FPV GTHO's Silk XT

[FPV GTHO]

Last week at the drags my bonnet release stuffed up on me. I dropped the bonnet and i couldnt get enough out of the lever to pop it back open. It happened just after i lowered the bump stops for the bonnet right back down, as i had them as high as i could get them whilst running the OTR scoop and this week i took it off to run. I made the decision to leave early and drive home without the headlight in whilst there was still sunlight. I couldve gotten home no problem at night but it wouldve been a bigger risk and an even bigger invitation for attention from any police.

New cable, new bonnet release and a heavier duty spring from Bunnings on the latch went on today. I can now pull the latch with my pinky.

[FPV GTHO]

The last couple of days ive been working on a bit more of the visual aspect of the car. Ive wanted to paint the cam cover for awhile now, but i wanted to do something different to the norm, and i didnt simply want to paint it body coloured either. I settled on keeping it simple though, red like Tickford/XR style but i initially thought of having the cam cover black with the coil cover red, or even the whole thing black and stealth style. My brother has a BA motor sitting around waiting to go in his car, so rather than strip mine off i just took his and swapped them when i was ready.

[FPV GTHO]

Bit overdue for an update here i think

I replaced my 200 cell cat with another 100 cell venom, and bolted it to a BF turbo cat pipe instead of reusing my existing merge pipe. I was given a set of CC 4495's as well so i used them to mock everything in place, that way the exhaust was now compatible again with a stock Pacemaker flange location. After that i cut off my old 3" flange for the other 4495's and gave it another go. The new setup looks alot better now so final step i think will just be exhaust wrapping them and probably a heat shield. The CC 4495's are still just a 2.5 flange but theyve also got a crack on one of the primary collectors, so im hesitant to try and reweld the crack as im worried with having to take off the ceramic material its just going to focus the heat there in the future and possibly fail again. I took the car to WSID a few times to see if there was any improvement, but it still did a 14.5 street trim albeit with a worse 60ft than my PB in that trim so im sure theres a gain there somewhere.









This is probably going to be my next project on the car for a while

[FPV GTHO]

Bonnet basically all done now, just need to probably do a final coat of paint that will match my plans for the roof.

[FPV GTHO]

After over a year, these gauges are finally more than a paper weight.

I started stripping out around the ICC last week, but couldnt get the plugs underneath undone so left it alone. For whatever reason though i decided to get stuck into it today. I'd been driving around with all the trim pieces still removed so i just had to get the plugs out and the last screws, which turned out to be pretty easy once i found the tabs on the plugs.

After screwing around for awhile trying to find the best place to tap the wires into, having seen a few guys tap the ICC plugs and such, i just took the easy route and took power and ground from the unused wedge bulb near the lighter and i decided to take the switch wire signal from one of the headlights.

First thing then was to take apart the gauge cluster so i could trim down the screws on the back



The nuts that Autometer give with the gauges are pretty bulky and are designed to be put on my hand i think, so i just cut the screws down heaps and put some drops of superglue on the back. I should be able to break it if needed by getting my thumb in there.



Downside of cutting almost all of the screws off was its harder to line up the gauges so theyre level, but i think i got it pretty close



Whilst i still had the cluster apart, and before anything else could be done, i needed to drill some new holes in the dash for the tripod.



Now i could put the cluster together for good and start on the wiring.



First plan was to consolidate all the positive, ground and switch wires together. I seperated the sender wiring and put that to one side



Trimmed the lengths to what i thought would be enough



A little bit of solder and some heat shrink to keep it tidy



With some more heat shrink i gave it a bit more of a tidy with the sender wiring to keep everything together and neat



I chose the clutch master cylinder bung to put the wires through. I stuck a 5mm drill through first, but it wasnt big enough or at least didnt take out enough material. By this time i needed my brothers help as i was laying upside down in the drivers seat with my head under the dash trying to feed wires. Another drill attempt, and my brother removing the bung so i could feed the wires easier, and i got this



After being inverted under the dash for awhile i got up and had a funky headache so i took a break. I needed to make sure the transmission temp sender was put together next. Rather than drill and tap the transmission sump or anything like that, im running the sender inline with the transmission cooler hose. What it took was the inline fitting and a spacer fitting so that the sender would fit.



After i scabbed some hose clamps this is how it sits at the front of the car



Not shown here is the engine oil temp sender. Its just plugged in using a sandwich plate which i did a few weeks ago with a service.

Tomorrow i need to tap the signal wire into the headlights, extend the sender looms so they reach and reassemble the ICC. Hopefully then it should all work. Sometime down the track i'll get the ICC and dash converted to blue LED's as well so it all matches.

[Falc'man]

Congrats on the 100mph!! What was the 60' and et?

[FPV GTHO]

2.096 and 14.153

[Falc'man]

Congrats, that's pumping. As quick as a typical VE SS. Anything done in terms of weight reduction or full race trim?

Not tuned yet?

[FPV GTHO]

I put another spacer in to increase the plenum volume, that was about it. Still my normal drag setup with the spare and jack removed and the headlight out as well.

I'm planning on running without the seats again before winter is gone, but I'm not going to do it until it runs sub 14.1 I think, that way it should be worth the effort if it gets a sub 14.0.