subtlez28

I just had it media blasted before powder coat (I pre-assembled also). Bare metal should have a light coat of oil anyway. I guess you could wipe it down with oil, especially the welds. But, it is stays out of actual moisture it will be fine. One thing I wish I had done though, is go over the whole chassis with a flapper wheel. There is a lot of weld spatter on it. This makes for tiny sharp points under the powder coat...

Ha, yeah, prepping the garage when I got mine home was I think a (2) 8 hour day job. Hung the body on the wall, built a bench, organized my junk... It looked great for a while.. Not so much anymore. The good news is you gain floor space back when the car gets more complete! I am jealous of your lift! Any your billet uprights. Mine has the Miata stuff before they went with this new (better) set up. I'm excited to see yours progress!

I am running the LS3 Corvette pan, as directed by Brunton. I'm not comfortable with the fact it it s the lowest point. I already looked into dry sump pans, but at $2k minimum, that needs to wait. A friend of mine is a drag racer. He puts bars in front of oil pans on old muscle cars to take the bottoming out post wheel stand. He recommended I do the same. That might be the best route for now.

Well, I guess it is sort of epoxy welded now... It isn't like vibration caused my issue. The car has not run or moved yet.

Good point! I have not drive a 3 wheeler (yet). But I'm assuming the very real risk of death is the fun part!:cheers:

Looks cool! I had a Polaris side by side 900XP for a bit. It was crazy fun. I just wish it had a manual trans. Glad to see this does. I do not understand the one rear wheel idea though... I would like to drive/ride one.

I hear you. I do have foam behind the tab, but could add some under the bolt flange.

Sweet! Cannot wait to follow along!

So, I had to take the whole suspension off and go to the highest (lowest mount point - still not very high) settings. I was inspired by having my number on the car, so I had the side panels vinyl wrapped and added the 228 placards and "AR" for my class (A-Race). http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/subtlez28/M-spec/61B0A6A9-B1DB-4981-BD6E-32956247396E_zpsmndtnrlc.jpg Then I installed the side pipes and see they are a little close for comfort to the vinyl. I bent out the passenger side as it had even less clearance. Time will tell. I'll keep a fire extinguisher handy when I start her up! May need some heat wrap. Open for suggestion here. As you can see, we also started the wiring. Since I decided to keep the air intake on the shelf, my battery placement was compromised. I wanted it under hood to avoid extra safety equipment. The solve was to recess it into the shelf, and actually bolt it to the passenger side of the trans tunnel. I used an Odyssey battery and their aluminum box. I suggest you go direct with them, they were a pleasure to deal with and give a great direct price! http://www.odysseybatteries.com/mainpages/accessories.htm I'll get a pic of that up when I finish up the wiring. I went with Speedhut's new CAN-bus style controls that pick up signal from the ECU, eliminating the need for extra sending units. I also ponied up for the GPS speedo. It has all kinds of cool toys like 1/4 mile times, 0-60, etc and will not be effected by differing street and track tire sizes. I chose to have the fuel gauge in the speedo. This should be cool watching one go rapidly down, while the other climbs! You can fully customize your set up. I went yellow. Hey, they look good on a Ferrari, and more importantly should be easy to see. http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/subtlez28/M-spec/3F9750BA-184F-48BF-BE2C-D87C962E0CED_zpsqt9g1bo1.jpg The blue tape was to protect the dash panel, but may have to stay. I dig the contrast! Another friend of mine, who happens to be both a car nut and engineer has been invaluable with the electrical. Starting from scratch with just a painless T-bucket kit was a bit overwhelming. So, as per past practice another issue bit me. We added the radiator and struggled a lot to build hoses to fit the tight chassis. After paying for a bunch of AN stuff that would not clear, we ended up with heavy duty industrial hydraulic type stuff. The local industrial hose shop was a huge help. We filled it up with Evans water-less coolant. I come back from a few days of vacation and find some coolant on the floor. Just a couple drips mind you, but more than I would expect with all new parts... There was a pin hole near the welds on the tabs. http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/subtlez28/M-spec/7AE81969-4032-4C89-A790-2207BFE88F11_zpsjcymasih.jpg After I quite sobbing, I tried epoxying it. However, not wanting to take 2 steps back, I tried to do it in place with out draining the coolant. That didn't work. The coolant made it's way through the epoxy and formed a new pin hole... twice! Today we drained the coolant, wire wheeled off the epoxy (Quick Steel) and re-did it without coolant. That seems to be holding. Wish me luck!

I've been a bit neglectful of my build thread. Sadly, I am not yet racing the car, but I have made some progress of late. One day, for inspiration I slapped on the hood and some of my magnetic racing numbers (that will be of no use to me on the fiberglass and aluminum skin). http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/subtlez28/M-spec/8EDC2F8F-48BF-401F-B03D-B1FA822B16B1_zpshvk2q447.jpg The bad news is the classic hood, does not clear the pushrod suspension... A racer friend of mine came up from Chicago to align the car with me. So down from the tables! http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/subtlez28/M-spec/D5DC2A5A-6306-4FC9-B819-F234DD24A05C_zps4wjo4tys.jpg This one is fuzzy, because I took it quickly with my cell phone. He was more than a little nervous about me stepping back for a photo op at this point! Down safe and sound, time for a fun (giant wheel-stand) photo! http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g156/subtlez28/M-spec/9B4E4E28-2A5B-4E14-BE1A-602E98937794_zpsan8lectn.jpg Got it aligned, but... I chose the middle height points for the control arms. With the oil pan being the low point... I could not run over a 2x4 laid flat with my 23" race tires... Doh, one step forward, two steps back seems my pace...

Congratulations! Thanks for that side shot. My classic hood doesn't have the cut out for the suspension push rods, and I was wondering how that was addressed. Good choice on going classic rear. I went hybrid in that I did the classic nose, but newer M-spec rear. I wish I had went your way now. I may go custom on that down the road.

I'm sure this is on here somewhere, but my search came up short. Although my build thread has not been updated lately, some serious progress has been made! I'm neck deep in wiring and need to choose some control parts. I'm looking for a turn signal switch. I'm thinking 3 position rocker, that springs back to the neutral spot. Any source or brand suggestions would be great! I tend to like industrial looking parts, and want to avoid chrome. Same issue with a headlight switch. I would like the kind to activate brights via pull. I would also like to do a hazard button. Preferably light up with a triangular hazard logo. Keep in mind that my steering shaft is just that, a shaft, no column. All controls will be mounted to dash or trans tunnel. I would like to keep things as dark as possible. Black is ideal, brushed aluminum would be a second choice. Quality of the parts is most important of all. Thanks!

I am nearly to the point of getting my M-spec going. I filled the coolant system withe Evan's waterless coolant before leaving on vacation. I get back a little over a week later to find a few drips on the floor! I think the leak itself is a pin hole near a weld for a tab. I really do not want the hassle of sending this new radiator back. In fact I would like to avoid the hassle of draining the system. Can an aluminum radiator be repaired in place, if access is not an issue? Can it be welded on with coolant in it? I'm guessing I may be limited to draining it and taking it to a radiator shop, but I would sure like to avoid it. I'm a little surprised the fabricator did not pressure test it prior to shipping it. The leak is super small. It takes hours to feel the days to drip. Could it have been missed? The worst part is I cannot contact the fabricator, his email no longer works. I have some feelers out to get new contact info... Anyway, just looking for options. Thanks -Shaun-

If it is like the tank I received from them, you will get an aftermarket universal sending unit. I would like to build a larger tank with a factory style in tank pump.

Congrats! I'm still building the M-spec I picked up. I went with the "classic" front end and the "m-spec" rear. I went with it for aero reasons, but now wish it was classic in rear for looks sake. I also wish I had went with the XL, but at the time I was more focussed on track times and weight... I think you made a good choice! There have been a few improvements even since I picked up my kit. Hope your build moves along quickly and you throw us a build thread.

I'm a bad person, I was hoping for more carnage than that... I do not approve of working on cars with bare feet.:smash:

Very tasteful build! Is the brake light on your roll bar LED? If so, who makes it. I am looking for just that sort of thing!

Very nice! Is that an XL? I look forward to more pics!

All that room is making me kinda wish I had held off for there latest version.

I went with Speartech also. I like the fact John was a GM power-train engineer and that they test run every harness prior to shipping it!

Look up Jay Leno. I hear he is kind of a car guy. Or, if you travel the correct streets, I am certain you will be approached by some friendly folks looking to befriend an fine Arkansas gentleman...

I can relate. I was working on a track focused, LS1 swap 84 Corvette a few years ago. I gutted the stock harness and was left with a large box full of wiring. It ads up.

Looks like good population control. Lets bring it to the states!

I'm no engineer, or lawyer either... Common sense is telling me the wheel refurbisher is latching on to a one in a million shot at potential liability. I also think the idea of the "heat treating" damaging the wheel has a lot more old wives tale than actual happenings to it. When they bake powder coat, the temperature is not that extreme. If aluminum wheels where that touchy, consider how hot your brake rotors can get...

That is a great video! Here is another one I like: I have been thinking a 3 wheeler would be a natural next build. Even though my M-spec is not yet finished, I am preoccupied with the idea. Less power, but also less grip. Might make for a more sane street toy... Maybe I need to drive one to talk myself out of the idea... Or maybe I need to figure out the mechanical lay out and build my own... Simpler even than a seven... At least it appears so. I have strived for simplicity with the M-spec. But air cooled, and carbed could be even easier.