chelle

Mike, here ya go - another view like that... can see more of the nose and the hood hardware.. and also a pic of the "other" GTO that was parked across from us

Kenny, There probably is - or someone like Speedracer might have pics of how the latches went together. We just used the cvcc buttons and made our own internal mechanism. The one shown in the drawings wouldn't work for us as we cut out the entire doorskin around the original handle area. I machined a latch mechanism out of billet aluminum. I have some pics but no drawings of what I made but what I did will only work if you did the rest of the door the same way we did. Chelle

Kim's has the stock nissan 6 with a modified valvecover, but will be getting something else this winter... exactly what hasn't been decided.. She likes the rotary engines, I keep trying to convince her to go exotic with something like a maserati V8 or turbo rotary or something.. time will tell I'll post more- need to resize them Mario, it's raining here right now - but let us know

So last sunday we drove up to a car show at Lake Geneva, we pulled in in the red V12 car and Kim's white Alpha1 and asked where we needed to go find the replicar club that was supposed to be parked together. The gate crew was directing everyone down a road to the main grounds, but they told us to turn down a path through the woods to the showcase area roped off near the tents as there was another car "just like" the red car.. sure enough we pulled in and the ropes were lifted. We parked and sure enough - across the grass, mixed in among Bently's, a Limo that drove President Roosevelt and other ultra rare stuff was a 250 GTO... with 6 carbs and genuine 1961 engine... thought you might enjoy seeing a few pics

The MG buttons always seemed too large to me. Every honda dealer I checked with says the cvcc button is no longer available We ended up buying a bunch off ebay till we found enough in usable condition. It's a tedious solution but eventually pays off. The diagram I have.. located here: http://members.core.com/~blonnde/new/Ferrari-Door-Handle-Mechanism.jpg And if anyone comes across a bunch of perfect ones we will buy some Chelle

Well thanx guys.. hopefully this gives you ideas for your cars.. For now I'm on way to work but wanted too at least get some more pics up for you to be able to see what I did on our car. I'll edit the post later with comments to go with the pictures. I used .060 aluminum bent on a brake, glued and rivited in place. It doesn't interfere with either the rollbar or the rear strut brace. Steel could be welded in place, ifI had it to do again I would have done it before premanantly bonding the trunk crosspiece as it was a lot easier to work on things before it and the lid were in place. Last two pics are how I atached the interior material before putting in the back window. Chelle

I knew I had a pic of the modified hinge next - if you look through the bottom of the back window you'll se the aluminum bar (3/4" tube, 3/16" thick) across the inside. The screws holding the window trim across the bottom are about 2" long and go all the way through the aluminum tube to help hold down the trunk crosspiece. After that was all put together I attached the aluminum sheet that is the rear firewall. Hope this helps! Chelle

Hiya Glenn, We'll probably go for the Schrick cams at some point unless someone comes up with a better set .. we went with a AEM wideband controller/gauge.. think I'm gonna get another so we have one for each bank.. The exhaust uses the stock manifolds with 4 seperate stainless steel downpipes (1.75" ID) two on each side go into a 2.5" "Y" pipe that goes to a single glasspack on each, followed by a pair of Pacesetter resonator tips.. I had to modify the tips as they are on a "Y" pipe but where the two tips join the pipe gets really small. Because of that we cut the inlet off and welded our own to it Here's one of the setup screens on our computer... the Tec3r is pretty kewl.. though I wish we had gone for one of the really high end systems.. This has a ton of features, I just want more

Wow, the parts look great guys.. almost enough to get me to consider going that route.. I was figuring this winter maybe we would upgrade the whole front end to a tube frame, but with parts like this maybe we can keep the front sheetmetal, I was thinking we would go with 4 complete Strange struts with big brakes... I like azcarbum's strut assemblies, with all we spent on our car I do want to go with the best available parts Chelle

Thanx The hinge arm glassed in to the trunk lid would be too much of a pain to try to remove as it's part of the structure of the lid. I modified the pivot point to extend all the way across to add some stability. Also the curve of the cross piece doesn't match exactly the curve of the trunk lid.. it is curved slightly more than the trunk (probably to account for the weight of the trunk and rear glass. You are going to want some kind of underlying support to tie into - say a piece of square tube welded to the steel body. What I did was use the screws across the lower window trim to pull the center of the cross piece down enough that the contour of the crosspiece matched the contour of the lid At work but I'll get you a few pics later Chelle

LOL, thanx guys I'll get some driving video soon .. it's going out to get a pro to do the fuel mapping on a dyno soon - I'm tired of trying to tune it myself.. Brandon - I've had a lot of toys and sometimes our garage has strange visitors. We have a Lambo we restored and I've posted pics of some of the more fun ones.. the red 308 in that pic is the president of the midwest Ferrari Owners Club, and the non red one is a friend who also has a black 512 BBi... I like to kid him for trying to corner the market on non red ferrari's .. Here's a few pics of our garages and some of the visiting cars, some were ours, some were just on loan - and a couple were friends who were visiting.. buried in dust next to the lambo in the second pic is a RUF porsche 930 and a 911 convertible. Incidentally my goal is to get either a Miura, a countach, or a 355, my roomie wants to add a 308gtsi or a Vector.. lol, I told her Vectors are under 100k when they come up for sale for a reason.. unfortunately they never got to live up to their potential .. most are too expensive to maintain.. realistically about the best we are likely to get in the next year is a 308.. which honestly is a pretty good thing Chelle

I've done it... and agree instructions are sorely lacking. Personally I wasn't happy with the hinges and redesigned them. Short version of the install is bond the aluminum rectangles to the underside of the trunk cross piece. DON'T go cheap with the resin, get the slowest curing Epoxy resin you can. DO NOT use cheap polyester resin like you would find in an autoparts store. You are attaching what will be the pivot point for the trunk hinge, you don't want the crosspiece or hinge mounts seperating. Once you have the aluminum bar stock glassed into the crosspiece you need to mock things up. Remove the rear hatch and the struts that hold it open and discard or sell or whatever - you won't need them anymore. Set the trunklid on the car and slide the crosspiece into place. With the parts in place use a sharpie or similarto mark off where you are going to need to grind away the paint, I do mean grind the paintaway.. don't worry about some gouges in the metal from a grinder as the rougher the surface, the better the resin will stick. With the paint ground off you need to begin fitting the pieces to prep them to bond.Try to leave at LEAST a 3/16ths inch gap in front and behind the trunk lid. You can tape some shims made from woodscraps in the gap all around to help with placement. You'll have to grind away the edges of the crosspiece to make them thinner and hammer down the stock steel body a little where the crosspiece meets the sides of the car to allow the crosspiece to fit in it's place. Once you are happy with the fit of the crosspiece drill a couple holes in each side all the way through the crosspiece and body to allow you a way to hold the crosspiece on with screws while it cures (and while you are finishing the hinges). With the crosspiece in place sit inside the back of the car facing the trunk and look at where the hinges come close to the aluminum you glassed into the crosspiece. You'll have some pieces of 90 deg. angle in the parts he sent. they are going to get bolted to the aluminum and need to sit in a position that places them alongside the ends of the hinges. once you determine where they are going to go mark the underside of the crosspiece to establish where you're going to drill and tap the holes. Remove the crosspiece and drill and tap the holes (preferably with a drill press so you don't accidentally drill all the way through the crosspiece). Bolt the angle pieces on and screw the crosspiece back in place. With the angles in place you should be able to determine how much material needs to be cut from the bar attached to the trunk. The short pieces of tube get welded to the ends of the bar in a position that will allow a bolt to go through the angle and the tube and act as a hinge. once you are happy with the fit you can unbolt the trunklid from the "hinge" and permanantly bond the crosspiece to the body. After it completely cures remove the screws holding it in place and use body filler and maybe a little more fiberglass to blend it properly into the existing car. Remeber you sstill will have to build up the back corners of the original hatch area a little as the trunk lid has rounded edges. through all this don't be afraid to sand a little off the edges of the trunklid to make the lines straight. In "as shipped" condition the edge is usually a little off. Next you just need to make a pattern for a window, and a trunk latch Many people don't end up using any window trim, I made ours out of a single sheet of aluminum.. Hope this helped, Chelle

Thought some might like to see this - I know I have lots of pics of the car all over this site, but this is the first video I have captured Here's some video files I took the other day http://members.core.com/~blonnde/new/GTO-running1.avi http://members.core.com/~blonnde/new/GTO-running2.avi and here's a recent pic Chelle

I went ahead and added a wideband, now I kinda wish I had put one in all 4 downpipes might still do that tho I wouldn't regrind the cams either - but will likly go for the Schricks ones.. I don't have the specs either. I haven't talked to Jay in a long time - he's a great guy tho and I know he was talking about putting out a line of go-fast parts for these... in the mean time I'll get what I can out of this engine and keep eyes peeled for a new 760 v12 Here's some video files I took yesterday http://members.core.com/~blonnde/new/GTO-running1.avi http://members.core.com/~blonnde/new/GTO-running2.avi please right click and save the links to view Chelle

Thanx Racerx, Cold Fusion and Glenn Glenn, you are running a programmable ECU too? I'm thinking I need to switch the O2 sensor to a wideband with a controller, I REALLY wish the thing would stop fouling plugs.. and I wish someone would come out with more aggressive cams for the V12... You're right though - summer is ending - we need to start just having fun with it.. John, we're trying to get everything right for October to see if we can make the Run and Gun... try and give some of the Cobra's a run for their money.. I'm planning on the firstweekend in October getting a pro with a dyno to go over it. In the mean time I just want to get it running decent and do some more chassis tweaks.. Your project sounds fun Keep us informed on your progress ! Chelle

Thanx Mario- just let me know when you are in town - I'm in the far north burbs and you're welcome to come by and as long as it's not raining take a ride... word of warning - with right hand drive people sitting in the passenger seat kinda freak out a little not having a steering wheel and brake pedal in the left seat like they are used to lol I probably need to put a grab bar over there or something. Chelle

Wow - heavier than I would have guessed... thanx John Here's the most recent pic of the engine mods to our car.. hood is off again as we're trying to do fuel mapping.... tedious changing the plugs every couple hours trying to get it to run right... Chelle

Hiya Speedracer! Most wheel makers are going to tell you they don't want you to race with their wheels.. even makers of a lot of popular "race" wheels lol I have to admit the prospect of wheel failure scares the heck out of me - So far they have held up well, though a while back a last second lane change at over 100 (due to an idiot changing lanes in front of me) really felt like there was too much flex. I'm sure some of that was the front framerails flexing, but it did make me think maybe for a track event that either triple laced or alumiinum wheels would be a smart move. I see vintage racecars at the track on wire wheels all the time. All you can do is try to do a proper "pre-flight" inspection regularly on them. They won't usually fail all at once. If they are leaking down or squeaking, replace them or send them to Dayton to be restored. Not worth risking losing your car and life holding off fixing something like that. Well maintained wires are strong enough to put up with 5000 pound, bouncing lowriders .. as long as you maintain them and watch for signs of damage I don't see them coming apart without warning in a 2200-3000lb zcar with just a couple hundred horsepower Chelle

Zerrari.. lol Wow John - you know your stuff. This unit I have a a Tec3r, configured like the 6/12 would be. Typically the 6/12 would be sold to the Porsche guys with a dual plug 6 cyl. and yes, it fires 2 injectors at a time.. Motec is great but I had a hard time finding much info. Same with Haltec.. the "other" system I was talking about is straight out of Indy Racing and F1... EFI Technologies. They do have a system that has 12 injector outputs... it even has 2 Meg of storage for data logging. Also no cheap automotive connectors on it - it uses big military style locking connectors.. Here's some specs from their site: * Sequential injection for 12 injectors * 10 coil outputs * 22 analog inputs * 4 digital inputs (Hall or Magnetic) * 4 switch inputs * 4 Auxiliary control outputs l Dual internal NGK Lambda amplifiers * 2 PWM Control (wastegates) * Dual K-Type thermocouple inputs * DC motor driver * Dual Knock control * 2 MB internal data logger * 2 RS232 interfaces (115,200 kbaud) * 1 current loop interface * User-friendly software * 3D fuel and spark maps * All maps with adjustable breakpoints * Programmable sensor calibrations * Closed loop lambda control * Unique self-mapping software * Fuel and spark trims for each cylinder * 3D injection phase map * Sensor correction tables * Closed loop boost control (5 maps) * Shift without lift function * Pit lane speed limiter * ECU loadable with 2 calibrations * Adjustable internal logger sample rates OUTPUTS * 12 injector drives * 10 digital ignition outputs * Wastegate controls (2) * DC Motor * 4 Auxiliary outputs * Lambda heater control * Digital tach output * Data link to data logger * Expansion box interface DIGITAL INPUTS * Engine speed * Cam position * Front wheel speed * Rear wheel speed * Beacon * Switches (2) ANALOG INPUTS * Throttle, Battery, Airbox, ExBP, Air Temp, Water Temp, Oil Temp, G Box Temp, Fuel Press, Oil Press, Dual NGK, Beacon, Lateral G, ECU Temp, Vref, Mixture SW, Boost SW, Dual EGT, Dual Knock Their site is here: http://www.efitechnology.com/index.html The unit you want for our engines is the 4.0 race computer

Mason, you are more than welcome (as is anyone here) to contact me if you are in the Chicago area to see the cars John, Currently the injectors are stock. The Electromotive unit allows for me to fire the injector whenever and as long as I want. The stock BMW computer used to fire three injectors at a time. There was only 4 different pulses sent out for 12 injectors!! I may go with bigger injectors at some point - but at this time I'm sticking with the originals (they have been sent out and refreshed) What does the dummy engine weigh anyway?? I don't know anyone with any current dyno info either I'm pretty happy with the Electromotive. If cost had not been any concern I might have elected to go with the other system though - maybe in the future. It's a lot more suited to a 12. Zerrari, Thanx. The exhaust uses the 4 stock exhaust manifolds and then a custom setup with 4 glasspacks and 4 pace setter resonators.. kinda still a bit loud, but it is okay. The real wheel vents are just opened up about as much as possible with black 1/4" mesh screens to catch debris.. here's a pic from inside and outside. Veritech-z Thanx..The louvers really work with the look - and cool the engine compartment - to me it looks much better than the Ferrari 308GT4 in this regard .. and Miura... my all time favorite car.. I wanted the Shah's old blue SV... but prices have gotten really high on even a nice "S" Chelle

I like all kinds of different cars Mason... We still have the Lambo we restored.. it's a real Lambo..too