^ Very cool... again... how do you service the front of the motor?

 

Porsche hasn't been DIY-friendly since the first mid-engine Gmund car built in 1948-50. The 914/6 required the tech to pull the motor to adjust the valves [every 6000 miles]. That'll be 8 hours labor please. Of course, after two or three valve adjustments the techs figured out how to do the job with no engine pull in about 90 minutes. Cha-ching! That'll be eight hours labor please!

I was told that the reason there are so many Ferraris sold at 29k miles is because the 30k rips your wallet out of your pocket by going through your digestive system to get to it. Something like $5000 worth.

No thanks.

Garibaldi

 

Shrug... there's some body-off photos here:
http://www.kitcarmag.com/featuredveh.../photo_01.html

but it doesn't really answer your question. I'd bet you have to pull it...


One thing I also notice from this pic is that the cats are dang close to the boot on the drive shaft... that's alot of heat on those suckers.




Another great site with tons of pics. There's ZERO room in front, so I'm guessing you have to pull it...

http://www.gtmmotorsports.com/gtmbuild.htm

 

I think this FF car is a really cool car for a VERY limited number of buyers, but dagon138 shows a lot of ignorance as to just what actually makes the vette such a great car. I wonder why he doesn't just buy a used NSX instead of a Z06 (maybe because it's actually SLOWER, just like every over rear/mid engine road car out there)

I actually HAVE driven many rear/mid engine cars including several dedicated open wheel race cars. My favorite (non-race car) mid engine of all time was the old Lotus Esprit Turbo. They really do handle differently from a well balanced front engine car (or front/mid as were refering to the vette), but the compromise for the street is something I would never want.

I really love the fact that I can pack up an entire weekend worth of luggage and head off on a trip WITH THE TOP DOWN. (Please check out the luggage space in any rear/mid engine car: almost nonexistant) I love the fact that I can work on the car without pulling the motor. I love the fact that it handles predictably on the rare occasion I get stuck in bad weather. And all of this with more performance than I could ever use on the street.

The guys at Corvette Engineering haven't "held back" on the vette. They looked at rear/mid engine configurations many times, and always come back with the same conclusion: Not a positive change!

As with all the other things dagon138 thinks GM did to make the car cheap, there really are reasons, and unlike most other GM vehicles, well thought out reasons. The current Z06 does have the right compromises, and would easily outsell the FF car (as neat as it is) if they were both produced side by side.

I love the idea of the FF, but as with all the Cobra kits I lust over, if I can only have one sports car in my garage, I'll keep my "compromised" vette.

PS. Sorry for participating in the hijakcing of this thread

 

WE MAKE ALL THE HEADERS AND EXHAUST FOR THOSE CARS. tHE CAR WAS AT OUR FACILITY FOR A FEW WEEKS. LET ME TELL YOU THE THING LOOKS BAD A$$

 

Headers??? I think my customer would like the extra torque in the mid range.

Randy

 

I'm not too keen on some of the rear detail but overall, that is one stunning car.

Oh and for whoever posted it, the Cayman is the coupe version of the Boxster and is most certainly mid-engined not rear-engined as the 911s are. But given how phenomenally well a 911 handles, it's a stupid argument.

 

Great looking car, it just looks to much like a Ford!

 

I have been building one of these for the past year. Very cool project. I have learned a lot about the 97 corvette. The corvette is a well engineered car for sure.
As for the question on engine access there is a Fiberglass cover that is on the interior bulkhead. Also there is a panel underneath that can be taken off. It is ok for access but you better be used to working in tight places. The A/C comp and alternator are a pain in the **** to get to.

You can view some of my build pictures at www.msexchangelab.com
I have not updated it in like 5mo so there are not recent pics. I am now about 80% complete. Should be getting back from paint this week.

 

? for tk1, i have been wanting to do one of these for a while, how bad is it to do the interior panel drilling and riveting. and is the 35k price accurate?

badass car though.

 

The interior panels are the easy part. Still time consuming since you have to drill lots of 1/8 holes for the rivets but the process is not hard. The rivnuts are not that bad either that hold down misc interior trim.

As for the price you can probably get away with 40 -45k on the cheap and watching your $$ and doing paint and body work yourself.
As in any project there are the little things that nickel and dime you to death.
This is my first build so I spent money were it was not needed. Like cable shift, new speartech harness, dress up items, lots of tools since I had none.
20K kit
1500 shipping
8K donor
-1500 left over vette shell
650 cable shift
4.5K tranny
1200 Speartech harness and PCM
400 on engine rebuild kit
9K paint/body
600 stereo
3200 wheels/tires
1500 on tools
1000 misc crap
700 EFILIVE
I would not plan on using a 97-98 PCM due to VATS issues. Other parts on that year are fine.

 

ok thanks for the info, do the interior panels come with guides for alignment. or is it juust in the directions or something?

 

There are directions and the panels have numbers. They line up with frame members which you rivet them to.

 

Hi TK1,
Very impressive effort. Hope they write a good how-to assembly manual
Looking forward to your final result. Good luck.

 

Amazing car.

 

thanks tk1, keep us posted

 

TK1, anything new on this? Has anyone else built one yet?

 

Bump.

 

I too have been also following this car for some time but will wait for the economy to pick up a little before I REALLY get out the checkbook.

It is also great to hear that someone makes some headers for this car so that you can release some extra ponies.

I love the look of the exhaust on this one. I have not seen this before and would suspect you did this for the pollution laws in California. I would think that this would also make for a better sounding exhaust. Any sound clips?

 

Yup, been following the GTM from FFive for a while, was planning to build the Cobra FF using a Mustang donnor back in 2000. But after test driving a C5 fell in love with it and the fact it was a finished product. Seen a couple of GTMs and love the body but the interior is not as fine as the outside. More geared for racing so be advised if your looking for a nice interior you will have to spend a few bucks to get it to even come close to a stock C5 or even C6 interior. I haven't seen one in leather yet, very rough and race ready.