Gel Coat Pannel Question

[mn_vette]

I guess this is a question for the Factry Five guys that may be lurking out there.

The 818 body pannels are going to be gelcoat that doensn't require painting. I'm assuming that it would not require any trimming or sanding for fitment as well.

Are these going to be done the same as the GTM Gen 2 body? Or are there differences that are planned for this process?

Here is what I found on the Factory Five Website
"The biggest change with the body comes in the hours required for bodywork. We built all-new molds. Every single molded part on the GTM was changed and for each part, we built new tight tolerance molds and make the parts in red gel coat."

Here is the Factory Five web page for some photos of the red gel coat.
http://www.factoryfive.com/gtm/updates/gentwotext.html

[Someday I Suppose]

Jim or Dave would be the guys to answer, but I know Dave has mentioned the solidworks connection, and I believe they are planning for the body to be made in panels, not a single body piece like the GTM and Roadster. I guess the image I keep having is a close tolerance mold that is somewhat oversized, and then cutting the panel to the exact spec with the robot. (I THINK this is how the doors are done on the roadster.)

Somewhere in mind mind I keep picturing the plastic panels of a Saturn, but in fiberglass and gelcoat. I'm not sure it they then bolt together, or bolt to the frame, or both, but it probably depends on the final body design and the particular panel.

_Scott

[Oppenheimer]

Jim or Dave would be the guys to answer, but I know Dave has mentioned the solidworks connection, and I believe they are planning for the body to be made in panels, not a single body piece like the GTM and Roadster. I guess the image I keep having is a close tolerance mold that is somewhat oversized, and then cutting the panel to the exact spec with the robot. (I THINK this is how the doors are done on the roadster.)

Somewhere in mind mind I keep picturing the plastic panels of a Saturn, but in fiberglass and gelcoat. I'm not sure it they then bolt together, or bolt to the frame, or both, but it probably depends on the final body design and the particular panel.

_Scott

I was thinking along the same lines, but was thinking the panels might get bonded to the frame (and/or each other). Think how a traditional body-on-frame car is constructed. You've got the shell, which is actually several panels welded together (Quarter panels, roof, floor, firewall, etc). Then the fenders, which bolt to both the shell and the frame. trunk and hood mount to hinges that mount to the body.

Would they do something similar, where FFR bonds the panels together to produce a shell, then during build we bolt that to the frame, bolt on the fenders, trunk, hood, etc?

Yes, I know the 818 floor would be Al panels bonded & rivited to the frame, so the 'shell' here would not include a floor (but hoping it would optionally include a roof!)

[Someday I Suppose]

I thought there may have been some discussion about the panels being replaceable, which leads me to think they might not be bonded into a single piece at FFR. Something similar could be done though if they bonded an angle to the back of the panel and then bolted them together.


I was thinking along the same lines, but was thinking the panels might get bonded to the frame (and/or each other). Think how a traditional body-on-frame car is constructed. You've got the shell, which is actually several panels welded together (Quarter panels, roof, floor, firewall, etc). Then the fenders, which bolt to both the shell and the frame. trunk and hood mount to hinges that mount to the body.

Would they do something similar, where FFR bonds the panels together to produce a shell, then during build we bolt that to the frame, bolt on the fenders, trunk, hood, etc?

Yes, I know the 818 floor would be Al panels bonded & rivited to the frame, so the 'shell' here would not include a floor (but hoping it would optionally include a roof!)

[Olimk2]

Big question here, the more parts you get, the most difficult to make them "fit".
More weight as you have to put them on a "specific" frame.
Once i worked on a Ferrari Testarrossa; lightweight aluminium body, but a hundred steel tubes to support it!!

Big monoblock parts, less weight, but huge multi parts molds that needs again a perfect fit ! (Not gelcoat finish friendly if there are big gaps)
Take your choice!

[FFRWRX]

Maybe I'm oversimplifying it, but there were kitcars 30 years ago that had gelcoat finished body panels that didn't need paint. Why should it be such a challenge today?

[PhyrraM]

Maybe I'm oversimplifying it, but there were kitcars 30 years ago that had gelcoat finished body panels that didn't need paint. Why should it be such a challenge today?

Simpler "tub" types of shapes that can be pulled from a single one-piece mold. Complex shapes need multi-piece molds that are bolted together. It's the seams where the pieces join that poses the problem.

[Olimk2]

I used to work with Gardner Douglas UK, the Cobra was proposed in gel coat finish, looked very good!

[mn_vette]

My entire reason for starting this post was not to debate about the panels, just to see if the GTM uses the same process that is being planned for the 818. And if that's the case there are pictures of how the finished product is going to look without paint on the Factory Five website(see link above).

I guess I'm just waiting for FFR to confirm that the GTM pictures show us a similar quality of what we would expect from the 818 body.

[Brian Z]

The GTM has parting lines from the mold that need to be sanded down. The goal on the 818 is to have more simple panels that do not have parting lines and would require no body work. You could not drive a finished looking GTM without sanding down the parting lines and painting it. Panel design means more panels, with no parting lines so you can drive it without having to paint it. I believe the gel coat itself would be the same that we use on the GTM body.

Brian @ FFR

[mn_vette]

Brian, Thanks for the info.

[FFRWRX]

Is gel coat "invisibly" repairable? If you get a chip in it can you mix up a small batch of it, fill the chip, sand it down and buff it and have it look good? I would think so, but don't really know too much about it. I've made a lot of fibreglass pieces but never used gel coat. I would think repairability would be very important.

Rick