Weekend GTM Work
I started off this weekend by mounting the passenger seat, I cut some triangle pieces of metal to give me something solid to bolt the seat to.
I welded the nut to the metal seat bracket so i can detach the seats easily without finding a way to get a wrench wedged under the seat
At this point i drained and pulled out the fuel tank and started to dry run the tunnel aluminum into place. This is where i rean into my first problem. With the aluminum in place the parking break wont move. It turned out that i had to remove the wire from the bottom of the boot so it would move easier, then bend the parking brake handle toward the passenger side.
gotta love clecos
painted the metal triangles that i had welded in.
I then riveted in the floor aluminum on both sides as it became evident that this piece has to be in before the tunnel aluminum.
I cut a piece of metal to fit in the factory fuse box location. I then tapped in holes to mount the fan relays, fan relays and engine harness relays. I then primed and painted the plate and the seat brackets.
I bought this on Aliexpress, it came today. It holds 8 relays and easily panel mounts. I will be using this for the lock/unlock, headlights, fog lights, hazard lights, etc.
I have had this tap and die set for years and finally got to use it. After welding on the nuts the bolts started to foul where the hit the metal brackets, Chased the threads and cut the last few and all was well.
my old makita grinder finally let out the magical smoke, so i went out and bought another one used for $60... was still in the box. Makita makes some solid tools, my last grinder was at least 20 years old.
Everything mocked up now (had to come off one more time for silicone. After this i removed all of the aluminum from the tunnel, made a wiring harness for the AC compressor complete with an ECU wire and put it all into split loom with heat shrink on the ends. I then attached both of the front mounted Vintage Air vent lines to the Vintage air unit. It was at this point that i noticed that the vintage air electrical unit on top was mounted so tight to the aluminum panel that the connectors would not fit.
Here you can see how i moved the Vintage Air electrical box. It was a pain in the *** to move as the screws were not not accessable. This one is on me, i should have noticed when i was mounting the foot box aluminum that i was blocking both the electrical connections and the mounting screws. I used a pair of needle nose channel locks to spin the screws out slowly from the top then bent the ends of the bracket out so i could mount it on the vertical aluminum on the passenger footwell. I also mounted a piece of rubber to the bottom of the control unit so it mounted tightly without it being able to vibrate when the car moves.
Time to hit the other side, i removed the driver seat, floor, gas tank, etc. I also had to move some wiring harnesses that i stupidly put though the frame where the aluminum needed to mount.
Before closing up the tunnel i drilled in 4 rivnuts and mounted the coolant lines as secure as possible.
This is where i stopped taking photos but i did get some more stuff completed.
- I mounted the small piece of aluminum to the passenger side foot well at the top and sealed all the holes
- mounted all of the tunnel aluminum with sealant and rivets
- Riveted on the AC compressor cover.
- Mounted the front aluminum piece that mounts beside the master cylinders
So here is my updated list
- Mount the ODB2 connector by the steering wheel (to the square tubing between the console and the column
- My engine harness has a fuse block of 5 fuses... needs a place to live under the dash.
- move the fuel pump filter to make room for the dual FF cold air intake.
- finish off the wiring and test it all out
- Weld nuts to the drivers seat brackets + paint black (so i don't need two wrenches to remove the seats)
- finish the tunnel aluminum
- finish bolting AC accumulator together (pressure test it)
- Add the drain line to the AC unit and route it out the bottom
- Wrap the headers
- cut the holes in the top aluminum for the AC vent ducts
- put safety wire on the rear axle bolts again (removed a while ago to fix something)
- Mount the horn
- make a bracket to support the Kooks exhaust
- install the fuel tank vents + roll over valves
- Install the fuel pump controller
And here are the 4 items i finished after my 18 hours in the garage.
- mount the passenger seat (driver side required some welding, i will do the same to the other side)
- rivet in the front piece of aluminum above the AC unit.
- Add the small piece of aluminum in the top of the passenger foot well
- make a metal plate to fill the factory fuse panel hole in the back. Then mount the fan fuses and relays to it
as i type this my fingers can barely move, drilling holes and putting in a few hundred rivets is really hard on the hands.
but i loved every minute of it.
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