dogger15

For those of you that are interested in this kind of thing, the refresh of my Grand Ammer is nearly complete.

With many thanks to the folks at Autometrics for the knowledge, skill and guidance that a top flight shop brings to the table, the car has been updated with the following changes and additions:
Mega Line paddle shifter, Bosch ABS, Recarro P1300 seat, Schroth Profi endurance belts, 997.1 to 997.2 dash, wheel and console conversion, electronic drink system and topped off with a
new wrap.

Here are some pictures:











There is still a few items left to do: Wheels, safety nets, CF wheel house liners, new cool suit box, etc.

The wrap design is a variation of a Porsche theme that was used on the GT3 Hybrid. I emailed the shop some pictures with the changes I wanted to make and they came up with a
rendering. Then we went through the 3M color chart to come up with the colors. The hardest part was getting the old wrap off. It had been on the car for so long, it took some of the
paint off with it. The wrap shop did a real nice job and the wrap totally transformed the car IMO.

The wheel that came with the car were pretty tired so I decided to restore them. One of the other changes I want to do is to swap the 5 bolt hubs to center locks. Fortunately most of the
parts to do that are already on the car. The car came with two sets of wheels, both vintage 08 with the 10 spoke pattern. I'm keeping the set in the picture above as a transport only set so
I'm leaving them as is. I'm restoring the other set and will pick up two or three more sets of wheels to have enough on hand for a typical outing. I'll be switching to the "027" style with 6
spokes for all future wheels

Here are some before and after pictures of one of the front wheels I restored. If you are eagle eyed, you'll notice the "36" serial on the center. That means that center was the 36th of it's
type produced. BBS still makes this style and said the serials are in the thousands now.









If you look at the before picture of the back of the wheel, you'll notice the "filler" wood dowels in ten of the holes. That was to expedite wheel changes during pit stops by not allowing
the wheel to slide onto blind lugs.

Restoring the wheels has been challenging but very rewarding. The folks at BBS have been a big help with all kinds of support. I start the process with disassembly. Then I NDI each
part with a penetrant dye and black light to check for cracks. Then I check the barrels and centers with a truing stand and dial indicator. I'm restoring the inners with soda blasting which
cleans the Aluminum without etching it. I follow that with a session in the ultrasonic cleaner. I'm polishing the outers with several grades of wet sanding and finish with a Mothers mini
ball and Aluminum polish. I'm media blasting the centers with glass bead then touch up any obvious nicks and scratches with a Dremel before priming and painting. The paint is PPG
wheel specific (Hi temp) and I'm using Black Chrome for the color. I cook the centers at 250 degrees after painting to replicate the heat the wheels will see on the track and to cure the
paint. I'm also replacing the valve stems and hardware with new. I'm not restoring these wheel to show car standards, just want them to look presentable and not detract from the rest
of the car.

FLA997

MegaLine - nice move! Car looks great.

Looks like you have the H4/9003 headlights that came with the R/RSR/Cup S... I would highly recommend the LED plug and play upgrade below if you are still running the stock H4 bulbs. I have the same lights on my R. When I converted to the LED kit below I was blown away at the difference. The H4s are horrible...basically the same headlights as a 1985 VW Rabbit.

dogger15

Thanks for the link. 6000K is a super White bulb and I like the idea of being able to adjust the beam pattern.

One of the mods already planned is swapping out the rear cover for a 2012 version complete with an LED tail
light conversion. The LED headlights will fit in nicely with that.

We are also looking at replacing the wing with an RSR anhedral. A cleaner design with better performance.

I'm thinking this car will be a constant work in progress.

tkerrmd

Nice!!

Viperbob1

LEDs are not as strong as the HIDs. I would try a little more POWER...

https://www.lifetimeledlights.com/le...headlight_bulb

dogger15

Thanks guys.

The Mega Line was Gordon's recommendation. When we started, I wanted a Holinger. He recommended the Mega Line over the Holinger, something about better reliabilty. That was good enough for me.

Eventually I would like to do some endurance events with this car. I doubt any stand alone headlight would suffice. Most of the cars sport numerous add on lights and I suspect that's what will need to be done here.
I guess the good news is you can get quite a light show with LEDs without the excessive drain on the electrical system caused by conventional lighting.

chrcook

GTC Stock if great, but I'm partial to ex-Grand-Am cars with all the tricks. I wonder why.....

Really nice work!

RobT 394

The work on the wheels is fantastic! Once BBS get tired it is a chore to bring them back to life. Your work on these reflects a great deal of time, patience and persistence. Well done.

gt2-josh

Agreed! The wheels look fantastic. I did a similar process with the sanding and dremeling on a set of E88s and it's a ton of work. Yours look great. And the wrap is awesome too. Really cool Grand Am spec car. Good job!! JBO

dogger15

Same here. At first I wanted a 997 GT3R, but after I did some research, I decided the complexity and cost of maintaining it were too much for my first car. The Grand Ammers remind me of an entry level 3R in that you get some nice performance upgrades but without all the cost and fussiness associated with the higher spec car.

Thanks for noticing guys, and thanks for the thumbs up. As you pointed out, this kind of work is time consuming and tedious. Fortunately one of my hobbies is restoring vintage motorcycles, so I have some experience and more importantly, the right tools and equipment to do the work. Still, one set is enough, all future wheels will be new. The only work I'll do on the new wheels is repainting the centers to match.

After I ship these wheels back to Autometrics, they are going to determine if the existing offset and rim widths are optimal using the tried and true "trial and error" method. With 12.5" in back and 10.5 up front I think 325s and 285s will fit. Both the front and rear wheel houses have been stretched but I haven't taken into account factors like camber and side wall protrusion as was pointed out to me. Trying to figure out how much wheel/tire you can safely stuff under the fenders is another example of why I decided to stop self supporting. I'm not even remotely qualified (knowledge or experience), to pull it off and there is too much at stake if not done right.

James-GMG

Good stuff!!

analogmike

Looks great! Just like my '08 Grand Am with '10 CupS updates. I do have the later LED brake lights on the rear bumper and RSR wing. But I don't have the paddle shifter yet, may try that after I get it running again.

Orbit r

It is nice to see the GRAND-AM cars get a little love. The rules changed so much through the years that you will not find any two of them the same. We raced those cars for years, if you are looking for any odds and ends please let me know .

Rodger@orbitracing.com