Kurt H (hoffkm) SL-C build thread

[Kurt Hoffman]

The weather this coming week in Upstate SC is forecasted to be nice and sunny. We have been having a lot of winter rain lately. My daughter and I pulled the SL-C out of storage and I plan to drive her to work this week and then down to the DMV to get the VIN inspection paperwork filled out that I need for the title and plates. My girl is almost street legal!

I had a nice straight, open, piece of road in front of me at a stop light on the way from storage to the apartment so I let er rip. This car is scary fast off the line with only 475 HP!! There are a number of roundabouts in our neighborhood that allowed me some cornering testing and she sticks to the road well. I do need to 1) get a professional to tune my Holley EFI, she is running very rich and stalls occasionally and 2) get the front end aligned better by me or a professional. I was experiencing a little wandering on the road.

In the short trip that included a stop for gas the car gathered ALOT of attention. My daughter was following me in the truck and she had people nearly hit her coming from the other direction as they were passing by and taking pictures. I had one pickup with a trailer pacing me and scaring the daylights out of me as they kept swerving my way. I left them behind at the red light.

It is about 77-80 degrees out today and the AC was blowing nice and cold. You do need to let the car warm up a little and cool down inside before taking off.

I will update everyone here how the registration process goes. I have already paid my property taxes for the year (SC does not like you to have too many toys, they make you pay), the car in insured, and I just need a title and plates.

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

In that short drive my SL-C has already been "spotted" and posted on Facebook!

 

[Ian]

Hahaha that did not take long!

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

Oh happy day!! My title came in the mail today. Next up is yet another trip to the DMV for a license plate, a professional tune by Hawk's Performance in Easley, SC and then look out Upstate SC!!

Title process is very easy in South Carolina:

1) attach a VIN number tag to the frame on your car, the VIN is on your MCO from RCR
2) take car to your local SC DMV with form SC-4038 filled out, the DMV will sign off on this verifying the VIN number on your car
3) send the following to the state office of the SC DMV in Blythewood, SC
a) the signed form SC-4038
b) form SC-400 filled out
c) the MCO original copy from RCR
d) the original copy of the receipt for your engine
e) a copy of your drivers license
f) pictures of your car from all four sides
g) a check for the title fee as per form SC-400
4) you will receive your title in the mail in about 3-4 weeks

That was all I had to do. Hope this helps out others (such as Ian and Alex)

 

[Alex]

That's an awesome news! Glad it was that easy, good for me!

 

[Joel K]

Congrats Kurt!

 

[Mark B.]

Congrats!!!!

 

[Ian]

Thats fantastic Kurt! Congrats!!!
Thank you for the information, this is definitely going to make registration much easier.

 

[Hector]

Kurt

I was going through your posts and read about backing up. do you have a backup camera mounted close to the license plate? I have the main rear view camera on top of the roof and the side mirrors, both don't help at all judging distances and backing up, but my backup camera (right above the license plate frame ) with adjustable little cone images does. I have a backup switch and the image goes on the stereo automatically while on reverse gear, but could have done it on my digital dash (AIM MXS 1.2) or the rear view mirror as well.

Hope this is helpful information .

Hope you are getting to drive a bit now that your car is street legal. I am certainly doing plenty of "honey I got to get something at harbor freight and get some gas" runs. Mulling on some cup holders right now to carry my coffee. It has been way over 100 this weekend and my water temps have been OK and A/C is keeping up, happy I placed a vent into the footbox to keep my legs cool.

Hector

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

Kurt

I was going through your posts and read about backing up. do you have a backup camera mounted close to the license plate? I have the main rear view camera on top of the roof and the side mirrors, both don't help at all judging distances and backing up, but my backup camera (right above the license plate frame ) with adjustable little cone images does. I have a backup switch and the image goes on the stereo automatically while on reverse gear, but could have done it on my digital dash (AIM MXS 1.2) or the rear view mirror as well.

Hope this is helpful information .

Hope you are getting to drive a bit now that your car is street legal. I am certainly doing plenty of "honey I got to get something at harbor freight and get some gas" runs. Mulling on some cup holders right now to carry my coffee. It has been way over 100 this weekend and my water temps have been OK and A/C is keeping up, happy I placed a vent into the footbox to keep my legs cool.

Hector

Hector,

My rear view camera is currently on the roof and the rear spoiler blocks too much of the view behind the car I have found. I plan to move my camera to the rear spoiler to see better directly behind the car to judge distance behind me and to back up and park.

Car is in storage and the house build plus work is occupying all my time so the car sits. Hopefully that will change later this summer/fall.

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

Just realized I have not posted in a long time. This is not directly a SL-C update with progress but it is progress on our new home and more importantly my new workshop.

First, 2024 was a busy year for me/us with the move from Ohio to South Carolina and all. In June of this past year just as we were getting settled in I had a stroke that has slowed down progress on my car and a lot of things. I have recovered from the minimal effects I had from the stroke, I was very lucky and blessed. Only issues I had afterwards was with my speech. It was like I lost the words my mind was trying to say. I am still re-learning a lot of words but it is much better today.

Our 2,350 sq ft barndominium with 2,016 sq ft garage/workshop is progressing well and we hope to take possession later this summer.

I cannot wait to get settled into my new shop. I have already purchased a new 2 post lift and have plans to build a 15' x 24' paint booth in the back right corner (where the openings in the back wall are for the exhaust fans).

My car is currently out of commission, I appear to have a fuel issue (regulator or fuel pump). No fuel pressure registering on the Holley ECU, it won't start, and I do not smell fuel. If I had the time, I would pull it out from storage and lean on Ian or Alex for some garage space to work on it but the home build is all consuming. Once the home is complete and I get my tools all out of storage I will be able to work on her and get her back on the road again for further testing. It is probably the high pressure fuel pump or the pressure regulator. The pump is running but sounds different than normal.

What little I have been able to drive the SL-C has been awesome so far. No major issues but I have not really put her thru the paces yet either.

 

[Brian Kissel]

Congrats on the new house and shop Kurt. It’s going to be really nice. Wishing you continued success with rehabilitation from your stroke. I had my first one in 2005 and with lots of determination I overcome most of the lingering problems. I had other friends that just plain gave up and had almost no useable life afterwards. Positive thoughts and energy and lots of therapy and you will be fine. Can’t wait for you to get your car back on the road and update us.

Regards Brian

 

[Joel K]

Sorry to hear about your stroke Kurt, wishing you a full recovery and you get to enjoy many hours building away in that amazing shop.

 

[Alex]

The garage looks nice! You can start another project after the SLC!
Hope you don't get more delay on the construction

 

[Hector]

Kurt:
very sorry to hear about your stroke and super happy to hear about your recovery . Glad you are going strong again. Having serious health issues suck, but you come out stronger at the other side. Believe me , I know all too well . Always wish you the best .

Also glad your wife allowed you to build a bigger garage than the house LOL !! It looks awesome , good for you !!! I only got 1 1/2 bay at my home garage for the last 5 years .

I wish I knew you were building a paint booth , I would have waited, my paint job ordeal has been extremely painful .

Wish you a fast finish to your new home and garage, hopefull you can start turning wrenches again soon, and get your SLC back on the road .

I am hoping to take a long road trip on my SLC, you will definitely be on the list of people I want to visit .

Hector

 

[Nick h]

Following your attention to detail is top notch

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

As the home build drags on I have needed some "car therapy". I have found a tuner that I am working with to get my Holley in line with my setup. I initially I had a major issue somewhere in my engine setup but with the help of Josh Anderson from Upstate Performance we have been able to put in a REAL tune (not the wizard tune or what the novice tuner I am tried to cook up) in the car and it ran ten fold better. Josh has been sending me edits with each test and datalog we do and I took the car for a test drive tonight. It is amazing how much better the car drives when it is not stalling on you all the time. I was finally able to actually enjoy the car and feel it out instead of trying to keep the motor running at every stoplight.

More information to follow as Josh gets my tune dialed in. I am hoping to drive the SL-C over to Ian's shop when he starts up the beast of a motor he is building for his SL-C. Some things that I need to add my list of items to improve before I bodywork and finish the car

1) need to improve the airflow out of the front clam (as so many others have needed to). I am running coolant temp at 185 to 190 cruising but at a standstill it is climbing slowly at I have not seen a steady state yet (got as high as 203). My fans are moving a lot of air, it just seems a little too turbulent under the clam. If I can find my airflow meter I will do some testing.
2) I really need to improve the clam latches. These things have to be set EXACTLY or you cannot get them latched and the flexiglass clam does not allow for this to be very easy
3) I am glad I purchased a pair of racing shoes. I did not have to be aware of my foot placement in the cramped footbox with these like I had to with regular shoes. I wear a size 12 and it was difficult at times with standard shoes to not hit two pedals at once, very bad!
4) The roads here in Greenville do not agree with this car, too many potholes, train tracks, etc. The Stanceparts lift works well but I will be moving the air tank to the front to get it closer to the valve to speed up the response time. I may put in a large CFM compressor, mine is relatively small and takes a long time to refill the tank.
5) Since my stoke and all the new meds they have me on I have gained some extra pounds in the middle. I am working with a dietician to remedy this but I will need to adjust my seat and steering wheel placement until then to do any spirited driving

My smile will probably last the rest of this week after that drive!

 

[David Garton]

As the home build drags on I have needed some "car therapy". I have found a tuner that I am working with to get my Holley in line with my setup. I initially I had a major issue somewhere in my engine setup but with the help of Josh Anderson from Upstate Performance we have been able to put in a REAL tune (not the wizard tune or what the novice tuner I am tried to cook up) in the car and it ran ten fold better. Josh has been sending me edits with each test and datalog we do and I took the car for a test drive tonight. It is amazing how much better the car drives when it is not stalling on you all the time. I was finally able to actually enjoy the car and feel it out instead of trying to keep the motor running at every stoplight.

More information to follow as Josh gets my tune dialed in. I am hoping to drive the SL-C over to Ian's shop when he starts up the beast of a motor he is building for his SL-C. Some things that I need to add my list of items to improve before I bodywork and finish the car

1) need to improve the airflow out of the front clam (as so many others have needed to). I am running coolant temp at 185 to 190 cruising but at a standstill it is climbing slowly at I have not seen a steady state yet (got as high as 203). My fans are moving a lot of air, it just seems a little too turbulent under the clam. If I can find my airflow meter I will do some testing.
2) I really need to improve the clam latches. These things have to be set EXACTLY or you cannot get them latched and the flexiglass clam does not allow for this to be very easy
3) I am glad I purchased a pair of racing shoes. I did not have to be aware of my foot placement in the cramped footbox with these like I had to with regular shoes. I wear a size 12 and it was difficult at times with standard shoes to not hit two pedals at once, very bad!
4) The roads here in Greenville do not agree with this car, too many potholes, train tracks, etc. The Stanceparts lift works well but I will be moving the air tank to the front to get it closer to the valve to speed up the response time. I may put in a large CFM compressor, mine is relatively small and takes a long time to refill the tank.
5) Since my stoke and all the new meds they have me on I have gained some extra pounds in the middle. I am working with a dietician to remedy this but I will need to adjust my seat and steering wheel placement until then to do any spirited driving

My smile will probably last the rest of this week after that drive!

Kurt,
Glad your making progress as well as getting you list together and getting it out and enjoying her. Keep at it every step forward is progress. Keep us posted.

David

 

[Kyle]

Can’t remember if you’re running an LS or not. But temps into the low 200s are no problem.