The SN65 project car

Hi All,

Josh, of the Daily Herald, is going to write an article about the SN65 project. He asked me if I knew anyone, other than us, he could talk to about the project, I thought of all of you.

So...

I would greatly appreciate it if you would give Josh a call at 630-587-8626 and tell him your honest opinion of the project, good, bad or otherwise.

Thanks Bob

OBTW, He would really like to talk to those who are coming to the open house from outside of IL. Here is your chance for your 15 minutes of fame.

TheChevyEater said:

so SN65 originally came with a 6cyl huh? sorry to hear about the shop.. i have faith that yall will pull through.. just hang in there lol

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Hi CE,

Yes, the SN65 was a lowly 6 banger. So... Even though she comes from humble beginings, She has worked long and hard to build herself up to the point where now, she deserved to run with the big boys.

Hi All,

We have run into a little snag on the project pushing the completion date out to the beginning of next week.

So...

We are going to have to reschedule the open house to sometime after the Detroit show (the first weekend of March)

Sorry about the mix up.

That being the case, we will be working on the car this Saturday, so please e-mail me at rj@sn65.com if you wish to stop by and see it in progress. Seeing as we will still be working on the car, we can only allow for a small number of people. For those wishing to stop by we will be able to show the car from 9 to noon.

I am sorry about having to reschedule the get together. We were really looking forward to meeting all of you and showing the finished car.

Bob

Holly (@$(&@$&!!!!!!!

I just took the SN65 out for a spin (only around the block) and I am totally blown away. Every fear I had about lackluster acceleration, poor ride quality, misc. rattles, sluggish handling, etc.... has been officially laid to rest.

This car is a real screamer.

When I pulled it out of the shop, I told myself to take it easy. We still have to log about 500 miles before the new clutch setup is fully broke in and I was really concerned over loose nuts and bolts, etc... After all, we did have every last nut and bolt off the car at one point or another.

I eased into the throttle and the car pulled away very smooth and responsive. Slight changes in the throttle gave me a feeling that the car will pull really well. The handling was phenomenal. Going around a couple corners at moderate speeds gave me the feeling that the car was on rails. The cockpit is just tight enough to give you a nice secure feel without being cramped.

The ride quality was a major concern of mine. We eliminated quite a few rubber components and replaced them with Delron and aluminum. I was really afraid that these changes would make the ride overly harsh and noisy, but the ride was surprisingly smooth.

The sound from the exhaust was just perfect. The car produces a nice mellow rumble at idle and a throaty growl under moderate acceleration.

Speaking of "moderate" acceleration. When the car is rolling along at about 35 to 40, if we just pop the throttle up to about 1/5 to 3/4 acceleration, the tires tend to break free. The F1's are a bit worn, but they still have a bit of tread left. I thought they would hold better. I guess the real test will be with the new rims and Toyo's rolling.

I really did not want to bring the car back to the shop. I just wanted to drive off into the sunset. It is the most fun I have had in a car ever, and it only lasted about 3 to 5 minutes. It is going to drive me nuts having this thing sitting here and not being able to drive fit.

I want to drive it to a couple of Ford dealers in the area just for an oil change. I want to drive it to a couple of exotic car dealers and take a few people for a test drive.

Speaking of test drives, I really want to be able to take some of you out for a spin. I wish I could take all of you, but time will not allow. Mark my words. If any of you who have been following this thread, ever come up to me at a car show, and we can arrange for some time on the road, we will do it.

Better yet, when we do the power tour, we will be happy to swap passengers with others on the trip. After all, If you get to ride in our car, we get to ride in yours.

Well, I have to get back to work. We have lots of little details yet to finish before the unveiling at the Autoramma.

Bob

1320stang said:

Hey Bob, come by and pick me up, I'm in Oklahoma City, so the clutch ought to be broken in nicely by then.

Actually, my daughter will be making a band trip to Chicago in the spring of '07, if you still have the car by then, I want to come by and check it out (and whatever new project your working on )

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Hi 1320,

Oklahoma city....

Hummm....

Sounds like a nice trip. Actually, anywhere sounds nice right about now.

We will probably still have the car in 07. Someone would have to "make us an offer we can't refuse" for us to part with it. Even if we sold this one, we would quickly build another to take it's place.

bigcat said:

i never had any doubts. the quality of work shows through!

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Hi BC,

You may say that, but until you actually drive the car, you can never be quite sure if it will pan out the way you envisioned. I am happy to say that in this case, the results are more than I could have asked for.

TheChevyEater said:

just get a laptop, set it in the car with a webcam.. woohoo! joy ride

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Hi CE,

I am going to see if I can borrow a friends digital camcorder for the show. It would be great to get a bunch of crowd reaction shots. Also, the move in and other after hours events.