Rumbles SLC Build

[Bill]

Way back I took a sharp left turn off the normal path of my build, and decided I wanted a trunk up front. That meant moving the radiator to the passenger side of the engine compartment. I knew that would present as cooling challenge since the radiator would receive very little ram air back there.

The coolant temp was actually not bad, until I got the AC working. The AC drove the temperature up another 10 degrees. I'm happy to report that I finally got the temperature where I'm comfortable with it now.

Here's a recap of the radiator relocation work:

• I started by working with the Thermal Engineer who builds radiators for NASCAR, desert racers, etc teams. I mocked up the radiator size and he designed the radiator. The radiator is the largest size possible that will fit in the given space. At 19" x 27" its significantly larger than the stock SLC unit. We then fitted the most powerful SPAL fans that would fit in the tight space.
• I designed an expansion tank that is mounted to the front of the motor and had it built by a local aluminum fabricator.
• Added a large oil cooler on the driver side. It's kinda in the way when you want to do maintenance, so is mounted so it can be removed quickly. Just 4 1/4-20 screws, a weatherPak power connector, and 2 quick disconnects for the oil lines. I used valved Jiffy-Tite oil line quick disconnects so they automatically seal when pulled apart to keep oil from dripping.
• I did quite a bit of air flow testing to optimize the air flow so it would be driven thru the radiator. I Check out these videos:
• Baseline airflow test. There was significant turbulence and quite a bit of the air was circulating forward and being dumped out the front of the opening and over the top of the radiator.
• Final airflow test. The following changes were made: Added vanes to smooth and direct airflow, added an air scope at the leading edge of the rear fender well, added a panel to the front of the belly inlet opening to keep circulating air from dumping out, fabricated a sealed air box around the inlet side of the radiator to contain the ram air pressure, and added a belly pan on the outlet side of the radiator to form a low pressure zone.

 

[Eric McClellan]

Man, that's a heck of a project. Glad you got the cooling situation figured out

 

[Roger]

Beautifully done.

 

[Bill]

One of the last tasks on my ToDo list before handing my SLC over to the upholsterer, was to fix the A-Pillar trim. The edge of the A-Pillar trim stuck out about an inch into the windshield. Instead of painting out the edge of the windshield, I decided to modify the A-Pillar trim. However, the roll-bar was so far forward that if I wrapped the fiberglass around enough to hide the edge of the trim, it would capture the roll-bar and it could not be taken out. So I fabricated the A-Pillar trim in 2 pieces.

• I cut the original A-Pillar trim edge back about an inch to get it away from the windshield glass.
• Then I built a form for the fiberglass with a layer of Gorrilla Tape, then painters tape, and finally a coat of release wax.
• I laid up 3 layers of fiberglass, trimmed the part to fit, added a little body filler and paint to finish the surface.
• I added alignment clips on the backside of the original A-Pillar trim to hold the new trim piece in place.
• While I had the windshield out, I tinted the top portion as well.

 

[Bill]

I haven't posted in the past 3 weeks because we have been in Indonesia.

We had a great time in Bali & Java, but it’s good to be back home again.

Here is a link to my -> photos

 

[TimB]

Beautiful photos. You have a real talent with the lens

 

[kris]

yeah Bill; those are beautifully composed

 

[Bill]

Ever wonder what it would be like to actually have too much horsepower for your chassis?

Check out this video of the new 2015 Dodge Charger Hellcat with 707HP.

Of course, there is no such thing as too much horsepowerrockonsmile

 

[David]

Available as a crate motor...:lipsrsealed:

 

[Eric Teeter]

Ever wonder what it would be like to actually have too much horsepower for your chassis?

Check out this video of the new 2015 Dodge Charger Hellcat with 707HP.

Of course, there is no such thing as too much horsepowerrockonsmile

At least Chevy decided to use carbon ceramic brakes on the Z/28, least expensive car with them.:thumbsup:

So if you wanted more horsepower you don't need to upgrade the brakes.

I am not saying one is better than the other as I like both cars.:heart:

 

[Alex]

At least Chevy decided to use carbon ceramic brakes on the Z/28, least expensive car with them.:thumbsup:

Enjoy $10k brake changes and needing to exercise extreme care when working on a fvcking camaro, lol :drunk:

 

[Jim T]

Enjoy $10k brake changes and needing to exercise extreme care when working on a fvcking camaro, lol :drunk:

Agreed and buy a good pair of ear plugs the squeak is the equivalent to running your finger nails across a black board....a million times:furious:

Jim

 

[Bill]

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been heads-down getting some last minute tasks completed in my interior, so it would ready for upholstery. I dropped my off SLC about 3 weeks ago at the upholsterer and officially transitioned the project from the "Functional Build" phase to the "Make it Pretty" phase.

I doing the upholstery before the paint because I was worried that the paint on the side pods might be damaged as the upholsterers came in and out of the car. Nearly all of the interior panels will be removable so I can remove the interior before paint.

The day after dropping my SLC off, I flew off for a much needed 3 week vacation. I joined half a dozen friends in the Caribbean where we rented a 47' catamaran and then sailed around the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, St Croix, etc. :coolgleam:

I just returned a day ago and was happy to see the upholsterer made some progress while I was away.

 

[Bill]

I want to replace the tan (Cashmere) steering column cover with a black (Ebony) cover to match my interior. I tried interior panel paint, but any little abrasion scratches the paint and makes it look really bad.

The chart below shows the 2 column covers as item #1, but the part listing on the right breaks out item #1 into an outer and an inner cover part number. The inner cover fits all 2004-2009 XLRs. However, the outer cover has a part number 2004-2007 XLRs and another part number for 2008-2009 XLRs.

Can anyone tell me the year of the XLR steering column that is shipped with the SLC?

Does anyone know where I could find a black XLR steering column cover?

The above webpage can be found -> here

 

[Vidal]

Are you using the same Guys as Mike? Those Guys do some outstanding work.

 

[Bill]

Yes, I'm also using the Custom Stitching Co in Charlotte. In fact, My SLC is setting next to Mike's GTM.

 

[Ken Roberts]

The XLR steering columns were from a 2004/5. You can tell this due to the steering intermediate shafts that were included with them. This type of shaft was only available on 2004 and 2005 models. They had a rag joint.

Check out this diagram Bill. Their prices are much better too!

The "outer" upper and lower portions are sold together as item #1. The "inner" wrap around portion is sold as item #2.

Air Bag Clockspring/Steering Column for 2004 Cadillac XLR

First though Bill I'd recommend you try the rattle can paint again. Personally I've never had a problem if prepared correctly. You MUST use the prep and adhesion promoter cans first. I've even sprayed a steering wheel for my nephew and it held up well.

 

[Cam]

I hit it with 2 coats of Krylon black then a 2 coats of clearcoat. That was back in 2010. No major dings on the finish.

 

[Bill]

Yup, I cleaned the panel, used an adhesion promoter for plastic surfaces and then sprayed it with a SEM paint that is formulated for Auto interior plastic panels. The problem is that power tilt column comes up a bit too far and contacts the bottom of the dash. Then telescope the column and it scrapes the paint off like a snow plow in Buffalo.

Ken,

Thanks for clarifying the XLR steering columns is a 2004/5 and for the part number reference!

 

[Al Wohlstrom]

Yup, I cleaned the panel, used an adhesion promoter for plastic surfaces and then sprayed it with a SEM paint that is formulated for Auto interior plastic panels. The problem is that power tilt column comes up a bit too far and contacts the bottom of the dash. Then telescope the column and it scrapes the paint off like a snow plow in Buffalo.

Ken,

Thanks for clarifying the XLR steering columns is a 2004/5 and for the part number reference!

I reshaped the opening to work with the tilt.