Tesla Powered 33 Hot Rod

[tcarlson]

Fantastic work! Thank you for sharing too. ������

[BradC]

Fantastic work! Thank you for sharing too. ������

Thank you!

[BradC]

Carpet is in and interior is as done as it can be before the body is on. I ended up cutting access slots in the rear side panels so I have access to the door hinge bolts without having to remove everything. Seems odd that FFR doesn't do that by default but maybe I'm missing something. Dunno..

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[Ted G]

Looks great Brad!

[Mastertech5]

Very nice!

[BradC]

Looks great Brad!

Thank you! And thanks again for the great deal on the carpet - perfect timing!

[BradC]

Very nice!

Thanks!

[jayguy]

Wow, the floor looks so roomy without the trans tunnel there!

[BradC]

Wow, the floor looks so roomy without the trans tunnel there!

I know. The tunnel in these is a big chunk of the interior. I was able to put the throttle pretty much anywhere I wanted. It seems pretty comfortable as is but once I get some miles on it I can make adjustments in any direction with the bracket I designed for it.

Still trying to find a home for the tunnel (and other parts). Hate to just throw it away but I haven't had any luck yet.

[BradC]

Things weren't quite ready for paint last week but as of now it's planned for Monday. Can't wait to see how it looks!

Huge thanks to Ken Pike and his team for all the great work so far on the body!! There was never any question who I was going with for body and paint and they have certainly not disappointed. I know everything will be perfect on it.

[BradC]

Paint slipped a few days again but it's supposed to be tomorrow morning now. The steering column was done so I went and picked it up this afternoon to make sure the color was what I expected. Looks like a perfect match to the Mercedes I was looking at in the showroom. No going back now!!

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Assuming all goes to plan tomorrow I'll be taking the chassis back next Wednesday for body assembly.

[BradC]

Everything was painted this morning! Color is Mercedes Alpine Gray. It won't be next week for chassis mounting though - the following Tuesday is the plan for now. Lots to cut and buff and next week would have been pushing it before some of them are heading to Hot August Nights in Reno.

Walk Around Video

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[RoadRacer]

Wow, the floor looks so roomy without the trans tunnel there!

Oh wow, I'm late reading the latest on this thread and seeing that "empty interior" for the first time. That's just hard to wrap my head around!! Like.. you can put your feet anywhere! That is so odd...

[BradC]

Oh wow, I'm late reading the latest on this thread and seeing that "empty interior" for the first time. That's just hard to wrap my head around!! Like.. you can put your feet anywhere! That is so odd...

I know, I imagine I'll get some confused double-takes when it's out at cars and coffee. Will be entertaining...

[BradC]

I've been playing around with integrating gas struts for the hood and trunk because I didn't really want to use the prop rods. I can't find a clean solution (at least in CAD making assumptions for hinge travel) for the trunk that both stays concealed behind the panel and doesn't cam over and put down force on the trunk lid when closed. That's a problem because it won't pop up when the latch is released. I can do it If the strut end sticks out past the rear panel though so I think I'll leave that for a future project when I can get the exact hinge swing angles. The prop rod is fine actually with the trunk since it's not something I'll normally have open at a car show. I'm worried about it getting bumped.

Trunk Hinge 1.JPG Trunk Hinge 2.JPG Trunk Hinge 3.JPG

For the hood, I think I have a solution but I'll need the hood in place to size the strut forces correctly. Clock is ticking with body assembly so I'm going to try and get the two custom hinge brackets made this week that will mount the lower strut ball in time so they are on already. I'd like to avoid having to remove the hood once it's all perfectly aligned. The upper location will just be a drilled hole in a TBD location. I think there's clearance for everything but again I'll have to wait for final assembly to confirm. Below is the design I'm thinking shown in three positions.

Hood Hinge 1.JPG Hood Hinge 3.JPG Hood Hinge 2.JPG

In the meantime to avoid mounting the hood prop rod, I made a 3D printed bracket that will lock the hinges open. Worst case this could be a long term solution if the strut idea doesn't work. It should be plenty strong enough with two of them - it's nylon with stranded carbon fiber and it also has continuous carbon fiber in the two sides (shown in blue below).

Hood Hinge 5.JPG IMG_4608.jpg IMG_4607.jpg Hood Lock 1.JPG

[Papa]

I've been playing around with integrating gas struts for the hood and trunk because I didn't really want to use the prop rods. I can't find a clean solution (at least in CAD making assumptions for hinge travel) for the trunk that both stays concealed behind the panel and doesn't cam over and put down force on the trunk lid when closed. That's a problem because it won't pop up when the latch is released. I can do it If the strut end sticks out past the rear panel though so I think I'll leave that for a future project when I can get the exact hinge swing angles. The prop rod is fine actually with the trunk since it's not something I'll normally have open at a car show. I'm worried about it getting bumped.

Trunk Hinge 1.JPG Trunk Hinge 2.JPG Trunk Hinge 3.JPG

For the hood, I think I have a solution but I'll need the hood in place to size the strut forces correctly. Clock is ticking with body assembly so I'm going to try and get the two custom hinge brackets made this week that will mount the lower strut ball in time so they are on already. I'd like to avoid having to remove the hood once it's all perfectly aligned. The upper location will just be a drilled hole in a TBD location. I think there's clearance for everything but again I'll have to wait for final assembly to confirm. Below is the design I'm thinking shown in three positions.

Hood Hinge 1.JPG Hood Hinge 3.JPG Hood Hinge 2.JPG

In the meantime to avoid mounting the hood prop rod, I made a 3D printed bracket that will lock the hinges open. Worst case this could be a long term solution if the strut idea doesn't work. It should be plenty strong enough with two of them - it's nylon with stranded carbon fiber and it also has continuous carbon fiber in the two sides (shown in blue below).

Hood Hinge 5.JPG IMG_4608.jpg IMG_4607.jpg Hood Lock 1.JPG

Have you looked at the simple strut geometry that the Roadsters use as an option? Granted, the Roadster hood has handle (latches) that let you lift the hood, but the hood stays open and closes easily with the gas struts.

[BradC]

I did.. My thinking was to try and keep it all contained in the hinge so I don't need extra brackets on the hood. That could be an option though. Thanks!

[progmgr1]

I was thinking along similar lines for the hood hinge support. That was part of the reason I bought the Gen 2 hinges for my Gen 1 Hot Rod. Thanks for doing the pathfinding on this and please post what you end up using.

For the trunk lid, I used a small compound action trunk hinge from an 03 and up Mazda 6. The assembly includes integral gas spring lift supports. This gets rid of the hoop hinges and support rod, but you must reinforce the lid and add some support structure to the chassis. Mazda 6 parts GK2A-52-710E and 720E.

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Keith HR #894

[BradC]

Thanks Keith... Too late for me now with chassis/body mods though. I'll see how the prop rod works out for the trunk and go from there.

[Dan Cooper]

I like the color, from the pictures it looks like a Dove grey from a Lincoln Continental. I know from your post it is Mercedes though. I am curious do you sleep at night? Based on your creative ideas with the hood and trunk hinges and many other things you have already accomplished I think your brain never stops. Make no mistake I am very impressed with your attention to detail and that I am honored to have made the connection with you on this car project. Keep up the thoughts.

[BradC]

The lights in the booth make it look a bit lighter than it really is I think. The steering column they shot ahead of time matches the Mercedes I looked at in the dealer. It flops lighter/darker depending on ambient. This got the most votes from the poor friends I tortured constantly asking opinions on colors (or maybe they just all got sick of me and agreed on one randomly in private to end the madness). Fingers crossed it looks nice once assembled. I wanted a light color after having a show quality black paint job on my last project car. It was a nightmare to keep in good shape.

Haha. yes.. I have my sleepless nights now and then but I can turn it off most of the time. I don't take work home which is good but the hobby is a different story. It's all fun to me though..

[BradC]

I've been working more on the hood hinge. I realized that as-designed the grill/hinge mount structure is too weak to support the weight of the hood from only the hinge - since it's designed to be supported by a prop rod. So I had to crawl a bit deeper down the rabbit hole. I'm hoping I got this right since I had to go only by pictures (a lot of my parts are at the body shop). It looks like there's plenty of room between the grill and the vertical brackets so I made some u-channel steel parts that will better tie the hood hinge directly to the front nose brackets that mount to the chassis. As is in the image below it feels plenty strong enough to support the weight of the hood with the hinge locks I made in place. It will only be stronger with the radiator and front shroud/grill assembled so I think this will work out as long as I don't find an interference. I think it'll need around 250-300lb gas struts based on my rough math using guesses for hood weight and cg., but I need to wait until I can take some actual measurements before I spend money on struts.

These are the brackets I had made to provide the lower mount point for the gas struts
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Hinge assembled with the u-channel reinforcements
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[Mastertech5]

I officially pronounce you a mechanical engineer! You may already have that distinction but I'll say it anyway.

[BradC]

I officially pronounce you a mechanical engineer! You may already have that distinction but I'll say it anyway.

Haha.. thanks! I'll have to check those business cards I had made 25 years ago and see what they say. I can't remember!

[BradC]

Body install is pushed out a bit again. Shooting for next Tuesday now.

[Mastertech5]

It's like building a house. It always takes longer than you want or expect and it always costs more.

[BradC]

It's like building a house. It always takes longer than you want or expect and it always costs more.

Yeah - it's not a big deal. Ken's shop is very busy and he's just making sure things are perfect.

[BradC]

Didn't get everything done at the body shop today - mainly due to the doors taking a while to dial in. They'll get back on it tomorrow and I'll head there late morning (with the two parts I forgot to bring today - duh). We just have the side panels, hood, fenders, and windshield left to do. The color is exactly what I was expecting and the paint job is perfect. Pretty cool seeing it all come together in reality and matching what I had in my head how it would look.

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[BradC]

Well, it didn't get done today either. Some things took longer than expected and then the hood hinge was giving us grief. I don't think it's the custom parts I made for mounting the gas struts but I'm not ruling it out yet. Everything lined up before paint so we were a little stumped. It got to be close to 5 and I just told everyone to walk away from it for the day and get back on it fresh in the morning. I'm sure we'll sort it out tomorrow.

Few pictures of the progress today..

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[Dan Cooper]

It's looking great, I love it. I can't wait to see it all done and rolling.

[BradC]

It's looking great, I love it. I can't wait to see it all done and rolling.

Thanks Dan!

[BradC]

It's home!!

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[Papa]

I love the stance! Well done, sir.

[Mastertech5]

Looks awesome Brad!

[peterh226]

It’s so cool to see so many variations of this Hot Rod. No 2 alike!

[BradC]

It’s so cool to see so many variations of this Hot Rod. No 2 alike!

Definitely! Less than 1500 of these out there (I think), and at least 150,000 different ways to build them.

[BradC]

I've been busy with the little things on the car. Tail lights, license plate wiring, side vents, cooling system, some buttons and switches on the dash... etc. This weekend the priority is getting the display mounting holes cut in the dash and final fitting up the waterfall panel so I can get them out to an upholstery shop. I wanted to reduce the size of the waterfall panel a bit down at the bottom because I made the little side panels that cover the door hinge presentable. Should make it easier to upholster it too I think.

I made the first appointment with DMV next Wednesday to get that process rolling. No idea how long it will take but it's not a quick thing here. Guess I better get the thing insured too! There's an employee car show at my work on 9/21 they do every year so I'm hoping to make it with the car. Worst case I'll trailer it in, or maybe get two friends to box me and roll the dice unregistered.

[cc2Arider]

Looks great!

Craig C

[BradC]

Got my display test fit in the dash. I'm planning on having the dash panel upholstered.

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[BradC]

Looks great!

Craig C

Thanks Craig!