looking great!!! Super excited to see this thing "finished"
looking great!!! Super excited to see this thing "finished"
Are you sure it isn't "More tools than cents Racing" because challenge car?
maschinenbau said:beer can origami
Today I learned a new phrase i did not know I needed.
Thanks!
(Car's looking good too!)
I am also super excited to "finish" this thing for the challenge, and we getting there!
Since the last installment, I TIG welded something, and it may not look like much here, but if you machine it down real quick...
You'll get this, which also doesn't look like much cuz I tried to get too aggressive and berked it all up.
But if you weld another one, and machine it down carefully, you'll get this! (note second identical part in blurry background.)
What do we need next? Something that goes in da tube. Apparently I didn't take super detailed pics of the parts but here we have a drilled, threaded and slotted tube with a second flat section with a keyway welded onto it. (then machined square)
These little tabs will hold the hatch shut, (and I used two because the hatch is super flimsy), all they need now is a handle.
A thicker piece of aluminum gets welded on, then has a date with the grinder.
Bada-Bing.
I still need to make the spring loaded catch and then fiberglass them to the body but I think we looking alright!
(Also, damn she thick in this photo.)
And lastly, more good things coming together!
I didn't get to try them on yet, because she is getting stripped down for paint as we speak!
Awesome looking from that angle!
Very nice!
The wheels look great, too.
Only 15 days till I need to leave for the challenge, I'm really feeling the time crunch now!
Some of the wiring got finished up, lights can now stay plugged in with hood open (I was never gonna remember to unplug them before opening the hood)
And I "fixed" the fuel pump issue. We had the fuel pump switched on with a jumper, I wanted a pressure regulated switch but that was a pain so I settled for a switch on the dash.
There is already a stock push button to operate the flip up lights and they no longer exist. However, they do get 12v when on and I needed a connection to ground so I rooted through the box of wires and parts and came up with an extra relay. Wired that in real quick and now we have a stealth, dash operated fuel pump shut-off.
After that, and likely a few other small things I forgot about, it was time for tear-down!
And a long overdue cleaning of the shop.
The patient is prepped and ready doctor.
Love your "paint booth" and what looks like a homemade dust extraction system? Care to share any more details on how that works? Excited to see how this turns out.
Wait, I didn't realize the entire back / top could still just be removed!
How is it attached?
In reply to maschinenbau :
Looks like a Corsi-Rosenthal box. Box fan drawing through four panel filters.
In reply to maschinenbau / Mezzanine:
Looks like a Corsi-Rosenthal box. Box fan drawing through four panel filters.
Ding Ding Ding!
You are correct, except I built it in the dead of winter when no one had box fans for sale and used two Bathroom extractor fans on top instead.
In reply to wvumtnbkr : "Wait, I didn't realize the entire back / top could still just be removed! How is it attached? "
The rear has 2 pins that hold the "trunk" area up by the bumper bolts.
And the frame has 2 receivers bolted to the underside.
The front of the roof-line uses the stock soft-top latches to hold it down and the rest just sits on top of rubber gaskets.
I had to scroll all the way back to the end of 2022 to find these photos so apparently I've been working on just the body of the car for going on 2 1/4 years now. Damn.
After painting is done, I'm not sure I'll want to remove it again (since it will likely get scratched up) But it sure does make things like removing a dashboard and welding in a roll cage much easier.
However, having the latches from the soft top on there would make it easier to add a removable center section to the roof, but that's a whole other can of worms...
Well folks, crunch time do be crunching!
With only a week until we pack the trailer and hit the road, there is a lot of work left to do on the car and very little time to post about it.
However, here is the last update before the challenge. (and hopefully many of you will get a big update when I see you there.)
So with the car stripped and prepped, the dashboard is out and in need of more repair. The plastic "welds" I did already proved rather brittle so I added fiberglass and yes some cream cheese spread to hold it all together.
Now the top of the dash is showing those cracks still so it would be great to wrap it in some quality leather. But with zero dollars in the budget, where does one find free leather?
Turns out Face book is lousy with it! (hopefully not literally)
So, some cutting and gluing later and we get here.
More contact cement, more trimming and a lot more time than I really had to give and we get.... this!
The gauge cluster hood also needed a good amount of work but I'm really hoping it will hold together this time!
There is more work to show other than this but no spoilers before the final paint reveal!
Holy E36 M3 this is one of the most Challenge cars of all time!
This is going to look awesome with paint. Can't wait.
Pete
I'm not sure if the pictures are hiding the flaws or something else, but that dash looks truly incredible. I'm so eager to see pics of the whole package together!
And just like that, I know how I'm restoring the dash on my Dodge.
Wow!
Yes, that's an amazing way to get material to fix a dash! You can even make it look better than original!
Thanks Gang, I'm super excited for next week!
In reply to Mezzanine :
The front edges near the doors have a spot where the leather just 'ends'. So that's not quite up to snuff. Also, the window vents don't snap into place anymore, (but might if you used thinner leather) and the stitched areas really exacerbate the issue. So to "fix" that the vents are epoxied into place. But all in all, I think pretty great results for about .50 cents worth of glue invested!
I'm really excited to see how this one turned out! The dash covering was brilliant!
This thing might be too nice to be a challenge car, haha.
Your ingenuity and craftsmanship are seriously good. Way to go.
In reply to golfduke :
It's not too nice to be a challenge car yet, but it's got a future!
The weekend was fuuuuuulll of 13 hour days trying to get the last few things buttoned up, you know, prepping the trailer, flushing the fluids, printing the decals...
finishing the aero, final reassembly, a test drive, Ummmm....
It was failing in the BEST possible way - too much power!
Sorry for the jump scare, she's back together already and Clutch appears to be holding strong.
As a side note, does anyone have a portable alignment kit and would they be willing to bring it to the challenge?
In reply to More Tools Than Sense :
I have these Tenhulzen plates and a digital level that works well on them for camber too. They're coming down to the Challenge with me for anyone to use.
In reply to maschinenbau :
That would be super cool of you!
We are hoping to get a DIY alignment checked off the list before we leave but, like, woo, other stuff keeps piling on.
Sean, It was Awesome to meet you and your brother (and your Dad too) this weekend. Crinkles (aka Kermit the Saab) was stunning in person. The attention to detail you guys put into the build was amazing. We really enjoyed our limited time together with your team and look forward to seeing you guys again soon. What's next for the car and team?
In reply to Indy - Guy :
Ha, I finally got on here to update and I was 2 hours too slow, lol. It was great meeting you too, (and all the awesome folks at the challenge) And the stretch Miata Volvo is turning out incredible as well! As for the next challenges, I think we will run Kermiata one more time (after actual tuning and set-up) After that... there are ideas...
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