Thread: Project Sebring GT Spyder

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Thanks for the comments. I'll have to rearrange the shop a little and tent the tarps over my 4-post lift. That should work ok for keeping the tarp off the primed surface.

I've heard epoxy primer is water resistant. Where I used that on my 48 Ford after removing rust has done very well. the parts that got regular primer have rust spots showing up 10 years later! Not sure about everyone elses opinions here but curious what you all think about epoxy primer

Originally Posted by stovens

I've heard epoxy primer is water resistant. Where I used that on my 48 Ford after removing rust has done very well. the parts that got regular primer have rust spots showing up 10 years later! Not sure about everyone elses opinions here but curious what you all think about epoxy primer

Yup epoxy primer will seal out moisture, I seal all bare metal with it than use the polyester primer over it. just my 2 cents. Happy weekend

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

Personally I'm not a fan of tarping, particularly fresh, catalyzed paint of any kind, but especially a more porous product like primer or sealer. I envision (without hard proof) it interfering with off gassing that progresses over time, and if it gets some wet in the area from leaks in the roof there's the danger of entrapping moisture under the tarp that will get into the primer layer. Tenting, where you allow airflow would be better..........more effort, but that's not a problem for you.

Agreed 100%

Ok. I’ve taken a break from body work while I wait on the trunk lid liner. I haven’t been able to get the parts in sun as Bill suggested, since it’s rained just about every day or been overcast. I will get that done when the weather breaks and the sun comes out long enough to do some good.

What I have been doing is concentrating on getting the last batch of small parts to the powder coater. I need these to actually finish assembling and plumbing the chassis, otherwise I’m never going to get this beast running! There’s not much to show of that work, but I do still have some older stuff to post. I think I left off with removing and filling the lock boss on the shortened column. Here is the rest of the story (with apologies to Paul Harvey).

Now that I had a functioning column, I needed something to bolt the steering wheel to. Telescoping columns have to have a steering wheel or adapter with a sleeve to cover up the gap when the column is extended.

Several months ago I found someone on another forum selling a wood rimmed 14" Mota Lita steering wheel. They made the steering wheels for XKE's and many other high end British sports cars. They were often added as upgrades to lower priced cars. I thought it looked good and snapped it up. Mine came with a Sunbeam Tiger adapter that just happened to fit the Equinox column splines. It would have taken a little lathe work to get it fit the taper, but it could have been made to work. However, that adapter wouldn't work with the GM column.

The C4 column did come with an adapter for another style of wheel (may have been for a Nardi ) and it looked like I could modify it to work on the Mota Lita wheel. It was way too long, but I had the solution for that. I'm sure that someone will tell me that I cut up a very rare and valuable part, but it's too late now.







The Mota Lita wheel has a 9 bolt pattern and the C4 adapter was just big enough to squeeze all of them in. I cut it down as short as I could.

Getting the telescoping lock figured out took a little time. I had originally hoped to have it in on the driver side of the wheel, but that wasn’t practical. It made a fitting horn button in the center of the wheel nearly impossible unless I made the horn button the lock, similar to some old Corvettes. I considered that for a while, but decided that it would be a constant source of trouble and subject to being easily damaged.

What I did was machine a short spacer with a notch to clear a Cadillac telescoping column lock handle. It was lower profile than the original C4 lock. This allowed the lock handle to be positioned behind the wheel. When it’s locked, you can’t even see it since it’s hidden behind the bottom steering wheel spoke. BTW – Some of these pictures were taken before I cut the lock boss off.



This spacer fits over a small boss on the base and has a boss for the wheel to go over. This way, the bolts aren’t the only thing taking the strain.







Some time ago, I picked up a horn button for a 9 bolt wheel off of EBAY, but didn’t think it would work after I got it in. With the lock handle behind the wheel, all I needed was another short spacer and the EBAY button worked out just fine. I did have to tweak on the lock handle a little to get everything to clear, but it all seems to function just as it should.





I was missing the horn lead that goes down to the slip ring in the column, so I just soldered a piece of wire to the back of the slip ring itself. That connects to the horn button. I checked it’s function with my multimeter and it worked with no problems. Sorry, not a good picture, but it’s the only one I have.



I polished the parts on an ancient bench grinder that I keep a polishing wheel and wire brush on all the time. It all went together with 10-24 button head stainless bolts. Actually, it only uses 8 bolts for the wheel now. One is a short dummy over the telescoping handle slot just to make things look right.

That looks great. Nice work..

That's beautiful!

Thanks guys. Hard to believe that a simple steering column could be so involved.

Here’s something else I tinkered with. I noticed that when the column was stretched out, the turn signal lever was quite a stretch to reach. I had some serrated test pieces left over from the suspension adjusters and whipped this up out of them. It’s an adjuster for the turn signal lever.





I’m not completely satisfied with it yet, but I can work on it some more later.

What you did with the steering wheel/column was extremely clever.

Well, I guess I’m back. Some of you probably didn’t even know I was gone, but that wouldn’t surprise me because my MO is to leave the thread unupdated for long periods. Most of the time, it’s because I’m tired when I came in and don’t feel like writing it up, but this time I have been having some health issues.

Right after we returned home from the trip to Georgia (early in August) that I posted about, I was informed by my cardiologist that I needed to have a heart valve replaced. Actually, I had been told earlier in the year that it was coming, but I wanted to put it off until cold weather, when I have much less to do, but the valve doctor said “Nope! You need to have it done ASAP, before you have a major heart attack.”

Soooo, that started me down a month of tests to determine if I was eligible for a new type of valve replacement that doesn’t require cutting the chest open. During those tests, it was determined that I had a blockage (80 to 90%) that required a stent. This, I was told, explained all of the heart burn I had been having for the last few months. The heart burn went away after the stent. Seems I was headed for a heart attack from 2 different directions.

I did qualify for the “easy” valve replacement and that was done in mid September. That went off without a hitch, but I had complications with heart rhythm afterwards. That has been an ongoing issue that left me with no energy to get much done. I was shocked a couple of times to get my rhythm back, but it wouldn’t last. Finally, the doc changed my medication and it seems to be holding where it should.

I still have to see a specialist about the rhythm, but for now I’m good. Last week was the first time since all this started that I actually felt like I was better than before the valve was replaced. I’m getting stronger and I am able to spend all day in my shop and at work. I hope to be back to 100% very quickly now.

I was still working on the car, but it has been very slow going. No energy and the heat and humidity left me drained. Some days I only worked 2 or 3 hours before quitting for the day. Frustrating to say the least. Most of the time I was just PO’d because I couldn’t seem to get anything accomplished. In hindsight, I have come to realize that the deteriorating valve and blockage had been affecting me for a long time prior and may be one reason it has taken sooo long to get this project done. I’m slowly beginning to feel more like my “old” self and can see the difference.

BTW – One of the times I was shocked, the drug they give you to knock you out didn’t work at all. I was wide awake when the jolt hit me. I don’t recommend it unless you are a masochist with a serious electricity fetish! Felt like someone thumped me hard in the chest with a 240 volt extension cord tied to their fist! Hope I don’t have to do that again.

Now, I’m going to attempt (yet again) to get on with finishing this damned car. I have a lot to report on, since I was actually making decent progress before all this stuff happened. While I was dealing with all this, I just didn’t feel like posting any of it. At one time, I was wondering if I would ever be able to get the car done.

I hope to be posting some updates. They may not include a lot of write up, but I will post as many pictures as I can. If anyone sees something that they want to ask, feel free.

Hey Mike,
I'm sorry that you've had to go through so much on the medical front, but it glad that the Doc's were able to follow all of the clues to get you to a better status! It sure reinforces why they call it the practice of medicine, and not the art or science! Glad to see you back, and will be looking forward to watching your progress!

Good to see you back and hear you're on the mend. The work they have done on me in the last few years has been minor compared to what you went thru, but I can definitely relate to the aggravation of the healing process. Hang in there it does get better.



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Good to have you back and getting healthy! Hope the fixes are permanent!

Glad to see your name pop up in here! Even better to learn you're on the mend!
It'll be nice to see updates to your work but go easy, we're in no rush.