Canadiangeek.net How do you know you can't do something if you haven't tried

The Rubber covers for the ebrake came, turns out they are not 100% the same as the corvette units but they are very close. The only change that needs to be made is the thickness of the rubber that fits inside the metal plate. 5 seconds on a belt sander and they are thin enough to mount perfectly. These units seem much thicker and more robust then the OEM pieces.

The lift came today, took about an hour to put everything together, I have to rent a hammer drill to complete the mounting process. I also need to pick up some hydraulic fluid and lithium grease to finish the Assembly. I measured out the garage today and i think i will put it right in the middle of the 2 car garage, i have never parked two cars in there anyway and that gives me the most room to work on the car.

I also received the transmition backup light connector from Summit, a battery charger for storing the car and a couple of fender blankets. Tomorrow the brake caliper guide pins and brake lines should be here. That will enable me to wrap up the complete suspension rebuild....

Then boredom will set in, I will have completed all steps that i can with the parts that i have...... With any luck i should receive the customs clearance this week, that's all that standing in my way of receiving my kit.

Steering Column

This was the connector that i was worried about blocking off. I took the time today to read the manual and found it mentioned well after the engine section under "gauges". Turns out there is a new sensor that comes with the kit that will thread in here.

I almost finished the steering column modifications today. I only had about an hour today to sneak out to the garage. The hardest part i found was the lack of proper tools, I don't own the torx sockets that were required or the steering wheel puller to get the pins out. I had to drive around town to even find someone that had a kit to sell. All the usual tool loan/rental places didn't carry them. I ended up getting a kit from partsource.ca who use to loan them out. I called ahead, he said they may have some to buy and when i got there he had found one of the old loaner sets on a back shelf. So now i have my very own steering wheel puller set.

The column disassemble went quick after that, following the manual instructions for the adjustable column. The instructions imply that once the collar is cut it should just slide off, mine took 10+ hits with a BFH and a metal chisel to pop off. I was very careful to only hit the portions that would be thrown away.

Only a few items left, I have to cut the outer rod ends, drill a few holes, then put it all back together.

And so it beings

I sent another letter to transport canada, this letter was responded to, they mentioned that the previous letter must have been lost.

Back to waiting an additional 2 weeks for customs paperwork. Arrrggg.

On the bright side the lift was shipped today and should be here in a few days. I guess its time for a dump run to clean out the garage.

Bought a lift

Another day of spending but not a lot of progress.

I bought the lift,

I bought the PG-055 transmission plug, fender covers, and a battery tender that i can wire into the car when its in storage.

and these lug nuts
http://www.sfxperformance.com/parts/GOR21133HT.htm

I have no less then 12 orders waiting to come in, unfortunately the parts i need first are the ones due to arrive last.... good news, every day i come home from work to a mini Christmas morning, bad news is no progress can be made on the suspension until guide pins and rubber boots arrive.

Dust Covers

Brakes are like new again

Finished 3 calipers this weekend, Just waiting on the last set of new guide pins to complete the last caliper.

I hope to have the whole suspension assembly together tomorrow. Then I will move on modifications on the steering column later this week.

I bought two new Raspberry PI version 2's (mini Computers). I was going to see if they have enough horse power to run a 3D model of a GTM, even if they don't I could pre-render the animations as the PI has 1080p video rendering on chip. I plan to have one run an LCD gauge cluster, the other will run an LCD in the center console (hope to fit a 10" touch screen). I plan for this to run everything from AC/Heat controls, engine start stop, doors, etc.

I also purchased a double din Android deck that plays DVD's, supports navigation, hands free audio, digital radio, digital TV Tuner, Cellular internet, etc..... don't think I will end up using it in the car, might end up putting it into my GMC Sierra if the Raspberry PI setup ends up working for the GTM.

Wife gave me the go to buy a lift for the garage. Currently looking at this one,
http://www.costco.ca/Dannmar-MaxJax%...=10302&refine=
Its big enough to lift my truck or my van and tall enough to not hit the roof.

Tomorrow will mark exactly 2 weeks since filing my paperwork with transport Canada, still no reply from them and nothing in the mail. Hope to get something soon so the GTM can be shipped.

Brakes are almost done

started painting the last of the suspension components.

The ABS sensor connector brackets (grey) had to be sanded down completely as the paint would just flake off. Grey engine paint was used to respray, black brake paint was used for the ebrake mounting plates.

Started putting everything together with brake lube

Hardest part was getting the seals around pistons to seat properly, one how-to i watched showed the seals being pressed in on the piston however they don't seat properly that way. The best approach is to put the seal into place with a little brake lube to keep it stuck in there. Then lube up the piston and slide it into the boot, jam a few pieces of scrap wood in front of the piston to lock the piston into the inner seal. now use some compressed air to inflate the seal from the hydraulic hose inlet. This causes the boot to inflate and seat into both the piston groove and the inner groove. Now just repeat that 5 more times.

I also sanded the red paint of the corvette logo's on the calipers so they stand out. I really like the Corvette logos, decided to keep them.

Parts, Parts, Parts

So been a few days without a real status update.

• Put another coat of red/black paint on the brake parts (this stuff takes forever to dry and goes on really thick)
• Last of the ball joints came in the mail, they will be in the A arms and knuckles tomorrow
• finally had a chance to pick up the pieces to reassemble the parking brake.
• Decided i that i may as well replace a few more parts that are not broken... bought new flexible brake lines for all 4 corners, bought new guide pins and guide pin boots. (easy to replace while its all apart harder to replace later so why not)

I will have time to get the parts all assembled this weekend.

GTM Status Update

If you reading this message and you are planning on a GTM build using donor parts you might want to reconsider. I have been looking at the prices on rock auto and cost all in after buying new ball joints, brake pads, rotors, brake rebuild kits, new brake lines, cleaning chemicals, and paint is really close to buying new. (off rock auto website)

I would still clear coat all the parts even if i bought them new.

Here are the items i am waiting on still
1) brake rebuild kits
2) 6 of the ball joints
3) brake line bending tool
4) new flexible brake lines
5) Paperwork from Transport Canada to import the kit with.
6) Canadian GTM Kit
7) FF GTM kit

Items left to work on while waiting
1) Make the engine sparkle (cleaner/ paint)
2) Mount the new clutch i bought
3) Finish painting brakes (this high temp brake paint takes FOREVER to dry)
4) Clean the garage!

Items i still need to order
1) Lug nuts (man these are expensive.... $75 was the cheapest i found so far)
2) Transaxel (mendeola)
3) Toyota short throw shifter http://www.twmperformance.com/shorts...rtshifters.htm
4) Body mods from Vspeed...
5) Exhaust from Vspeed...
6) Move Rivets (I hear the kit doesn't come with enough)
7) Air powered rivet guns (totally worth it)

The only other news is that i found a home for the body while i work on the go-Kart. Its all the way across town but it can sit in someone elses garage so it doesn't get in the way.

More Possibilities

So last night i did a little more research on the car PC idea, I can write the whole thing in the unity 3D gaming engine. (Software is free for 30 days, then i could just install it on another PC :-))

Pros

• Gaming engine is easy to use (and can be scripted in 3 programing languages that i know)
• It supports sound (play stop ff rew) so adding MP3 player functionality would be easy
• Supports Video textures, so i could have a DVD player/ movie player app. Can also work with 3D so you could do cool animations like flying into the car and zooming into the 3D representation of the touch screen while loading the movie.
• has an easy API
• Has EQ functionality built right in, so i could have a multiband EQ
• Supports Webcams
• Someone wrote a NAV system already and offers the code for $65. its capable of using maps downloaded from Bing/Google/Garmin etc and support downloading of traffic data from the internet https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/13261
• Could easily connect to the internet via a tethered cell phone or cellular USB stick.

Using the Unity API I could

• Integrate to my ODB2 adapter
• Integrate to my TPMS sensors
• Start the car (using microprocessor)
• Lock or unlock the doors (using microprocessor
• See the status of door locks, doors opening, hood opening, etc
• Using a microprocessor there is nothing that i couldn't monitor (gforce, hood open, door open, battery draw, suspension compression, etc)

Unity is also multi platform which means this code would work on a PC, IOS, Blackberry or and Android tablet/phone (although ODB2/TPMs/remote start/Door Unlock would have to be done via HTTP or TCP if i don't use a PC). So if i want a low voltage, instant on for say the gauge cluster in the dash i could use a hacked up android tablet or IPad.

If I do integrate the ODB2 adapter (i have a few Bluetooth ones lying around) I could have MPG, Average speed, RPM, Engine Temp, etc all available. If I use a PC instead of an IPAD i could run two displays, one touch screen in the center console and the other as the main gauge cluster. Using a 3D engine would allow me to have the gauges fly in when starting the car or drip in like a thick fluid from the top, etc. It would be easy to add virtual tire temp lights that could indicate when the tires were warm enough to take a quick corner, or add a G sensor that could indicate on a dial how close you are to spinning out.

The PC could also easily do data logging taking the information from the ABS sensors, ODB2, and TPMS and streaming them to a database on a USB key for later playback.

I could create a virtual drag racing tree that could measure reaction time (using ODB2 of the brake/gas pedals) and 0-60 as well as quarter mile times based of the odometer or ABS sensor data.

Hell you could even cheat a drag racing by using the webcam on the front of the car. Write some code to have it recognize the tree at the drag strip, when the light yellow it starts to increase the RPM past what the brakes can hold, when the light goes green it could use a solenoid to release the brake for you. Coupled with launch control you could dial in its ability to cross the start line at the precise ms that the light goes green. (I'm sure there are rules against this)

I will think about it some more but I'm sure I will be putting in all these systems while i build the car. I may leave the programing portions until after the car is finished. It will give me a fun project moving forward with the car. Something i can continue to improve upon and add features to.