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

Steering column is now completed. Taped up the lower portion to throw a quick coat of black paint on it. I bought the motorized column, i read that it was harder to modify... truth be told it was really easy to complete the modifications and i think it will be a priceless feature for getting in and out of the car.

I have now completed everything I can before the kit arrives..... fingers crossed for customs paperwork....

In the meanwhile i plan on
-fixing the concrete in the garage
- putting up the last of the drywall around the outside edges
- getting the lift reinstalled
- maybe build a bigger work bench.
- Costco has a sale on garage cabinets.... tempting.
- I bought a jack shaft garage door opener and high lift kit so i can lift cars higher... that has to be installed.

Yesterday I pulled both my van and my truck into the garage to ensure that the mounting points were close enough to the car yet far enough away that the doors could still allow me to climb in and out. I might have got a little carried away and decided to see if the weight of my 6000 lb truck would be ok... I lifted the truck 2" off the ground and the concrete gave way. Pulled the rear anchors right out of the slab. (that's why i only raised it 2 inches, truck didn't have far to fall.)

So now to fixing the problem. I used a side grinder (big one) with a masonry blade and cut out a square that is 3" wider then the lift plate in all directions. The blade is round so i cant get all the way into the corners without making a mess. I then went to the hardware store and bought a 10lb sledge hammer and started to beat the crap out of the square. Unsurprisingly it came out pretty easy. This did leave a substantial amount of dust on everything in the garage, i put plastic over the engine so no concrete dust would enter the intake/exhaust ports.

Now that the holes are done you can see what happened. The builder started by putting Re-bar directly onto the ground (not elevated at all). It would appear that the re-bar sunk into the soil a little before a 2" concrete slab was poured. The re-bar was sunk into the ground so the concrete never touched it (it floats under the floor). Many years pass and the ground started to sink leaving the re-bar just below the slab and creating a void.

You can see all of the cracks in the slab in the photos... now i know why.

The thickest point is 2"... most of the slab is thinner...

So the plan is to first call a slab jacking company to come look, I would like them to pump their liquid concrete under the complete slab. I think it would be best to put the 6000PSI footings in first, then have them drill a series of 1" holes around the slab to pump in their mixture.

In other news I finished off the last of the brake assemblies now the the parts have arrived. I was side tracked with the concrete work but i should have the column done today or tomorrow.

So today was a crappy day in the garage...

These are the fasteners that attach the lift to the floor. They came with the lift. The lift manual requires a 4" thick concrete base, this is where the problem started.

I measured out a lift location to allow room to walk around and have the car in the center of the garage. I drilled the first 5/8" holes 2 inches deep as the manual states, still no problem. I grabbed the 7/8" bit and started to drill down to 4" and sure enough the slab is only 2.5" to 3" thick, that's not the worst part, under the slab is nothing but air for a solid 10". Its still not clear to me if the entire garage slab is floating 10" in the air but I did drill the other post in 10 feet away and ran into the exact same situation.

All signs point to the fact that my whole garage slab or at least a large % of it is not in contact with the ground.

you can kind of see the void under the slab in these photos. I have a truck that tops out at 6000Lbs, no way i trust this lift to lift the truck, or even my minivan....Hell knowing what i know now i think it may be only a short while before the slab cracks under the weight of vehicles parked on it.

Anyway, here is what it looks like mounted. To bad I cant use it to lift anything I care about. (That's my friend Robb in the picture, he was there to try the tears...)

My plan of attack now is to cut a 2'x2' hole where each post will be, stick my head down there to see how big the problem is. If the problem is fixable i can put a footing down and pour new concrete a few feet into the ground and then put the lift back with new anchors...

Now I have to rent a concrete saw 🙂

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.