Gas Pedal

<< Pedal Box Install                                            Brake Line Bracket (front) >>


Major System Category: Fuel System
Task: Install the gas pedal
Parts: Donor gas pedal (may be labeled fly by wire throttle)
Prerequisite Tasks: Install the pedal box
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 2 hours
Date Started: July 27, 2912
Date Completed: July 27, 2012
The gas pedal is attached by two rivnuts or bolts to the chassis frame where the steering column comes through. I'm not really enamored with the rivnut approach, but I understand that it is expedient if you plan to change gas pedals somewhere down the line. I've never found the need to change a gas pedal in any car I've owned.

This is the fly-by-wire pedal from the donor corvette.

The kit includes to hex head bolts to screw into the rivnuts. I'm not really sure why the hex head bolts were chosen. It is a real pain to get an hex wrench that far into the driver side foot box. I departed from the manual and went with 1/4 inch bolts and nuts. This is not without a certain level of frustration. I found that I could run the top bolt through and clamp it to the chassis. This allowed me to get my hand back there with tape wrapped on fingers (so the nut and washer stuck to the tape) and get the nut and washer on the stud. After that it was just a matter of using a long extension on a ratchet and open end wrench to tighten things down.

Top bolt. Orientation from bottom to top is  front to back.

The bottom bolt is harder to see.

Consideration: After you drill through the chassis for the two holes that secure the gas pedal, you should debur the back side.

Finished product. I still need to get the steering column taken care of. However, I think it is a blessing in disguise that I ran into problems, because these jobs jave been easier to complete without the steering column being attached.

Consideration: Make sure the brake pedal can move without interference from the gas pedal. It is real easy to make a mistake here. There is not a lot of room for error.

Brake Line Bracket (Front)

<< Fuel Tank Finish Panels                       Brake Line Bracket (Rear) >>
<< Gas Pedal

Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Mount front brake bracket and connect steel braided lines.
Parts: Brake Line components
Prerequisite Tasks:

1. Mount suspension and brakes
2. Master cylinders

Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 2.5 hours
Date Started: July 28, 2012
Date Completed: July 28, 1012
When I turned the page for brake line routing, it seemed like a lot of things were going on. I broke things down into four tasks:

1. Brake Line Routing (Front)
2. Brake Line Routing (Rear)
3. Brake Line Bracket (Front)
4. Brake Line Bracket (Rear)

This is the build manual photo. It shows how they want the hard brake line to interface with the steel braided line, but it never explains the miracle required to configure the hard line. I am a world class expert in screwing things like this up. 

There are a number of tasks that need to be performed here. I decided to tackle the brackets first, so I could concentrate on the hard brake line routing later. The kit supplies a bracket designed to attach to the bolts that attach the upper control arm to the chassis nearest the cockpit area. The whole thing seems overly complicated, and it introduces a kink in the hard brake line that seems real easy to screw up.

I taped the bracket inside the inner wheel wells. What you don't see in this photo is the steering column and master cylinders. This is at the junction of the inner wheel wells and driver's foot box exterior. Orientation: Looking up from the under side of the car on the driver's side.

Fortunately, there are others who stared at the same photo and decided there had to be a better way. RumRunner is a builder in Maryland. He has photos showing a better way to do this:

This is the other bracket taped in place (Gorilla tape is wonderful).  This approach really doesn't change  the height of the entry through the inner wheel well. It just eliminates the line kink.

Consideration: This is a design change. It is up to you as to whether or not you want to do this. Personally I think it is an improvement.

These brackets are marked for cutting.

I mounted the brackets inside the inner wheel wells and marked them. I retreated to the inner sanctum of the Northern Man Cave and retrieved my die grinder with its trusty cutting wheel. The brackets are made out of soft aluminum. It is a very quick job to cut and drill these brackets for an inside mount. Besides taking off the bolts on the suspension after my buddy Glen tighten things down for me. just didn't seem right.

This is the original bracket (top), and the modified "L" shaped bracket (bottom) that I used.

I took the tires off the car. The extra room comes in handy. After the bracket is riveted into place, the hole to run the brake line through needs to be drilled. RumRunner said he used a 7/8" drill bit. I did not have anything that big. I drilled a pilot hole from the inside of the wheel wells, then used a 15/32" bit to drill a hole from the outside. I finished it off with the Dremel steel cutting bit. (I did wander down to the local hardware store, looking for a 7/8" bit. Never found one that worked in my drill. I think God took pity on my confused mind and plopped me in front of the Dremel bits, as if to say, "Look dummy,. Try this one!")

Bracket riveted into place. Two rivets through sheet metal and two rivets into the frame, plus black silicone.

The Dremel cutting bit did a nice job of deburring the edges. About this time I remember there were some parts left over from the Big Brake Kit. The kit I purchased from West Coast Corvette included the clips and the mounts for a Corvette replacement. I just needed the clips. I ran the end of the braided brake line thought the bracket and slid the clip holder into place. It sounds so easy. It takes a little bit of work to get that done. 

Braided steel brake line running from the caliper through the inner wheel well  and clipped to the bracket. Orientation: Driver's side.

Same brake line as above, just from a different angle.

Fuel Tank Finish Panels

<< Rear Splash Panels                                      Brake Line Bracket (Front) >>

Major System Category: Fuel System
Task: Install the two angle panels that came attached to the chassis on delivery
Parts: Fuel Tabk Panels (LH/RH)
Prerequisite Tasks:
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 2 hours
Date Started: July 26, 2912
Date Completed: July 26, 2012
There are a couple of gotchas on this one. Two pieces of sheet metal and rivets and silicone. This is familiar territory. The gotchas involve the rivets on top as you get close to the chassis tubes angling down. A full size drill is not going to fit.

Driver's side panel. Taken from inside engine bay.

Passenger side panel. Taken from inside engine bay.

There are many surfaces that need to be drilled and riveted. This is best done sitting inside the engine bay. If you can elevate the car some the engine mounts are waist level, you will save your back. As it is, I busted four drill bits on these two panels. I think it was just a real bad night.

Rear Coil-Over Shock and mount

<< Mount Rear Suspension                         Fuel Tank Finish Panels >>

Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Install rear shock mounts and coil overs
Parts:

• shock mounts
• shocks
• cutting tools
• grinders
• a really big hammer

Prerequisite Tasks:
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 3 hours
Date Started: July 25, 2012
Date Completed: July 25, 2012
Factory Five seems to have a penchant for understatement. The manual states that you have to remove some material from the lower control arm. There are a few other items they fail to mention. The rear shock mounts are sprung really tight so just getting them on and off the lower control arms might require either a big hammer (strongly recommended) or Godzilla or both.

I used a Dremel tool to open up the inside of the washer. Orientation: Driver's side  rear suspension.

I used both a Dremel tool with the sanding stone, and a die grinder with a cutting wheel. I used the Dremel to open up the holes where the bolts slide through. Basically, my bolts stopped right away due to the powder coating. I also suggest reaming out the washer as well. You are going to want a tad bit more play in order to get the 24 mm black bolt through the control arm and bolt sides of the mounting bracket. Finally, I used the Dremel to remove material around where the washer sits. This will make easier to get the bracket on and off. Count on doing this at least twice.

This is the lip that needs to be trimmed back on the lower control arm.. If you look at it straight on, the lip extends 1/4 inch  out from the control arm. Orientation: Passenger side rear suspension.

Use the die grinder to trim off the lip on the lower control arm. I cut straight through, then buffed it a bit to get rid of any sharp edges. There is no easy way to do this. I tried to be nice and used a rubber mallet. It was a waste of time. The 10 lbs sledge proved decisive. You have to bang the bracket in two places to move the bracket so it aligns with the holes. Once the smaller hole on the end of the bracket was close, I slid a screw driver through the bracket and control arm to guide it into place. 

I also removed material around the seat for the washer. This just makes it easier  (a relative term) to slide/pound the bracket into place. This was not a great deal of material (perhaps a 1/16 inch or so). Orientation: Passenger side rear suspension.

Consideration: I disconnected the tie rod on one side so I could turn the rotor to the side for shock bracket. This gave me the extra room I needed.

Task complete. rear shocks mounted. She is ready for the rear tires. Orientation: driver's side rear suspension.

The spacers had the same issues as front mounts. I drilled out the spacers with a half inch drill bit, and filed down two of the rear spacers to reduce the width. I did not have any width issues with the top spacers.

Pedal Box and Master Cylinders

<< Foot Box Driver's Side                                                         Gas Pedal >>


Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Install pedal box, then master cylinders
Parts:

• Master Cylinders (3)
• Pedal Box

Prerequisite Tasks: Driver's side Foot Box
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 4 - 6 hours
Date Started: July 23, 2012
Date Completed: July 25, 2012
This task would have gone much smoother had I not broken the rivet nut tool on the second rivet nut. It took a good hour to fix the tool.

My crack team of helpers showed up to turn bolts.

Mounting the pedal box is pretty straight forward. There are two holes you need to drill upwards into the frame. The easiest way to do this is to lay down inside the frame and push upwards on the drill. Make sure you wear gloves and safety glasses, because metal shavings are going to swirl around. On the hole closest to the front, a full size drill is not going to fit very well. I used a smaller cordless drill for this hole.

Rivet nuts installed. Orientation looking up from inside the driver side foot box at the outside set of rivet nuts.

Consideration: To facilitate bolting the pedal box into place, I connected one of the six studs for the master cylinders to stabilize the pedal box. This way I could concentrate on getting things connected underneath.

Trim an inch off the push rod. This cylinder is prepped.

Master cylinder clamped down and ready to be cut.

I used the die grinder and the diamond cutting wheel to trim the master cylinder push rods. You won't miss the extra length, but I did notice that the photo in the manual shows a jam nut on the push rods. My kit doesn't have a nut (and you will want one to facilitate threading the push rods into the pedals). 

Secured the pedal box in order to facilitate bolting the pedal box in place. Orientation: Looking from the front of the car  towards the driver's side cockpit.

Consideration: The master cylinders connect to a top and bottom stud.  Thread the nut and washer on the top stud before doing too much on the bottom; otherwise, you will not have space to get the nut on the top stud.

The master cylinders come with dust covers. 

Once the master cylinders are in place, the push rods need to be mated to the pedals. The brake gets two push rods and the clutch gets one. I ran a nut up and down the threads of each push rod to make sure they all worked (since they were cut down earlier). I used a needle nose pliers to get enough grip on the push rods to turn the push rods so they threaded into the back of the pedals.

Final product! Pedal box and master cylinders installed.

The last thing to do is install the tanks. My kit included two tanks. Based on the photo in the build manual, I chose the smaller tank to mount. For some reason Wilwood supplies really soft metal and chintzy clamps to secure the tanks to the cylinders. The space here is really tight. I tried fitting a screw driver into the slotted head, but I could not get a decent purchase. I ended up using a small 10mm wrench to tighten things down.

Front Tie Rod

<< Mount Front Coil Overs                               Rear Splash Panels >>

Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Cut and attach front tie rod
Parts: Steering rack and outer tie rod
Prerequisite Tasks: Mount front suspension
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 90 minutes
Date Started: July 21, 2012
Date Completed: July 22, 2012
There is good news and bad news about the most of the steering components.

The good news is that pretty much everything appears to be sourced from Flaming River. This means parts can be readily replaced.

The bad news is most of these parts need to be modified to fit the GTM.

Tie rod connected to suspension after trimming 1 inch. There is still a little room left for the jam nut.  Orientation is passenger side front suspension.

Here's the problem. If you wind the outer tie rods all the way to the end of the threads and attempt to bolt it to the front suspension, the rods are too long. I checked SpyTech's Blog (because I knew I had read this somewhere), and he recommends cutting 1 inch off the tie rod as a starting point. I looked in the manual and I couldn't find the spot where it instructs you to cut the tie rod. I'm sure it is in there, but I couldn't find it. I followed SpyTech's instructions and everything worked out. This may be something I read on the forums as well.

This is the driver's side. As you can see we are pretty close to the end of the threads on the inner tie rod.  Orientation  is driver's side suspension.

All I had available was a hack saw, and I used that to trim the passenger side tie rod. After that dreadful experience I figured there are easier ways tot handle this. I went down to Loews and purchased a 3 inch diamond cutting wheel for my die grinder. Wow! I trimmed the driver's side tie rod in 2 minutes. Wear safety glasses for this one! Sparks fly all over the place.

Another look at the driver's side suspension a few minutes before I mounted the tires. Note the orientation of the shocks. This is opposite from the manual. I suspect the printed manual has other items that do not reflect engineering changes or design modifications. There is a great deal of forum discussion regarding the coil over shocks.

For some reason, you end up taking a little bit more off the driver's side tie rod. I had to trim two more times. In both cases less than the width of a dime. I eye balled the alignment for now.

Front Suspension

<< Inner Wheel Wells                                                Mount Front Coil Overs >>


Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Mount front suspension to chassis
Parts: Corvette donor suspension
Prerequisite Tasks:
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 1 hour
Date Started: 7/21/2012
Date Completed: 7/21/2012
A funny thing happened on the way to mounting the suspension, the upper control arm bushings didn't line up with the mount points. There were turned out of phase some 45 degrees. I don't think there is anything wrong, it is just a pain. I will have to lift the suspension higher to get the mount point and control arms to line up so I can drop the bolts into the holes.

These are the upper control arm mount points. These were the fittings that were turned 45 degrees.

It was 101 here today, so I am waiting for cooler weather before I lift these monsters into place. As with the rear suspension, I have the Z06 big brakes and rotors already mounted on the suspension. I'm not sure how much more weight this adds, but it seems substantial.

The goal is to get a tire on the car. Besides the control arms, none of the rest of this came from the donor. We have new tires, new wheels, new rotors and new calipers. This is the big brake kit for Corvettes, so you need larger everything to accommodate these upgrades.

My buddy Glen came over today to help with the front suspension. I lifted suspension so the mount points aligned, and Glen cranked away with two socket wrenches. We made quick work of the problem. Once attached the bushings rotated and came to rest. We were able to get the lower control arm attached in short order as well. If everything had mated up just right, I could have done this myself.

Front Coil-Over Shock Mounting

<< Coil Over Assembly                                                            Front Tie Rods >>


Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Mount front shocks
Parts: Koni Coil Over assembly
Prerequisite Tasks:

• Mount front suspension
• Assemble coil over shocks

Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 1 hour (provided no modification is required for spacers); Otherwise, 90 minutes.
Date Started: July 21, 2012
Date Completed: July 21, 2012
The shock mounts go on pretty easy. They are packaged together in a zip lock bag under the major part number for the assembly. Everything is off the shelf with the exception of the mount itself. Ensure the 450 lbs spring set is mounted on the front. This is a good time to check that the shocks are set up the same way. This isn't to say that you are done with adjustments, but it is best to start with everything as close to same on both sides as possible.

This is the mount for the front coil over shock. It bolts to the lower control arm.  Orientation is driver's side front suspension looking from the front of the car towards the rear.

 Issue: I ran into two issues related to the spacers.

1. The spacers need to be enlarged so they fit on the bolt. This is easily handled by drilling out the center with a half inch drill bit.
2. The spacers were too wide to fit on the mount points. This is solved by filing down one spacer for each pair. I used a hand file. You don't need to take too much off. Just enough to fit.

Issue: I ran into problems with the steering rack due to excess powder coating. The same thing happened with the shock mount point on the chassis. This was handled with a Dremel tool.

This is the coil over shock installed. It is my understanding that we currently install the shocks right side up . This is a departure from the manual.

I used a small floor jack to lift the suspension so it was roughly parallel to the ground. Based on this height and the same number of turns on the shock collar, I mounted the front coil overs. I will worry about alignment and that sort of thing when I have an engine (some 13 to 14 months off).

Footbox Aluminum - Passenger Side

<< Driver's foot box                                          Sound Proof Floor >>

Major System Category: Chassis
Task: Build the passenger's foot box
Parts: All parts were attached to chassis on delivery
Prerequisite Tasks: Inner Wheel wells
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 4 hours
Date Started: July 13, 2012
Date Completed: July 13, 2012
Consideration: If you are installing, stop now and go to back of the manual and start installing the air conditioning. The evaporator unit must be installed before the passenger foot box is completed.

The passenger side foot box seemed easier to put together than the driver's side. The pieces are different, and there is no fitting around the pedal box. This was pretty straight forward.

This the front wall. Orientation facing forward looking from the passenger area of the cockpit. More than half of this piece connects to the outer wall. The outer wall is not installed, but when installed closes out the right side of the photo.

Once you close in the foot box with the outer wall, it is just a matter of drilling the holes and popping the rivets. I caulked everything heavily with the silicone and sprayed every seam with Plasti Dip. 

You can see the diagonal seam between the front wall and the triangular  shaped panel. This panel serves as an anchor between the inner wall and the front wall. It uses a similar (albeit simpler) interlocking tab concept as on the driver's side. Orientation is facing forward from the passenger cockpit. (You can see the Boxster sitting outside on the driveway.)

I ordered a can of Eastwood's bruashable seam sealer today. This is to address the gaps I see on the underside of the car as well as the some of the areas where the panels have tiny pin pricks. The seam sealer is not supposed to sag, harden or crack. It drys to a dark gray color. I plan to apply a couple of coats, then spray Plasti Dip as an additional layer.

This is the inner wall. Unlike the driver's side, this is one piece. It is  much easier to work with.  Orientation is looking forward from the passenger cockpit area.

The items I am beginning to think about are the sound proofing and heat shield products. Once I get to the point where I have the foot box areas sealed and the floor finalized, I want to put the appropriate materials down to solidify the chassis and reduce the rattle effect.

I call this the funny little connector piece. It is basically there to give the inner wall  an anchor. Orientation is looking from outside the passenger side towards the tunnel.

I need to evaluate  whether I should work on the steering linkage and pedal box prior to mounting the front suspension. Since I am waiting on parts for the shock mounts for the rear suspension, I don't see the benefit of having half the car up on wheels and other half sitting on jack stands.

Footbox Aluminum - Driver Side

<< Inner Wheel Wells                                                       Passenger Foot Box >>


Major System Category: Chassis
Task: Build the driver's foot box
Parts: All parts were attached to chassis on delivery
Prerequisite Tasks: Inner Wheel wells
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 4 hours
Date Started: July 12, 2012
Date Completed: July 12, 2012
The driver side foot box sounds easy enough, but if you were like me you probably didn't quite grasp how all the pieces fit together. Now it is time to put them back together. You need to go one step at a time.

The front wall is straight forward. Orientation is left hand side  looking towards the  front of the car.  It is a good Idea to lay out all the pieces involved, so you see how everything fits together. If something is really springy, then it is not together correctly.

Consideration: The foot box consists of five parts and there are seams between these parts. The front wheels are going send road debris, water and who knows what else right at the box. There are two things I think that need to be addressed: body filler for gaps and undercoating to waterproof the footbox. 

This piece attaches to the right side of the front wall. The back side is common to the tunnel. The tab  painted black (on the lower left hand side) fits under the middle section of the front wall. It is a little tricky to get it to slide together. 

This tab on the front wall fits behind the piece above. This causes some tension between the two panels.

Consideration: The outer should be installed last. Otherwise it will get in the way of everything.

The lift definitely came in handy tonight. One the problems I ran into was the foot box tab for the lower front side wall did not want to match up nicely with the front wall piece. Eventually I placed a spreader so I could push the pieces into place and rivet them together. The perspective from the underside of the car points out many places were water can gain access under the carpeting. In one case, I drilled from the underside of the car due to space limitations inside the car.

The front panel and bottom tunnel panel installed. Orientation is left side of the car  looking  towards the tunnel side of the footbox.

The first two pieces were the hardest to install. It is an area where some gaps exist. I did not rivet the area where the clamps show in the above photo. This is because this a common area with the next part of the tunnel aluminum.

This is the funny piece I couldn't figure out for a while. This piece faces the front wall and is positioned right beneath the dash. Orientation is looking towards the driver's seat in the cockpit. 

I applied additional silicon front and back as well as between the panels. I also sprayed all contact areas with Plasti Dip. Since this area is enclosed, I did not think it necessary to spray the entire panel. The back sides of the panels are sprayed. This area will be waterproofed and sound proofed before any finishing pieces are applied.

The final piece is installed. Orientation is looking from the left hand side of the car towards the tunnel. The front of the car is to the left. I did all my orientation to the front fo the car when I removed the aluminum during kit disassembly.

I put the little triangle piece on third, because I determined I needed something to anchor the upper tunnel panel. You can see my impromptu work bench (AKA the cockpit floor). The lip of the piece above the triangle piece is Shane's stereo close out box. I am a long way from installing electronics, but the close out box is a handy place to stick the rivet bag. The one piece I did not install is the outer wall. I still need to prep that piece. Otherwise it is ready to go. 

Rear Tie Rod

<< Mount Rear Suspension                                             Mount Coil Overs >>


Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Install rear tie rods
Parts:

1. Corvette tie rods (2)
2. 24 mm (15/16 inch) wrench 
3. Vice grip
4. 19 mm wrench
5. T40 star bit and wrench

Prerequisite Tasks:  Mount rear suspension
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 30 - 45 minutes
Date Started: July 10, 2012
Date Completed: July 10, 2012
I had planned to install the shock absorbers today, but I discovered that the rear mounts are on back order. So I dug out the tie rods from the donor kit parts bin. This is pretty straight forward. You might want use some Rem Oil on the threads and clean things up before you start. You also might need to dremel out the mount point on the chassis to remove excess powder coating.

Corvette tie rod. The left side connect to the knuckle. The right side connects to the chassis.

The 24mm wrench/ratchet (whatever works for you) and the vice grips are for the large bolt that fits through the chassis. There is a flat spot on the outside of the bolt where you can grip bolt. Once you have this secure, it is just a matter of tightening down the tie rod end.

Mount point on the chassis. This is the left hand side above the lower rear control arms.

This si the attachment point on the knuckle facing toward the front of the car on the left hand side.

The 19mm wrench and T40 star bit are for the attachment to the knuckle. Use the star bit to immobilize the bolt so you can tighten down the nut after it is slipped into the mount point. This is very straight forward. This is something you will return to when the time comes to set up the alignment on the rear tires.

Rear Suspension Mounting to Chassis

<< Rear Splash Panels                             Rear Tie Rod >>
                                        Emergency Brake and Cables >>

Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Attach Corvette rear suspension to mount points on chassis.
Parts:

• Rear suspension
• Small jack
• Jack stands or blocks
• The Hulk (if available)

Prerequisite Tasks: Rear Splash Panels
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 90 minutes (less if you have a big buddy)
Date Started: July 10, 2012
Date Completed: July 10, 2012
Last fall I purchased the Z06 big brake upgrade kit from West Coast Corvettes. I was really excited, because these were the first pieces of the car I could actually put together. These brakes are massive and heavy. The suspension is massive and heavy. I put these parts together and created a heavier assembly. I think it is easier to assemble the brakes on a bench than on the car, but that's my opinion.

The LH rear suspension resting on the lift next to the yellow floor jack. This is another case where the lift  makes a task easier for a one man shop. I lowered the chassis to a comfortable working height.

 Up to the point of purchasing the brakes, all I had to show for my project was a crate of used Corvette parts taking up space in the basement. Last October I added the assembled brake kit, then the wheels. This is now why I now have an off site storage locker. This is all to say, the suspension assembly I worked with can be made lighter.

Rear suspension mounted on the left hand side of the chassis and supported by a jack stand. The Z06 brakes  look very nice. A point of interest: the LS7 powered GTM reviewed by Car & Driver was equipped with this brake package.

I started with the left hand assembly. This side required some persuasion as the mount points were a tad tight. A couple of judicious taps from a 10 lbs sledge and they opened enough to slide the control arm ends into the place. I also employed a small floor jack. This I got under the knuckle. This was helpful as I could move the assembly around. You need to get it dead on so it matches up with the geometry on the chassis. The right hand side went easier. The last thing I did was lower the assembly on a jack stand (blocks work too). The alternative is to just let rest on the floor. I didn't want to do this.

Rear Splash Panels

<< Front Tie Rod                                                      Mount rear suspension >>

Major System Category: Chassis
Task: Install four panels
Parts:

• Rear Splash Guard Front Lower (LH, RH)
• Rear Splash Guard Center (2)

Prerequisite Tasks: Kit Disassembly
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 2.5 hours
Date Started: July 9, 2012
Date Completed: July 9, 2012

The hardest thing about this job is opening up the box with all the packaged aluminum and realizing there are lots of aluminum pieces in your future. Most of these are marked in black marker with the part number on the detailed inventory. There were a couple that require the old process-of-elimination trick.

This the orientation of the splash panels. This is driver's side  rear.  The front of the car is towards the left. The rear of the car is towards the right. The panels fit around the attachment points for the rear suspension.

Splash panel traced and drilled.

Final install after coating, silicone and rivets.

Once you figure out the orientation of the panels, this is pretty straight forward. I think the manual could benefit from better photos or more photos. One of the items I don't understand at this point is the rear splash guard centers stick up over the frame. I am thinking these must be bent or rolled over some where along the line so the body can be remounted.

Consideration: These pieces must be installed before the rear suspension.