SLC 001 Build

Doug S.

The protoplasm may be 72, but the spirit is 32!
Lifetime Supporter
Another thing that has me thinking .... since the car will spend at least half of it's time on the street, .... how to keep the front end of the car from being busted up on driveways?

OK, believing in the KISS (Keep It Simple, Silly!) process, what about a set of air shocks on the front?

It would be a simple matter to mount a small, low volume/high pressure compressor somewhere on the chassis, perhaps in that cavernous front clip, so that you didn't need to leave the cabin to raise the front of the car?

How much lift do you expect to need? I can foresee problems with speed bumps!!

Dugly
 
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The "standard" speed bump in the USA varies between 3.0 to 3.5 inches. Given a 4 inch ride height and plotting the resulting angle, I get about 7 degrees. Sufficient to
clear the "standard" speed bump (slowly). Aproaching on an angle really helps. I do have some experience with this (Westfield Seven-set at minimum ride height 3.5 inches). Fran has changed something on the "street" suspension, we'll see..
My driveway may represent a challange though. Waiting for SLC.
 
Mesa, You are very lucky! Unlike most GT40 Owners, you are actually in a good shape. Negotiating a speed bump can be quite difficult, specially with 200+ pounds of lard, which is a norm for drivers in US.

Phat A$$e$ and GT40s (or sports bikes) are a bad combination. I think that is why Harly Davidson was created in the first place.
 
My driveway will be a challenge for sure. Fran's solution (spring pad expansion device) will raise the car from a standard 4" ground clearance (?) and sounds effective enough - 2.5 inches in the higher lift version. For regular driving this would work in most cases but, in driveway situations I'm not sure. I really don't want to build a frame to reinforce the splitter in order to carry the weight of the front of the car (if using delrin sliders). but I may have to to insure against a sneak attack of concrete.
 
Never had to do this Rob as the acceleration from a Ford engine is usually enough to lift the front end over most obstacles :)

Hey Jac...I found something to warm your Ford blue blood at Laguna yesterday (I was a die hard Ford fan in my teen years) this engine looks quite huge compared to the standard Can-Am Chevy fare. Obstical? I don't see no stinking obstical.....
 

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Thanks Mesa, Joe Di Loreto always seems to have a bunch of FORD powered stuff, had a 427 cobra & GT350 Shelby back in the eighties that were tested in Road & Track, same issue had tests on a Daytona Coupe & the 'Super Coupe along with one of the first 'kit' Daytona's .( Damn magazine has cost me a lot of time & money since! :) )

Didnt happen to run into Jim Herlinger or Irv Dickson with the old Baldwin or Kellison specials did you, both Flathead powered.

Obstical/Obstacle is something you can SEE and take avoiding action from, if you FEEL it , well its just bad.:)
 
I'm not sure where to place this question where people will see it....will it be seen buried here in my build thread? Dunno...

Who carries a good selection of fasteners here in California? Buttonheads, stainless, allen, nylocks, plated...and such. I've always had metric based toys so IB a little lost.

Also on the front splitter as seen on the SLC there are threaded tubes that the threaded rod ends go into....where to get both or does one have to thread his own stock?

Thanks guys
 
If you are looking for something local you probably have a Fastenall nearby. They have a $50 minimum order and their prices are a little high. If you are willing to wait a few days on shipping try boltdepot.com. I have had good luck with them.
 
I have found Aircraft Spruce, McMaster-Carr and my friendly Ace Hardware store have great selections of fasteners, grommets, etc.

I think the hardware is supplied for the splitter on the SLC. Fran??
 
I'm not sure where to place this question where people will see it....will it be seen buried here in my build thread? Dunno...

Who carries a good selection of fasteners here in California? Buttonheads, stainless, allen, nylocks, plated...and such. I've always had metric based toys so IB a little lost.

Also on the front splitter as seen on the SLC there are threaded tubes that the threaded rod ends go into....where to get both or does one have to thread his own stock?

Thanks guys

If you want to put nothing but the good stuff in, in other words aircraft bolts, then Coast Fabrication is the place to go. All your AN and NAS requirements can be met by them. Their racing mufflers are also distributed by Burns Stainless, but are much cheaper at Coast. Their air cleaners look too small for me, but some on here don't even run air cleaners, so these may be an option. They get pretty exotic and will even make you whatever you need. You know, like an entire set of bolts for your car out of Ti? Who doesn't need that?:stunned:

Coast Fabrication
 
Just noticed the body latches Coast now has. Those could be of use to 40 guys with jitters about the rear bodywork latch. They look to come out nice and flush, and lockable to boot!
 
Thanks guys,

Crash- funny you should say....., I have a good selection of Ti bolts of all length and dia that are odd thread that were custom made for various odd motorcycle applications. Wonder if it would be worth it to have them rethreaded to a SAE spec......hmmmmm?
 
Thanks guys,

Crash- funny you should say....., I have a good selection of Ti bolts of all length and dia that are odd thread that were custom made for various odd motorcycle applications. Wonder if it would be worth it to have them rethreaded to a SAE spec......hmmmmm?


I'm no expert, but I don't think that would be such a great idea.
 
First off let me say - When I signed up for the first car (remembering it was a pile of parts on the ground when I bought it) I knew it was going to be a long haul until I got my car and possibly even longer until I got all the parts. That being said, the car I ended up with in many ways is vastly different and improved from the "pile" <humor> that I ordered some 18 months ago. One of those improvements was (I think) partially influenced by my desire to use wider rear wheels, hence redesigned rear control arms. At times it was difficult to keep the faith and I thank those of you that helped me through with encouraging words. Being that my car is the first production example I wouldn't think anyone should base future delivery completeness of an SLC on the first unit produced, particularly since developments that will improve the car for all that order are still in progress. I would imagine that once the package has been fully developed the product will be complete when delivered.

Looking back.......I was itching so bad to get started, I would have been happy just to receive the rolling chassis and body in advance - without any parts. As I knew after I decided on wheels the next thing would be body modifications to cover the tires, and those body mods would / will take a considerable amount of time....

On to the fun stuff - Since the last post my temporary workspace has improved a bit with all the light fixtures repaired, 220 installed, wall sockets placed and a compressor brought in.

I have sort of been in limbo for much else to do since ordering the wheels from Forgeline and even with all my careful planning they called back to say - "it was discovered in the machining process one of the options you asked for was not possible". Poo, that added a week. In the meantime I was hoping some parts would show up so I could at least start making a some sort of mess.........as it turned out - yesterday I received my first shipment of parts. I got the dash, center consul and a kick panel cover. I see on other threads that it looks like the diffuser that allows a pivoting rear deck lid is done, if I squint my eyes just right some of those parts look like the maybe makings of lower door hinges and the A/C unit looks to be in stock.

Today I rough cut the windshield opening, trimmed and installed the dash then placed the readout, seats and wheel for effect. The dash clears the top of the foot box 3.5 inches at the near edge and a good 4-5 inches near the windshield (the sculpted areas will allow even more room). The reason I mention this is that others thought maybe there would be a lot of room under there to install stuff, like maybe electronics and such. The only trick will be to set up the dash to allow access. There are defroster slots molded into the dash but, I don't know if the defroster "manifold" will be included in future shipments. If not, once I receive the A/C heater unit to judge configuration I'll make up some manifolds.

As noted earlier - I was looking for some articulating seats for the car as I wanted to have maximum adjustability and comfort, I also feel driving a "race" car on the street with limited suspension travel would (IMO) get a little old a little quick. None of the seats I tried would fit without modification (Sparco, Recaro) and the one that would (Corbeau) was a little low on finish quality. So I ended up choosing Recaro because the chassis is pressed clamshell style that will lend itself to modification better than tube frame construction. The modification will be a fairly simple shortening and re-contouring of the headrest area to clear the roof.

Enjoy today's pictures
 

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Fran Hall RCR

GT40s Sponsor
Nice pics Rob.

Great to see you are making some progress....interior looks cool in there.

The small parts left same time as the interior parts which you obviously have...???..I will have Casey follow up on Monday with UPS.

We have opened up the diffuser , differing from the shots of my black car to allow the hinging tail, but also to allow more cooling capacity for airflow through and above the diffuser...you big HP guys know all about heat....and it allows us to mount the exhaust lower to facilitate the hinging tail...its all a trickle down deal..one small change needs many accompanying ones to make everything work..
These are the aluminum rear diffusers shown in my pics elsewhere...

Give me a call about the LS7 you are looking into.......I have some info for you.
 
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I inset the readout pod a bit in order to help keep glare off the display (as opposed to the surface mount as delivered). Could be set back as much as two more inches, I'm considering going further in by moving the entire flat surface of the bezel inboard more.
 

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