Carl's 20th Anniversary #8690 - Graduated... 15,000 miles

Ok.... today I woke up with the plan in mind to install the windshield. I reviewed the build manual, all 3 lines of instructions for this task.... also reviewed a few build threads. Then unpacked everything.
Attachment 97688

Next, I found that the pre-cut openings for the support bars were not even close to being wide enough for the bars to fit so I had to open them up a bit. Easy with a drimal tool and vacuum. Of course it is my understanding that they should actually be angled outward as looking from the rear, and these are not. But one thing I'm not so sure about is the side to side location of the openings. I guess that the windshield is not "center" on the body side to side. These two photos show the location of the pre cut holes from FFR. Notice their location in comparison to the mold split lines... I guess that I'm assuming the mold lines are centered. I can see that the support bars seem to lay flat against their mounting locations when in the openings.
Attachment 97686 Attachment 97687

Next I quickly realized that the support bars needed to be cut off some... took about 2 inches off of each one. Then remembered that I needed to move my ground bolt that I had on the windshield mount plate next to the fuse box. Ugh, that was not fun with the body on, but I did it. Relocated it and all is good in the universe.

Attachment 97689

Then I decided that until I learn a little bit more about the installation of the windshield (side to side location, shims needed, etc, etc, etc) and found someone to assist that I would just pack it all back into the box and move on to something different. I mean, who needs a windshield anyways...

I'm really thinking that I should stop putting things on the body and take the body back off and do the undercoating first. Also need to tackle the side pipe openings as they need some modification.

Carl,

A couple of things to keep in mind when assembling and installing the windshield. First, when mounting the side brackets to the windshield, be sure that the screws don't bottom out against the windshield frame. I had to file down a few of the screws. Next, remember that you are dealing with brass and it is very soft. Don't over tighten or force any screw as you thread them in. When the rails go in through the body, be sure that the openings are completely clear and that the frames don't touch the body at all. Finally, be sure to shim any gap between the windshield frame and the chassis, so that as you tighten the bolts, they are not pulling the frame at all. There is quite a bit of play with the angle. I'll be mounting a top, so the angle has to be very specific, but without the top, it is less important.

Dave

I got a nice head start on my 4 day weekend today so I was able to complete the wiring and install on my headlights. Also wired up the turn/parking lights. I installed weather pack connectors on each light so that I can disconnect them when needed to remove the body. Each light has it's own connector so that if for some reason I need to disconnect one, it doesn't effect the other.
The only thing I see that I will have to do is open up the center hole on the parking lights (make it oval) so the weather pack connector can fit through the fiberglass body. The body mount bracket is all ready cut to allow for it to go through. I did not want to grind on the fiberglass tonight, but it should not be to difficult to make it all fit.

And the good thing, at this point all work perfectly. Hazard, Parking and High/Low Beam Headlights. Very happy.


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Had to take an in work "Beauty" shot
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Tomorrow I will work on the rear lighting and what ever else may fall into place. I'm hoping to do a little go cart drive sometime in the next 3 / 4 days...

Getting close - pretty exciting stuff! Never get tired of seeing builds progress to this point and then final paint & assembly!

Chris

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BadAsp427

So ever have one of those days where you spend 20-30 minutes composing an update, only to want to close the photo you are looking at but hit the "X" for the whole page... Yup... I just did....

Attachment 91813
So, anyway, while I was waiting for my casters to arrive via FedEx (they did today) I was able to paint the chassis dolly. I used the red epoxy I had for the floor lines. I think it came out pretty good and at least initially seems to be a very hard finish... Should do very well.


Attachment 91812
So today I installed the casters and got it flipped over, it is heavy, I would guess 200 lbs +/-.

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So now, I have to get the car out of the trailer, into the garage and then up onto the 21" dolly. I guess it is at this time that I should mention that I do just about everything by myself. I can get very creative as I did tonight...

Attachment 91815
Ok, the body/chassis and the dolly are all in the garage, now if I only had special powers and could just point a finger at it and have it raise up onto the dolly.

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So, with a small floor jack that only has a max height of 14" and a dolly that is 7 inches higher that that, I had to get very creative with blocks of wood, jack stands, a bit of balancing the car and moving very slowly... it is up on the dolly and it is so easy to move around in the garage.

Tomorrow I will begin documenting and marking the body and aluminum pannels and get ready for the big undressing... The body buck is still in the trailer, but I should have no problem getting it into the garage and the body onto it in the next couple days.

AND THEN The real fun can begin.....

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Hello. Just getting ready to receive my Roadster kit next week. Thanks for the Dolly plans. Do you have any details on the body Buck>
Thanks

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Originally Posted by AndyN

Hello. Just getting ready to receive my Roadster kit next week. Thanks for the Dolly plans. Do you have any details on the body Buck>
Thanks

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Cant help you with that, the one I have came with the car, I did not build it...

Working on the interior the past few days. Carpet, Leather (vinyl fake Leather).... I asked around about ways to fill in and seal off the large hole in the side of the Trans Tunnel where the E-Brake Handle mounts. Pretty much the response was don't worry about it. Well I was just not happy with that answer as I can not believe the "stuff" would not be thrown around up under there and in time create a mess. So this is what I came up with to address the problem, at least 98% of the problem. In my next thread entry, I'm going to show my rear wall where I installed some Leather above the carpet. I state this because I have extra leather that I used for this little modification to the E-Brake opening.

Basically, I used the E-Brake boot as a template, cute my leather so that the leather side would be towards the elements inside the trans tunnel. I cut it about 1/2" larger all the way around and found that this worked perfect. Then, I held it up in place to be sure that it was going to cover all of the opening and then marked the arc that the handle would be making so that I could cut out the slot for the handle to move within. I also drew a dotted line to indicate where I need it to fold 90* onto the floor as the opening cuts into the floor also. Once I was happy with that, I used 3M 77 Glue, same as I'm using for the carpet, and attached it to the side of the tunnel with the handle coming through the arc slot that I cut. I pushed it into the tunnel just enough so that all of the handle mechanisms were clear and not rubbing. I really think that this is going to do a great job. For me it is a bit of insurance from general debris, and heaven forbid I'm caught out in the rain, water from getting to the back side of the carpet.

The fake leather is from JoAnne's Fabric and is the Artic Vinyl and is designed for Snowmobile Seats, good down to negitive 30*, UV protected and flame retardant.

Here are some photos in chronological order:
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I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I'm sure many others have done this as well. I actually first got the idea from FixIt here on the forums.

I started this project with a cardboard template. Then transferred that to the leather and cut it out.

Next I cut and fit the chrome strip and pre-drilled all the holes for the rivets. (and I thought I was done with clekos and rivets.) I had all ready coated the interior with the Lizard Skin sound and heat treatment and this left some texture. So when I first put the leather on I did not realize just how bad the texture would actually show through into the leather. Well it looked really bad, that along with the rivet heads. I had actually thought the look was going to grow on me so I installed the chrome strip and everything. But the more I looked at it, the more I really began to dislike it. So I pealed it back, off of the wall and let it hang in place via the chrome strip. I then used a 2x4 block and some 120 grit sandpaper and smoothed it all out. Interesting thing happened. Even though there was glue on the Lizard Skin, as I sanded, all I got was some dust, it never once clogged the sandpaper and in fact in the photo below showing me holding the sandpaper block, that is the first and only piece of sandpaper I used after completing the entire sanding project. It looked like a new sheet of sandpaper. All the dust just vacuumed up. It all smoothed out really well, did not take a lot and it came out really nice IMO. I just resprayed the 3M 77 contact glue and put it back up in place. Installed the carpet onto the back wall and continued the carpet install following the FF Build Manual. Next, the tunnel cover and shifter boot install.

The "Leather" is from JoAnne's Fabric and is the Artic Vinyl
The Chrome strip is anodized aluminum tile Edge Trim from Lowe's, Home Depot also as a version.

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Nicely done. That looks sharp.
-Steve

After completing all of the carpet install, I was left with only the transmission tunnel cover and shifter boot to be installed to complete the interior floor. I'll start by saying, I know the shifter hole filler is showing up pretty bad. I'm contemplating a fix for it. Since the tunnel cover comes off pretty easy, I'm going to do that fix as some point in the future.

So to start off, just as I did on the rear wall, I started by sanding the Lizard Skin to smooth out it's texture so that I did not have a repeat of the bumps showing through the leather. Again, it sanded very easy and with only dust to vacuum up. Pretty easy, laid the trans cover onto the leather, and cut out a piece that was about 2" extra all around to be sure that I had enough to wrap around as needed. Sprayed on the 3M 77 and then just laid the cover down onto the leather ( I had it laying on a flat surface ). Next I wrapped it around the the ends of the trans cover streached and pulled it tight and glued down the ends, clamps held in place until dried. Next, I measured and cut the chrome strips to fit, matching the angles needed on each end. I did NOT wrap the leather around the sides of the trans cover as I covered the edges with the chrome strip. It actually "clamps" in place. The way I did the "clamping" I placed the edge of the trans cover and chrome strip on the edge of my work bench and used a large rubber mallet with a rag zip tied onto it and hammered the chrome strip down on to the leather.


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Next, the Shifter Boot. So anyone who has tried to use the factory five provide boot has probably found that it is very tight and in my case, so tight that when I installed it, it actually pulled the shifter out of gear and back to neutral. Can't have that while you are driving down the road... So, I started to look around and found that there were many options, but none of them were in my garage right now. So I pulled out my sewing machine, blew the dust off of it and went to work to try and make my own shifter boot. I started with some of the 8,547 feet of brown packaging paper I have left from FF and created a template. I actually made one that was close to the shape of the funnel in the photo below, but it turned out way too long and not large enough at the base... Then I re thought my process, my final needs and came up with a template and a shifter boot that I think I can live with. Photos below...

Attachment 98451 Attachment 98452 Attachment 98453 Attachment 98454 Attachment 98455 Attachment 98456

Want to also recognize and thank Chad (CV2065) for being a great sounding board and helping me make a few decisions along the way on these two projects.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BadAsp427

After completing all of the carpet install, I was left with only the transmission tunnel cover and shifter boot to be installed to complete the interior floor. I'll start by saying, I know the shifter hole filler is showing up pretty bad. I'm contemplating a fix for it. Since the tunnel cover comes off pretty easy, I'm going to do that fix as some point in the future.

So to start off, just as I did on the rear wall, I started by sanding the Lizard Skin to smooth out it's texture so that I did not have a repeat of the bumps showing through the leather. Again, it sanded very easy and with only dust to vacuum up. Pretty easy, laid the trans cover onto the leather, and cut out a piece that was about 2" extra all around to be sure that I had enough to wrap around as needed. Sprayed on the 3M 77 and then just laid the cover down onto the leather ( I had it laying on a flat surface ). Next I wrapped it around the the ends of the trans cover streached and pulled it tight and glued down the ends, clamps held in place until dried. Next, I measured and cut the chrome strips to fit, matching the angles needed on each end. I did NOT wrap the leather around the sides of the trans cover as I covered the edges with the chrome strip. It actually "clamps" in place. The way I did the "clamping" I placed the edge of the trans cover and chrome strip on the edge of my work bench and used a large rubber mallet with a rag zip tied onto it and hammered the chrome strip down on to the leather.


Attachment 98449 Attachment 98450

Next, the Shifter Boot. So anyone who has tried to use the factory five provide boot has probably found that it is very tight and in my case, so tight that when I installed it, it actually pulled the shifter out of gear and back to neutral. Can't have that while you are driving down the road... So, I started to look around and found that there were many options, but none of them were in my garage right now. So I pulled out my sewing machine, blew the dust off of it and went to work to try and make my own shifter boot. I started with some of the 8,547 feet of brown packaging paper I have left from FF and created a template. I actually made one that was close to the shape of the funnel in the photo below, but it turned out way too long and not large enough at the base... Then I re thought my process, my final needs and came up with a template and a shifter boot that I think I can live with. Photos below...

Attachment 98451 Attachment 98452 Attachment 98453 Attachment 98454 Attachment 98455 Attachment 98456

Want to also recognize and thank Chad (CV2065) for being a great sounding board and helping me make a few decisions along the way on these two projects.

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Looking good man!! That shifter boot is a work of art! Thanks for all your help as well!

Nice work. The back wall and the trim pieces look great.

Today I finished putting the interior together, here is the final look.

What you can not see (because they are not on) is that I also installed red LED courtesy lights over each foot box. Red because at the moment, that is the color of the car!!!

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I also installed my Battery Cutoff switch. I installed it up in the inside top corner of the passenger side foot box. All the way forward, just pulled back the corner of carpet and it is actually hidden behind the carpet. There when I need it, out of the way and sight until I do....

Took the go cart out for a drive around the neighborhood today. Primary goal was to see if the cruise control was going to function. Either I did not get up to a fast enough speed, or it is not working correctly. I happen to live on a road that is highly traveled by our finest folks in blue so I really can't just - go for a drive. I'll get it figured out, I'm very confident of my wiring except for the speed sensor from the transmission. There is a gray and a green wire. From the cruise control, there is only one wire that needs to be connected to one of those two. Not sure exactly the correct one. Hmmmm...

Anyway, here is about 10 minutes of go cart drive. When I first started out, for some reason, my idle was adjusted way too high so I just turned around and took care of that, then right back out. Also had a little laugh at myself as I could not find Reverse.... Actually, I was going in and out of it while I was looking for it. I'm just not use to such a short throw shifter and thought that it was not going into reverse. Also, you can/will hear the side pipe hanger brackets rattle as I do not have them hooked up just yet. I'm waiting for my final headers to show up and want to be sure I only drill the frame rails once for them.

https://youtu.be/Y5HBwWaMYAU

Looked like a lot of fun Carl! Looked like you were freezing your ball bearings off!

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Originally Posted by cv2065

Looked like a lot of fun Carl! Looked like you were freezing your ball bearings off!

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Not at all... I was actually layered up from a day of working outside at work. I was actually very warm and the heater was blowing hot and the seats were warm as well... LOL It was a lot of fun. Just need to figure out the cruise control...

That had to be one of the longest go karts ever!!! Congrats!!! Your moving pretty fast on your build!

Looks like a LOT of fun...
What make/model cruise control setup are you using?

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Originally Posted by Fixit

Looks like a LOT of fun...
What make/model cruise control setup are you using?

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The one sold by Ron Francis. I'm thinking my problem is that I do not have the wires connected correctly from the speed sensor on my transmission going into the harness. I'm going to do some troubleshooting on it today to be sure that I'm connected to the correct wire under the dash. It has the green and gray wire, but the Cruise only requires the use of one of them.

This weekend I devoted my time to the inside/underside of the body. I installed the FF pre-made louvers. Using the same method as EdwardB, Papa and many others. The HSRF works great and is crazy strong. You can get the stud plates from McMaster-Carr, Part 97590A569 A couple things that you can not see in the photo that IMO will make this a nice install. 1- I first mounted the louvers with the studs mounted on them and marked the inside of my body with a sharpy. Then I scuffed up the fiberglass really good inside my marks for the HSRF to adhere to. 2- I mounted the mounting brackets to the louvers with about .080 of space between the front edge of the louver (body edge) and the front edge of the bracket. This was to allow for clearance of the stud plate and to allow the edge of the louver to pull up flush to the side of the body, the goal, no gaps between the fiberglass and the louver. Nice tight fit. 3- When I was actually ready to install the stud plate with the HSRF I used 4 #10 washers between the stud plate and the mounting bracket to hold the louvers up off of the HSRF as it was setting up. 4- I did not have any 10-32 non locking nuts so I used some nutcerts to hold the stud plates to the bracket while the HSRF was setting up.

Then, about 8 minutes after putting the HSRF on and mounting the louvers, I took a knife and cut down the HSRF to reduce the amount of sanding with the Drimal tool.

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To get ready to do the undercoat, I first removed everything I had previously mounted, Headlights, Tail Lights, Gas Cap etc.
Next I flipped the body upside down. Because I had it hanging on four corners with straps, I just lowered one side down until the body was basically hanging on edge and then lowered it to the floor. Once on the floor, on the drivers side, It was very balanced and I just disconnected the straps and then laid it on over onto the floor. I have an old piece of carpet that I use for this kind of thing that I had laid out and vacuumed up real good first. Taped up all the openings to help reduce the amount of the undercoating getting onto the outer red gel coat and then got to it! Then taped up the louver studs.

Next, I opened up the undercoating kit (DupliColor Bed Armor) and started following the instructions. Scuffed up the entire underside of the body, actually wore out the heavy duty scotch bright pad that came with the kit and used a couple others that I had. This was actually not that difficult of a task, just got down on my knees and went to it. Took me about 20 minutes. Then followed up that with a good vacuuming and then a complete wipe down with lacquer thinner. The kit comes with a simple stir stick and instructions that state to shake and then mix the product well before use. I will tell you, I had to get the power mixer and drill out to do this. The stuff was very thick at the bottom of the can, but it did mix up very well and being water solvable, it was easy to clean up.

I first went around and did all the areas that I felt the roller was not going to be able to get, and then tried to use the roller, I ended up just using the brush on the whole thing, went very easy and quickly. I left about a 2" area around all the wheel openings to allow for body work when the painter gets to it. Extra thick in the areas prone to get rocks slung up to prevent staring of the paint once that is done.

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This is only the first coat, it is drying as I type up this update.... Now I need to go put on a second coat and per the instructions, it can be thicker...

Very professional looking Carl!!

The past few days I've been working more on the body. Have several coats of undercoating/bed liner on the wheel wells as well as a couple coats on the rest of the body underside. I've also installed the side louvers and re-installed the rear tail lights and gas cap. Also Re-installed the headlight buckets, will do the glass headlight bulbs once the body is back on the car. Everything looks really good.

I do have a question for the specialists / Paint and Body Guys on here... The rear tail lights seem to be larger than the flat body area where they mount. Is this normal? I've put a couple photos below.

Tail Lights Installed.
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Louvers Installed.
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Headlights
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Your tail lights are lights e everyone else's Carl.

Jeff

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jeff Kleiner

Your tail lights are like everyone else's Carl.

Jeff

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Thanks Jeff....

Last night I discovered the issue with my cruise control, it was a very easy fix. Seems the Gray and Green wire coming off of the speed sensor both have to be used. The Cruise control only has one of those wires going to it, but the other must go to ground. In my case, I connected the cruise control speed sensor wire to the green "speed sensor" wire in the RF harness. The gray wire needs to go to ground and as luck would have it, the end of the gray wire behind the dash was wrapped up and just laying right next to one of the many ground wires in the RF harness... 30 seconds to add a connector to the gray wire and plugged it into the ground wire and the cruise control wiring all passed the self diagnostic test. Any other adjustments that need to be make with the cruise can be done from the control module that is easily accessible from the PS just behind the dash and next to the glove box. I'm very happy with it now and it should function for me next time I get to drive this awesome roadster.

Then, I spent today putting everything together for what I hope will be the final time until it goes to the Jeff Kleiner next fall for paint and body work. I completed the following installs today.

- Closed up the DS Foot Box... seems so final... I guess that's a good thing.
- Installed 1/4" foam seal on top of the DS Foot Box where it attaches to the 3/4" frame tubing
- Put on the Expanding Foam seal just forward of the door hinges.
- Installed bulb seal where needed
- Lowered the body down onto the chassis.
- Installed the quick jacks front and rear.
- Re-installed the Headlights and all marker/brake lights.
- Connected all wiring for the above lights.
- Installed the Roll bars with chrome/rubber grommets.
- Connected the Fuel Tank to the Gas Cap and Gas Cap Ground Strap.
- Installed the Clutch Cable support bracket to the front of the DS head.
- Installed the Clutch cable/arm cover on side of bell housing.

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Tomorrow, if all goes well I will install the trunk lid, both doors and re-install the hood. Also need to fit up the aluminum panels in the wheel-wells and perhaps even the radiator panels.

Today was not as overall productive as I had hoped for, got a call into work for a few hours in the middle of the day...
I was able to get the trunk installed, the pneumatic hinges work great as does the latch. I have to say that whomever designed the latch bar concept has never actually installed it on a roadster that is in the build stage that it is required to be in to build it. The photos in the manual actually show it being installed through the body and into a bare frame. I guess I have to remove my fuel tank, to actually install it the way they are showing.... Not going to happen. Would love to hear how some of you may have installed the latch bar nut that goes between the lower trunk wall and the fuel tank... Either way, the latch bar is installed without the nut for now. It really can't move or go anywhere. I'm thinking I'm going to put in some kind of a nutcert to screw the latch bar into.

I placed the trunk lid in place and marked some areas to trim around the side. Not trimming to final gap measurements, just good enough to close and look half decent until it's time for paint/body work.

The pneumatic hinge kit is from FFR, you have to ask for it I guess, it is not listed anywhere I do not believe. The Pneumatic cylinder connects to the 3/4" bar that runs just under the seat belts, and just next to the seat belts. The other end attaches to the hinges. The hinges they sent me were cut out of very nice stainless steel.

I also took some time to cut out the trunk access hole fill plate and drilled it for rivets later after paint and body work is complete. I started with using painters tape over the opening, drew the shape onto the tape, then put the tape onto a piece of thin cardboard, cut it out, put it in place and made some final trim adjustments, then transferred the shape onto a piece of aluminum and cut it out. Did a little bending over my leg to get close to the curve of the trunk lid. Then, marked out some fairly evenly spaced rivet holes and drilled them. Then, I placed the plate in place, drilled one hole on bottom. Clekoed it in place and then went one at a time, drill, cleko, drill, cleko to hold the curve in shape as I went along. I also used 320 grit sandpaper to "brush" the aluminum and then used shark skin to finish it off. I'll have to store this away until the paining is completed, but at least it is all set and ready, I'll rivet it in place when all is said and done.

I do still need to run the license plate light wiring into the trunk lid.

Here are some photos of all of it together...

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by BadAsp427

Today was not as overall productive as I had hoped for, got a call into work for a few hours in the middle of the day...
I was able to get the trunk installed, the pneumatic hinges work great as does the latch. I have to say that whomever designed the latch bar concept has never actually installed it on a roadster that is in the build stage that it is required to be in to build it. The photos in the manual actually show it being installed through the body and into a bare frame. I guess I have to remove my fuel tank, to actually install it the way they are showing.... Not going to happen. Would love to hear how some of you may have installed the latch bar nut that goes between the lower trunk wall and the fuel tank... Either way, the latch bar is installed without the nut for now. It really can't move or go anywhere. I'm thinking I'm going to put in some kind of a nutcert to screw the latch bar into.

I placed the trunk lid in place and marked some areas to trim around the side. Not trimming to final gap measurements, just good enough to close and look half decent until it's time for paint/body work.

The pneumatic hinge kit is from FFR, you have to ask for it I guess, it is not listed anywhere I do not believe. The Pneumatic cylinder connects to the 3/4" bar that runs just under the seat belts, and just next to the seat belts. The other end attaches to the hinges. The hinges they sent me were cut out of very nice stainless steel.

I also took some time to cut out the trunk access hole fill plate and drilled it for rivets later after paint and body work is complete. I started with using painters tape over the opening, drew the shape onto the tape, then put the tape onto a piece of thin cardboard, cut it out, put it in place and made some final trim adjustments, then transferred the shape onto a piece of aluminum and cut it out. Did a little bending over my leg to get close to the curve of the trunk lid. Then, marked out some fairly evenly spaced rivet holes and drilled them. Then, I placed the plate in place, drilled one hole on bottom. Clekoed it in place and then went one at a time, drill, cleko, drill, cleko to hold the curve in shape as I went along. I also used 320 grit sandpaper to "brush" the aluminum and then used shark skin to finish it off. I'll have to store this away until the paining is completed, but at least it is all set and ready, I'll rivet it in place when all is said and done.

I do still need to run the license plate light wiring into the trunk lid.

Here are some photos of all of it together...

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Too funny … I spent 20 minutes cursing this exact same thing today. My hands aren't as thick as those that use them on more than a keyboard for a living. ;) I eventually got it installed with the nut for the second time during my build. It's doable, but if you have big hands you may need to recruit the neighbor kid to thread the nut on and hold a wrench on it.

Dave

Carl,
You rendered the space for the latch rod nut unreachable when you did the drop trunk box. With a flat floor you install the nut by going through the center access hole and swearing alot ;) I often do the same thing for these that I do for the quick jack/bumper bolts and use a short screw and coupler nut; i.e., a miniature (10-24) "coupler mod"---but you still have to plan far enough in advance to install the screw from the backside.

Jeff

Oh.... so it’s all my fault. I think I can put in a fix easy enough. That makes sense now that you say that about my drop trunk. Thanks Jeff.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BadAsp427

Oh.... so it’s all my fault. I think I can put in a fix easy enough. That makes sense now that you say that about my drop trunk. Thanks Jeff.

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Yeah, all your fault :p;):D

Easy fix; just take an inch or so hole saw and go through the drop box panel in line with the latch pin so that you have access to put a nut on the screw. How do I know it's an easy fix? Because I had to do the same with my own about a dozen years ago!

Jeff

Does the pneumatic hinge come with the trunk has strut kit or is it something you have to ask for special?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BadAsp427

Today was not as overall productive as I had hoped for, got a call into work for a few hours in the middle of the day...
I was able to get the trunk installed, the pneumatic hinges work great as does the latch. I have to say that whomever designed the latch bar concept has never actually installed it on a roadster that is in the build stage that it is required to be in to build it. The photos in the manual actually show it being installed through the body and into a bare frame. I guess I have to remove my fuel tank, to actually install it the way they are showing.... Not going to happen. Would love to hear how some of you may have installed the latch bar nut that goes between the lower trunk wall and the fuel tank... Either way, the latch bar is installed without the nut for now. It really can't move or go anywhere. I'm thinking I'm going to put in some kind of a nutcert to screw the latch bar into.

I placed the trunk lid in place and marked some areas to trim around the side. Not trimming to final gap measurements, just good enough to close and look half decent until it's time for paint/body work.

The pneumatic hinge kit is from FFR, you have to ask for it I guess, it is not listed anywhere I do not believe. The Pneumatic cylinder connects to the 3/4" bar that runs just under the seat belts, and just next to the seat belts. The other end attaches to the hinges. The hinges they sent me were cut out of very nice stainless steel.

I also took some time to cut out the trunk access hole fill plate and drilled it for rivets later after paint and body work is complete. I started with using painters tape over the opening, drew the shape onto the tape, then put the tape onto a piece of thin cardboard, cut it out, put it in place and made some final trim adjustments, then transferred the shape onto a piece of aluminum and cut it out. Did a little bending over my leg to get close to the curve of the trunk lid. Then, marked out some fairly evenly spaced rivet holes and drilled them. Then, I placed the plate in place, drilled one hole on bottom. Clekoed it in place and then went one at a time, drill, cleko, drill, cleko to hold the curve in shape as I went along. I also used 320 grit sandpaper to "brush" the aluminum and then used shark skin to finish it off. I'll have to store this away until the paining is completed, but at least it is all set and ready, I'll rivet it in place when all is said and done.

I do still need to run the license plate light wiring into the trunk lid.

Here are some photos of all of it together...

Attachment 99102 Attachment 99103 Attachment 99104 Attachment 99105 Attachment 99106 Attachment 99107 Attachment 99108 Attachment 99109 Attachment 99110 Attachment 99111

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cruzzz

Does the pneumatic hinge come with the trunk has strut kit or is it something you have to ask for special?

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You have to ask for it as an option, otherwise you would use a prop rod of some sort. The hinges and the pneumatic cylinders and the mounting hardware all comes with the kit when you order that kit.

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you rendered the space for the latch rod nut unreachable when you did the drop trunk box. With a flat floor you install the nut by going through the center access hole and swearing alot ;)

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Hmmm... NOW this little tidbit of reasonably important information comes out Attachment 99162

Ok, another access hole & grommet is in my future.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fixit

Hmmm... NOW this little tidbit of reasonably important information comes out Attachment 99162

Ok, another access hole & grommet is in my future.

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I really think it is a simple fix with a nutsert in there... The good thing is that all the "pressure" on this bar is upward/downward, not in and out so it should be just fine with the nutsert...

Now that I've got my driveline angles sorted out my attention turned to the trans tunnel cover... and I'm gonna steal an idea from you!

I like the chrome edge on the tunnel... again, a neat transition from carpet to leather/nauga/whatever. Attachment 99237

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fixit

Now that I've got my driveline angles sorted out my attention turned to the trans tunnel cover... and I'm gonna steal an idea from you!

I like the chrome edge on the tunnel... again, a neat transition from carpet to leather/nauga/whatever. Attachment 99237

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Used the same metal as we used on the rear panel... FYI, I had to trim the entire length of it in order to fit it as the edge of the tunnel cover is shorter than the edge of the strip we are using.

Today I worked on two projects. First up, the Radiator Cowling / Shrouding.

To begin with, I had all ready installed my version of the breeze style lower mount with my radiator at a 51* angle. I did that a couple weeks ago. Today, I started with the aluminum side panels and the lower lip panel. The 20th Anniversary kit came with two set of these, one set powder coated white to match the rest of the engine compartment and a set of plain aluminum ones. I actually chose, at least for now, the plain aluminum look. I also wanted to put some kind of a protective screen on in front of the radiator itself to provide some protection from normal road debris.

So to start with, I found an all aluminum construction, screen door protector that as luck would have it was exactly 20" x 24", the same as the radiator. Since this came in a nice preformed frame, I only had to cut off the 4 tabs that were on each corner for mounting to a door. Cleaned them up with a file and put a couple rivets in to reinforce the current rivets for strength. Was able to lay it in place and used a clamp to hold it while I fit the three panels around the outside edges of the radiator.

First up was the lower lip. Because of the frame from the protector panel, I had to trim the lower lip piece by taking about 3/4 of an inch off the front edge, it is the edge that is up inside the body above the oil cooler opening. When it is all done, it will have three pieces of the bulb seal holding it tight into that area. The back edge was screwed with self taping screws through the lower lip, the frame of the protection screen and into the lower mounting edge of the radiator. I'll leave it like this until after I get the paint done and then replace the self tapping screws with some nice stainless steel screws and locking nuts.

Once that lower lip was installed, I started working on the side pieces. I only had to do a little trimming here and there to get them to slide into place. It's not a tight fit up against the body, but it most defiantly directs the air to the radiator where it will do the most good. I marked the 3/4" tube from the outside of each side and drilled 1/8" holes. On the DS I also had to cut out two 7/8" holes to allow for the panel to sit flush onto the 3/4" tube as I have nut/bolts holding my horns on on that 3/4" tube. Again, drilled the 1/8" holes. Then I marked the 3/4" tubes and drilled them to match.

I removed all of the panels and using 320 grit sandpaper, created a smooth finish with straight lines (brushed look) I then treated all of the panels with 3 coats of Shark Hide to protect them and make them really look nice. I then reinstalled them using 1/2" self tapping screws. Again, I'm using the self tapping screws so that they can be easily removed for paint/body next year.

Here are some photos of the entire process.

Attachment 99404 Attachment 99405 Attachment 99407 Attachment 99406 Attachment 99408 Attachment 99409 Attachment 99410 Attachment 99411

The rear wheel splash guards went in with zero trimming needed. I followed the build manual instructions and fit everything in place as directed. Using some clekos and a 1/8" drill bit, drilled the splash guard and into the side panel and 3/4" & 2" frame tubes. Pretty straight forward.

Next I used 320 grit sandpaper to make the panel look nice with straight line brushed look passes with sandpaper. Next I used the Sharkhide to protect it and make it shine, 3 coats. This was only done on the side that will be towards the tires. This will make the entire wheel well bare aluminum.

Next I flipped the splash guards over and using 150 grit sandpaper really scuffed up the panel in preparation of putting some bed liner on them. I did this mostly to provide some sound deadening to the panel. I was out of the Lizard Skin sound coating or I would have used that and top coated it with the bed liner. Either way, the bed liner proved to do a very good job of deadening the sound as well as match everything behind the splash guards; the gas tank, the body interior, etc is all black. Cleaned the panels real good with acetone and started off with a fairly thin coat of bed liner and then after it dried, applied a nice, thick coat. It made for a nice clean installation.

Then, mounted the panels using #8-1/2" self tapping screws in the 1/8" holes I pre drilled. On the PS I had to include one large notch to fit over the bolt head that is holding the ground strap for the fuel fill nozzle. Installed the bulb seal all the way around and everything made for a very nice, tight fit.

Here are some photos of the total process.

Attachment 99412 Attachment 99413 Attachment 99421 Attachment 99414 Attachment 99415 Attachment 99416 Attachment 99417 Attachment 99418 Attachment 99419 Attachment 99420

Just was thinking, I'm just 4 mo and 3 days into my build and I'm just about ready to call it done until Paint and Body work begins next fall. If you are new, and looking to build one of these beautiful cars, there are many different ideas and levels of builds to be found here. Over the top builds and very straight forward build it and drive it builds. When I started my build, I wanted something that was built primarily straight out of the box that Factory Five produced. I've stuck to that for the most part. I've added a couple nice little modifications, but I've used nearly every part that came in the boxes. Perhaps later on, I'll replace some of the parts with different, more advanced or improved parts. But to start with, if I paid for it with the kit, I wanted to use it. I'm enjoying the journey and am excited to know that in only a couple weeks, my journey will include some much anticipated drive/seat time behind my BadAsp steering wheel....

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

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Merry Christmas to you, too, BadAsp! Thanks for all of your help!