Matt in MN's Roadster

[mrglaeser]

Time to undercoat the body. It was as messy as expected and little more.

First we took it off the buck, flipped it over, and supported it with some 2x4s wrapped in rags.



Then I we cleaned the body twice and I made my oldest scuff the underside of the body She wants to take her driving permit test in a week so we have a little leverage for a change -- actually she was quite a good sport about it and was willing to help.



I went through with a brush and established some boarders trying to leave an inch and half from each edge. But there was some running the made me wish I had taped instead. Not a big deal just an annoyance. Shouldn't have been lazy.



Then I got my youngest to do most the rolling work. At least for the first coat.





Hopefully we'll get the body on in Jan and move on to fitting doors, hood, trunk, and windscreen.

[Highplainsdakota]

Hey Matt,

Nice work, your outpacing my build. Where did you get those bolts with mesh backing to fiberglass into your body? Also, what compound do you use to secure them to the fiberglass? Thanks a bunch.

Edit: The ones that you used to secure your side vents.

Brian

[BUDFIVE]

Brian, maybe I can help answer your question. Those fasteners are called Adhesive-ready studs or Bondable studs. I bought mine for the same purpose on McMaster Carr. I attached them with 3M HSRF (high strength repair filler).
IMG_1531.jpeg

[mrglaeser]

Hey Matt,

Nice work, your outpacing my build. Where did you get those bolts with mesh backing to fiberglass into your body? Also, what compound do you use to secure them to the fiberglass? Thanks a bunch.

Edit: The ones that you used to secure your side vents.

Brian

Brian, maybe I can help answer your question. Those fasteners are called Adhesive-ready studs or Bondable studs. I bought mine for the same purpose on McMaster Carr. I attached them with 3M HSRF (high strength repair filler).
IMG_1531.jpeg

Hi Highplainsdakota - BUDFIVE answered for me! Thanks BUDFIVE. The specific part number from MC is 97590A569:
https://www.mcmaster.com/products/97590a569/
The 3M HSRF can be found at many marine sites and the price varies.

[mrglaeser]

January has been pretty busy with both my teenagers in Hockey. I didn't play when I was younger and for the un-initiated I joke that a kid taking up ice hockey is like the whole family signing up for a new religion. We had four tournaments from the week between Christmas and New Years to last weekend. And I can't even guess how many games and practices. But things are winding down, 2 games left and then playoffs. Spring/Summer hockey are much less taxing.

That all said I did play a little in January.
I got the brightest red powder I could and powder coated a machined aluminum shifter. I love the color. I have no idea if it will hold up or not. But should be fun while it lasts.


I put together the door latches one Morning I found I was free to do my own thing.


Another afternoon I found no one had me pre-scheduled I assembled the hood hinges.






I also had a small setback in October I hadn't really mentioned. A lot of power steering fluid spilled onto my nicely wrapped headers. I tried to dab it out with various rags and paper towels, but most of it soaked in. When we started the car before it got too cold I was hoping it would slowly smoke off. But no luck. The PS fluid went up in flames causing my buddy to put it out with a fire extinguisher. Here is the basic after math.



Here is the ground after we moved the car lots of extinguisher powder everywhere - it was also all over the car.


I cut the wrap off cleaned the engine bay and the chassis and today we finally rolled the car out and started it again. It was a semi successful test.

The good
-We ran the engine for 45 min and got it up to temp. No weird noises so far.
-Fan turned on as expected
-Sniper got in to learning mode and engine smoothed out so at least I know the sensors for the Holley work
-Volt meter works
-Oil Pressure gauge works
-Tach works
-Fuel gauge works

Bad
-Parking brake semi works
-Brakes only work once the pedal is depressed 80%+ of the way
-Temp Gauges (water and oil) didn't move

So if I can sort out the brakes and temp gauges then I think I can put the body on and maybe have a gel-coat summer?

Now I have two questions.
1.) Should I re-wrap the headers and J-pipes or get them cleaned and ceramic coated? I just need to get some more stainless steel ties.
2.) Does driving the car 10ft count as first Go Kart?

[mrglaeser]

Just Shy of 1 month from my last post but today was a big day. Actually did a true Go-Kart today! Not too far, basically around the block, but more than 10ft forwards and backwards.

So in the last month I :
-Fixed the brakes by replacing the line lock which I found was defective and leaking plus a hardline attached to it
-Fixed the parking or rather just figured out how to adjust set it correctly
-Fixed the Water temp gauge, the oil temp gauge still isn't working but I'll trace that out tomorrow


EDIT: Here is a pic of the first tenth of mile on the Odometer. Also proved out the speedometer works.

[mrglaeser]

Another distraction I've been playing with since summer is the fresh air vent ducts. I think the ones from the vendor who shall not be named is what most people use and maybe there is another option but I didn't find anything I liked really. But I've wanted to try my hand at 3D printing and thought this was a good opportunity to play and stretch myself.

So I signed up for the free Fusion 360 Account and started playing around.

I wanted some tabs so I could use mounting stubs to mechanically connect the ducts to the body. My first versions I created longer, the walls were too thin, and there were way more tabs than needed. But I figured that out after printing a sample:









I also screwed up the transition of the wall thickness between the round and oval areas so when the tape gave up on my mock up and the duct dropped and hit the floor it broke in two.

[mrglaeser]

For attempted #2 I revised the part by thickening the walls, reducing the size of the oval, and shorting the over all length. This solve most the issues with the first prototype.





Prototype 2(left) vs Prototype 1





What I found with the Prototype 2. The walls are too thick it works but is a little in-flexible and cumbersome (also more costly to print as it uses more material than needed). Need something in between. The top and bottom tabs are also useless because you can't mount studs perpendicular to them. The round bump on the round portion of the duct was too big to pull the hose over. So I ground off the round bit along with the top and bottom tabs. I also cut a piece of aluminum and attached it to one side.

[mrglaeser]

Here is the end result on the car. I plan on using some strip caulk on final install to close the small airgaps left.







I did re-do my 3D design one more time. So I'm debating printing them to see how they work because what I have should do the job nicely. Also at this point I've spent 3 times what it would have cost to just order the standard ones. But I figure the money was well spent in the enjoyment of the creative process.

Here is version 3. I'm happy to share the STL or Fusion Project files with anyone who would want them.

Prototype 3

[Highplainsdakota]

Matt, that is some great work there!

Would you share the file with me? Your design looks great, and even though I bought the ones you mentioned I'd like to try your model. If you want to sell me the file I would be happy to pay you for it, you deserve the creative IP fee. Let me know.

I recently jumped into the 3D printing world and bought a Bambu Labs P2S. I have not designed anything myself yet, but I need to learn. I've been in the process of shopping for CAD programs to learn on and will have to look into fusion 360. I'm pretty good with sketchup but I'm not sure it translates. I have to design and print a gated shifter piece for my trans tunnel to get the dimensions right before I have someone CNC it from steel or aluminum as the end goal.

[mrglaeser]

Matt, that is some great work there!

Would you share the file with me? Your design looks great, and even though I bought the ones you mentioned I'd like to try your model. If you want to sell me the file I would be happy to pay you for it, you deserve the creative IP fee. Let me know.

I recently jumped into the 3D printing world and bought a Bambu Labs P2S. I have not designed anything myself yet, but I need to learn. I've been in the process of shopping for CAD programs to learn on and will have to look into fusion 360. I'm pretty good with sketchup but I'm not sure it translates. I have to design and print a gated shifter piece for my trans tunnel to get the dimensions right before I have someone CNC it from steel or aluminum as the end goal.

Just a heads up I did the first body fit last weekend and the studs I put in the point toward the frame extension made it a little bit of a pain. My frame extensions are 31.5 inches center to center vs the expected 30. So I have work to do there But I think if I were doing this again I'd fit these pieces after the body is set.

[mrglaeser]

Finally set the body on the frame for the first time. Will need to come off to do some trimming. Looks like there is trimming needed on the backend. The rear doors sit about flush with the striker plate. And my frame extensions will need to be adjusted a bit once I get the body centered. But so far it doesn't look too horrible.



Here are some fun photos of all the foam and bulb seal. I did put painters plastic over the bulb seal.










I think the next step will be taking the wheels off and centering the front so I can measure for a brake reservoir firewall bracket. Then pull the body trim and try again.

[mrglaeser]

Small Update. I called out of town for work for the last two weeks so I didn't get a lot of time to work on the Roadster. But we did pull the body off and trim trunk metal in back. I think body nearly forward enough I might take another 1/8" off yet. However I notice the body sits above the side trunk aluminum panels in the front 40% while it is resting on the panel for the last 60%. And the back of the cockpit the body is only covering about 1/8-1/4 of the back wall. So it feels like it is floating a little. I think I need to take another 1/4 off the rear cockpit body to as I can feel the body putting pressure on the back wall. But hey some progress.

I also created a Brake reservoir bracket out of 1/8" x 3" aluminum. I had made one out of similar sheet aluminum that is used elsewhere and it seemed to weak. I pretty much copied Whitby design just more robust.













Needs powder coating but I'm pretty happy with how it came out.