Joel’s SL-C Build Thread

[Joel K]

This post covers the final install of the throttle body intake reversing elbow and air intake tube. The elbow design I came up with clears the frame without modification and is about 10” long.

The throttle body that attaches to the end of the elbow is not that light and I am concerned that vibration would apply torque on the elbow and may loosen the screws attaching it to the supercharger intake…

So decided to add a bracket at the throttle body end to provide better support of the elbow and attached throttle body. Decided to piggy back on one of the throttle body holes and an existing unused hole in the engine block. Here is a mock up out of AC duct sheet metal to get the bends down…

Used a MAP torch to heat up the aluminum and some wide pliers and made the first bend. Once secured I used a flat edge and marked where the second bend goes…

Was shocked I got the bend correct on the first pass. I am the Bracket-Meister! Used 1/8” x 1 1/4” aluminum…

Fits like a glove and adds significant strength to the install…

Bracket clears all the intercooler hoses…

Used some blue thread lock on the final elbow install and attached the custom intake tube. GM recommends a 6” straight section before the MAF and at least 10” distance from MAF to throttle body…

Nice pic from the rear of the car of the intake reversing elbow, custom intake tube, MAF sensor, and PCV inlet on the intake tube…

Close up from the passenger side…

Next up is to route the PCV hoses…

 

[Joel K]

This post covers connecting the PCV hoses. With the exception of the fuel filler hose all the hoses on the car are finished.

Big thanks to Ken Roberts for answering a bunch of questions and helping me figure out how to route the hoses for the install. My goal was to set up the system as though it was a stock C7 Corvette Z06. The tricky part is I chose a non GM Oil tank.

Because the Gen 5 LT4 PCV valve is internal to the engine, decided to not bother with a catch can. I can always install one at a later date and that would require swapping the PCV valve that has an external hose barb.

Here is a pic of the stock LT4 PCV setup…

This is the PCV routing with the Aviad Dry Sump Tank…

The LT4 requires some specialized quick connect fittings for a clean install. Although you can find quick connect fittings on eBay or other suppliers, but there were two fittings I couldn’t track down so purchased the GM PCV hoses and scavenged a few parts for the install. These were out of stock for a long time, but fortunately they just became available to order.

This is the driver side Z06 PCV tube assembly…

This is the passenger side PCV tube assembly…

Here is a list of all the fittings and parts ordered for the install:
Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) Hose GM PN #12670978 - Rockauto.com
Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) Hose GM PN #12670910 - Rockauto.com
Gates 3/8” 50 PSI Fuel/PCV Hose PN #27004 - Rockauto.com
Radium Engineering Adapter PN #20-1000-101010, Dual 10AN Swivel Banjo Fitting
Radium Engineering Adapter PN #20-1000-0810B, 90 Degree, 10mm Barb to -8AN ORB Swivel Banjo Fitting
Qty 2 - Summit Racing Fitting, Adapter, AN to Hose Barb, Straight, Aluminum, Black Anodized, -10 AN, 3/8 in. Hose Barb Fitting SUM-220774B
Vibrant Performance AN to Hose Barb Fittings 12016, 45 degree, Female -6 AN to 3/8 in. Hose Barb
Vibrant Performance O-Ring to AN Adapter Fittings 16816, Fitting, Straight, Male -6 AN to Male Straight Cut -12 AN with O-Ring, Aluminum

It seems like every step of the way there is always a challenge to overcome. Turned out one of the bungs on the oil tank had bad threads and I couldn’t install the 10AN Dual Banjo fitting. Actually stripped the Allen head banjo bolt. Ugh!

Had to use a 10AN tap and the threads cleaned up well. Then the fitting installed no problem…

Pic of the low profile Banjo fitting on the air intake. I really like these Radium fittings due to their compact size and quality. You can also see how nice that 45 degree quick connect fitting routes the driver side PCV tube…

Pic of all the connections to the sump tank…

Hoses run across the engine and attach to the intercooler manifold. This is as a neat an install as I could figure out…

Next up is the fuel filler hose…

 

[Joel K]

This post covers installing the fuel filler neck. Continuing the theme of making this an ODB2 emissions compliant build I need to insure the fuel cap seals up when performing something called an EVAP leak down test. Other builders have reported the supplied Sparco Cap can leak where the cap meets the fuel funnel so decided to incorporate a C7 Corvette cap-less fuel neck into the design.

Pic of the C7 cap-less neck…

The general design is to mount the cap-less neck to the rear bulkhead panel and fabricate a bezel which seals to the filler neck and attaches to the Sparco Aero Fuel Cap. This should prevent the fuel filler neck and hose from pulling away from the fuel tank in case of an accident where the body is ripped away from the chassis.

First step was to cut the 2” fuel hose elbow to size. I like to use a band clamp to guide the cutting knife and make a straight cut…

To save time, I had a friend design some parts in Fusion 360 and sendcutsend.com fabricated them…

Fabricated an offset 2” to 1” hose adapter to connect the 2” tube from the fuel tank to the 1” tube from the fuel filler neck. The offset helps the fuel filler neck and hose clear the AC compressor. As usual, every 1/4” helps…

Pic of the parts used to fabricate the assembly…

Fuel filler neck assembly will attach to the rear bulkhead. Had to figure out the right angle of the bracket. Used some modeling clay, then made an angled wood block, and lastly made it from aluminum…

Fuel filler neck will securely mount to the rear bulkhead to keep it in place in the event the rear body is pulled away from the chassis in an accident…

Needed to offset the neck placement in the bezel to center the fuel pump nozzle opening…

The cap-less fuel flap opening is nicely centered in the Sparco bezel…

Sparco Aero Cap clears the cap-less fuel filler neck…

Once the body is locked down I’ll mount the fuel filler neck to the rear builkhead. Not much room for error where the holes in the bulkhead need to be located…

 

[Will Campbell]

Really nice work!

 

[Joel K]

Really nice work!

Thanks Will, appreciate it.

 

[Joel K]

This post covers the trimming and install of the optional air deflector.

RCR provides an optional air deflector which directs hot radiator air out of the front compartment reducing heat soak into the front of the chassis. It also doubles as a wing adding front downforce at speed.

My guess is the deflector is made as tall and deep as possible to clear all sorts of stuff builders typically place in the front compartment. In my case I have the power brake booster and master cylinder with reservoir. Also have an electric vacuum pump for the power brakes and hydraulic pump for the front end lift.

To trim the deflector correctly I made two poster board patterns…

Trimmed up the panel without the brake booster master cylinder in place for initial fitment…

Had to remake the brake lines to clear the front of the air deflector…

Cut out access section to clear the master cylinder and reservoir…

Made a removable backing panel which closes up the air deflector around the master cylinder and reservoir. Fabricated a bracket to hold it place…

Nice fitment of the air deflector and backing panel in place. Also added side tabs(not shown) to the backing panel which will have some thin foam to seal it up…

Even though the heat deflector has a steep angle and sits close to the bottom of the fan shroud, you can see there is plenty of area for the air to travel over it and out the rear of the clam…

I love it when a plan comes together. I placed the AC dryer, reservoirs for the windshield washer, clutch, and front end lift on the sides to clear the deflector. This worked out well…

To further aid in moving the hot air out of the front compartment I’m going to install a heat extractor in the front clam. This is similar to what Allan does for his LT4 builds and it should do the trick…

Fitment is pretty good at this point, once the body is locked down I’ll adjust it if necessary. Very happy I was able to use this part considering all the components packed into the front compartment.


I think fitting the windshield and locking down the spider is next.

 

[Joel K]

The SLC front nose comes standard with a couple brackets with two quick release pins to secure the front clam to the splitter. It is simple, lightweight and effective. The only downside is that removing the front clam is a two person job.

RCR now offers an optional tilt nose hinge kit. It is beautifully machined and for those who do not want to fabricate their own hinge this is an excellent choice. This hinge was originally designed by Bob from Cleveland. He also collaborated with Scott Swartz and RCR made it available as an option.

I like the design of the RCR hinge so wanted mine to look similar. It gives the nose of the SLC the appearance of fangs which I think looks pretty cool.

Ken Roberts also made his own nose hinge and I like the way his hinge pivot was designed so I used that approach.

These are the supplies purchased…

1. 3/8x5x36” 6061 Aluminum Stock
2. 6659K244 - Oil-Embedded 841 Bronze Flanged Sleeve Bearing for 10 mm Shaft Diameter and 12 mm Housing ID, 12 mm Long - McMasterCarr
3. 90666A148 - Super-Corrosion-Resistant 316 Stainless Steel Socket Head Screw, Low-Profile, M10 x 1.5 mm Thread, 40 mm Long, Packs of 5 - McMasterCarr
4. 90453A116 - Low-Profile Nylon-Insert Locknuts, Zinc-Plated Low Strength Steel, M10 x 1.5 mm Thread Size, Packs of 5
5. 3/16 Aluminum Angle

First step was to make thick paper patterns and trace them onto the aluminum stock. I like to use a thin sharpie then cover the part with clear packing tape to preserve the sharpie line and prevent the jigsaw from marring the aluminum….

Once the pivot brackets were cut out, edges trimmed on the mill and corners sanded with a drum. Then pressed a bronze bushing into place with a vise…

Main brackets were tapped with M10 threads and uses a locknut to hold the pivot screw in place. This design allows you to adjust the tension so there is minimal play and smooth pivot movement. Used a copper crush washer between the main bracket and pivoting plate…

The pivot bolt also holds the front bracket mount to the splitter in place. A countersunk screw aligns the plate and the pivot bolt nut can be tightened up…

Last item to fabricate were the rear spacers. Had to make do without having a band saw to cut 1.75” thick aluminum block. My mill is very light duty and milling this section off would take 2-3 hours each side.

Or I could have made multiple .5” and .25” plates with a jigsaw, but always up for a challenge. So drilled a bunch of holes and used a hand hack saw to remove the chunk of the block…

Easily cut the chunk off with a hand hack saw…

Cleaned up the part with the mill and sanding drum. Finished spacers attached to brackets…

Will drill and tap the mounting holes once I’m ready to install the hinge. I’ll do that after the body is locked down and splitter installed. Will also lighten the bracket up by pocketing out some of the material. All in all this was about 30 hours of work…

Placed the hinges on the chassis to get a sense for how it would look. IMO looks great…

The body is neither totally plumb nor flat where it meets the hinge. I’ll either make a shim or build up the fiberglass in that area…

On install, I’ll also design how the struts attach to the nose. Not sure if I’ll follow the standard way of doing it. Stay tuned…

 

[Neil]

The SLC front nose comes standard with a couple brackets with two quick release pins to secure the front clam to the splitter. It is simple, lightweight and effective. The only downside is that removing the front clam is a two person job.

RCR now offers an optional tilt nose hinge kit. It is beautifully machined and for those who do not want to fabricate their own hinge this is an excellent choice. This hinge was originally designed by Bob from Cleveland. He also collaborated with Scott Swartz and RCR made it available as an option.

I like the design of the RCR hinge so wanted mine to look similar. It gives the nose of the SLC the appearance of fangs which I think looks pretty cool.

Ken Roberts also made his own nose hinge and I like the way his hinge pivot was designed so I used that approach.

These are the supplies purchased…

1. 3/8x5x36” 6061 Aluminum Stock
2. 6659K244 - Oil-Embedded 841 Bronze Flanged Sleeve Bearing for 10 mm Shaft Diameter and 12 mm Housing ID, 12 mm Long - McMasterCarr
3. 90666A148 - Super-Corrosion-Resistant 316 Stainless Steel Socket Head Screw, Low-Profile, M10 x 1.5 mm Thread, 40 mm Long, Packs of 5 - McMasterCarr
4. 90453A116 - Low-Profile Nylon-Insert Locknuts, Zinc-Plated Low Strength Steel, M10 x 1.5 mm Thread Size, Packs of 5
5. 3/16 Aluminum Angle

First step was to make thick paper patterns and trace them onto the aluminum stock. I like to use a thin sharpie then cover the part with clear packing tape to preserve the sharpie line and prevent the jigsaw from marring the aluminum….
View attachment 144785

Once the pivot brackets were cut out, edges trimmed on the mill and corners sanded with a drum. Then pressed a bronze bushing into place with a vice…
View attachment 144786

Main brackets were tapped with M10 threads and uses a locknut to hold the pivot screw in place. This design allows you to adjust the tension so there is minimal play and smooth pivot movement. Used a copper crush washer between the main bracket and pivoting plate…
View attachment 144787

The pivot bolt also holds the front bracket mount to the splitter in place. A countersunk screw aligns the plate and the pivot bolt nut can be tightened up…
View attachment 144788

Last item to fabricate were the rear spacers. Had to make do without having a band saw to cut 1.75” thick aluminum block. My mill is very light duty and milling this section off would take 2-3 hours each side.

Or I could have made multiple .5” and .25” plates with a jigsaw, but always up for a challenge. So drilled a bunch of holes and used a hand hack saw to remove the chunk of the block…
View attachment 144789

Easily cut the chunk off with a hand hack saw…
View attachment 144790

Cleaned up the part with the mill and sanding drum. Finished spacers attached to brackets…
View attachment 144791

Will drill and tap the mounting holes once I’m ready to install the hinge. I’ll do that after the body is locked down and splitter installed. Will also lighten the bracket up by pocketing out some of the material. All in all this was about 30 hours of work…
View attachment 144792

Placed the hinges on the chassis to get a sense for how it would look. IMO looks great…
View attachment 144793

The body is neither totally plumb nor flat where it meets the hinge. I’ll either make a shim or build up the fiberglass in that area…
View attachment 144794

On install, I’ll also design how the struts attach to the nose. Not sure if I’ll follow the standard way of doing it. Stay tuned…

Oil impregnated bronze bushings are often called "Oilite bushings".

 

[Rich Kruger]

Very Nice!

 

[Kyle]

You can do what I did and fill a ziplock bag with epoxy and cabosil or similar. Then sandwich the bag between the body and hinge. What you’re left with is a perfectly conforming epoxy piece. You can then trim as desired. The key is getting the right quantity of epoxy in the bag.

 

[Joel K]

You can do what I did and fill a ziplock bag with epoxy and cabosil or similar. Then sandwich the bag between the body and hinge. What you’re left with is a perfectly conforming epoxy piece. You can then trim as desired. The key is getting the right quantity of epoxy in the bag.

Thanks Kyle, great idea.

 

[Joel K]

Next up is installing the door lock hardware. This post will cover installing the bear claws. I’ll be leveraging a number of approaches previously documented by other builders, but for the sake of completeness I wanted to document this in my build thread as well.

Here is a short video on the process…

Ideally I’d like to have OEM functionality as follows:
1)External lock/unlock with use of actual keys, internal door lock slider, and key FOB
2)Bear claw release with use of external and internal door handle
3)Passive unlock with using key FOB when in range.

RCR provides Mazda Miata interior and exterior door handles. The locking cylinders are not provided, but can be ordered online. Here is the Mazda parts explosion diagram for the locking assembly. I’ll be using it for reference on how things are connected…

The first step is to cut out a section of the door to expose the inside door cavity to install the bear claws.

I masked the cutting line to prevent damage to the Gelcoat. Marked the line with a thin sharpie. Used a step drill to radius the corners and an oscillating tool to cut the panel out…

All cut out…

Now that there is access to the bear claw and exterior handle areas from inside the door these can be mounted. Made a template to cut out the slot for the bear claw unlock lever…

Used a Dremel 561 Multi Purpose Cutting Bit and cut out the slot in the fiberglass. It cuts the fiberglass while not cutting the template if you are careful…

Cut just enough to clear the bear claws levers…

Bear claw installed…

From behind the bear claws you can see the screws are now installed. If you’re not careful, it is easy to take too much material off considering the slot is close to two of the mounting holes…

Pic of the driver side. It definitely pays to be patient and not trim off too much material…

Lastly, trimmed the corners of each bear claw to clear the body as the doors swing down. This should be enough based on other pics of this modification I’ve seen…

At some point I’ll add a mounting plate to the bear claw like what Ken Roberts did.

 

[Joel K]

This post covers modifying and installing the exterior door handles. The modification enables a key cylinder to lock the handle and prevent the door from being opened.

Rumbles initially pioneered this mod then Cam T and Ken Roberts improved on it. I simply copied Ken’s improvements. Rumbles replaced the stock locking plate with a longer one which prevents the handle from pulling on the bear claw when in a locked position. Ken used a swiveling post to allow the spring to reliably rotate between the lock and unlock positions. Here is a pic of Rumbles original design…

Here is Cam T’s video on how it works…

These are the parts I ordered:
Qty 2 - PN 96376A590, 18-8 Stainless Steel Swivel Extension Spring Stud Anchor
M6 x 1 mm Thread Size, McMasterCarr
Qty 1 - PN 1942N239 Corrosion-Resistant Extension Springs with Hook Ends
Zinc-Plated, 1.5" Long, 0.25" OD, McMasterCarr
Qty 1 - PN 8983K115, Multipurpose 304 Stainless Steel Sheet
6" x 6", 0.06" Thick, McMasterCarr
Qty 1 - PN , Easy-to-Machine 304 Stainless Steel Rod
1/8" Diameter, 1 Foot Long, McMasterCarr

I first made a template out of sheet metal to figure out the shape of the plate and exactly where to drill the holes. Once the template was made I made a jig to transfer pilot holes accurately to the stainless sheet…

Made little metal rod ends out of the 1/8 stainless rod. Flatten one end with a hammer and drilled a small hole for the spring. Heated with a torch and easily bent a 90 angle. Pic of the completed assembly…

Now that the handles were modified next step is to install them in the doors. Here is a video on the process…

The first step was to create a paper template to figure out how much of the door handle cubby needs to be removed. I wanted to leave as much material as possible.

Here is a pic of the template. The idea is to install the handle without the locking plate. Then after the handle is secured the locking plate can be reinstalled…

You can see there are a number of impressions in the gelcoat which map to different areas on the bottom of the handle. The goal is to leave enough material for each mounting hole so it provides a strong base…

Pro-tip - The gelcoat applied to the cubby area is pretty thick and the area is both slightly shorter and narrower than the dimensions of the handle. Considering this you have to remove the gelcoat on the sides and ends.

On the passenger side I sanded off a bit at a time and test fit the handle until it bottomed out. The net-net is if you remove the gelcoat around the ends and next to the mounting posts the handles will drop in. Pic of the driver side where to sand…

Used some modeling clay to figure out where the locking plate mounting post is centered and drilled that out, also ground away a slot for the linkage lever. Now the handle will lay flat.

With the handle laying flat you can accurately locate the mounting studs. I used some very short pointed studs to get accurate impressions. Also removed additional material for the linkage. By reinstalling the linkage it becomes obvious where to cut. The area is now fully trimmed…

Secured the handle with a pair of low profile M6 screws. I needed to sand the bottom down slightly so the locking plate would clear the bottom of the fiberglass cubby.

It’s a little tricky to install the locking plate after the fact. You can keep the locking plate attached to the linkage and feed it through the cutout. Then install the plate on the spring and handle base.

The lock cylinder and arm easily clears the back of the door…

With the mounting screws tightened, the handle sits nice and flush to the body. I kept the rubber grommets in place to protect the body.

All in all pretty happy that I could install the handles and remove a minimum amount of material.

In a future post I’ll cover connecting the door handles to the bear claw and connecting power locks…

 

[Joel K]

This post covers the install of the interior door handles.

RCR provides a pair of Mazda Miata interior door handles. These handles can be used with or without the optional door panels. I purchased the optional door panels so needed to decide how to attach them.

The RCR build manual suggests to attach them to the door panels and connect the handles via a flexible cable to the bear claw. This allows you to remove the door panels with the handle still attached.

Ken and Dan took a different approach. They mounted the handles on the door surface. This allows you to use hard linkages and leave the handle in place and still be able to remove the door panels. This is the approach I took.

Here is a video on the process…

First step was to cut out the handle area on the door panel. Made a template for a 2” hole saw. Tested out the template on plywood to check it fit the Mazda handle covers. Then placed it on the doors…

The template worked great. The next step was to mount the door panels. I used Cleco fasteners for the time being. The panels fit really well. RCR did a great job trimming them. Pic of the door panel and template…

Now that the door panels are attached, the handles can be located. Mocked up a wood mounting plate to place the handle in the proper orientation to line up with the door panel openings. You can see the handle is not sitting flush with the door panels. The front of the handle is tilted down and top is tilted up…

Bent the back of the bracket slightly to level it. Then bent the rear tab down a little to lower the top. This was covered in some detail in the video. Now it lines up well with the door panel opening…

Also needed to bend the front tabs on the handle brackets to get it just right. The lower tab is bent down and the top tab is bent up. Used washer stacks to adjust the height of the handle…

Now that the mock-up is complete, made the actual mounting plates from an 1/8”x8”x8” aluminum sheet and standoffs from 3/4” aluminum rod. Keep in mind the door panels are not 100% symmetrical so the holes in the plates and the washer stack height vary from side to side. Pic of both mounting plates with handles attached…

To install the panel, drilled pilot holes and secured the handle plate in place with Cleco fasteners…

Then tapped the holes and used M5 screws threaded into the mounting plates…

Pic of handle lined up with the door panel opening…

Installed the door handle covers. Finishes off the handles really well…

Next up is to install the linkages.

 

[Joel K]

This post covers installing the door lock linkages and electric actuators.

This is the functionality I wanted to build into the system:
1)Use the key fob to electronically lock/unlock the doors
2)Use button on interior door panel to electronically lock/unlock the doors
3)Use the slider on the interior door handle to manually lock/unlock the doors
4)Use a physical key to Lock/unlock the doors

Here is a video on the process and showing how the locks work…

The design uses a bell crank to change the orientation of lock barrel arm linkage on each external door handle. Ken Roberts made backing plates for his door latches for added strength. I simply used his template and added a tab to mount the bell crank.

The lock cylinder barrel linkage arm rotates side to side. So inserting a 90 degree bell crank enables a front to back linkage to throw the lock barrel with the interior door slider…

To maintain the detent action of the door lock barrel, replaced the spring hook with a thin retaining plate. The retaining plate rotates as the lock barrel arm throws and is held in place with a 5/32” door rod clip for the linkage…

Here are some additional parts fabricated for the install. There is a 180 degree bell crank which connects the slider to the electric actuator, lock barrel linkage, and linkage to connects the two bell cranks…

Pic of the 90 degree bell crank connected to the lock barrel arm in the locked position. Notice the angle of the bell crank matches the angle of the lock barrel arm. This assembly works very smoothly with a nice detent created by the spring…

Pic of the 90 degree bell crank connected to the lock barrel arm in the unlocked position...

Now that the door lock linkage is done, next is to focus on using the door lock slider on the interior door handle. The lock slider is a bit sloppy and has a very short throw. In order to remove the slop and increase the throw I added a 180 degree bell crank on each interior door handle bracket.

The lock slider can be used to manually lock or unlock the doors, it also moves when the key or electric actuator is used to lock or unlock the doors…

Now that the slider can control the door locks, the last step is mounting the linear actuator. The actuator simply mounts under the door handle and connects to the bell crank…

Here is a pic of the original mock up. Used AC duct sheet metal, and 1/8” welding rod to get the design correct. It would be very difficult if not impossible to get this right on the first pass. I made two different 90 degree bell cranks and 3 different 180 degree bell cranks to get the throw correct…

Super psyched to have door locks with OEM functionality. Next step is installing the linkages for the door latch.

 

[Jon]

This post covers installing the door lock linkages and electric actuators.

This is the functionality I wanted to build into the system:
1)Use the key fob to electronically lock/unlock the doors
2)Use button on interior door panel to electronically lock/unlock the doors
3)Use the slider on the interior door handle to manually lock/unlock the doors
4)Use a physical key to Lock/unlock the doors

Here is a video on the process and showing how the locks work…

The design uses a bell crank to change the orientation of lock barrel arm linkage on each external door handle. Ken Roberts made backing plates for his door latches for added strength. I simply used his template and added a tab to mount the bell crank.

The lock cylinder barrel linkage arm rotates side to side. So inserting a 90 degree bell crank enables a front to back linkage to throw the lock barrel with the interior door slider…
View attachment 145781

To maintain the detent action of the door lock barrel, replaced the spring hook with a thin retaining plate. The retaining plate rotates as the lock barrel arm throws and is held in place with a 5/32” door rod clip for the linkage…
View attachment 145782

Here are some additional parts fabricated for the install. There is a 180 degree bell crank which connects the slider to the electric actuator, lock barrel linkage, and linkage to connects the two bell cranks…
View attachment 145783

Pic of the 90 degree bell crank connected to the lock barrel arm in the locked position. Notice the angle of the bell crank matches the angle of the lock barrel arm. This assembly works very smoothly with a nice detent created by the spring…
View attachment 145784

Pic of the 90 degree bell crank connected to the lock barrel arm in the unlocked position...
View attachment 145785

Now that the door lock linkage is done, next is to focus on using the door lock slider on the interior door handle. The lock slider is a bit sloppy and has a very short throw. In order to remove the slop and increase the throw I added a 180 degree bell crank on each interior door handle bracket.

The lock slider can be used to manually lock or unlock the doors, it also moves when the key or electric actuator is used to lock or unlock the doors…
View attachment 145786

Now that the slider can control the door locks, the last step is mounting the linear actuator. The actuator simply mounts under the door handle and connects to the bell crank…
View attachment 145787

Here is a pic of the original mock up. Used AC duct sheet metal, and 1/8” welding rod to get the design correct. It would be very difficult if not impossible to get this right on the first pass. I made two different 90 degree bell cranks and 3 different 180 degree bell cranks to get the throw correct…
View attachment 145788

Super psyched to have door locks with OEM functionality. Next step is installing the linkages for the door latch.

Impressive, as always!

 

[Joel K]

This post covers connecting the door latch bell crank to the interior and exterior door handles. This is the last step in finishing the door locks and handles.

This is the functionality I wanted to build into the system:

1)Design a flexible linkage so when opening the doors with the interior handle there is some give so the plastic interior handle won’t get damaged if opened to the limit of the latch.
2)Allow the interior door handles to open the doors regardless if the exterior handle is locked or unlocked. This is a safety feature to prevent locking yourself in the car in case the lock linkage malfunctions

Here is a video showing how the linkages are installed and work…

The interior linkage is made out of 1/8” stainless rod. This rod fits the door clips that comes with the interior handles. The bend adds some flex and aligns the rod with the bell crank on the door latch…

Pic of the linkage installed…

Now for the exterior door handle linkage. The door handle linkage needs to incorporate a slider or some way of preventing the exterior door handles to articulate when pulling the interior door handle. This way, if the exterior handle is locked you can still open the door from the inside.

Some builders use a cable so there is slack created in the cable when the interior handle is pulled. Others use some type of linkage slider which pulls but doesn’t push when the interior handle is pulled.

I decided to scavenge the sliders that came with the Mazda handles. It is heavy duty and has a nice smooth sliding and tilting capability. It is fastened to the factory bell crank with a rivet, so ground that out and scavenged the nylon bushing, washer and spring. This setup allows the linkage to tilt allowing for a decent amount of misalignment…

Pic of the slider in place, it needs to be shortened to attach it to the exterior handle lock lever…

Cut the threaded end off and used an M6 x 1 die to create a shortened threaded rod.

The way the rod was formed in production, it was squared off on the sides and was a little too thin for an M6 die to make proper threads. So ground the rod round down to about 4.9 mm so an M5 die would work properly…

Used an M5 rod end which attaches the slider linkage to the exterior door handle lever…

The exterior door rod linkage is installed and fits well.

Pic of interior handle pulled with the slider preventing the exterior handle lock lever to articulate…

Pic of the exterior handle pulled to unlock the door latch. Should be solid and reliable…

Well, that was a lot of work, but well worth it. I was able to achieve full OEM door lock functionality. Boo-yah!

 

[Jon]

This post covers connecting the door latch bell crank to the interior and exterior door handles. This is the last step in finishing the door locks and handles.

This is the functionality I wanted to build into the system:

1)Design a flexible linkage so when opening the doors with the interior handle there is some give so the plastic interior handle won’t get damaged if opened to the limit of the latch.
2)Allow the interior door handles to open the doors regardless if the exterior handle is locked or unlocked. This is a safety feature to prevent locking yourself in the car in case the lock linkage malfunctions

Here is a video showing how the linkages are installed and work…

The interior linkage is made out of 1/8” stainless rod. This rod fits the door clips that comes with the interior handles. The bend adds some flex and aligns the rod with the bell crank on the door latch…
View attachment 145950

Pic of the linkage installed…
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Now for the exterior door handle linkage. The door handle linkage needs to incorporate a slider or some way of preventing the exterior door handles to articulate when pulling the interior door handle. This way, if the exterior handle is locked you can still open the door from the inside.

Some builders use a cable so there is slack created in the cable when the interior handle is pulled. Others use some type of linkage slider which pulls but doesn’t push when the interior handle is pulled.

I decided to scavenge the sliders that came with the Mazda handles. It is heavy duty and has a nice smooth sliding and tilting capability. It is fastened to the factory bell crank with a rivet, so ground that out and scavenged the nylon bushing, washer and spring. This setup allows the linkage to tilt allowing for a decent amount of misalignment…
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Pic of the slider in place, it needs to be shortened to attach it to the exterior handle lock lever…
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Cut the threaded end off and used an M6 x .8 die to create a shortened threaded rod.
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The way the rod was formed in production, it was squared off on the sides and was a little too thin for an M6 die to make proper threads. So ground the rod round down to about 4.9 mm so an M5 die would work properly. Used an M5 rod end which attaches the slider linkage to the exterior door handle lever…
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The exterior door rod linkage is installed and fits well.
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Pic of interior handle pulled with the slider preventing the exterior handle lock lever to articulate…
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Pic of the exterior handle pulled to unlock the door latch. Should be solid and reliable…
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Well, that was a lot of work, but well worth it. I was able to achieve full OEM door lock functionality. Boo-yah!

“This will be another riveting episode” lol. Nice work!

 

[Joel K]

Before the fuel filler neck could be mounted to the rear bulkhead, the top of the spider needed to be locked down. Also, In previous posts I already set ride height and centered the wheels in the wheel wells so it’s a good time to locate the mounting points for the spider.

Planning to mount the spider in these locations. Under the A and B pillars and at the front of the chassis…

RCR did mount the interior tub, front right corner, and rear shoulders of the spider on the chassis. Unfortunately, the mounting position of the interior tub and rear shoulders were off so this needed to be redone. Back on post #161 and #321 I centered the body and locked down the interior tub.

Most builders use a washer stack under the body and screw the body into the chassis. I came up with an approach which would allow me a do-over in case I got it wrong.

Decided to use mounting blocks on the chassis. Then attach the spider to the mounting blocks. In case I needed to move a mounting hole, just weld up the hole in the block and move the hole accordingly. I don’t trust my welding skills to weld directly on the chassis, also at this point I have a bunch of stuff attached to the chassis so the mounting block approach seemed good.

First up are the blocks that sit under the B-pillars. These are 3/8”x2.5”x3.5” making a nice wide area to mount the body. I determined the proper height of the block is when the bottom of the spider just touches the chassis pan…

Installed the ceiling panel which helps hold the b-pillar area in place. Double checked the centering of the body with the tail and nose on. Once the rear clam was on and centered I marked the body relative to the interior tub to accurately duplicate its location when drilling the body mounting holes. Pic of the passenger side…

Rear Clam is nicely centered over the wheels and diffuser…

Next up, these are the mounting locations for the front of the spider. Also picked a flat area of the spider that is parallel to the chassis. These blocks are 2”x3”x.75”…

Pic of the front forward body locked down. I’m using a gas strut ball end to lock the body down. The threaded hole doubles as a mounting location for the nose hinge gas strut and to lock the body down. I’m using a little shorter gas strut than the factory hinge. More detail on finding the correct location will be covered in a future post…

Used the same approach at the a-pillar area. This area is parallel to the chassis shoulder so makes a good spot to secure the body. These blocks are 2”x3”x.5”…

Had the front clam in place when I drilled the holes in the fiberglass…

Lastly, I put the windshield in place to make sure the height of the front blocks were good and kept the windshield frame from distorting. Wanted to make sure the bottom front edge and the top center edge fitment of the windshield was good…

I’ll cover the windshield fitment and install in a future post. There are some other fitment issues I’ll need to tackle.

For now, glad the body is locked down! Next step is to add the fuel filler neck to the rear bulkhead and make the cooling tube close out panels.

 

[Joel K]

I figured this may be useful to other builders if their lower chassis pans are warped like mine.

The driver’s side of the lower chassis pan was warped probably due to welding. I wanted to straighten it out as best I could before I do the final install of the cooling tubes. Pic of the gap between the body and chassis pan…

I made a tool out of some scrap metal. The tool acts as a brake and bends the chassis pan in place. I sandwiched the chassis pan between two thick plates of aluminum and attached a lever to apply enough force to bend the metal…

I figured I could use a jack to apply a bunch of force to the tool if required, but a good pull up by hand did the trick…

Fine tuned it a bit and put the body in place. Very happy with the results…