Garage Prep III

This is the final phase for garage prep prior to ordering the GTM chassis. I installed a Swisstrax floor at the build site. In the post entitled Synergy I discussed Swisstrax flooring. If you decide to install a floor like this, list Traci as your sales person. She has handled 4 orders for me, and they all arrived perfect.

Finished product. The Maple Grove build site for the GTM.

Neither the Swisstrax floor or the DirectLift car lift are requirements for the GTM. They are both designed to make the build space more usable. The Swisstrax floor is virtually indestructible. It doesn't mar from jack stands or ramps. It doesn't come apart when a car drives on/off repeatedly. It doesn't fade under bright sun (and South Carolina has plenty of that). It doesn't scratch your painted parts.

DiamondTrax tile.

Each tile is a mixture of polymers and rubber, and each tile has a compression strength of 5120 psi. This floor is more forgiving than concrete, and I have no illusions - things will get dinged and nicked during the build. Hopefully, the Swisstrax floor will mitigate some of my clumsiness.

This is the bottom of a tile. You can see it is designed to handle a significant load. In my case, the weight of the lift is dispersed to four load points and the weight of any car I might put on there is equally distributed to those load points. The lift weights 1700 lbs and the heaviest car I might put up there is 4000 lbs. That comes down to 1600 lbs per load point - well within spec for the titles.

I chose the DiamondTrax pattern, because it provides grip and prevents things from just wandering away. It is available in fourteen colors. Once you've selected the product and have measurements, go to the floor designer and build your floor. The designer is a HTML WYSIWYG tool. When you're satisfy request a quote. Get the estimate, pay the bill and wait for FedEx truck to arrive.

Th edge pieces are about 2 inches wide and provide a nice ramp edge to the floor.

Assembly is a snap. The tiles fit together per the plan you submitted. For tools you need some gloves, knee pads, rubber mallet and a cutting tool (I'd suggest the Dremel Multi Max or one of its clones). I finish off the job with end pieces to give me a tapered edge.

Paddle Shifts

The GTM cockpit is not spacious. My strategy is to leverage technology (e.g. Smart Mirror, inTOUCH screen) to provide space. I would like to have a center console similar to the one in my Corvette.

Gary Cheyne's GTM fitted with paddle shifters to Porsche G50/20 transaxle.

One place to regain some space is to eliminate the gear shift between the seats. The way to do this is to go with a paddle shift solution. The C5 Corvette (base donor car for the GTM) does not have paddle shifts. So I am reading through the blog posts on SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) and come across a post for Master Shift.

Paddle shifter unit. t uses the horn wire to send signals to the controller unit.

Master Shift makes paddle shifters for automatic and manual transmissions (including the Porsche G50/20). The hardware is available for C5/C6/Z06 steering columns. They have already installed the system in a Factory Five GTM. It can be retrofitted to a variety of older and component cars.

Shift hardware that converts the G50/20 from shaft driven to cable driven .

This is how it works:

1. Shift command is transmitted via the horn wire to a electronic controller.
2. Two cables are connected from the controller to the shift hardware mounted on the transmission.
3. Shifts are not executed until the clutch is engaged. 
4. Safeties are built in to prevent neutral and reverse shifts
5. The controller is programmable.
6. A dash display indicates current gear.