Ken's SLC build thread

[Ken Roberts]

One last note about the steering column. The front and rear mounts are not on the same plane. I received four spacers that were the same height. If you tighten it up with the supplied spacers you will be stressing the mounting nuts/bolts and the mounting flanges due to the misalignment. I made my rear bolt spacers 5/16" longer than the front.

 

[Ken Roberts]

Here is before and after pictures. The old springs were 7" 650lbs. The newer springs are 8" 750lbs.

 

[Ken Roberts]

Finally finished construction of the handbrake system. I boxed in the handbrake lever to make it more production like. There is ample space on it for a couple of switches if I run out of room on the dash. It can be unbolted easily for maintenance if required.

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

The steering column has now changed due to the XLR ones now being NLA from GM..I bought all they ahd left .
We now use another GM unit that's a little simpler, it requires different spacers also..a little longer too.

 

[Alex]

Why even bother with a fancy GM unit .. what's wrong with the straight DD shaft? Sooooo much simpler, soooo much roomier....real men adjust their steering by using an Allen key, not a bunch of electronic buttons :laugh:

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

You are so ruff and tuff.....

 

[Ken Roberts]

Mocking up speaker placement. This picture shows the possible placement on the door panels. These are the carbon fiber interior panels. The subwoofer will be placed in front of the passengers feet. The component speakers will be placed in the doors.

 

[Yos]

Hey Ken...is there a way for you to listen to your set up before you cut the holes in those pretty doors? I'd be worried about the drivers being so far apart. I know the cabin isn't going to be all that ideal for critical listening...but I'd still be worried about it. I know you know what you're doing though...

Also...I've always wondered how the carbon interior pieces looked with the Tillet seats. Are they a decent match? Look good together?

 

[Ken Roberts]

That's a good point Yos. Here is a picture of the tweeter moved closer to the mid woofer. The tweeter can even be angled in it's mount. This is a little better look at the carbon pattern. It looks really nice.

 

[Keith]

Just a small point of audio. You can place sub bass anywhere you like in a room/car as the longer sound waves typically produced by a sub are non directional so you will here it 'everywhere.' The higher the frequency the more directional the sound becomes so it makes placement of the mid/high speakers a lot more critical.

Final placement of the speakers in relation to each other should be planned with consideration to the operating frequencies of each speaker type and their crossover point.

 

[Vidal]

These vehicles make setting a great "sound stage" extremely difficult if not realistically impossible.

In general, the front stage (usually just the mids-highs) placement should be planned to get the distance of each speaker/component set as close to equal distance relative to that sides ear (the center sweet spot:idea. The closer to equal distance the closer the sound stage will be to ear level.

This is why mobile install techs pushed components into the kick panels or used "horns" under the dash.

In a small, limited space, like the SL-C, you're trying to bring the stage up by directing the mid-highs (primarily the highs). You can sometimes get a decent stage (which is more than good enough as the exhaust is destroying most of the range when the go pedal is pressed).

Ken,

Regardless, I love seeing updates to your build. Every time I log-on I'm looking for yours', Bill's, Yos' and/or any thing from Allen. Get a little bummed when I don't.....

 

[David]

I might be tempted to use a surface mount tweeter so i could cheat it up the door panel towards the rear of the panel and high as possible without looking silly. I haven't even ordered my kit so i'm not sure but could you fab up a mounting spot on the A pillar/roll bar that would be out of the direct line of sight? Thanks for the build thread and details; it really helps me solidify the SL-C as my choice.

 

[Ken Roberts]

Installed the wheel sensors for the Racelogic traction control on the front hubs. The brackets are 1/4' thick and made from 3" angle aluminum. These are the sensors that come with the Racelogic system. They cost about $450 extra. Here is the part number for them if you want to try and source them here in North America. IE5238
The brand name on the sensor is EFECTOR
IE5238 - Inductive sensor - eclass: 27270101 / 27-27-01-01

 

[Ken Roberts]

The sensor was installed at the 11 o'clock position to take advantage of the machined out pocket behind it so the wire isn't too stressed making the 90 degree bend. After seeing all the posts on the wheel stud upgrades I decided it was necessary as well. After taking careful measurements I concluded the front studs were at the minimum stick out that I found acceptable. Since the rear wheel studs were found to be unacceptable in length I elected to change them all to the ARP brand.

The easiest way I found to knock them out without stressing the bearings or having to remove the assembly and press them out was with a air hammer and pointed bit.

 

[Ken Roberts]

Now it's on to the rear wheel sensors. I purchased from the Drive Shaft Shop the "ABS rings" as they call them. These will be heated and tapped onto the outer Porsche CV joints. I chose the outer CV joint location instead of the inner joints due to the close proximity of the mufflers and pipes. The sensors are rated to 80 degree Celsius (176 Fahrenheit) but I chose to run the sensor in a location as cool as possible due to the cost of them.

The first picture shows the fabricated brackets that will be bolted to the handbrake caliper brackets. This will aim the sensor at the correct location to read the 48 cogs on the ABS ring.

 

[Ken Roberts]

Here is a picture of the stock wheel stud from the front hubs. The length was about 1 11/16". The ARP replacement studs are reported to be 2 1/2". Open ended lug nuts will be used so the car can pass tech inspection if I decide to track it.

 

[Will Campbell]

I used the GMPP racing studs as referred to in the SLC wiki here: Wheel fitment Guide - Superlite SLC Builders wiki

The are long, and have a bull nose, and look good on the car.

I always use open nuts to be sure I have an adequate engagement. In my car, the stud tip sticks though the long, open tuner nut so there is obviously lots of engagement, though I have read that the first few threads are really where the clamping is done, and that more threads (i.e., a longer wheel nut as I have) don't actually add much more clamping force.

 

[Ken Roberts]

The rear ABS rings are installed and the sensors mounted and aligned.

 

[Mike]

The rear ABS rings are installed and the sensors mounted and aligned.

Ken, very nice.

Do you happen to know the part number from the axle shop for this ring. I'd like to get one and use these teeth as the pick-up points for my ECM VSS signal. Right now I'm using an inexpensive magnetic pick-up with only 4 magnets per axle rotation. I'd like a better sampling/trigger count. - Mike

BTW: Good idea on the air chisel - I have one and wouldn't think about using it when I go to upgrade my studs - excellent.

 

[Doc Kaler]

Here's how it is described on my old invoice:

2 MISC 108mm GTO CV Machined ABS Rings 40.00 80.00T
1 SHIPPING SHIPPING-GROUND/SIG. REQUIRED 15.00 15.00T

Hope this helps.