple tenth's of one degree good enough?

 

[Jac Mac]

While you might be able to acheive 0° on the shop floor , flex, clearances, etc will create some dynamic variations. The skill is when you can anticipate what those variations will be and allow for them in your initial setup and changes you make at the track.

 

[Gus Gutopherson]

Chip, any updates on your project? I've been thinking of a GT Reproductions car, how has your experience been so far.

 

[Chip Smith]

I have got alot more done and then the work load that pays for my hobby got in the way. I'm not too far from having a driveable chassis. I need to get the ride hieght and alignment wrapped up and finish the half shaft adapters. I should get back to it in december and will post some more.

 

[Chip Smith]

Had some time for the project over the holidays. Got a bit of work done and can now roll it around with mock up shock rods in. I found I am missing one of the coil over rod ends so this will work for now. Everything is just about finished as for all the tabs and modifications and holes for everthing so now I plan to dissassemble it down to bare bones and finish any welding that I could not get to and prep then paint the chassis.

 

[Jack]

Chip,
My SL-C (LS engine) uses the Corvette motor mount brackets bolted directly to the frame. It is a solid mount. Ernie's track SL-C with a 675BHP LS-7 uses the same method without problems.

Jack Molleur

 

[Ardern Cars]

Looks fantastic Chip. Love the 19's and the side exhaust.
Chris
Vintage GT Coupes