This build continues to amaze......

Now that the door hinge is moved, I need to modify the door frame to accept the new hinge location.  This was relatively easy, since I just had to transfer the measurements for the two notches from one side of the frame to  the other.

An overall shot of the frame.

With that done I could mark the hinge locations onto the chassis.

I went to town on the chassis, cutting out the marked areas and fabricating some brackets to fit in behind.  This proved quite the challenge, since the bracket's positioning was crucial to having the door line up correctly.

A couple close up shots of the bracket, from the outside...

...and from the inside. 

Mounting the hinge...

Test fitting with the door frame...

... and with the door.

After a few adjustments, I could then permanently secure the brackets to the chassis with black pop rivets.

Next step is adding a fiberglass door skin over the foam, unfortunately I ran out of resin and need to order more.

Thank you staba2009.  :)
 
I also managed to get some more fiberglassing done last weekend as well.  It was a fine display of mindful modding multitasking.  :)  I'd lay down some gel-coat, then work on the suicide door while that was setting up.  Then I'd go over and apply the layers of fiberglass, and continue on the door.
Here are a couple shots of the second side scoop I made.

After it cured, I started trimming it down, matching the original.  Here is a side-by-side comparison in mid-trim.

I also made significant progress on the top panel.  I was not happy with how the epoxy dough mold came out last time, so I ditched that in favor of a new Plasti-Paste mold.  The epoxy dough, as I found out, would not stick to itself which was crucial since I had to make the mold in two parts.  So here is the first part of the plasti-paste mold, the top.

With the top piece fully cured, I could demold it, then proceed to add the sides.  I had to do this in two parts because it would be almost impossible to demold it all at once without ruining the original form.

I set the top back on the form and added the sides and front.  Once that cured I could demold the entire things as a whole.

Had a bit of trouble with the fiberglass lay-up this time.  I had mixed too much hardener in the resin and it started curing too fast, so I only managed to get two layers of cloth down.  And I had just used the last bit of resin so I couldn't mix up any more.  It's probably ok, but I think I will want to add some form of reinforcement underneath for strength.  I will have to add some mounting posts or something to secure it to the case anyways.

Here's a shot of the top panel on the case.  It's not pretty, as it still needs to be trimmed, but I can work with it.

Work continues!

(O)(o)

Ordered the 4-position key switch from Watson's Streetworks.  Super fast shipping, only took 2 days from New Hampshire to CA.


Drilled a 3/4" mounting hole in the front faceplate


And did a quick pre-fit to see how it looks.


Looks pretty good, however, if I can find a better looking finish nut without the knurled sides, I'll swap this one out.  But it will suffice for now.

I'm hoping to get the whole front bezel assembled and mounted on the case this weekend, and get the top panel to fit over it.  This has been one of the most difficult parts of the build because the top front of the case is where everything meets, and is the most visible, so it has to line up perfectly.  Not to mention I'm creating both the top panel and front bezel completely from scratch, which compounds the situation.  I predict more trial fits in my near future!  :)

Well, I didn't get to the primer stage, but I did get the top panel and front bezel to play nice together.  So I was able to assemble the entire case and get a shot to see how it looks so far. 



A closer up shot of the front bezel featuring the 7" touch screen LCD, Lamptron Touch fan controller, and ignition key switch.  :)


So I guess this week will consist of mainly bodywork and smoothing out the top panel.  I may get some time in on the right side door as well.

It's time for Bods-Mods Monday Morning Update... The only proven cure to the case of the Mondays!

I was able to get the windowed side panel skinned with fiberglass over the weekend, and the other side scoop attached as well.  Before laying down the fiberglass though, I needed to get the window opening dialed in.  But before doing that, I had to add pieces to fill in all the open areas on the back side.

I want the inside to be totally smooth, so I began adding thin pieces of ABS scavenged from the other door's webbing.  These pieces were the perfect thickness to fill in the depression where the door hinge used to be.


I also cut out a couple pieces to fill in the door handle cavities.  Since they are on the bottom now, there is no reason to keep them.


I cut the pieces from the other door, just above the holes, so they had the same bends.  I beveled the edges so they sat right in.


...and glued them down.


Another section around the window had to be filled in as well.


Once these pieces were glued in place, I could fill in the in-between areas with more foam.


Once I started thinking about the side scoop positioning and where the hole would be, I realized I didn't really need to cover up one of the handle cavities, as it would be cut away.  Oh well.


Cut out the hole with my trusty jig saw.


The front side, after filling in all the remaining voids with more foam.  I also rounded the window edges with my router, using a 3/8" round-over bit.


I then cut out a piece of fiberglass cloth to fit.


Couldn't pause to get any pics during the lay-up process, so here is the result.  I mixed up a batch of resin and used a thickener so it wouldn't run down into the foam too much (spray foam isn't very dense and leaves some bubbles).  I taped a piece of cardboard in the window area to give myself an edge to later place the clear window up against.


After laying down the cloth, I used the remaining thickened resin to saturate all areas, then Mixed up a smaller batch of resin with a curing agent as a top coat.  Once that was on, I set the scoop in place, added more thickener to the remaining resin and used it to reinforce the joint.


After about an hour, I came back to the door and shaved off all the excess around the edges with a utility knife.  The resin hadn't cured fully, so it was relatively easy to trim at this point.


I hung the door on the case to see how it looked.  It's hard to tell in pics since the resin is transparent, but it's pretty flat,  There are a couple ripples here and there, but that will be taken care of with sanding and adding a bit of filler to flatten it all out.


And with that, I think that is the last bit of fiberglassing I will have to do on this case.  I still have one more panel to fabricate, but I will be using aluminum sheet for that (the back panel).  Getting closer to starting work on the internals.  Can't wait!

got my subscription

Nice, keep up the great work

holy hell! this is awesome. 

Wow some masterful engineering here!!!!!
Keep up this great work man, it's gonna be a true piece of art!

This is incredible. Awesome build!

Ok, time to mount the EK pump top and D5 pumps, however, I did not want to use conventional bracketry.  Keeping with the automotive theme, I looked at various oil system setups and noticed how there was a striking resemblance to a dual oil filter system.  So I devised a mounting method that replicates that look.

Of course I had to incorporate the requisite amount of chrome, so I found the perfect donor item for the pump covers:  a 2 1/2" chrome exhaust tip!  :D  I wasted no time cutting it up into two equal lengths.


For the actual mounting, I used a piece of left-over 3/8" acrylic, cut it in half and drilled/tapped some holes.  


They fit snuggly inside the covers.  Some tiny flush-mount screws hold them in place.


The covers fit loosely over the pumps, so I had to add some o-rings to take up the extra space.




I cut slots into the sub-floor so the acrylic mounts would slide right in.  They're secured to the bottom panel with a couple case screws.




So with the lower rad and pumps mounted, I could finally start running some stainless steel tubing!  Using the bender is a bit tricky, but after a few practice bends, I got the hang of it.


A pipe cutter is way better than a hack saw or dremel for cutting tubing.  Well worth the money!


This is the lower drain pipe going from rad to drain.


Pipe in place.  I'm not tightening anything down just yet, since I still have much to do before final assembly.


Next piece was the reservoir-pump feed line, which is just a simple 90º bend.


Another angle showing both pieces.  I'm liking the look so far!


The next pieces will be a bit more challenging, with compound bends on the longer runs.  Should be fun!

Hey guys, I'm back again with some progress on the back panel.  Originally I wasn't going to do much to it, but it quickly became clear it would be easier to just create a whole new panel, rather than trying to modify the stock one.

Here's a pic I took a while ago, cutting the stock rear panel away.  I think I did this just prior to working on the suicide door and hinges.


Using 1/8" acrylic sheet, I made the center piece along with two vertical pieces, a top mounting piece, and a curved piece on the bottom.  Here I'm gluing the two vertical pieces at an angle to match up with the side panels.


I made a couple fan mounts out of 1/4" acrylic that also serve as cross braces to give the panel some rigidity.


Trying the panel on the case, checking for fit and marking positions for fans, fillport, and the new IO panel.


Back panel trimmed, glued, reinforced, and fans mounted.


For the fillport, I was going to do something like those flip-up fuel doors on Dodge Daytonas, but I thought a hide-away system would be more appropriate for a custom rod theme.  So I drew up a quick model in Sketchup...


The lid will continue the design of the top panel, with the aluminum bars ending in a half circle.  Custom hinges will allow the lid to raise up over the bars on the top panel, revealing the fillport underneath.


I grabbed some pieces of acrylic from my scrap bin and started making the pieces for the base.


When assembled, they will stack up like this:


And top view:


Using acrylic cement, I started gluing the pieces up.


While that was setting up, I proceeded to make the lid, cutting the mesh, trim ring, and bending the aluminum bars.


I'm thinking I will use my alumiweld brazing rods to solder the bars to the mesh, rather than tapping/screwing them from underneath.  Either way, they will look like this when done:




Preparing the back panel for the fillport...


Fillport set in place for a test fit..


..and with lid.


Now I have to tackle the hinges next.  Looks like I'll have to modify the design a bit to accommodate the mesh, but that shouldn't take too long.

Thanks for reading, 'til next time!

Fairly new to pc's and never imagined anything like this to be possible. You have some serious skills and knowledge. Thank you for sharing such incredible work with us.