Thread: Project Sebring GT Spyder

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You've been getting some stuff done! Looking good

Great metal work !

I hope everyone is having a great holiday and thanks for the compliments.

V8, I'm actually sifting through old and new pictures while I'm recuperating from some more heart work. I'm trying to get everybody caught up on where the car is now. Some of these pictures I'm posting are older and some are recent. BTW - I'll be able to get back on the car next week. The heeling seems to be going well.

After the console, I moved on to the rear package tray and storage area. I started by building a simple tubing support for the center and bending some small brackets to support the ends. My first thought was to make these as one long part, but it was much easier to fit them to the curves by making each end in three pieces. The center support is heavy duty enough to allow some loading of the package tray, if needed.





A pattern for the deck itself was next. I make a lot of patterns out of Luan plywood, especially if I’m trying to bridge a gap, since it doesn’t sag.



I made the deck in two parts. I didn’t have to, but it was easier. All of the panels in this area will eventually be covered with marine carpet, so none of the seams will be visible anyhow. The front section is angled to lay on the roll hoop supports. The front edge has a small hemmed lip added for stiffening.



With the top pieces on, I was left with a nice size, hidden storage compartment. My radio and amps will eventually be mounted vertically on the rear wall. That way they won’t take up a lot of space. I will also cut out a plywood floor for this area to rest on the lower tubing frame. The area under that floor (between the top of the tubes and original fiberglass floor) can be used for small spares that I might want to carry when traveling. Things like fuses, relays and a tire plugging kit. I’m leaning toward mounting the small air compressor for the air suspension on the back wall of this area, too. That will make it easier to service than if it was under the car and protect it from road grime.



I needed a door for this area and that was mounted with a long aluminum piano hinge. The latches are some push button parts that a vender was selling at a car show. The only downside to the front mounted door is that both seats have to be leaned forward to access the storage area. The door was also a convenient place to mount a pair of marine speakers. I ripped this idea off of the Viper. It had a subwoofer mounted between the seats. Should be easy to hear them mounted there. I may mount a smallish marine sub in the center of the package tray. I haven’t made my mind up on that one yet. It depends on how the basic system sounds.





Mostly, what I see going in this storage compartment are jackets, shaving kits and maybe my C-Pap machine (can’t leave home without that). You can also see the chromed roll hoops in these pictures. Locating and cutting the holes for the center roll hoop braces was a pain. I wanted the fit to be close so that filling the gap would be easier.

Nice work. Looks solid and strong!

Nice work as usual and I hope your heart is healing well.

Some really nice work! Here's hoping you never have to try out the hoops!

I’m still trying to get everybody caught up on this project (seems the work goes much faster than the posting). We’re almost there, but I’m still finding stuff that I haven’t posted. Some of these things will be short and may be random, with old and new pictures, but I’m checking things off my ever shortening to do list.

First a quick health update. I am just about fully recovered from the last procedure on my heart and have really started to feel the benefits of the work. I guess I really didn’t realize how bad I was until things got fixed, since these health issues happened slowly and I got used to them over time. I am feeling like 10 years have been rolled off my clock and I actually seem to getting things done now. I’m spending 10-12 hour days in the shop now, sometimes stopping only to eat. Before, if I got 4 or 5 done, it was a good day. I’m seeing now that my heart issue was some of the reason that this project has dragged out for so long. Oh well, enough of that. Let’s talk about the car!
I’ll kick this round of updates off with something quick.

I got the driveshaft and driveshaft hoop installed. I also had to replace the new transmission seal. Somehow the one that was installed by the rebuilder managed to get torn.





FWIW – I ordered a new aluminum third member for the 9”. Even though I built the one that is in the car now and have built others, they only charged $150 to assemble it. No brainer for me. I can keep working on the car. Delivery is expected in about 6 weeks. It will be set up with a 31 spline TruTrac Diff and 3.70 gears. Took me a while to decide what ratio I wanted, but I knew the gears in the current diff were not in the best condition and would have to replaced soon after I started driving the car. I figured I might as well take care of that now and break everything in at the same time. The current chunk will eventually find a home in my 46 coupe, so no money wasted, just a little time to swap it out.

I wanted to do something a little different, for me at least, in the engine dress-up department. Normally, I would go with some shiny aluminum or chrome parts, but I decided to go with a black wrinkle finish instead. Besides, the Speedway Motors air cleaner was such a poor casting that even though it was polished, it didn’t really look that good. Of course, if you go with black wrinkle, you just gotta show the tops of the fins in raw aluminum.

The actual valve covers I’m using function as adapters that allow you to use regular First Gen SBC valve covers to hide the LS coils. Mine are from Holley, but I have since found some other parts on EBAY and Summit racing that look just like the Holley parts, without the name and much cheaper. I thought about relocating the coils, but decided that keeping them on the valve covers would make them much easier to service if needed. Stuff is very tight in this car and I didn’t relish the idea of trying to reach a hidden coil in a parts store parking lot 500 miles from home.

The SBC covers I’m using are an old set of Cal Custom finned covers. These are the early ones with the tall heavy fins. The fins on these covers more closely matched the fins on the air cleaner. I’ve had these things for at least 25 years. I originally got them to use on my 46 coupe and could never stop them from leaking, no matter what gasket or sealer that I used. The castings are porous and not very high quality, but then again, none of the Cal Custom stuff I remember from “back in the day (when it was new)” was very high quality. There’s no denying though, that most of their stuff has become an iconic look for hot rods and muscle cars from the 60’s and 70’s.

I decided that I was never going to use this set on a SBC again and hung them on the wall for garage art, where they have been ever since I took them off the car. The large windows I cut in the sides are for air circulation and will eventually get some stainless screens. The hold downs are Billet Specialties parts. I needed something long since the bottom fasteners are hard to get to. I know someone out there is shaking their head and wishing bad things on me for “ruining” a valuable old set of CC covers, but believe me, these were no prize. They were only good for wall hangers. At least this way, they get to hit the road again. This time with no leaks, hopefully!

Before I took them to powder coat, I draw filed the tops of the fins to level them up. The powder coater had already told me that he could brush off the fins before he baked the finish on. To make this easier for him and to make the parts look better, I evened out the all the tops. After that, I had to go in and narrow a few of them up, just to keep things consistent.

The draw filing was a simple, but slow process. Just turn a long file sideways across the fins and use the file like a draw knife. The file will only cut on the high fins. Eventually, they will all show file marks and you’re done.









This is the how everything looks after powder coat and on the engine. There’s a lot more going on in this picture than just valve covers. I’ll get to more of it shortly.

you're right, there is a lot going on in that pic! But I'm more than glad to say, we're very happy you're feeling so much better!!

Thanks 34. It feels good to apparently be back up to speed. I seem to be plowing through my to do list, although it does have "new" things that I had forgotten added to it occasionally. The last BIG job is wiring the whole car and starting the engine for the first time. Hope to have the body back on soon after and then off to paint! End of April, first part of May? No promises, but fingers are crossed!

The engine detailing looks great, all business with lots of eye candy, very well done!

The engine looks really nice. Looking forward to the start up.

“……none of the Cal Custom stuff I remember from “back in the day (when it was new)” was very high quality. There’s no denying though, that most of their stuff has become an iconic look for hot rods and muscle cars from the 60’s and 70’s. ……I know someone out there is shaking their head and wishing bad things on me for “ruining” a valuable old set of CC covers, but believe me, these were no prize. They were only good for wall hangers…….”


I think it looks great Mike and I can’t help but admire your ingenuity and attention to detail. Kids in my grandsons’ generation are likely good with seeing the coil packs, EFI and cold air air cleaners with the cone shaped filters etc. It’s what their used to seeing and seeing make power. That’s OK that’s their generation, ours has its own view of what a hot rod should look like.

Believe it or not I’ve taken crap for my electronic conversions on the old cast iron MOPAR distributors. You know the distributor that sits at the back of the engine that you don’t see. For some reason they think I should have 5 old distributors sitting on the shelf in the back shed rather than drill a screw hole and cut a slot in them and actually use them.

If I really want to see their nose tweaked out of joint I tell them about the first conversion I did (at the customers’ request) on a dual point tach drive distributor in a 1960 300F convertible. I tell them the owner actually wanted to drive the car.

Anyway great work.



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Thanks Dave. I was hoping for that result. Should look even better when the body is back on and the engine compartment frames everything more. It will definitely be an engine bay full!

Originally Posted by Mike P

......For some reason they think I should have 5 old distributors sitting on the shelf in the back shed rather than drill a screw hole and cut a slot in them and actually use them......I tell them the owner actually wanted to drive the car.

Ain't it the truth! Nostalgia is great, to a point. I dealt with enough points ignitions when I was younger. You know, where you stop at the store and come out to find the points managed to weld themselves together (GM Uni-Points seemed be the worst). I carried spare sets in my daily drivers for just such an occasion. I had no issues with swapping to electronic and would cut an old distributor up in a heart beat to convert it, if that was what it took to convert one.

Hey, if you're a true hot rodder, that's what you do, cut stuff up and make it better! That's what hot rodders have always done!

Thanks for the compliment, too. Glad folks are liking this.