Factory Five Racing Forum banner
181 - 200 of 299 Posts
Discussion starter · #182 ·
The sketchy door sills are fixed! I mentioned earlier that I didn't have much confidence in the laminated door sill that I made during my first mock up for the larger doors. It was time to get to it! After securing the body to the chassis at points low on the door jamb and cowl I cut the rocker panel off the car. I guess I'm committed now, huh?
The Rocker is Off! by Team Limer, on Flickr

I welded some mounting tabs to the sill bar. The new door sill will rest on these tabs and bolt to them.
Support Tabs by Team Limer, on Flickr

I did some trimming on the rocker panel and cut a piece from 1/4" fiberglass board. This piece will extend from the rear wheel well to the front wheel well, forming the door sill and the top side of the pontoon. I bolted the rocker panel to the chassis, blocked it up level, mixed up a big batch of epoxy and glued the top panel in place.
Glue Up by Team Limer, on Flickr

After allowing the epoxy to cure overnight I hung the new rocker panel. I'm really happy with it! The door sill and pontoon are very solid. I threw on the outer door skin to get an idea of how the finished product will look. Unlike any other coupe mine will have a continuous parting line between the front and rear wheel wells. I like the proportions of the side view with the deeper door and deeper hood.
Looking Good! by Team Limer, on Flickr
 
  • Like
Reactions: JimS
Discussion starter · #183 ·
Way back when I started this project I committed to do real door windows in this car. To make room for my window frames I needed to remove the flanges of the original door openings, knowing that replacing them later would be a real chore!. It was time to tackle the job.

I'm going to use the 5/8" thick edge mounted bulb seal that FFR provides. Allowing for a little bit of compression I built the door flanges to be 1/2" away from the window frames and door surface. I cut strips of wood 1/2" thick and taped them to the window frame with packing tape. Then I cut and trimmed pieces of 1/8" x 1" fiberglass angle, temporarily attached them to the wood strips and epoxied them to the body.

It doesn't sound easy. And it was harder than it sounds. There were lots of awkward reaches, hard to access areas, odd angles and so on. Often it took several applications of epoxy to get a secure attachment. All of these areas will be reinforced by a wet layup of fiberglass on the back side when the body is off again.

BTW, thank you forum member JimS for sharing some tips from his project! The information was very helpful!

Starting Door Flange and Quarter Window by Team Limer, on Flickr

My quarter window will be a flush piece of glass with no scoops. So I trimmed the quarter window opening and built a flange for the glass to sit on. Yeah ... lots of pie cuts to get the angle to bend like that!

Passenger Door Flange by Team Limer, on Flickr

During my mock up work a couple of years ago I had not figured out how the door flange would meet with the body near the door hinges so I did a bit of patchwork to hold things together. Now that the door flange is in place it was time to deal with it. First, I cut out the old work.

Fixing the Door Jamb by Team Limer, on Flickr

I'm in the process of fitting pieces of 0.050" aluminum to the body. This will strengthen the area, span the gaps and close up the space between the body and the door. These will be epoxied and riveted to the body and then glassed in place on the back side.

Door Jamb by Team Limer, on Flickr

More on all of this later ...
 
Boy that looks really familiar ;) I agree it isn't the easiest of jobs, but your getting there. Keep up the good work Glenn (y)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gbeck
Looks like your having fun Glenn, I always wondered why my timeline kept moving up and up. Then I remebered its all the mods (well that and a boat load of other crap that happened).
This is quite the undertaking but your slaying it like Jim did before you!!

John
 
Discussion starter · #188 ·
Well the fiberglass fabrication is done ... at least as much as I dare to do. I had a very nasty experience with doing a wet layup of fiberglass a few years ago. I am definitely NOT going to risk another such episode. So I will farm out that work.
I thought I'd give it a bath and enjoy the view before getting into some other work.

BTW, those aren't "hickeys" on the hood. They are the outer door skins.

Fiberglass Fabrication Done by Team Limer, on Flickr

Fiberglass Fabrication Done by Team Limer, on Flickr
 
Discussion starter · #190 ·
It's getting to be pretty busy-looking under the hood. I finished plumbing the air conditioning system. This pic shows the firewall connections, dryer (on the front of the X-brace), condenser and the hoses going to the pump. All was pretty straightforward. The only sketchy part was connecting the #8 SRB hose from the Mustang AC pump to the #8 beadlock on the high-pressure side port. I'm pretty sure that I got a good seal, but I'll be sure to have it tested before the system is charged.

AC Plumbing by Team Limer, on Flickr

Now its time to deal with this bundle of spaghetti. I did all of my wiring with the body off, so I left lots of extra length in the wires, especially those under the hood. Since then it's been coiled and hanging from the X-brace.

Spaghetti by Team Limer, on Flickr
 
Discussion starter · #191 ·
Shortly the body will be coming off so that the mods that I've epoxied into place can be backed up with a few layers of fiberglass. After that ... I hope ... the body will be going back on for good. Preparing for this I've been spending a lot of time on a lot on odds and ends; doing final wiring runs, checking that nothing will interfere with final body alignment, making clearance for the seats to slide, etc.

However, one of the mods I planned did not work out. To smooth out the hood as much as possible I wanted to use these AeroCatch hood latches. These would push down on the hood from the top to hold it down and they could be recessed to be flush with the hood. Nice!
AeroCatch Hood Latches by Team Limer, on Flickr

But now, after seeing how the hood interfaces with the cowl I realize that the FFR designed latches pull down on the sides of the hood to to make it's shape conform to the shape of the cowl. The AeroCatch latches can't do that. So they gotta go!

So is anybody interested in these for a good price? They should work well on a roadster.
 
Discussion starter · #192 ·
I've had lots of compliments on my GT-40 inspired dash (thank you!). But by the time it was done I had learned a few things and came up with a few more ideas. Isn't that the way it always goes!

This third (and final) version of the dash will extend a little farther to the right and include a section angled toward the driver. It will sit a little lower and be hinged on the bottom (like some 60s MOPAR cars) for easy access. The layout will bring more of the controls closer to the driver and allow more room for HVAC outlets. I built a frame from 1/2" tubing and mocked up the face with cardboard. I'm really happy with this one!

Another View. by Team Limer, on Flickr

I also thought I'd try my hand at making a housing for a third brake light, aka Center High Mounted Safety Light (CHMSL). As low as this car is it just makes sense. I made a housing that will mount to the inside of the rear hatch glass. This 1/8" ABS sheet in interesting stuff to work with.

CHMSL Housing by Team Limer, on Flickr
CHMSL Housing by Team Limer, on Flickr
 
  • Like
Reactions: JimS
Glenn,

Dash looks great! I would mock up the gauges, air vents etc. in your carboard set up to make sure you have all the clearances you need as things seems pretty tight.
Knowing you you have probably accounted for that but just wanted to throw that out there.
Is the third brake light going to be installed on the glass?

John
 
Discussion starter · #194 ·
Thanks John!
Yeah, I plan to mount that housing on the glass. Some superglue ought to do the trick.
As for the new take on the dash I think I have a pretty good handle on it. It’s gonna require a little more cutting and welding on the frame to make room and the wiring should transfer to it with minimal change.
it’s still a work in progress. Here’s a sneak peek.

360992
 
Discussion starter · #196 ·
Me and resins don't get along, so the body is at The Traveling Builder's shop getting all of my body mods securely glassed in ...






... while the chassis is in my garage getting the last few touch ups before it mates to the body for real! It was a little unnerving to seal up the driver side footbox!




Meanwhile I'm trying my hand at a little bodywork by closing up a gap in my custom dash and smoothing out the finish. I hope that I can get it good enough for a nice charcoal paint. Yeah, I didn't fab the glove box yet. I'm always putting the cart before the horse!

 
Discussion starter · #197 ·
Exciting times in the garage! I'm pushing to get the car in condition for titling before the year is out. Lots to do.

After getting the body back from The Traveling Builder I applied Lizard Skin Sound Control to the back side of the body and the nose. This should help with the "drumming" in the cockpit, seal in the fiberglass strands, and it doesn't look half bad.


My wife volunteered to help me set the body on the chassis. I called on my hoist to help with the hood.


The windshield is temporarily installed, seated on 3/8" closed cell foam and sealed in with Gorilla tape. I was surprised that it fit so well even after the body was hanging upside down from my garage ceiling for over 3 years!


After struggling with the rear hatch glass for way too long I realized that the body wasn't properly seated. After fixing that issue it went in pretty easily!


Moving on to the hood. With the hood rollers and hood latches in place I find that I can lift it easily from either side. Gotta love it!
 
  • Like
Reactions: JimS
Discussion starter · #200 · (Edited)
Title inspection is done and documentation is submitted. If DOT is happy with everything I should have a title in a few weeks. Yay!
But there’s still lots I want to do to get this thing where I want it to be. Meanwhile, a few pics.

Untitled by Team Limer, on Flickr
Untitled by Team Limer, on Flickr

It sure was fun running this thing around a little bit even if I never got out of first gear!

And kudos to The Traveling Builder for his help getting this done!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: JimS
181 - 200 of 299 Posts
Top