#1104 (Gen1) Steve's 33 Rod Build - door panels

[FF33rod]

A teaser from the shop. Painting various parts and sides all this week....

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Steve

[progmgr1]

So Steve, how much longer are you going to hold out on us about the color / paint code / OEM application (looks beautiful, BTW)?
Keith HR #894

[FF33rod]

So Steve, how much longer are you going to hold out on us about the color / paint code / OEM application (looks beautiful, BTW)?
Keith HR #894

I want to tell you that it's an exotic mix just for this one car, we've named it Mistress Red.

The pic I posted of the spray out 2 weeks or so ago turned out to not be the final decision. After thinking about it for a week and seeing it in different lighting I decided it was a bit too dark and a bit too much towards purple - doesn't look like that in the pic but you really have to view these samples in different situations. Anyway, the red I finally went with is still an OEM colour but from a luxury brand instead of from a Soccer Mom's van. LOL, as if it matters. It's Lexus 3R1, Matador Red Mica.

Steve

[Tampa33Build]

Steve,

Great choice of color, I had spray outs of so many colors for the top portion of the hot rod before narrowing it down to HOC Brandy Wine and Matador Red Mica. Brandy Wine won out for me.

Neil
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[progmgr1]

I may be a little biased, but IMHO a luxury brand OEM paint is entirely appropriate for a '33.
Keith HR #894

[FF33rod]

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[progmgr1]

Looking good! I can't wait to see it in full sun.
Keith HR #894

[Chris C]

How's yours coming Keith?

[progmgr1]

I'm elbow deep in the wiring right now - American Autowire kit + Coyote crate Controls Pack, so nothing like most other builds. Probably start on bodywork late this year, but my window at the painter is 2 years out. However, I'm always looking to finalize my choice for paint (my guy doesn't like working with HOK paint, which was my first choice.) This build is the closest I've found on the forum to the color I'm looking for. That's why I'm so excited to see Steve's final paint job on the complete car. The fact that it's an OEM paint is a major bonus.
Keith HR #894

[wallace18]

A teaser from the shop. Painting various parts and sides all this week....

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Steve

Really like this color choice. :cool:

[FF33rod]

Saw it in person and in the sun today, oh my gosh, it couldn't get much better for a non candy IMO. Extremely pleased. Only the slightest hint of orange peel as well.

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Steve

[sethmark]

Damn you Blaine..... looks sooooo goooood

[e36m3]

Wow

[Blade]

outstanding!!! Matador red is the bomb.

[cgundermann]

Absolutely stunning!

Chris

[FF33rod]

Everything is finally painted, some assembly occuring, pic below of the rear fenders on before any polishing. Yesterday and today was wet sand and polish. The shop sent me this video and other than an extremely reflective panel I had no idea what it was until the end - one of the doors laying flat after the final polish, it's like fricking glass....

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https://youtu.be/-8ie_B9MKqo

Steve

[narly1]

I'm just glad to hear that you like Bluegrass music, LOL.

[FF33rod]

I'm just glad to hear that you like Bluegrass music, LOL.

Yeah, not sure where that came from. When I was in their shop last week it was Blues, Jazz and Rush....

[FF33rod]

Well, it finally came home today. A fantastic local shop that flies under the radar a lot, Wicked Customs, knocked the body and paint out of the park. I have some interior work to do now but will posting a few pics over the next week or two on some of the finishing details that went into this - power window trim on the door tops, stainless door sills, etc. For now, here's a couple of pics taken just before I drove her away.

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Steve

[dmclennan]

looks fantastic - congrats

[Robodent]

Looks great. You gotta be excited to drive it

[wallace18]

Super Job! Really looks fantastic! :cool:

[Straversi]

Beautiful! Congrats.
-Steve

[Tampa33Build]

Congrats! Great color choice

[peterh226]

Quite a journey from build school! Looks great. Now you can enjoy!

[GoDadGo]

Very, Very Nice!
Congratulations!

[FF33rod]

Here is one of the items the shop added.

When releasing the hood latch, it wouldn't pop up at all. One had to hold the latch release open while reaching over to the side of the hood and encourage it upward. (remember this is gen 1).
Some have moved the location of the gas struts to improve this but we approached it a bit different.

Tack welded a spring onto a washer and used one of the latch mount bolts through the grill to hold it in place. Works like a charm

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Steve

[FF33rod]

Doug @ the body shop went crazy with some stainless cowl access covers. He bonded a metal "ring" under the fiberglass and tapped the holes. Shaped and polished the stainless cover, bent perfectly of course. There is a rubber gasket between the two so there won't be any leaks.

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Steve

[FF33rod]

Okay, this addition isn't a biggy really.
Instead of the rather flimsy thin aluminum door sill in the kit, we took heaver brushed stainless and made a replacement door seal. Just double sided tape in place. Will likely add some PPF to protect the paint left on the outside of the sill. We originally envisaged a u shaped sill that would sit down and encapsulate both the inside and outside but it is difficult to find someone who can bend something that tight.

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Steve

[FF33rod]

Last update for today

FFR replaced my Gen 1 doors due to defects that interfered with a proper fit no matter what I did.
They sent gen 2 doors which "fit" although the curvature on the outside was slightly different which created more body work but at least I got them to close properly.
When they sent those replacement doors I also got the gen 2 top power window trim pieces.
They required quite a bit of finessing (trimming and shaping) to fit the top of the door in the gen 1 body but I really like how they turned out.
I had the shop weld them together and polish it so it looks like a single piece. I used window felts from Steele Rubber.

Really pleased how it turned out.

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Steve

[peterh226]

I have about the same thing. Lots of work to get the trim piece to match the door. I’m going to paint them body color as I’ve made studs to hide the screws.
What part number did you use from Steele for the felt as I need to get some?

[FF33rod]

Peter, here are the part numbers I used
70-0961-60 & 70-3807-61

Another local builder used 70-0749-60 instead of that first one

Steve

[Bgardner]

Steve

Looks great, nice work on all the details.

Good weather coming later in the week, time to get some miles on there instead of under there.

Bob

[FF33rod]

The door popper solenoids are mounted and connected up. I used parts from an Autoloc shaved door kit that included the solenoids, cables, relays, a wireless activation module, etc. I didn't need a lot of those parts but the package price from Johnny Law Motors was much better priced than buying the individual bits I needed.

In the pic below you can see how I installed the solenoid facing inward and how the cable from it is attached to the door latch release cable that comes from the interior handle. Seems to work great!

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Steve

[FF33rod]

Well we all know that these projects are rarely done as in nothing left to do or nothing you're going to do. However, I have to admit that if the car is painted and one is taking it to cars and coffee and other "showings" to share with the car community and/or public then it's time to fess up and declare a graduation!!!

I had a fantastic Father's Day weekend sharing my creation. Joined a small (twenty-ish) group Friday evening at a local Canadian Tire and then Sunday morning I drove out to a local suburb of Vancouver (Langley) which is a bit of a hot bed for cars (rods, pro street, gassers and anything else one can dream up) and joined 525 (yes that's right 525) others for a car and coffee. That event ran for a few hours before the cops showed up and told us to move on or get fined for too large a public gathering in contravention of current Covid regulations. Following that I drove over to my oldest daughters place so she could see the finished beast first hand and my Granddaughter decided to try it out - instinctively she placed her hands right where they should be.... Priceless!

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Lots of great commentg from people. I'm surprised how many know about Factory Five. I'm also surprised at the few people who asked if it was based on a Prowler - no offence taken, the front suspension is reminiscent of a Prowler for sure. I even had one guy pull up next to me at a light and say it was the most gorgeous hot rod he's ever seen. I obviously thanked him very much but he was driving an Infiniti so may have to discount the comment a bit ;) It's also surprising the number of people that you can see are purposely refusing to acknowledge the car - I mean it's loud, how can you ignore it - you see a slight movement of the eyes to understand and then a blatant "I refuse to look" action. There's a few dudes out there that need their man card revoked! LOL

Seriously though, it's fun and I'm very pleased. The highest priority item to address is the heat inside the cockpit. It is blistering in our current hot weather, like a sauna. The gap around the eBrake handle is one source of hot air, I have to find the others. The Holley Sniper needs some attention, great acceleration but still not smooth and it's going through gas like it's 10 cents a liter. I can drain the good part of a tank in just a couple of hours of driving and that includes a fair bit on the highway. The less important stuff still to do - the door cards and arm rests (the ones from FFR don't fit well at all) and the headliner.

A few pics...

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Steve

P.S. Paint Protection Film on the fronts of the rear fenders IS A MUST!!!!

[RoadRacer]

The highest priority item to address is the heat inside the cockpit. It is blistering in our current hot weather, like a sauna.

It can get hot!! I was driving around in 97º the other day and my phone lasts around 20mins generally before shutting down due to temperature. When it's that hot I can only use Waze to navigate the last few miles, not the entire trip :D

But.. I love it.

[FF33rod]

Been quite some time since I posted. Thought I'd provide an update on my door panels that I've made. The FFR door panel fit okay on one side but the other was horrid so I decided to make my own.
Hagan has panel board, clips and videos that make DIY fairly simple.

https://www.haganauto.com/category_s/167.htm

I used black vinyl that I believe was originally intended for the rear cockpit cover, bought some light grey suede and also 1/8" thick foam (roof liner material actually)...

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I used Landau top and trim contact adhesive. To attach the grey suede piece I originally tried velcro which Hagan recommended but it didn't work well at all. So in the end I took some #10 screws and ground the head down until there was a thin flat piece left (like a washer) and then used panel bond to attach the screw to the back of the piece in 4 places. Drilled some holes in the door panel for the screws and voila!

Steve