svt 65 stang

[SN65]

Hi All,

New update at the website. Maybe today I can get the doors, along with most of the internals installed. :-)

[SN65]

Hi All,

Sorry I haven't been posting a lot lately. I have been so busy with the car, business, x-mass parties, etc... that it is tough to find time to sleep never the less anything else. :-)

Anyway... We have been making steady progress on SN65. Right now it is the doors that are consuming all our time. As I have stated before, it's the little things that bring me the greatest satisfaction. For example....

We wanted to use the door cylinder from the 03 Cobra. We wanted all the locks to function with the ignition key. Wayne went and modified the door to accept the 03 cylinder and I went about installing all the internal mechanisms. All was going well until we ran into a little snag. Unfortunately for us, the 03 cylinder does not function the same way as the 65. The 65 lock has only two positions. All the way down for lock and all the way up for unlock. The 03 lock has three positions. All the way down for lock and all the way up for unlock, but the lock always comes to rest in the center. The 03 cylinder is designed to function with a electrical relay while the 65 is designed to work mechanically. We stood around and scratched our heads for a while. We went home and slept on it. We came in and gave it some more thought, when we finally hit on a workable solution. Here is a photo of the installed linkage.



What we did was linked together two rods that would slide over each other until they hit a stop. This allows the 03 cylinder to function mechanically. What happens is you turn the key to lock the door and it pushes the lower stop down to lock the door. When you rotate the lock back to the center position to remove the key, the rods slide over each other leaving the door locked. When you rotate the key to unlock the door, it lifts the upper stop up to unlock the door and then the rods slide over each other leaving the door unlocked.

It is a rather simple mechanism, but I have to say that I am thrilled at the way it functions. Yes the guy's in the shop make fun of me. It is nothing that anyone will see or even notice for that matter. But every time that I use the key (which will be rarely if ever, seeing as the car has a remote lock and unlock function) it will bring a smile to my face.

Catch ya'll l8r

[SN65]

Hi All,

When we started this project, many of you thought we were whacked, loony, psycho, off our nut, certifiable, ready for the rubber room, etc…

Well, for those naysayer’s out there, take a look at this.

http://sn65.com/SN65%20chronological...er%2005-12.htm

Read the 12-24-05 update.

[SN65]

Hi All,

New update at the site.

Also, did anyone see the new Hot Rod mag. There is an article about the Ring bro's new car (the one that made it to the final five in the Good Guy's streat machine of the year comp).

Anyway....

They made a comment about wanting the car to look as if it were built in the factory....

Well, maybe that is what they wanted, but to me the car looks, pretty much, like your typical pro touring car. Don't get me wrong. The car is a killer car. I love some of the small details and the article is one of my favorites (I find myself picking up the mag just to re-read the article). I also have to give them props for dialing down the "bling" factor. I really like the look and feel of this car far better than their two previous attempts, but they are still following the basic "pro street" template.

Maybe someone should turn them on to this thread just to show them what a real "factory" custom looks like. :-)

[syborg tt]

Also, did anyone see the new Hot Rod mag. There is an article about the Ring bro's new car (the one that made it to the final five in the Good Guy's streat machine of the year comp).

I agree - very nice car

[SN65]

Hi All,

Yesterday we got a lot done in regard to assembling the doors, but we still have a way to go. There is only one thing that is holding us up right now. We need to find the material used to bond the stainless steel trim pieces to the drivers and passenger side glass. The material appears to be some type of fiber impregnated with some sort of rubberized material.

Any Clues???

Here are some photos of the wing window assembly and the door handles mounted to the car. You will note that we have left the door lock black with a silver center section. We were originally going to make it all silver, but decided that the black fit in well with the "black" exposed rubber trim around the door handles.






With that said, I have a little announcement....

THE SN65 WILL BE ON V8TV TONIGHT!!!

If you have the Dish Network, it can be seen on the Men's Channel. The show should air on Wednesdays at 10:30 PM eastern, 9:30 PM Central and 8:30 PM Pacific time.

For those who are not fortunate to have access to the Dish Network, you will be able to get a copy of the show directly from V8TV sometime after the show airs.

Catch ya'll l8r

[SN65]

Hi All,

We have been moving along quite well. We have the fenders, hood and headlight buckets mounted. We have spent a lot of time re-aligning the doors, fenders hood, etc... to give us the most consistent gaps. We have all the door internals complete save the installation of the glass. The "glass guy" will be showing up on Saturday and spending the entire day installing the front and rear glass along with the trim.

Today we will be checking all the fluids and bleeding the breaks. We will also be rerouting the clutch cable and installing a new firewall adjuster and aluminum quadrant. The factory items don't give us the proper throughout adjustment on the CenterForce clutch. We will be installing the front valance and working up the front bumper mounting brackets.

After we get the bumpers installed and properly aligned, we will be sending them out to be re-chromed. The quality of the chrome on the re-pro items just sucks. There are all these tiny little pin pricks that reflect when the light hits them just so.

On another note, I talked with the powers that be at the Detroit Autoramma. They tell me that our project sounds interesting, but it probably will not be considered for the "Ridler" award. We figured as much, but the reason he gave me was a little surprising. The fellow said that it the award emphasizes "creativity, engineering and workmanship" He felt that our project might fall short on the "engineering" side. I believe that he really did not understand the scope of the project. He probably believes that we just cut two cars apart and welded them together. From his point of view, we really did not "create" or "engineer" anything. All we did was graft two cars together. Nothing that requires any engineering. It is not as if we designed the car from scratch....

I believe that this is the way the project comes across to those who are not aware of everything involved. Just like Kevin from V8TV. What he thought he was going to see and what he actually saw were two different things. People have seen way to many photos of cars where the actual car is nowhere near as nice as the photo. It always brings a smile to my face when people stop by the shop for a peek. everyone (so far) has been totally blown away. They may just be trying to be nice, but I prefer to believe that they are really taken by the project.

That said, for us to have any hope at the Autoramma we have to stop publishing photos of the car. The car actually looks like a car right now and they have rather firm requirements that the car not be published in its finished form.

So, what do you all think. Should I keep publishing the as built shots, or stop for the off hand possibility of Ridler consideration?

Catch ya'll l8r

[TonyG]

Originally Posted by SN65

Hi RR,

Thanks for the kind words and good luck with your project. Drop me a line if you need any help.

Before you start, I should say that this has taken a LOT more time and effort than we originally thought. I was a bit optomistic on the time it would take at the start. I figured 2 guys owrking full time could knock it out in about 3 months. Afterall, how tough could it be???

Well... 12 months and 2,500 man hours later, we are just about complete.

If you do decide to go ahead, I will be happy to help you avoid some of the major issues we had. Also, having access to a fram rack and laser measuring system helps. :-)

If you want to get a feel for all involved, follow the link below.... If you dare.

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums...5&page=1&pp=25

Also, we would be happy to help you build one just like it. We can do all the dirty grunt / structural / body / paint work and you can do all the fun assembly installation work. If you are interested, just give us a call at 630-762-0387. Just for grins I have attached a current photo of our shop. Please note that this an actual working bodyshop, not American Hot Rod. :-)

Bob

Hey Bob, This is "Tony 96 Cobra" from SVTP. I figured your car would be over here too; if not I was going to link it..lol.

[syborg tt]

So, what do you all think. Should I keep publishing the as built shots, or stop for the off hand possibility of Ridler consideration?

It's to late, in order to be considered for the Ridler you are not allowed to post pics of the car during it's construction. Since you've already done that just keep posting the pics.

Plus if you stop posting pics then people will stop coming to this thread. Even if people don't post they are at least looking at the car.

[SN65]

Originally Posted by syborg tt

It's to late, in order to be considered for the Ridler you are not allowed to post pics of the car during it's construction. Since you've already done that just keep posting the pics.

Plus if you stop posting pics then people will stop coming to this thread. Even if people don't post they are at least looking at the car.

Hi S,

The rules are so vague. This is all it says and you can read it a hundred different ways.

1) The vehicle must make its first public showing at the Detroit Autorama. Showing the vehicle at any indoor or outdoor show or any part of the frame, engine or body will make it ineligible for contention.

2) Realizing that car owners and builders may need some form of exposure to develop interest or to gain sponsorship and give credit to suppliers and/or sponsors, magazine and video buildup coverage is allowed. No articles, video footage or stories with photos of the vehicle in finished form will be allowed until after the award has been presented, i.e. car cannot be painted or upholstered to be considered as finished.

In rule #2 it says that "...magazine and video buildup coverage is allowed". It also says that "No articles, video footage or stories with photos of the vehicle in finished form will be allowed..."

The question is, what is the finished form. Is it OK if you show a photo of the car totally assembled but unpainted. Is it OK to show a photo of the car totally painted but not completely assembled? Is it OK to show the exterior totally assembled but without the interior completed? What if everything was complete, but you did not have the bumperrs on. Is that OK?

I read the rule and, to me, it means that as long as the car is not 100% finished, it is OK to show photos.

The rule cannot possibly mean that no photos of any painted assemblies are allowed.