How often do you eat off of this? Haha... it looks so nice and clean!!
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Made a couple of forms from a 5 gallon bucket to extend the scoops under the hood. Wasted most of the bucket using the trial and error method and didn't have enough left for the third form.:mad:
Have to wait for another empty bucket.
:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o
That will teach me - braggin' on Summit. I placed an order Sunday, hoping that it would go out on the "early" UPS truck on Monday. Didn't - went out on the late truck. It's 'scheduled' to be delivered tomorrow, Wednesday, and since we are at the far end of the UPS delivery route, that could be as late as 8:30pm tho usually about 4:00pm. Oh well, gives me something to do Thursday morning:D
OK... found another bucket... made another form... and now it's glassin' time. :D
Flipping the bonnet over on a couple of saw horses gave me the perfect working height. The forms were held in place with a few screws. I worked through the nose opening, as trying to get to the scoops from either side was quite awkward.
Can't wait to get the forms off and do a little finishing. Perfect activity for the rainy whether here.
Nice work! 'Glass is certainly easy to work with, sheet metal is too, just takes a bit more effort! Do these air intakes feed the radiator?
I'll stick to glass.
If I trim the glass short I can almost always add more... if I trim sheet metal too short it's scrap.
I don't know if the hood scoops had a specific purpose on the original GTOs, other than engine compartment ventalation. They will funnel air to the radiator just by virtue of their forward location. I've seen photos of GTOs without the vents, so I guess they weren't essential.
I just like the look. :LOL:
Standing the bonnet on it's nose makes for easy clean up to the underside.
Still needs some sculpting to completely eliminate the joint lines, but looking pretty good so far.
The last of the cosmetic fiberglass work to the front will be to extend the inner lip of the large opening like in this Photoshopped image.
The headlights will be remounted to the inside of the hood for a cleaner, more modern look.
I like the changes esp the deeper photoshopped front.
I like the extension, too. Makes it look more finished, and it's one of those details that make people wonder why your's looks "different". You do great work with the glass. How many layers of cloth/mat do you use for your extension pieces, like the three scoops for example?
I just stumbled onto your build today and I like it. As several people have said, it's definitely not traditional but it will be a great piece when you're finished. Very cool. Keep giving us updates.
I agree. Not only does it add a finished touch, but it gives me more options when it comes to a grill... if I decide to have one.
The scoops got four layers with a middle weight cloth. I think I only used three on the round vents. The cloth was left over from the dash repair.
Not nearly as thick as the rest of the body, but plenty sturdy... at least until I drive it.:rolleyes:
Well, half of my taillights arrived yesterday from Summit. They have the amber and white lens for the turn indicator and back-up light. The ones with the red lens won't be available 'till 4/29!!! Both were special ordered.
I was all excited to start measuring and marking the rear for installation. Seemed like the perfect job for a rainy day. So how come the day is all but over, and all I've done is open the boxes.
I need procrastinators anonymous.:(
To achieve the look I want for the headlights...
Attachment 48897
...I glassed-in four metal brackets to the back side of the front scoops. A little short strand fiberglass filler to 'glue' them in place and several layers of cloth and resin to completely secure them.Attachment 48898
I wrapped the headlight in foil and mounted the whole assembly.
A little more filler, to fill in the irregular gap around the light, and some light sanding, yields a perfectly round hole.
I then turned my attention to the taillights. The red ones actually arrived earlier than expected.
After many hours of debating the exact locations of the lights, studying the curvature of the back panel, measuring, remeasuring, marking, erasing, remarking (in the exact same places) and then doing it all over again, I finally worked up the nerve to make that first cut. A rotary tool made easy work of the cutting and sanding of the fiberglass. The old Datsun sheet metal underneath was a different story. The depth of these lights, approximately 3 inches, required the modification of the old valance underneath. Limited access through the new holes, made for slow work. After a couple of hours of small cuts using the rotary tool cut off wheel and a reciprocating saw, and some adjusting with a hammer and short length of pipe, there was finally enough room to slip the mounting brackets in and bolt the lights up tight. ( Pics of the mangled sheet metal are too gruesome to post.)
I may adjust the orientation later, but for now I'm satisfied with the look.
The lights look great!!! some most excellent work! Location came out fine on the tailights, lot easier to erase and draw over then patch up holes that appeared where you don't want them!!!!
Agree, the placement of the lights is perfect! Looks very, very good.
Sweet! I might have to drive over your way for ride when this is done!:D
Down to the final mod to the front. Extending the lip of the large nose opening. Still pretty rough.
The mods are working out great on the car!!!! Congrats, very well planned and executed!
Thanks Dave. I'm pretty pleased with what I've been able to do so far...what with this being my first attempt at customizing. I just hope that the finished product doesn't look too amateurish.
It's always exciting when more parts arrive. The radiator w/ mount, strut spacers and master clutch cylinder all appeared on my doorstep in the last three days. The UPS and Fed Ex drivers have become my favorite people to ring the door bell.
But alas installation will have to wait. With our son buying his first house, my wife has found renewed interest in the bizzilion (yes, I'm sure that's an accurate number) home improvement projects that we'd promised we would undertake when we bought our house... 20 years ago. Today we replaced the rear slider with french doors. A much more elegant look. Tomorrow will be spent repairing the stucco surrounding the new doors and generally cleaning up the DIY mess.
Once our son's room has been converted into the fitness/ workout room, I can turn my attention back to the hot rod.
Playing with some colors and stripes.
Very nice build, nice craftsmanship.
As for color I have always be partial to British racing green with gold strips. :cool:
http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/images/Wingrove1.jpg
Oooh, I classic color combo. Very Jaguar-ish. I'll have to consider it.
Thanks :rolleyes:
More lotus but thanks. Keep up the great work.
Ferrari red with white stripes?
Do a web search - here's one term - "auto racing stripes", or another, "racing stripes". Interesting is the history of stripes as well as the country colors the F1 folks used to require. And stripes, amazing how many show Mustangs. I do like the British Racing Green shown above, the others ........ :D
Radiator arrived from Stealth Conversions. Had a few minutes between home repairs...
Attachment 49229
...so I dropped it in.
Attachment 49228
Attachment 49227
One more small step toward the finish line.
BTW, like the new look of the site. :toocool:
Mounted my Taurus fan to the radiator. I considered several different options after looking at many pics on the HybridZ website. I eventually settled on my own, and what turned out to be simple, solution.
I attached the vertical plastic edge flange on each side of the shroud to 1 1/2" x 1/4" aluminum bar using stainless steel rivets.. The bar width is enough to extend to the existing mounting bolts for the threaded 3/4" aluminum bar that came on the JTR/Stealth radiator brackets. I simply drilled holes in the new bars at those locations and used the same bolts to reattach everything.
Attachment 49412Attachment 49414
I think it looks pretty clean.
Attachment 49415Attachment 49413
Nice work! turned out well.
Just a thought...
Attachment 49686
I think dark green instead of the dark grey/black would be a great combo
I don't have a good eye for color at all, but I do think a car this unique deserves some special consideration on the color. When Lotus was really dominating in F1, didn't they go with the black and gold colors, like the John Player cars?? Green and white to me are very traditional British colors and have always looked good on most anything that is or resembles British sports cars.
Hey, great job on the radiator and fan, looks great!
:HMMM:Hmmmm.....I think this looks pretty sweet!!:3dSMILE: I'm not a big fan of the British green but I wouldn't totally rule out white either....I think the white one in your avatar looks pretty good(yes, I know that's the unpainted version but it does give an idea of how it could look in white:)).
Didn't read all of the posts but if I may allude to your original question - - - - THAT is a Hot Rod.
If they can put Jag rearends under US classics and call them Hot Rods then I say that a Farrari
with an SBC can darned sure be considered one also and what about those VW bugs and
Anglias/Thames with the big blocks that we are seeing at all the Cruises and Shows?
BTW, you should be proud cause you did an awesome job there, my man !
Still got to love the Ferrari red originals! Maybe red with a big gold badge with the Ferrari leaping stallion, or with white oval number plate? With that body style it will hard to go too wrong with any color scheme you have mentioned! Just no purple/pink! :)
For some inspiration here is a shell commercial /youtube link of classic f1 racing cars.
YouTube - MySpaceTV- Ferrari F1 - Shell Gas - Greatest Commercial Ever! by I Am Seans Boredom