Kurt H (hoffkm) SL-C build thread

Sorry Kurt, I'm way behind on following everyone's build - congrats on receiving the car and getting to work!

Love the carbon work and printed covers! I've been playing with ideas on how to make a set of covers and haven't landed on something I like just yet, yours are providing me with some inspiration and I love the look.

Gantt charts were made to be broken, I'm guessing you tack on another 25-50% and you'll be in the ballpark ;). For reference it took me ~2500hrs but that includes learning time, screwing up time, and going to the hardware store time. You've already got a few hefty projects under your belt so I suspect your efficiency will be much higher than mine was.

Great stuff!
 
Kurt - I highly recommend taking a second look at the Dirty Dingo AC mount; it makes changing the belt a 5-minute job.

Details here on my blog:

Cam,

Thank you for the suggestion. I have read your entire build log numerous times, very insightful and helpful. For now I am sticking with the RCR bracket but if it shows any signs of an issue the Dirty Dingo will be on my shopping list. The spring loaded tensioner is by far superior to the static tensioner.

As far as changing the belt, if all is well the belt should last many more miles than I will ever put on this car.
 

Roger Reid

Supporter
Kurt - I highly recommend taking a second look at the Dirty Dingo AC mount; it makes changing the belt a 5-minute job.

Details here on my blog:
Kurt. I second that.
 
I've been ready posts, thinking about this, and worrying about this AC compressor bracket to the point that I am going to bite the bullet and order the Dirty Dingo bracket and get it swapped out before I assemble too many items around the front of the motor. I would hate to have to drive this enclosed car home on a hot summer day with no AC and no windows to open. With my luck I would throw the belt about 2 hours from home on a 90 degree day with 90% humidity (actually common in Ohio)!

Thank you Cam and Roger for saving me from what would most likely end up being a future headache.
 

Ken Roberts

Supporter
I was one of the first to use the Dirty Dingo a/c bracket but since then Holley has introduced an even more rugged OEM style of bracket. Definitely consider it over the Dirty Dingo. They are both priced about the same.



 
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Ken,

Thanks for the info on the Holley bracket, nice stout piece. Unfortunately I have already ordered and they have shipped the Dirty Dingo bracket. If it does not work out (which it should) I have a backup plan now.
 
Been about a month since my last progress update. A lot has changed in the world since then but unfortunately not much has changed with my build (although I am on schedule but just barely). My workplace has shut down but we have all the engineers teleworking from home on our designs and holding more teleconferences than ever. I drain my cell phone battery every day.

Enough about work.

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Laid the brake lines and clutch lines over the body to try and figure out where they will go. These are definitely not going to fit without extreme modifications and I appear to be missing all of the short ends of stainless tubing. Guess I will make my own.

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Installed all the fuse boxes, circuit breakers, and terminal strips. Wiring is my least favorite thing to do and that is what is next on my task list as of today.

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Plumbed the fuel system. I used Earls Vaporguard hose and fittings rated for EFI systems. I also used this on my Camaro with good success. That has been installed for 3 or 4 years with no issues.

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Fuel tank and cover installed. Both where covered with Noico brand sound deadening to eliminate panel "drumming". A little makes a big difference on large un-supported panels.

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Cutout the interior tub as required to fit and installed Noico on the large "flatish" areas of it.
 
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Installed the interior tub and fastened it down. I installed four fasteners along the back top side of the tub and added two fasteners in the front portion, this area seemed to me like it would "flop" around and rattle so I bolted it down. With the spider in place this may hold it firm but if you where to ever look at the machinery I design you would know that I am not afraid of over fastening things.

I figured out that the center tunnel of the tub is what was holding it up on the chassis. Once I cut all that out it dropped down where it belongs.

The red wire above is the battery feed to the Flaming River battery disconnect that was going to be placed in the center console. I have since decided to move the battery disconnect to the left side of the dash and will be moving this wire also to run along the outside of the tube instead of thru the fuel tank. The wire protection sleeve houses the fuel sender wires.

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Replaced the RCR AC compressor bracket with the Dirty Dingo bracket that utilizes a spring loaded belt tensioner (same as stock LS setups)

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Set the drivers seat in place after re-installing the roll cage to get a feel for things. Felt GOOD!! At 6' 2" and a little larger weight wise than I care for I am going to just fit.

As stated before, on to wiring, then coolant plumbing, then finish the exhaust, then FIRST START!!!!
 
I am still a long ways away from being ready for paint but I really need to stop looking at colors and stripe schemes.

My latest inspiration:

Capture.JPG


Led me to the following two options:

Option A)
SLC Rosso Corsa with white stripes black pinstripes.JPG

House of Kolor Euro Red or Kosmos Red base with HOK bright white stripes and HOK jet black pinstripes. I would also use jet black for the splitters and rear bumper/diffuser.


Option B)
SLC HOK chrome yellow with jet black stripes with white pinstripes.JPG

House of Kolor Chrome Yellow with HOK jet black stripes and HOK bright white pinstripes. Jet black would also be used for the splitters and rear bumper/diffuser.

Still torn between red (my favorite color) and yellow (to match my 69 Camaro). It is funny that my Camaro and my wife's 66 GTO were both red from the factory.
 
Nice progress Kurt, curious how you mounted the top of the fuel tank.

Joel,

I mounted my tank the same as a number of other builders. I lined the top of the frame rails that the tank sits on as well as the sides of the area around the tank with 1/4" thick x 1" wide neoprene rubber (fuel resistant). Before doing this I applied automotive seam sealer to all the gaps in the welds around the frame to seal out the interior. I placed my tank all the way forward and fabricated 6 angle brackets from aluminum L angle. One side of these was lined with the same neoprene rubber and the other side bolted to the chassis. One bracket was placed beside the tank to hold it all the way over to the passengers side, two behind the tank on the main frame rails to hold it forward, and three on top to hold it down.

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Kyle

Supporter
Looks great! I see everyone uses the surge tank. Has anyone not used it and had success with a KISS method? A low fuel situation with a hard left turn is about the only time I see it being risky. How much did you have to cut out of the tub? Just the center section or the floor panels too?
 

Johan

Supporter
Looks great! I see everyone uses the surge tank. Has anyone not used it and had success with a KISS method? A low fuel situation with a hard left turn is about the only time I see it being risky. How much did you have to cut out of the tub? Just the center section or the floor panels too?
I have this one. Drove it to low pressure warning the other week and fuel pressure kept at 58psi. I set the warning to come on at 8% remaining IIRC.
 
Looks great! I see everyone uses the surge tank. Has anyone not used it and had success with a KISS method? A low fuel situation with a hard left turn is about the only time I see it being risky. How much did you have to cut out of the tub? Just the center section or the floor panels too?

Kyle,

Not everyone goes the factory route with the surge tank. I went that route to eliminate some modifications. I am trying to do all the work on this car myself and I cannot weld aluminum so I did not want to modify the tank for a single pump setup. Joel has done a fabulous job on his build with a single pump setup. It starts at post #40 in his build log.

If I were to do a single pump setup I would have used Holley Hydramat in the tank with a Walbro in tank fuel pump. I did this on my 69 Camaro when I switched it out to EFI using the stock tank and it has worked out well.

All I had to cut out from the tub was the center tunnel and the floor sections under the seat. The center tunnel was holding the tub up on the center spine of the chassis. You can see this is the photo below. I left a bit of the top lip of the tub tunnel to help keep it rigid and this is now sitting below the center aluminum box member of the chassis. Before I did this my spider was sitting about 1-2" high on the chassis.

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The seat brackets need to mount directly to the chassis to be as rigid as possible, that is why the tub floor is cut out. The fiberglass cuts very easily with a body saw, patience, and a sharp tooth blade.
 
A huge THANK YOU to Bill at RCR. He follows this forum and noticed I had some questions about the brake lines I received with my kit. He reached out to me and took care of the issue. Turns out I had the wrong lines from RCR’s supplier. Living close to the factory is a perk (2 hours away) and Bill drove me out a new complete set of brake lines this past weekend. I cannot give Bill and RCR enough praise for how they continue to take care of their customers even after delivery!!

Most of my progress over the last month or so has been wiring, wiring, and more wiring so not a lot to show. Will be on to mounting the brake and coolant lines soon. After that I’ll fab up the remainder of the exhaust and be ready for the first start!!!!!
 
Wiring, wiring, wiring, when will it end.........

Well, I am actually getting close to finishing the wiring after the usual one step forward two steps back. I had the front end wiring complete and was moving on to the back but was not real happy with the cluster of wires around the relays (wiring was not loomed when the photo was taken).

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Then I found the MSD solid state relay module part number 75643.

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Ordered two of these for the front and rear, they came today so I removed the single relays, redesigned my schematic, and started wiring again. It should turn out very clean this way.

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I know this looks like a rats nest but it will be mostly hidden by the bodywork and wheel well liners I plan on fabricating.

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Hopefully I finish the wiring soon so I can move on to the brake lines, coolant lines, and exhaust. Cannot wait to fire the motor!!
 
kurt….an observation

Not sure how your fender liners are going to be designed, but I note the bus bar above the main coolant lines on the frame. I have a valve in that spot and once the body and fenders are on, its nearly impossible to service that area.
 
kurt….an observation

Not sure how your fender liners are going to be designed, but I note the bus bar above the main coolant lines on the frame. I have a valve in that spot and once the body and fenders are on, its nearly impossible to service that area.

Dan,

Thanks to the heads up, time for my daughter and I to set the body in place and check that before going any further. Drat!! If it’s a problem I guess third times a charm as they say!!!
 
Dan,

Thanks to the heads up, time for my daughter and I to set the body in place and check that before going any further. Drat!! If it’s a problem I guess third times a charm as they say!!!

Dan,

Looked back on some of my pictures of the area in question before I pulled the body off and you are 100% correct. Getting to that bus bar will be a pain with the body on but I think if I absolutely need to get to it I can access it up on my lift with the battery and battery box removed. For being a two seater there is not a lot of room to place stuff on this car, it is pretty tight and compact. Reminds me a lot of my days in the past of working on motorcycles.

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My fender wells will be sheet aluminum, contoured and fit to span from the chassis to the body in front of the tires to keep all debris and tire spray from slinging forward. I plan to coat the tire side with bedliner for protection and noise reduction.

I'll save a screen shot of my CAD design (rough layout at this point) when I am back at work next week to show what I am thinking.
 
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