It's Here!!!!!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 was the BIG day! Stewart Transport delivered my GTW kit!! Here's a bunch of pictures of the offload and introduction of it to its new environs. Hopefully, the next time it leaves the garage it'll be under its own power!! The rest of the day and Wednesday "Mommy" and I spent inventorying the hundreds of parts in the 15 boxes. (Even Christmas morning gets tedious after a while. . . . . . .) Now its time to fish or cut bait!

Preparations

Got the transaxle mounted on the engine stand(Thanx JC - wherever you are!)in preparation for teardown.



Raised the Body Buck so it will fit over the engine hoist(thanx again JC!), to save space in the garage.

The Project of a Lifetime

HI! Here's where I share the most exciting mechanical adventure of my life with you! I'm about to build a Factory Five GTM Supercar! As the blog name implies, I've changed the name of my car to GTW, for Grand Touring WRIGHT (being the egoist that I am!!) The adventure began in June 2008 when Dave Smith, CEO of Factory Five, took me for a ride in the red car, right off the factory showroom floor!!! What a BLAST!! It was like no other ride I've ever experienced - an adult, 500HP gokart!!! Shortly after, I ordered a kit in August, with delivery scheduled for February 2009. Meantime, I started amassing the bits and pieces to complete the car.

Above is the C5 donor parts package from fparts arriving at home in October 2008 (Thanks to Ed and Lisa (my son and his wife) for the pickup!!).

That followed the purchase of a Poesche G50-03 transaxle on ebaY in September. This is the way it looked as received;


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This is how it looks after a good cleaning. Alas, I'll be tearing it down to install a pump and cooler setup from CarQuip to give it some longevity in its new, hot environment. Also purchased the starter, clutch and inner CV joints, as well as a Brandwood cable shifter for this piece

Next, a fresh LS376/480 crate engine, with harness and "smart box", from GM Performance Parts via Fred Bean in Doylestown, PA. This sweet bit arrived in late November. Can't wait to hear her scream!!

Got the body buck built (per Pete Dove's design). Also, lit up the garage with 4 additional 2-tube fluorescent fixtures, for some late-night sessions, if need be.



And today, February 13, Friday, we got a call from the Stewart Transport driver that he picked up my kit at Factory Five TODAY!!!! IT IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!! Stay tuned. . . . . . . . .