Can Am: Time Line:

Page 1

sept 11th

I placed my order for part of the can am kit. Included in my order are the following parts:

STAGE 1 Chassis
STAGE 2 Alloy panel kit
STAGE 3 Pedal set, Master cylinders
STAGE 4 Wishbones, Front suspension upper and lower ball joints.
STAGE 5 Rear uprights, Rear toe in adjusters including rose joints and fixing bolts. Front uprights
STAGE 6 Front hubs and bearings, Rear hubs and bearings,Hand Brake lever and cables
STAGE 7 Brake line kit
STAGE 8 Steering column,Steering rack
STAGE 9 Cooling system
STAGE 10 Gear linkage, Center shift.
STAGE 11 Petrol tank left,
STAGE 13 Drive shafts
STAGE 14 Wiring loom
STAGE 15 Can-Am body
STAGE 16 Hinges and locks
STAGE 17 Canam windscreen and side screens

EXTRAS:

CHASSIS Roll cage single hoop
Alloy double skin kit
Gas strut kit for rear canopy
BODY Remove flash lines
Set of body grills in black anodized expanded alloy
Ultima electric door mirrors pair
Prefit body, hinges and catches
COCKPIT Steering wheel 320mm leather road
Steering wheel boss with deformable structure

ELECTRIC'S:

Side lights
Triple headlight kit
Relays and fuses.

WHEELS:

13" x 18" & 9" x 18" split rim set in polished alloy with billet centers

It seems like allot, but I am still short about 1/2 the parts I need. Still missing the following parts:

• Set of four Intrax shock
• GT spec mid mounted rear wing.
• Set of four 12.7" vented disc brake and calipers
• Pair of separate handbrake calipers
• Chevy 350 (I plan on going with a 383 stroker)
• Twin fuel pumps
• Accelerator cable kit with fixing brackets.
• Exhaust system for small block Chevrolet
• Oil cooler kit comprising 25 row cooler
• Silicon water hose kit.
• G50 transaxles or Getrag 6 speed Transaxles
• Transaxle invert kit comprising mountings and breather kit.
• Engine/transaxle adapter - Chevy/Porsche
• Clutch kit
• Porsche starter ring gear.
• Starter motors gear reduction type.
• Speedo sensor.
• Aluminum glass cloth canopy protection.
• Solid alloy gear knob.
• Seats + sliders
• Seat belts six point
• Pantograph wiper and washer kit.

• Battery cables / Battery race quality sealed / Battery fixing clamp.

• Instruments Ultima type, white faces. 200mph speedo, 7000rpm tach, oil pressure, water temperature, volt meter, gas gauge.
• Tires Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-Fiorano 335/30/ZR/18 (rear) + 235/35/ZR/18 (front)

It takes 8-12 weeks for the kit to be prepared for shipping and 2 weeks to ship over from the UK. I hope to have it by the first of the year.

sept 17th

I received my vin number from ted. Now this is starting to feel official. I also started talking to the MVA about titling the car for road use. I seems like getting the car on the road will be pretty easy. All I need are the following documents

• Certificate of origin from the manufacture
• Title for the frame from the manufacture
• all the receipts from every part on the car
• an MD state inspection
• Proof of insurance

Fee are as follows for Maryland

• 23 dollars for the title
• 76 for the tags
• 5% of the total vehicle build price for the tax

Emissions testing is still unknown. In MD you have to have your car pass emissions once every 2 years. I couldn't find anyone to give me an answer to whether or not the emissions laws apply to kit cars. I wanted to just drop a carberated 383 in the car but, I may need a fuel injected LS1 complete with cats. There is a big difference in cost and allot less power to be had going the EFI route, so I hope the car will be exempt.

sept 18th

I got a chance to talk to the "MD emissions kit car specialist". Very nice an knowledgeable guy. Unfortunately he brings bad news. At this moment kit cars (like cobras) have to pass emissions, most don't because they do not have cats. Currently the rules are pretty lack and they are allowed to register as show cars, with max yearly mileage restrictions. Basically you are only supposed to drive to shows and such. Unfortunately for me I will have to pass emissions standards for the year the car is finished 2004-2005. He said he has now idea what the requirements will be, but to expect them to be stricter and see most of the kit car loop holes removed. He told me my best bet was to buy a brand new Chevy engine from what ever year I finish the car and install it with all the stock emission equipment including cats. Looks like when I am ready for the engine I'll have to call back and see what the new rules are. The really throws a wrench in the cost planning.

sept 22th

I added some pictures from the build manual CD the factory sent me. They are scattered throughout the site.

oct 8th

I started gathering infomation from the EPA and DOT for importing kit cars. Click here to go to the EPA/DOT page.

oct 25th

The factory has finally stated to send me some pictures. Man I am exited. Even better they say the kit will be ready to ship in a week. That's about a month earlier than they originally estimated. Looks like I better get busy and build the car dolly.

(More pictures here)

I also went a head and added the following to my order

• second gas tank
• accel cable
• gear knob
• switches
• battery cable
• luggage compartments
  

oct 27th

Being that the car is arriving shortly I started construction of the frame dolly.

Here are the parts you will need: (bars are 2x2 box steel. 11g 1/8", plates are 1/4")

• 87" (3 of them)
• 16.5" (4 of them)
• 22" (4 of them)
• 4.5" (4 of them)
• 4x4" (4 of them)
• 2.5x2" (4 of them)
• 2 wheel with brakes
• 2 wheels without brakes

I got the steel from a local metal yard for 96 dollars. The bars come in 24 foot long sections, so I had the yard cut them into 4 12 sections so I could get them home. I got the wheels from home depot for 40.

In progress pictures:

(More pictures here)

Nov 1st

Thanks to my friend brain's awesome weld work the dolly is done. To help keep it from rusting I painted it. It took 2 cans of brake clean to clean it off, one can of self etching primer and 3 coats (1 can each coat) of black spray paint. I also added some non slip rubber to the part of the dolly where chase will rest on so it doesn't move around or chip the powder coat on the frame. More good news, the factory said the car will be shipping out Monday or Tuesday.

(More pictures here)

Nov 6th

More pictures from the factory. Ted said it will take about 4-6 weeks for the car to ship from the UK to the US. Madey making the dolly so early wasn't a great idea. At least I have more time to prepare the garage.

(More pictures here)

Nov 22nd

Nothing exciting to report. I went out and picked up some tools I though I may need for the build. I got a Craftsman 15 in.drill Press from sears for drilling hole in the alloy panels. I also picked up a air powered rivit gun and an Air nibbler from eastwood company.

Dec 2nd

Not really wanting to build the car in my own garage I did some looking around for a place to rent. Turns out some close friends of mine where thinking about renting a local 3 bay garage to start up a motorcycle repair shop. The shop is only about 15 minutes from my house, you can't beat that. After some negotiating I manage to secure 1.5 bays of the shop to build my car. It's probably about the same amount of space I have at my place, but theirs is temperature controlled. This will also give me a chance to be away from home and all the distractions when working on the car. It raises the build cost a little but I can always move back to working at my place if needed.

Dec 12th

Just received news from the factory that my car will arrive in Baltimore on Jan 3rd. Man that seems so far away right now.

Jan 10th

Went down to the shipping yard today to bring home the car, only to find out the crate was 2 inches wider than my car trailer. Now I have to wait till Monday to have it delivered. Be sure to check out the import page for info on the importing process. Also check out the cost page to find out how much the "free shipping" actually costs.

Jan 13th

Turns out the shipping yard couldn't deliver the crate. They could get it to my house but couldn't get it off the truck due to the weight. I did some calling around and turns out the cheapest way to have it delivered was a flat bed tow truck. Shipping yard just slide the crate onto the flat bed, we strapped it down and off it went. When we got to my house the driver tilted the truck bed as much as he could, but would not slide off the bed. We ended up hooking a chain to my pickup and slowly dragging it off the tow truck bed. In the end it's here and undamaged so all is good. Unpacking the crate is pretty strait forward. Just be aware you have allot of wood to get rid of. I filled my Nissan pickup up and still had to make 3 trips to the local dump.

(More pictures here)

Jan 19th

Tonight is the first night I really got to work on the car. The first step is to remove all the body panels. It feels a little backwards to start a build by disassembling what the factory put together, but that's life.

Step 1: Remove the fire wall. Don't forget the sidepod studs that come up through the bottom.

Step 2: Remove windshield. There are 9 bolts in the bottom of it holding it down to the dash piece.

Step 3: Loosen the dash piece. Remove the rivets holding the side pods on. Lift the dash piece up enough to slide the side pod out from under it. I helps if you have a second person there to remove the side pod while you hold the dash up.

Step 4: Remove the doors. First loosen the screw holding the mirror post in place. You can not remove the mirror because of the wiring but this will give you some play to get the screws holding the door in place. Reach down in the door and loosen the 4 bolts holding the door on.

Step 5: Remove the dash piece. There you have it, the car is naked. Tomorrow we start with the alloy paneling.

Jan 20th

Before you start working on the alloy paneling it's best that you make a rivet template / jig. Using the jig will help you get a nice strait evenly spaced rivet line. Even if your jig is a little off at least you will be consistent and hopefully it will still look okay. I used a piece of aluminum. Holes are drilled 10 mm from one edge and 19mm from the other edge, spaced 30 mm apart. This is a perfect application for the drill press. Simple mark off you hole locations, hit each mark with a center punch and start drilling. After you drill all the holes be sure to deburr the holes.

Checking the rivet line with a laser level to see how strait they really are.

The first panel you do is the rear bulk head. You want to get the top of the panel level with the top of the rear frame pipe. I used a level and laid across the two sections of the frame, then I raised the panel till it was in line with the 2 frame rails. Home depo sells a nice cheap (1 dollar each) 2in clamp that is perfect for holding the panels in place. You will need to trim the top 2 corners to clear the welds. You will also need to remove material in the center bottom to clear the weld near the e brake. See below picture. I have been using an air nibbler for the bulk of the material removal then using files for finer removal.

Now it's time to drill the rivet holes. First find the center of the panel, has you will need to drill a vertical line of rivets down the center of the piece. Starting with the bottom edge mark you rivet line 10 mm up from the edge. Since my rivet jig is set to 10 mm all I need to do it clamp it on. Find the center and place a rivet there and work out to the sides. Once the jig is clamped on, take a center punch and mark all the holes.

Now place the panel on the drill press and drill out each hole. I placed a piece of cardboard on the drill press table to avoid scratching the alloy panel. The factory says to use a 3.3mm drill bit, being in the US a 3.3mm drill bit is a little hard to find. The best I could do was a 9/64 inch bit (3.57mm). I did drill a few test holes in a scrape piece of metal and tested the factory rivets with the 9/64 inch bit and everything fits fine. Once the holes are all drilled be sure to deburr them. Easiest way to to this is by using a larger drill bit from the other side. Now mark and drill the top rivet line. The rear frame pipe about 38mm, so half will be19mm. Mark and drill you rivet line 19mm down from the top of the panel. I screwed up and forgot to measure for the middle of the pipe and just drilled my rivets 10 mm from the top. I think it will still work but the rivets are no where near the center of the pipe. Well it's my first panel and my first mistake. Hopefully it will be hidden enough behind the seats if won't matter. Now place the panel back in place and mark off the holes for the ebrake. I used a laser level pointed through the cable holes to get and idea of there to drill. Drill a small hole first and see where it comes out on the back side. You need to be sure you drill it high enough to clear the bottom frame rail. My little hole came out just barley about the frame rail. Remove the panel and cut larger holes using a uni bit. I drilled them to 7/8, because the nut on the brake cable is 17mm. Next up is drilling of the gear linkage hole. The manual has a picture of the hole but no dimensions so I basically looked at there picture and guessed. I used a 1 1/4 inch hole saw bit. This is a little big considering the linkage shaft is only 19mm thick. I figured a slightly larger hole will give me a little more room for error.

Next panels to work on are the side panels. Starting with the drivers side panel. The first thing you should do is cut 5inches off the end of the panel. See below picture. You need to do this so you can assess the suspension bolts. 5inches is not enough material but it will allow you to get the panel in and out easily while trimming. You must remove material so the panel can clear the steering wheel support. I cut a piece of cardboard the same size as the panel and used this has a template. You also need to remove material in a few other places.

The passenger side panel also has several places where you need to remove material. Do to what can only be described has one huge a$$ weld bead I was forced to remove a lot of material from the passenger side panel in the corner near the rear bulk head. With out removing this material the panel would not fit nicely in the corner. Only problem is the gap is ugly. I may do a similar cut on the driver side just to make it look like it is supposed to be there. That's it for today, tomorrow I will get to riveting.

Jan 25th

After rushing to get more of the panel work done I made a few mistakes. At this point all three panels, rear, drivers, and passenger side panels all have mistakes. Being a little anal I have decided to order new ones from the factory and start over. The lesson of the day is don't rush and you won't make stupid mistakes. I also went ahead and sent out small samples of the alloy paneling to a anodizing shop to get some samples. I am having them send me black, blue, and chrome sample pieces. I also contacted some ceramic coating facilities to get estimates on having the radiator pipes coated. This will help insulate them and keep the heat from the coolant from entering the passenger compartment.

On to Feb 03 / Page 2