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DadofThree's Roadster Build Thread

37K views 239 replies 40 participants last post by  phileas_fogg 
#1 ·
I can't believe I'm doing this.

An actual build thread? So I'm building one??!! After 5 or 6 years of checking them out, the time has come!?!? I'm actually building a Roadster???

I have a lot of apprehension about starting the build thread. Go easy on me as you dissect the build.

In addition to the build thread; During the Christmas Break away from the build, I decided to start a blog showing the build. I've been documenting everyday on an excel sheet (along with my budget:scared:). So even though I'm only now starting the build thread, I've been documenting the build.

So take a look, and let me know your thoughts. The knowledge that is on this forum has helped me out tremendously. I've met great people, and look forward to meeting many more of you.

Dave

www.BuildaRoadster.com

 
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#36 ·
Moving the Body to a new location

Wow! 3 months since an update? That can't be right.

Well, I can't update everything right now. But I can show what I did to day.

Moved the Body to a different location to start body work. This gets it out of the garage, and in a place that I can work on it during lunches. This will be good because dust can get everywhere without worry. Also, working on the body at the same time as the mechanical side of things will help me keep my interest in the body work.

First took down the body buck -- well that's not true. FIRST, I called Kleiner to make sure I wasn't about to do a bonehead move. After giving me pointers to help with a successful move, I carried on.

So SECOND, I took down the body buck and loaded it on the trailer.

I then made a wood support to fit between the cowls to minimize flexing of the body. This was very helpful having it in place.

My wife and I loaded the body onto the body buck already in the trailer. We then strapped it down, and I took it slow and easy to the new location.













This will help with the build for me because I won't need to move the body buck around when wanting to work on different areas of the car. I hope to be able to get a lot of work done on the body (most of the dusty work) before taking it back to the car.

Dave
 
#37 ·
Cobra Clock

Got my dash clock in the mail from Jegs. I'm looking forward to putting my competition dash together.



 
#38 · (Edited)
Fuel lines made. You may notice the 1/4" line isn't straight at the bend. I had it turning up too soon. Straightened it back out and allowed the 5/16" line to be on the inside track. I may redo it, but it's not kinked.
 

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#41 ·
I may have had a fuel or brake line like that too. :wink2: Good luck finding it though.

I'm with you on the lack of schedule. People always ask me when I'm going to be done, and I find it's literally impossible to say. Everything I do I'm doing for the first time, so who knows how long I'll take?


John
 
#40 ·
Oh goodness. The only milestone I have set is the thought to have the motor in by August. If that doesn't happen, that's okay.
 
#42 ·
Btw, when cutting off this brass, my dremel cutting disk broke up at high speed, and a large chunk deflected off of my safety glasses. It was a large enough piece that I heard the sound of it hitting off of my lens.

I would have been one eye jack if I didn't have them on. Just my little safety message to you. :nerd:

 
#43 ·
Got my items today to start cleaning the body. Since I have moved the body to a location at work to save space in the garage, I'll sneak time in during lunches or after work to start on the body. I'm going to need a plastic drop cloth (plastic cloth?) To help keep the dirt off the body.

Got my scotch pads, wax and grease remover and towels.
 

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#44 ·
The passenger footbox is coming together. I did a lot of drilling last night to get everything to line up. Using a 30" HF brake, 6" hand held HF tool (surprisingly handy), 5052 and a #10 bit.











 
#45 ·
Is that the Expanded PS FB? EXCELLENT Mod!!!!!!!
There is no reason not to do this if you are running a SBF. Couple hours of time and couple sheets of aluminum = SIGNIFICANT foot room for your passenger. If you've ever ridden shotgun in a stock (even the current mk4) for and extended period, it is difficult to get comfortable. And you will probably be switching leg positions frequently. I still believe this is one of the best aluminum mods in the roadsters.

I would suggest 2 things:
#1. make a small aluminum patch now for the front tube that attaches to the main tube, to fill the gaps and silicon it in when the FB is riveted together. Much easier to access while the outside panel is off.

#2. if you are going to install a fresh air vent system, that front, angled, outside, top, aluminum panel is an excellent location and the pull is straightforward if you install it through the main 2x2. The choke/pull will run straight back and no need for any mounting flange and VERY solid and out of the way. I also mounted the blower switch on the 2x2 just below the pull and offset to the center of the cockpit. Not seen when looking in the car, but easy to reach.
 
#46 ·
I did that same mod on Mk #7750 with a small block. The extra room is nice. Especially compared to our previous Mk3 where the stock PS footbox you couldn't even put your feet side-by-side. Just one caution. Don't be caught unprepared (like I was...) that the stock carpet pieces no longer fit. I bought a couple extra yards from FF and was able to juggle pieces around to make it all work. The stock floor mat also has a bit of a gap, but that's no big deal.

Also, one question. Maybe it's just the angle of the picture, but are your fuel lines below the chassis 4-inch tube? I would suggest mounting them as high as you can. There's enough room to have them well above the bottom of the chassis tube.
 
#47 ·
Also, one question. Maybe it's just the angle of the picture, but are your fuel lines below the chassis 4-inch tube?
Thank you for the observation, but they are only zip tied in place right now; so yes they are sagging. I wanted to get the FB finished first. Plus, I'm unsure if fastening them to the 4" round or under the PS floor is better for running the lines. Undecided. Right now, I plan to fasten to the 4" round with the supply at the highest point and return line below it.
 
#48 ·
I just riveted in all but the exterior walls of my expanded foot box, and MPTech's advice is spot on. He's also got a great method for installing heat shields using rivnuts as stand-offs, which I shamelessly copied.

I'll be copying his vent pull & switch recommendations shortly. :grin2:


John
 
#49 ·
Copy away John, I'm flattered. :wink2:

I did the Polished SS heat shields, just because I liked the look, but not really necessary on the small-blocks. Looked really cool when I was building it, but don't hardly notice once the engine-bay is finished (but I like them, none the less).

I'll see if I can dig up some build pics of the vent pull & switch (or try to take a quick finished pic tonite).

DadofThree, build is coming along nicely!
 
#50 ·
Competition Dash

used the street dash set up to make a blank.

i'll be putting a competition dash in my roadster





oops...




 
#51 ·
Hey Dave,

Love your build. There's a lot in common between us, so I'm happy to see how our solutions compare.

How do you intend to make the bend at the bottom of the dash? I don't see a way to make it with your 36" break...

I'm noodling around this very problem myself.


John
 
#52 ·
Hey Dave,
How do you intend to make the bend at the bottom of the dash? I don't see a way to make it with your 36" break...

I'm noodling around this very problem myself.
John
Thanks John. i'm enjoying watching your build as well. You're just ahead of me enough that I can get a lot of pointers from your photos. :)

As for the dash. I ended up making that long piece that I needed to brake into (2) 2'ish sections by cutting a notch in between them. Then tried to bend each 2' section 90 degrees. The first one was too sharp and it put too much stress in the bend. I had to get rid of that section. The second one i did with more care, and got a nice radius. I then took a strip and bent it 90 degrees and riveted it to the dash. I don't like the look when it's uncovered, but I think that it will be fine once the covering is on the dash.

It's riveted right now, but i may use some adhesive to make the bond and keep the front face smooth.





 
#53 ·
#54 · (Edited)
Today was to get more sheet metal done. I worked on the back trunk area to make the battery accessible.

First I've heard that it is hard to get the battery out of the box in the trunk so I need something for that. Dan Babb suggested a strap around the battery to help pick it up. I did that and it works well.

I had an issue with the fasteners sticking out too far on the aluminum that holds the battery box in place. The battery would hit the heads of the fasteners which would prevent it from dropping in place. I replaced the fasteners with 3/16" rivets.



8" from rear edge


3" from DS edge


13.25" x 7.375" blank cut out - It's a little wide.


Need to cut off a little bit of overhang




You can see that the head of the fastener sticks out. Next to it is the 3/16" rivet head. The battery slipped into the box easily after switching to rivets.






It's an old Battery for Mock Up.


Dave
 
#55 ·
The beginning of the body work

Time to do work on the body. This will only be work that can be done on the buck. I'll mount it later. But I want to get as much done as possible with it off of the frame to limit dust in the garage and home. I'll be trying to do the body work while still working on building the car.

I started scrubbing the Wax and Grease Remover on the body today.

First, I washed her to get the top layer of dirt removed. Then got my scotch pad and Grease Remover to start scrubbing the body. I'm doing this during my lunch at work, so I didn't get the entire body done. But i could see a difference.

I used my shop towels to try to wipe up the remover before it dried. I could see the white residue that has been mentioned on previous threads by Jeff. I wiped those up the best I could.

I think I may have purchased 19 too many Scotch Pads. :grin2:

I always think the job is larger than it actually is. Oh well.







 
#58 ·
Finished the Scotch pad/wax remover step. Tomorrow I'll do the wax remover "soaked towel" / dry towel; followed by the "comet with scotch pad" and rinse with warm water steps.

I also drilled into the passenger roll bar center hole markings to locate a possible future roll bar. Thank you Jeff "Da Bat" Miller for the suggestion. Helpful Advice







 
#59 · (Edited)
Did my second wax and grease remover step. I left the comet at home so I'll do that later.

I did find some 40 grit disks, so I decided to start "knocking down a seam". The air wasn't working, so I did it by hand for about 10 minutes. I need to get the air working. :wink2:

Anyway. I am VERY glad that I moved the body to work. It is indeed very dusty work. Where she is now, I don't need to worry about the dust or clean up.

So what's the goal here? I plan to follow the 3" inch on each side of the seam guideline that J.Miller mentioned. So this is to get the seams flush with the body panels; That's what I'm going for. And I quickly learned that you can tell that it is flush when you can not see any gelcoat with in the sanding area.

I will spend a LOT more time with this later. I'm glad to have begun the process.

Any comments or recommendations are welcome.









Go until the gelcoat is gone








Boy, I'm glad the body's not at the house for these steps.

Dave
 
#60 ·
Getting into the seams.

Using the dremel, but which bit?



Trial 1:
Worked okay. Stayed at the seam. But do I need to go wider?


Trial 2:
Didn't really work too well. Small bit.


Trial 3:
I like this of the three that I tried. But man, does it take off a lot of material.



I got a little nervous with how much material it is taking off. But this is what we are suppose to do, correct? Get down to the voids, to rebuild them into a solid structure.

I haven't worked with fiberglass before. Look at the below photo: Am I to go farther down to get rid of the small holes? Will there be a point where I get to smooth glass? Or have I gone down far enough? Maybe the holes in the photo are common in fiberglass. I don't know.






Below is a Video:

20160629_124429
 
#61 · (Edited)
Dead Pedal box

Way back in post #33 you mentioned a dead pedal box that you made from a drawing you got from Nice Guy Eddie . . . here it is installed as the original prototype in my MKII:



Hope that gives you an idea about how it needs to be placed in order to NOT hit the body at the bottom.
FWIW, this picture was before I made the "taper" adjustment to the design because it did hit the bottom when I first installed it in mine.

Keep up the good work, I'm enjoying following your build.

Doc :beerchug:
 
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#62 ·
Last night I nearly finished my brake lines. I only need to run a line to the rear PS. I was very tired, so I didn't push to finish it. Maybe tonight I'll be done with the tubing bender / flare kit and tubing cutter.

Today at lunch I spent the hour getting through the gel coat down to the fiberglass. I was able to get the front done. Tomorrow, I'll try to get the rear of the car finished. I haven't see any "trouble spots" yet. But let's be honest....I don't know if I'd know one if I saw it. :wink2:

Still doing the best I can, while not knowing what I'm doing. :grin2:





Dave
 
#63 ·
Today I sanded through the gel coat at the seams. Yesterday I did the front, and today I did the rear of the car.

I'll go back and touch up some areas that may not be great. But for the most part, the gel coat is removed.

Again, I didn't really find anything alarming. There were some void that were here and there. those are gone. Putting water on the body really helped show the fiberglass come through.

Unfortunately, I did go all the way through near the gas cap. I'll need to patch that up.









 
#64 · (Edited)
My goodness, I'm terrible at build threads....i haven't updated for months

Today I'm in the garage getting the firewall installed permanently. I got insulation from ez cool, and am using 3m 90 to hold in place.



Painting rivets to get them to match the footboxes.

Yesterday I was applying 3M HSRF to the body.
Lots going on. :)

Since the last update:
fuel lines permanent
brake lines permanent
electrical harness loosely fitted
footboxes painted
heater assy finished
footbox access panel cut

Some photos;






















All my photos are at; My Flickr Acct
 
#65 ·
Your daughter looks like I feel working in the DC heat & humidity. About half an hour is all I can stand these past few days. Plus my kids are out of summer camp, so very little gets done until Tuesday the 6th.
 
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