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Total from 2016
419.0 hr
Goal for this year is to have all of the panels adjusted and
remade if necessary. This includes door shells and front fenders plus
corners for the front bumper. Also all the plugs finalized for
headlights and parts made as well as fenders are dependant on them.
Hopefully over February - March, wiper regulator will be finalized as
well so that the window surround and cowl can be finalized as well and
with any luck body work can be finalized by end of the summer
Jan 1 5hr + 2hr trying to cure it
with heater
Not a great start to the year. Had to heat up the garage and focus
heater on the doors so that gel coat could cure as it never did over the
night even though it was close to 20'C. Never the less its done at the
cost of 2 hour delay.
Laid up fiber glass though with the cold resin even though garage was
heated to 20'C it had hard time curing and a lot of the resin just sunk
to the bottom leaving upper portion not saturated thus leaving bunch of
air voids between fibers. Not a complete loss provided it does
cure as those door shells will be used as test mules for testing to see
how the door seals will align make any changes to the shell make proper
mold for the shells and remake the parts properly in sunny warm
temperatures
Jan 15 1.5 hr
Pulled right shell out and pulled the plug from the opening. Cleaned up
the door way
Jan 21 2hr
Pulled left shell out and pulled the plug from the opening. Cleaned up
the door way
Drilled out hinge mount in right shell and checked for clearance
Feb 18 2hr
had some sun today and temperature came up to 11'C :)
figured get out and cleanup and trim the shells. Looking over them the
right one came out bit better then the left one, not sure quite why
other then the fact that the resin was starting to get cooler with the
night when applying on left
vs. right side. Any way... its unfortunate but they are just test mules to
get everything figured out and a set of molds will be made after
everything gets adjusted
Feb 22 2hr
Started to clean up the door shells from the loose gel coat. filled in
few small spots on bottom of the doors
Feb 25 3hr
sanded down from previous day. Filled some valleys and started on inner
filler panel contours
Mar 4 2 hr
Cleaned up bunch of high spots and started contouring hinge mount area
Mar 11 3hr
Flattened all the high spots, build up hinge area and leading edge of
it, all of the filler panel contours and build up window sill, Started A
pillars
Mar 18 2.5hr
More work around hinge and jamb areas. More filling on A pillar
Mar 21 4hr
Starting to get nice flat surface around weather seal surface. A pillar
starting to get flat
Mar 28 3hr
Jamb area and A pillar are nice and smooth. more filling work on
window sill
Apr2 3hr
Filled in access panel and A pillar area bit more,
Apr 6 3.5hr
Sanded all the high spots, A pillar is almost ready. Skin mounting
surface is almost ready as well
Apr 16 3hr
Skin mounting areas just need small adjustment, all jamb areas are
smooth and contour for filler panel needs just small fillings
Apr 22 3hr
Sanded and filled in voids, had to carve out more soft areas of
fiberglass to fill
Apr 24 3hr
sanded down rear light molds, cleaned right inner door frame mounting
ledge. Filled up voids on doors and rear molds
Apr 26 2hr
sanded door inner parts and refilled low spots
Apr 30 3.5hr
Sanded down left and right inner doors. Finished sanding left rear light
mold. Sanded down right rear light mold. Refilled doors and
right rear light molds
May 4 3hr
Sanded doors down and filled in some spots. Left one finally getting to what
it suppose to but there is still lots to be fixed. Right side is in much
better condition and not that much behind if not first
May 6 2hr
Sanded doors down
May 8 3hr
Made up fillers for front tunnel fillers, reinforced right side
Sanded down half of rear tail light plug. Filled in door shells and light
mold
May 9 2hr
Sanded down inner doors and rear light mold. Light mold just needed
small fill up in couple spots and will be ready for part making. Doors
are almost at a point of being body worked on the surface, still need height
adjusted of where trim panel to be sitting on top and then regulator can be
fitted in and followed to adjust mating to skin
Started looking into right side under dash trim and foot well area. Cut up
couple small pieces of foam for mold and glues small pieces for vertical
piece to lay on
May 11 1.5hr
YEY !!! right rear tail light mold is finally fixed. Next sunny
weekend or a warm evening will try to lay up the parts. Will have to wax the
molds and spray PVA just so it will be ready to go.
Sanded down the doors too, few small touchups here and there and there will
be ready too. Will have to try to fit regulators now while fixing the small
areas. Will have to figure out latch too but that will have to wait till the
regulator is fitted so that the latch mechanism can be worked around the
glass and guide rail.
Checked how the glued pieces of foam fit into the dash. Had to adjust angle
on one of the support pieces that holds up horizontal foam under the dash.
Cut additional pieces and glued onto horizontal piece filling in the gap.
May 18 1.5hr
got some time today. cleaned up front headlight dust cups part molds
and put a bit of filler in. Hopefully that will be the last fill in for the
light dust molds.
Also patched in cracked corners on the main front housing. Will try to
venture into rubber/fiberglass molds as the contours might be hard to pull
out and they need to be made out of 2 parts any way.
May 19 1hr
sanded down light buckets, however decided not to make molds yet and
will reshape the lights so that to alter look of the aux/turn ring and make
final mold.
May 22 5hr
Sanded down both parts of front headlight back cover. Finally can prep all
molds bolt them together and be ready for next weekend to make parts.
Sanded down and refilled doors. Trimmed marker light for left door.
Will have to grind out that huge resin flood
 Pulled
a plug and decided to adjust main headlight housing, ground out about an
inch from inner corner to make the marker/turn indicator ring bit narrower
on inside. It actually does not look to bad . It will be bit harder to mount
LEDs in that spot though. Marked off spacing for individual reflectors
in the ring. however they are bit square and odd looking plus there is 13
Will have to see how to make them the smallest and be able to have 2 bead
LEDs in each section.
May 23 3hr
sanded down bit of the filler from doors. Light housings are still bit mush
and only was able to clean some of the plaster. Added in extra support
for under dash trim and shaped the extra foam
May 25 1hr
looked at the door parts and how they are aligned between skin and shell.
Overall it looks ok however will have to make some changes around door
handle how the 2 meet and do something where to mount the latch. Most likely
will have to make adjustment to the shell and cut into the quarter.
Headlight still bit moist to sand so will have to wait for another day.
laid up fist coat of clay on right side under dash and see how it will look
May 26 1hr
Laid up 2 additional coats in 2 sessions on the glove box area. Will have
to start making rest of the lower tonou.
May 27 2.5hr
Decided to make a template for trim pieces on driver side in foot well area.
Not a big surprise but had to remove steering column and pedals. Looking at
the column and as much paint it will be to re-fabricate mount tabs but they
will have to be moved forward3 or 4 inches. The move will help with right
knee fitment between steering wheel and console but also make the dash
look bit better around the instrument cluster. Carved out recess on piece
for tonou as it was already cut when passenger side was cut. made up outer
vertical piece and horizontal piece. cut out and glued all support pieces to
the vertical sides. Also dove in and cut out piece out of the dash
thus rising glove box door edge. Will have to glue that cut out piece
to the vertical piece on passenger side.
May 28 5.5hr
Sanded down right side under kick panel. glued in extra piece of foam
extending it to make up glove box shell. Re-adjusted right outer vertical
trim to lift it by a 1/4 inch and glued on extra foam to cover up
transition. May need to extend that bit more.
Trimmed width of left under dash panel and extended depth of it and added
extra layer of foam to match right side. Also added extra piece under it to
cover up steering column. Will have to mount pedals back in to figure out
clearance for the arms once reasonably close to surface is covered with
plaster. Also will need to fix mounting of steering column and figure out
closest tolerances from it to the cover panel.
After looking on width of instrument cluster and steering wheel and decided
to narrow down the cluster by 2 inches on each side. It will give a better
look and allow for placing a vent on driver side by A pillar
Adjusted bit of door shells and ground off the drain off of resin while
making the mold in winter. Ready to play with regulators. A pillar
arches on the door shells nay need to be reworked as they are fairly close
to the main body.
May 29 2.5hr
Sanded and primed forms for narrowing instrument cluster. Sanded down
headlight buckets now that they had time to dry and primed to seal them. Cut
additional piece of foam on passenger side in middle of tunnel. Clearanced
glove box cut out. Attached cluster narrowing templates to dash, will fill
in tomorrow and start contouring the dash. plastered passenger outer
vertical kick panel and added extra filler on passenger horizontal panel
which will give bigger depth to glove box. Covered passenger tunnel first 2
panels to give bit of rigidity to the panels
May 30 1.5hr
Rough sander right horizontal kick panel and refilled low spots. Plastered
right outer vertical kick panel. Filled in dash to narrow down instrument
cluster opening. Cut out extra pieces for tunnel fill in pieces.
Jun 1 4.5hr
trimmed to fit remanding 3 pieces around the tunnel. Sanded right horizontal
piece for that will make up skin for glove box and kick panel. Skim coated
all foam pieces, they will need to dry for a solid day before sanding.
readjusted radio face sinking it into the upper part of dash.
Cut down instrument cluster and narrowed it down into fit the new opening.
Jun 3 4hr
With the narrowed instrument cluster. top of it had to be level as the cut
out pieces created differences in height, Rather than just adjusting to
differences, decided to lower rim by steering wheel by 0.25 inch and by 1
inch by window. This gives a better slope for access to windshield and also
gives a better view
Sanded down all the interior panels around foot wells for driver and
passenger sides and tunnel. Decided to leave middle and rear side panels in
and will carve out packet recess in middle panel once its stable and not
moving. resurfaced all surfaces to make them smoother.
Will need to make new mounting for steering rack and see how the pedals will
fit and make adjustments to driver horizontal trim.
Jun 5 2hr
more sanding of interior pieces. Right rear side of tunnel bulged out too
much and had to crush it in to get rid of it :( just extra unneeded
delay. Left side is almost flat. Both outer kick panels are flat, will have
to extend them and make a step for sill plate and to come close to outer
body panel and a small edge in corner. Will have to decide to either make a
square horizontal corner or gave it a small curve, maybe after contour of
horizontal piece will give a better guidance. Filled in inner kick panels
and hopefully hey will be smooth next time sanding or at least close to it.
Did not touch passenger right horizontal panel but filled in small
indentations on left one. Will have to make up new steering column mount and
verify clearances for the column and continue with the panel.
Refilled instrument cluster getting rid of low spots. This needs to be
finalized and together with steering column needs to be trimmed into final
shape so that dash around it be finalized as well.
Jun 8 2.5hr
looked at the tunnel sides, right side had indentation from the crushing
previous day. left side just did not looked right and it seemed like it was
bulging out at rear section. Rather then sanding down on the hard
coat, decided just to smash it down to be more flat. Top coat it again this
time with softer easier to sand plaster. Also fully top coated mid section
of the tunnel rather then just the edges. glued on extra foam on outer
vertical kick panels. Sanded down inner vertical kick panels.
Waxed rear and front housing dust light covers and bolted all pieces
together
Jun 10 3.5hr
sanded inner vertical kick panels, sanded tunnel pieces. The softer compound
is much better on sanding though with cracked foam and hard shell the hole
thing started to break apart. will have to live with it and just finish the
plug and make mold of it. Middle section is the worse but hopefully after
adding the packet it will be straighter. Will have to finangle cluster a bit
as it needs filling. did not had much more time on the plugs but will have
to do the new column bracket and make some solid progress on the dash.
Laid up parts of tail lights and dust cups for headlights. Will leave them
in couple days not like the normal day and out. I want to let them cure bit
more so they will not deflect. decided to put 3 layers of 1.5oz rather then
the original 2 layers . will see how heavy they will come out.
Jun 12 2hr
Split the molds out from the parts. There are couple small spots that will
need to be fixed, Have to figure out why the mat is lifting off from the gel
at least on the rear buckets. Front the corners where just to small to fit
fingers in. Over all they came out ok even though need to be fixed.
Filled in cluster gap between cluster and surface of dash, this should make
the tolerance tight
Cut out sections of pockets in mid section of tunnel and filled in should
make it much stronger piece also filled in right inner kick panel
Jun 30 1.5hr
getting back on to it again after vacation. When in for short time
tonight to take a look at the tunnel. cleaned up from what was done before
the trip and carved out the side packets further and laid up initial
contours. Filled in a bit of contour on right inner vertical panel not sure
how this will works as used softer filler. Filled in around steering
column to fill area when it will be moved back. Really do have to look
at relocating mounting points for it and fix the column area
July 1 3.5hr
Humid like crazy some still did not cured properly so the left packet and
the vertical contour did not cured properly. thought the packet may not have
enough thickness and just fell of the tape that was separating it from the
sheet metal. Never the less cleaned up the pieces and packets.
As some of the plugs are not removable decided that rather having them move
and be separable from chassis, just permanently fixed them to so that they
will not move this way tolerances will be closer and just come out better at
the end. Will clean up the metal work after molds are pulled off.
Build up both packets and hopefully will remove most of the dips and
valleys. Fixed soft flimsy spot on left rear side of the tunnel. Also
contoured better right inner vertical panel on right (passenger) side.
Really do have to get that steering column remounted. as the fenders still
in place cause need to finalize doors, will start and work on inner filler
panel for the front trunk. its fairly easy to do just will most likely have
to do it in sections to get the contour of it properly
July 3 0hr
*&*& had to step on the tunnel to pull tank of a shelf above,
crashed left side of the tunnel plug. *&%^ another freaken step back,
well maybe for good reason, that corner was bit flimsy so redoing it
properly will render to better mold dimension.
July 4 3.5hr
sanded down tunnel right side made it flat and salvaged what's salvageable on
left side and laid up coat to bond together again. Carved center upper
dash to flow with rest of radio center. Started making inner panel for
front trunk. Laid rough side contour.
July 5 2.5hr
Sanded down left side of tunnel, unfortunetaly as it was cracked and only
covered with very light skim coat a large portion started to chip off. Just
ripped all the loose stuff and filled in properly same thing happened on
rear portion of right side, it was just a short crack around top tube.
Build up front and a small bump for the inner trunk panel plug. This
actually may be faster to make then I thought.
Build up left side of under dash to flow with contour of horizontal panel.
July 6 3hr
Build up more for hood bottom layer, its fairly close to be full all the way
around. Will have to start engraving for seal though might have to look for
a lower profile seal as originally though 3/4" height seal might work now it
may have to find 1/2 or 3/8 height one. Sanded tunnel and filled in
smooth with top layer. Most likely will make large portion of the tunnel in
one piece and having just a small section around shifter removable plus
smaller sections around foot well kick panels.
July 9 3hr
sanded down tunnel , measured and carved out packet in the tunnel. Lest side
just does not want to co operate as it cracked again :( hopefully this
time it will work as took all the loose still all the way from top to bottom
out and just covered with single fill. trimmed down driver (left side)
horizontal panel and surfaced it. Filled in outer vertical panels as close
as possible to the body work. started to contour left horizontal panel. Will
probably have to carve out just like did the right side to have a nice
uniform indentation
July 10 3hr
It would had been so much easier but getting closer on those tunnel packets.
contours still need work but are getting close even the left side is moving
along. Couple more days and they should be getting close to completion.
Started contouring left horizontal column cover panel. Will have to make a
new bracket next couple of days for steering wheel and get the dash and
instrument cluster finalized.
Sanded down on trunk filler, did not liked the way the skin was sitting on
it.
Refilled driver horizontal panel inner vertical panels and trunk gap for
mold. Left the skin on to prevent plaster from lifting. Next day will have
to do around bumper area to finish and start adjusting seal mating area and
recess for hinge plate mount area and also start filling up rest of the
inner trim
July 11 4hr
Concentrated on the interior today though smoothed out some of the hood from
yesterday.
Sanded down flat tunnel around the packets and rear part of left side.
Finally the rear part is practically perfect. packet outline areas are very
close as well, right side just needs a bit of final sanding and left is
almost straight as well .couple small surface fills and the edge will be
done and will be just a matter of filling in back side and giving some
clearance for tank support.
Big step back on the glove box though however something needed to be done as
it was sticking out way to much and it just did not flow properly. After
trimming area around steering column and initially looked like bit too much
of carve out it started to look better as the surface was getting smother it
resembled bit of over hanged look of top of the dash. Decided to cut
back front part of the glove box and part of the underside to flow smoother
rather then having straight front. Filled in front of the dash and hopefully
it will cure for tomorrow. Trimmed a 3/4 relive on outer kick panels for
door seal to lean on giving a nice finish when done. Unfortunately had to
cut into the foam block which created cavity and had to be filled.
July 13 4hr
Sanded down and contoured tunnel packets, they are almost nice and square
and next couple of days will have to round off inner corners and they will
be completed. Horizontal kick panels for driver and passenger needed bit
cleaning up which then they where filled in to fill up the valleys. Outer
vertical kick panels are still wet could not do much with then other then
just to contour them. They will need to fully dry to be sanded down. Cut out
center radio packet on dash part. Filled in entire dash front edge to be
uniform but will have to make a template to make sure contour is perfect
across from left to right. Build up horizontal kick panels to go up and mate
with the dash top.
Started trimming front trunk rubber seal surface, unfortunately plaster is
still wet and just decided to let it dry before applying anything extra on
top. Everything is wet, was hoping to make first molds for glove
box and maybe driver center fill panels by end of next week. Not sure if
that's going to happen
July 14 2.5hr
Could make the day longer but it looks like forms are getting closer to
being finished or maybe just need parts to be finalized before working on
other sections :-/
Anyway trimmed outlines of tunnel packets, I think they are as close as they
can be, corners need work but its minor. Got everything straight and
surfaced back of them and will have to find how deep they are and make them
even from side to side. Sanded down outer kick panels but they are still
moist for any more work on them.
Sanded down and evened driver horizontal panel had to make cut back some of
the depth on dash to built up on the panel, Will have to reattach those
upper pieces when making the dash.
Sanded down glove box contour, it still needs small fillings and she is
getting close to being finished for marking size of door and making mold.
There is no latch and most likely that will be done after the panel is made.
Center section will need some work to finish with final contour. One
thing that needs to be done is extensions all the way to A pillar for the
dash and lower panels so maybe making molds will need to wait for an extra
week though the glove box and driver column panels need to be made first as
the vertical panels will be made while they are off the car.
Next time in garage will have to make a new extended mount for the column
and see how it fits to the panel
July 15 3hr
not much sanding just around center of dash and bit of trimming around
tunnel side packets and a bit on the front trunk. Make up filler pieces for
outer vertical panels and surfaced it. Also filled in center of dash some
small valleys in side packets and gaps for glove box and driver panels.
Topped off trunk to reduce gap to skin. Though every time its done it goes
to far. Need to move on to other parts however other parts are dependant on
that piece being finished.
July 16 2.5hr
Sanded down tunnel packets and aside couple small areas in corners and a bit
fill in on left one they are all nice and flat. Will have to add a bit or
riser to give a bit of clearance for tank strap mounting bolt. Sanded down
and clearance a bit more trunk inner panel and made it flow bit smoother.
Cleaned up overflow from plaster onto seal mount areas. No filling
this time, will let it dry for a day or to so that the packets should be
better off in working on
July 18 1hr
Got out for a short hour. cut off corners from the 2 horizontal panels
around the center console so that they can be part of it. Taped up outer
dash and horizontal panels so that the outer kick panels can be build up to
match surface of the panels. Filled up center console building up trim.
July 20 4.5hr
Finally contoured glove box and steering column panels to a rough shape and
recess of where it needs to be. Had to adjust depth of dash as it was too
deep on left side by 3/8 of and inch. Also contoured and trimmed transition
from the panels to center console. It may not seem or look a lot but this is
the major shaping of the horizontal panels and finishing of the dash pad.
Have to do a better fitting of joints between sections of panels and still
have to get the steering column mounts relocated and finish section around
instrument cluster. A pillar lower fillers are square, need to round them
off and make them symmetrical
left horizontal panel tabs broke had to reattach. filled in some voids in
other sections of the dash and panels
July 21 4.5hr
Sanded down and adjusted contour of the top dash pad. there are some voids
in center but not to bad and can be filled in a day. Steering column
panel came out good the broken pieces are attached again but will have to
adjust depth and fill in mating surface to top pad. Adjusted glove box
clearance to pad. Will need to back fill back and top of the door.
Sanded down center panel, sanded and contoured / rounded off outer kick
panels around door rubber strip. Will have to may be raise the mating
surface. Also build up outer kick panels so they will contour better with
the carpet, but more importaly provide space to put 6x9 or 6" round
speakers. Surfaced the foam on both sides fixed broken left outer panel.
filed center console section and leveled front trunk mating surfaces.
Really have to get that column mounted and have to figure out how much to
cut back on rear upper pad but have to find window regulator
July 26 4hr
sanded down left horizontal panel around dash area to give same recess as
glove box. Sanded and contoured center radio section. Will have to make up
contour templates to make sure left and right side curves are same. Filled
in outer kick panels making smoother. filled in glove box top and back side
to fill in voids.
sanded down trunk template to make it smooth, marked and carved out rib by
windshield. Unfortunately deeper section still contains moisture. will have
to wait couple more days to dry
July 29 5hr
Sanded all panels and resurfaced all of them. Added small sail panels in
center section of the HVAC part of dash. Finished making clearance to
reinforcing plate if front trunk And surface filled. Trimmed rear tail light
buckets. Squared off shifter hole in top of tunnel panel.
July 30 4hr
sanded outer and horizontal panels and resurfaced. Filled in voids in
bottom part of dash. Sanded / re-contoured trunk mold and resurfaced.
Cleaned up tunnel packets, left one will need bit of filling and both still
need small riser to clear bolt holding tank.
Aug 1 2.5hr
Sanded small areas under the nose of the dash pad. Will have to make a small
transition adjustment to the center section. Sanded down hood by
windshield stiffening rib and beveled outer side edges. Will have to do a
small refill of some spots and have to look into depth of reinforcing plate.
May have to raise it up a bid as it seems too deep. laid in first foam
backing for center rib as the outer edges seem to be close to be finished.
Will need to fill in 5" small gap next day
Aug 3 3hr
Not a lot of actual work per say to be visible though still made good
progress. Cut down center tunnel top padding to make clearance for
rear window regulator, glass and interior trim padding. Filled in center of front trunk
and after realizing the bend was going to be the wrong way it was wasted time
time doing it and had to reverse the inside rib. Started
looking and planning on changing steering column support. Made template for
mount holes and cut out a brace.
Aug 6 3.5hr
carved out side edges in front trunk, filled in and buildup corners.
Adjusted surface for hinge support plate. Did not adjust the mounting for
column however used the current mount as reference adjusting for difference
adjusted column trim panel and put first coat of filler.
Aug 7 6hr
Trimmed and refilled trunk back panel, adjusted hinge plates and set up
striker mount plates. Cut ribs to dimension need to set even depth all the
way around and round off corners. Back filled inside of glove face. Started
making right A pillar cover, not sure how this will turn out never the less
it will be a good trial of how it will look like. Filled in small areas of
column cover panel. Started moving column mounts, moved 2 back ones
but the front ones will have to be bolted up from the other side of the
cross bar. Built up side kick panels after looking at door seal and how they
will fit. Building up the side panels will make the dash flow nicer
and the side panels will look much better as well.
Aug 8 3hr
Pulled A pillar sample trim, it actually came out ok still lots to do to
adjust the base but good start. Unfortunetaly broke some of the mold.
Will have to extend it all the way up to the top and build left one.
pulled glove box panel out, unfortunetaly did not put enough filler and
missed about 5" on the dash of the trim, refilled today and should be ready
for tomorrow and also filled in the chipped panel after it dropped of the
car the other day. Started filling in steering column cover
panel after some sanding. Will have to mount the column in and make
the second bracket for proper mount and recheck dimensions as it does not
look right and may need to cut back on some. Trimmed trunk to make the
panel smooth and started rounding off corners. However did not filled in
bottom part of the center rib so had to fill in today and adjust it next
day. Will have to add more around striker to make inner corners round.
Aug 9 3hr
DARN DARN DARN, trunk mold was practically done till i leaned on it
and tracked part of it and pushed in aahhh... any way not sure if it would
had been ready for the weekend to pull parts from now it just means that can
put more detail to it and hopefully will require less time to finish it off
after bonding to skin. Shaved and sanded down steering column panel and
filled in some small voids, also trimmed down surface for the column shroud
area to hopefully match better. Shaped base of right A pillar and this time
used sheet of paper to separate surround in hopes that it will not
stick and separate much easier from surround.
Aug 10 3hr
Still bit ticked about the trunk panel, but then it most likely would not
had been ready for sunday to lay down fiber glass. Any way scraped and
sanded down. trimmed inner release area and filled in smooth. sanded down
right A pillar base, most likely will need further adjustment.
Filled in small area in injner left kick panel. Sanded down and surfaced
coated instrument cluster
Aug 12 6.5hr
Well trunk is back to where it used to be couple days back, it still needs a
bit of filling in a center cavity and rounding of all 90' corners so by next
weekend she be ready to pull parts from. Rounded off inner glove box skin
and that is almost ready for mold making too. Instrument cluster top needs a
small filling to make it flow a bit better then needs to have bezel trimmed
out but it needs to wait till steering column area is finalized. However
that needs to wait for the column to have second bracket made.
To move on with dash a bit further started making up A pillar trim, but will
not be able to finish them till roof mounts are in which requires some metal
fabrication.
Filled in gap in center console and back of top of the tunnel cover. Filled
in voids in right outer kick panel to better match door seal
Aug 13 3hr
Decided to do some work on the Datsun today to fix couple of items on it.
Never the less still got couple things sorted out. Fixed cracks in A pillar
trims, they still need to have upper part done around roof mounts but they
are fairly close to the top. . Finished plugging center part of the console
around radio/controls. Extended column trim, not sure how it will fit
and still needs contouring but its getting to reasonable shape. The panel
will most likely have to be reworked once made to final dimensions. Sanded
trunk molds/plug , still needs final contouring in center recesses and
rounding off all corners. Sprayed primer to get harder shell so when sanding
will not go beyond the current surface. By next weekend will have glove box
and trunk to make molds/parts off. Though Might bond side kick panels to the
glove box to make a single mold then will have the outer kick panel to make
a second mold off
Aug 14 3.5hr
sanded down internal panels and trunk. cut out 3 pieces of 1/8 cardboard to
fit into gear selector opening maing ip 3/8" thick spacer flat to surface.
This filling will act as depth guide so that back side can be covered. This
will give a way for mounting boot ring and extra filler will serve as anker
when bonding to front part. Sanded right A pillar cover and had to fill in
left one as it seems like when it was left in sun yesterday it curved while
drying :/ Filled in trunk corners. once they dry will have to give a gentle
sanding to see how much further they need to be filled in. Had to
build up bottom corner of left outer kick panel and filled in holes in both
outer panels
Aug 16 2.5hr
sanded down all little parts and pieces and filled in where necessary. Trunk
is virtually ready to make part from just needs bit of sanding and hopefully
there is not too many air bubbles. started to make a smoother
curvature to outer kick panels, they will need another heavier filler coat
and any small fill up then rounding of the inner corner and they will be
ready for making molds from. Glove box door is ready to make mold. should
have done it when making intake for the Datsun. Made one flat pancacke to
add on to tunnel side packet will have to make another one next time in
garage then cut them out and put in place and tunnel will be ready for
molding as well. Dash needs to have packets engraved on sides for A
pillar trim and started making extension to right side of dash just like the
left one. Will have to extend A pillar trims after the packets are done or
same time when adding bottom to the trim pieces.
Aug 17 3.5hr
Sanded down or more like leveled off outer kick panels and put another coat
of filler, but unfortunetaly those panels will not be ready for this weekend
which is OK as new way of fastening was devised which needs to alter some of
those panels a bit. Sanded down trunk corners and primed to get a hard coat
on top, will try to put another coat of softer filler and hopefully it will
dry by saturday morning so it can be sanded down, primed and prepped for
sunday. Filled in right side extension to the dash flat with surface, it
will be free floating for time being so the dash can still be removed but
that will be good start to make provision for A pillar trim and a way for
fastening kick panel. when ready it will be bonded to the dash before making
molds. The more important thing, made up front mount for column, not sure if
its because the dolly was lower then actual seat will be but it looked like
the column is too much on an angle and steering weal is way up. Will have to
crack tack welds and re-weld lower to drop it down a bit
Aug 19 5hr
Surfaced trunk mold with softer filler, sanded down smooth and primed. This
is last prime job on it though will have to see how it will look lie when it
dries. Might have to sand it down just to make it smooth then was and PVA
even it its going to be bare filler. Sanded down outer kick panels and
surfaced, maybe one more coat and it will be nice and smooth then rounding
off corners and adjustment to see how it will fit overall and they will be
ready for molding as well. Dropped front of column mount 3/4 of inch and now
angle looks perfect, will need small adjustment of mount on back but thats
not minor. Ground off made provision of a bar to keep filler in place and
muded it up. Sanded down left A pillar trim to match right side and extended
up to upper windshield horizontal line going up to headliner
Sanded some spots on the trunk, at night with florescent lights it shows
better of all the sanding marks. there are some areas that could be better
but they can be sanded out on the final part. Masked off trunk and glove box
door, waxed and put a layer of PVA. next day will be fiberglass time
Aug 20 6hr
Laid up trunk back side and made mold for glove box door. Cut up glove box
plug to get better view of how gap looks in relation to dash. Sanded down
outer kick panels right one is virtually flat just needs rounded corners
left one , because of the floppy crack had it reinforced on bottom so it
will stay relatively straight fill the rounded off corners are done. Sanded
down right A pillar trim and back filler left one in hopes to bond the
cracked off upper part of the trim. Trimmed off extra filler from
bridge around the instrument cluster and checking it it rough contour it
could not fit any better after last adjustment on the steering column mount,
could not be any happier and now that part can be finished and be done
leaving to finish off the bottom part of the cluster after the bridge is
finalized.
Aug 21 3hr
trimmed bridge around instrument cluster and filled in, hopefully that after
some trimming and sanding it will be good enough to make bottom part of
instrument cluster. Sanded down bottom part or right A pillar trim, carved
out recess in dash and set it in to make up foot so that it would not move.
After looking at the A pillar, decided to extend it all the way up past roof
latch. Will have to dig up the seats to have them as reference as not to
make them too bulky. Filled in left tunnel kick panel and started leveling
off kick panels on right side as prep for next panel mold. Also not sure if
that was necessary but extended column surround on the plug, will have to
measure up and double check next time but it may not had been necessary.
Need to finalize that column horizontal panel soon
Aug 22 4hr
productive day, sanded down left tunnel kick pane after fixing broken bottom
portion again and hopefully for last time. Not sure about the right A pillar
how it sits, might just make it go straight down rather having a step.
Contoured a bridge around instrument cluster on dash, need a bit of filling
but it has good shape. Cut out section of it in front to make provision of
bottom of cluster. Masked off the area made necessary recess on cluster and
set it in place, couple days she be dry to pull. Column panel should
have not filled in soo much, pretty much wasted 90% of material from
yesterday used in that area. Trimmed the panel to best could get contours
off but had to widen on top by 0.25". Its too bad can not fit the plug when
column is in. Last item, made up door sill for right side. Should be
fairly quick and easy job to make it. This will leave just the B pillar and
behind the right seat for panels wise. Will try making left door sill
next time out but it will be tricky as there is e-Brake handle and its
recessed which will thin it down and part may be cracking.
Aug 24 3hr
Cleaned up and refilled steering column. Filled in low spots on left tunnel
kick panel (hope it does not crack again and break off). The thin overlap on
right door sill did not held, maybe it was still to wet, too thin or just it
was not properly isolated properly so it would just come or rather then
being pulled. Regardless, made the overlap bit thicker but did not primed
this time when putting tape over it for separation so it should not stick.
Build up a bit of a bulkhead around roof catch, need to add bit more filler
to make up the thickness. Had to sand down quite a bit of left outer
kick panel as it was to thick on top and did not match right side.
Made a rough foam backing and laid first coat of filler on top for hard
surface. Started sanding left A pillar cover, area where the break fix
was done still is wet but now that its a lot thinner it should dry
quicker and should get that matching to right side fairly quick
Aug 26 5.5hr
Fairly busy day. Sanded left tunnel kick panel. Contoured left A pillar
cover to match right side to what was missing and filled in top sections to
cover roof receiver pins and also ground down recess in dash and filled in
in place to setup seat for it. Filled in back sections of boths pillar
covers so that it will have footing and a distinguished shape for vent and
wiring. Contoured right door sill and filled in making straight top edge now
it will be easier to make it nice and straing/flat all the way across.
Because e-brake handle goes fairly far forward carved out small recess in
left outer kick panel. Adjusted shape of the left door sill to give
bit clearance for thumb. Adjusted for thickness o the door sill and filled
in. Will have to make spacers for brake handle though as it would not have
enough space the way it originally was made. Started shaping off
instrument cluster, sanded down to fairly close shape but will have to fill
in and adjust for thickness and shape of the inner edge. Last, sanded down
and filled in to make corners around column cover more rounded on
steering column cover. Once that is done the outer and tunel kick panels get
bonded and mold is going to be made. Will have to bond right side as well to
make the horizontal kick panel
Aug 29 3hr
Filled in right inner door needs a bit of filling where tape was holding it
into the body and corner contouring and it will be ready to be molded.
Cracked corner piece on left sill just like on the right one. Will have to
attach it or cast a new one, but for today started shaping and contouring
it. Rear section of it is fairly straight need to shave off a bit in the
front section. Contoured middle section today but cracked it in middle and
after some careful shaping filled in voids and hopefully will fix the crack
but may have to sit around to dry for a day or 2. Sanded down column panel
and contoured corners but it looks like one small section is bit low and
filled it in. Filled in corners on outer kick panels so they will have
more rounded shape rather then just plain 90'. On left panel removed some
foam from the recess for handle and filled in. Next day will sand it down
and most likely have to do small fill up. Sanded down inner trunk mold in
preparation for next casting of inner panel that will be used to line up
hinges and latches as the mid section will not be molded. Lastly bonded
right tunnel kick panel to glove box panel which will be used mold
horizontal panel behind the glove box and once the mold is made then will be
able to make outer right kick panel.
Aug 31 4hr
A lot of sanding today.. got the left door sill done, rounded off corner and
marked off cut dimensions and filled in all low spots. One plug to make mold
off this weekend. Right sill never dried through and its still wet, though
got it down to shape and it should be very close to final look of it. All
thicknesses are as they should be or thinner which is better then too thick,
angles and sizes for handle is what it should be too. Filled in top surface
but will have to fill in back to reinforce the constant bending and cracking
and let it sit and dry for 2 or 3 days. removed steering column and put in
the panel in as there is not enough room with the backing foam. Looks like
that the opening for column surround is shifted to the right too much,
debating if should get that fixed on the plug or after the fact as it most
likely will have to be adjusted any way. Cut out some of the glove box plug
out and started filling in to make a releave to the actual door, plus it
will be less to do and much easier when the filler panel mold will be made.
Sanded down left A pillar cover, it gas lots of air bubble holes that will
have to be filled and debating if should get them filled on the plug or sand
all the dimples down on the mold. Now the big bummer. While trying to
fit the right A pillar trim to see how it looks the sucker broke lower part
off just like the left one did. Unfortunetaly it was getting late and never
fixed that and will have to wait for next day
Sep 2 .5hr
Very little work. Cleared off foam from right A pillar trim and filled in
hopefully it will hold enough to glue rest of it together. Same thing
for the left door sill, corner had dried off and its stuck but it was
cracking in half so removed bunch of foam and filled in from the back and
hopefully it will hold long engough to do rest of the sanding and make mold
of
sep 3 1hr
Put right A pillar back on and filled in all the cracked pieces. Sanded down
left door sill but the hole thing is wobbly like crazy, will not be
surprised if it cracks.
Sep 4 1.5hr
Sanded down left sill plate, its getting to shape, however when put aside
and while walking by kind of caught it by foot and it tilled over and
cracked :-( in half. Well Will have to bond it thicker but will not be able
to put it on the car for trial. sanded down left A pillar but will leave it
and not do anything till the right is done and will mold both at same time.
This way will have left as reference for shape. Sanded right filler plate
behind glove box and trimmed off it and the sill plate. next will have to
prep for fiber glass and make molds.
Sep 5 3hr
bonded the broken up left door sill, sanded and re filled right A pillar
cover, laid up right door sill, back of glove box panel and trunk test
molds. Will need one small mold for the trunk and can rip the trunk plug
out.
Sep 8 1hr
Got out quickly to touch up couple pieces. Surface skimmed right A pillar
trim, thinking now that maybe gently and padded carefully just to make the
the recess on the dash and hopefully the plugs will not crack. Cleaned up
resin splashes and filled in right side tunnel panel. Sanded down and
refilled small area around steering column/pad on driver side steering
column panel. Filled in left sill panel and some cracks on the trunk to make
last trial template for hinges. Once that is made, trunk plug will be
removed and will start working on fenders and hopefully bumpers and mounts
for head lights.
Sep 10 3hr
Spend few hours again making the plugs and slowly they are getting closer to
being done. Lots of sanding, A pillars are virtually ready, both are sanded
down to final shape however as the right one cracked up again and was
fixed there was lots of air bubbles and where surfaced skimmed. Might use
the plugs to make indentations in the dash this way dash can be worked on
while the A pillars are being molded. left door sill was sanded and filled
and maybe one more fill in around all corners to smooth it out and rounding
of top corner it will be ready for molding too. Right outer panel and right
tunnel extension got filled in to make glove box recess though the outer
kick panel still has few days to go. Instrument cluster was sanded down
after fixing chips around the perimeter and adjusted around around column
cover. Left outer kick panel was sanded and primed around finger recess.
Filled in opening in column surround so it will be easier to mold and
make panels. However after looking around at other things decided to make
the panel cut line differently and it should look much nicer. Lastly made up
mount bumps on back sides of tunnel trim for extensions of back trim that
will bold speakers though not entirely decided that mounting speakers
directly onto the panel is good idea and might make up metal brackets that
are bolted to the chassis
Sep 12 3hr
Few more hours today working on the plugs. Again more sanding, sanded the
column cover front section, right tunnel panel, left door sill cover and
sanded off the skim coat on right A pillar cover. Trimmed bumps for mounting
rear speaker covers on tunnel panels. Filled in few small low sides on A
pillars, will try to use them to make the indents in dash before making
molds. Rounded and skimmed all corners for left door sill. Started making
return on right outer panel for glove box door and filled in small valleys
on right tunnel panel. Filled in the tunnel bumps on back of tunnels for the
rear trim and lastly started squaring off corners on under side of dash.
Filled in left and iw will most likely just need trimming and maybe small
filler and adjustment on the outer panel. Right side because of the dash
plug coming up and out through windshield the right corner is removable but
squared off the dash as prep and filled in the small filler piece and
hopefully that will stay in on piece but will have to be filled in more next
time because of the over sized partition and trying to avoid braking the
outer panel.
Never the less there are 4 and with any luck may be 5 plugs ready to make
molds off for the weak end
Sep 14 3hr
More sanding.... sanded down bit of dash after filling in corner on right
side. Started sanding right A pillar cause did not felt right and it just
was missing bit of a swoop on bottom, bad and good. Bad is that dug into
foam, good part is that it would most likely cave in when making mold so it
would just suck. Better to fix now then later. Sanded right tunnel and outer
panels. Also trimmed and sanded tunnel bumps in rear, Still bit most but
they are solid. Will just have to fill in corners to make them round next
time in garage. Unfortunately will only have no more then 4 pieces to make
molds of over the weekend provided the A pillar trim dries. Moving forward.
filled in/build-up right corner on dash, few small spots on other panels and
more immortally glued together left tunnel panel to column panel. Will need
to adjust gap on outer panel to dash and glue it into the column cover as
well. This should be ready for next weekend. Also the right outer panel
needs to have gaps adjusted and glove box door return made on upper section.
Was hoping that it would have been ready for this weekend but it looks like
it will have to wait till next one.
Lastly, next time will start putting the tunnel cover pieces together. No
point in waiting as all the front pieces are will have molds pulled.
Sep 15 3.5hr
Fairly big progress day. Sanded down all the skimming coats from
plugs. cleared dash for A pillar covers and set it this will allow to
finalize work on the dash and the pillar covers will be free to make molds
off. Filled in bit of spacing on right outer panel for mounting and lastly
bonded second outer panel to the column cover. Once all sanded and adjusted
molds can be pulled and tunnel can be bonded together.
After looking at the top pad of the tunnel, and how to deal with possible
water run off from rear window. Came to idea of making sort of a trench
part of the top that will catch and direct water away from possibly getting
into interior and letting it run down behind the tank
Sep 16 2.5hr
Pulled the A pillar trims amazingly all in one piece and the indentations
came out great. I guess they will be able to be removed fairly easily or put
back together when all done. The spots will need some extra work done on but
that's because of how the base foam was done and how its being removed plus
the fact that it needs to have few spots fixed. Needles to say dash pad is
progressing well. The A pillars are now free to have molds made off. The
other thing is that the outer right panel had been filled and sanded down to
size and once dries off it will be ready to make molds off as well.
Lastly the entire left side foot well area is all glued together, filled and
sanded down. Just need to decide on cut lines for individual panels and make
molds off and inner tunnel parts bonded to the tunnel section.
Sep 17 1.5hr
parted column cover, right outer panel and left sill plate.
Sep 18 1.5hr
Waxed and PVA left sill plate, right outer kick panel, column
extension cover and bit of front trunk to make small test plate for helping
make hinges
Sep 19 3hr
Cut right tunnel panel in parting line vertically. One part will be bonded
to the tunnel section after a flange with sharp edge is made. The other part
will be a removable filler panel, this way it will be much easier to install
the tunnel panels. Having a foot print of the A pillar covers, got them
fastened to bottom of the covers and filled in to crate a very close edge to
the chassis. Might sand a bit off just to make some clearance. However the
return will straighten the panel plus it will serve as encapsulating edge
when building a vent into the cover. Laid up last corner test parts for
trunk, they will be much easier to work with then full size. Also molds for
steering column back filer plate, left sill plate and part 1 of right outer
panel.
Sep 20 3hr
As the back side and extra working pieces are made for the trunk, there was
no longer need to keep the plug. Therefore the plug was removed clearing up
and freeing fenders for adjustments. Cut back and recessed column cover and
filled in to smooth it out. Also filled in extra lengths on right tunnel
panels extending flange and hopefully by weekend it will be ready though it
may not cure fully to make another mold. Trimmed A pillar covers foots when
they where extended yesterday and small spots, they too hopefully will cure
by the weekend. Started making catch channel for water for back window.
I will be recessed enought to clear the rails and drip water down
Sep 22 2hr
Short day today but made some fair progress. Yes more sanding... Getting
ready front part of column cover (actual trim) ready. Sanded down back
recess and refilled including small area in front where resin dripped and
had to chip it off. Cleaned up high spots on right side tunnel panels and
refilled, few more times on those before they are ready. Thinking of making
a recess on back filler panel for light fixture though not sure on lens as
its curved panel. In all probably should had made that corner more square.
Found rear window regulators and it looks like the rough in for drip tray
will be perfect so filled in gap between it and the upper pad and will carve
out extra filler and proceed with contouring. Lastly and finally the A
pillar covers are done and as they are no longer needed as reference they
will be molded.
Sep 24 4hr
Parted and prepped A pillar plugs for molding.
Bit more sanding and filling. Had to back cut right side of tunnel half
front panel. That part is just does not have enough thickness cause it just
keeps on cracking. just might have to bond it to the rest of the
tunnel and finish the flange on the car. Front part of that same tunnel
cover will just need some surface sanding and final prep work done and it
will be ready for molding provided that will not be making mod for the light
though probably should as it would take couple of days. Also filled in some
small voids in column cover and that will be ready to mold.
Fiber glassed final part of right kick panel and first of 3 parts for A
pillar covers
Sep 25 4hr
Roughly trimmed a pillar first molds and right outer kick panel and
took the kick panel off the plug. Sanded column cover and primed. Took a big
step and bonded right side of extension to the tunnel. No point of waiting
any longer and will just need the left side pieces to finish the dash and
left side of the tunnel. Smoothed out drip section for rear window and
filled in some of the valleys but I think it have to adjust for flow once
the mold is made. Parted A pillar trim for second part of molds and also
column cover. Gave a good coat of wax will not put PVA as it will tend to
separate from the plug before making all parts of the mold. It will be
bit harder to clean the molds but its safer.
Sep 27 3hr
Spent few hours in garage again, sanded drip tray for back window and filled
in to get better contour and also sanded down right front tunnel extension
and filled in small voids. After laying up second part of A pillar molds and
column cover molds the tunnel filling dried and sanded smooth and primed.
Will just have to fix flange on the right side of tunnel a bit next time top of dash is removed.
Sept 29 3hr
Few more hours today. Parted, more like edged right side of tunnel extension
/ kick panel, wax it with heavy coat and also bottom parts of A pillar
covers that will sit inside the groves of dash them laid it up. This
finished the A pillar molds and makes a mold for the tunnel extension.
Tried to make a closely fit tolerance for left side kick panel however the
cardboard spacing got twisted and the panel almost cracked in half. Rather
then trying again decided to just go by measuring it but before that had to
fix the crack. The only way was to pull some of the foam from the back and
fill in the tube cutout which is the cause why the panel is cracking. Lastly
to avoid left side tunnel extension panel cracking just like right side, did
the came thing to it it like the kick panel. Pulled out the foam on cracks
far enough so that there will be enough hard surface to keep everything
together. Next time the front tunnel panel will get cut in half and
get flanged. One part will get attached to the tunnel just like right side
and the other front part will become kick panel.
Sep 30 2hr
Trimmed and drilled A pillar trim molds and right kick panel. Cut left
side of tunnel plug in half where one piece will be part of tunnel and one
will be kick panel. Unfortunately the bonding from yesterday did not worked
and could not make it thicker on back side. Never the less started making
flanges and will bond the 2 pieces to tunnel once rough flange is made and
will finish it one bonded to main plug. Left outer kick panel, the crack fix
is holding to started to cut back to that filler panel can fit in and added
filler in to make up flange.
Oct 1 1hr
Roughly trimmed any excess filler on the panels and refilled and build up
flanges
Oct 2 2hr
Did not had much to sand as most of the panels had rough flanges made and
all there was few spots that needed some sanding.
Filled in or more like smoothed out flanges for left tunnel 2 pieces. Had
to cut out left kick panel recess for top panel and filled it in. Extended
flange on upper piece for left upper tunnel extension panel. Attached small
piece back to right side of tunnel, and flange on it will need have some
adjustment. Sanded down and filled in water drip tray for rear window,
however thinking about it it will have to be made bit differently and make
the sides horizontal not on angle as it is now. However the big step today
was to attach extension on right side for top of the dash. There is no going
back to cause the extension will not allow to put the dash pad into the car
from the top and putting it from inside is not possible either as the
backing foam is in the way. Will just have to make the dash now.
Oct 4 2hr
Sanded down all the small fillings from previous day. Filled in right
side broken corner and smoothed out flange curve, Filled in left outer kick
panel all the small indents, Left tunnel extension kick panel flange will
need some sanding and last filling next time. Attached lower part of left
side tunnel however the upper part needs more work on th flange
section so just did a heavy build and hopefully will be enough to carve out
any extra and just put a last smooth coat of filler on and would be ready to
make a mold. Now that chips are getting filled and sanded on top of
the dash its starting to look much better and closer to being molded. Still
need some filling around one mount area on top. Outer A pillar areas need to
be filled in smooth and air fillers adjusted so it would fit in place. Did
fill in around cross bar and outer underside so that will have
reference for the dash to sit on the bar.
Oct 5 1.5hr
Did a very quick trim of the extra hanging filler on the bottom of the dash
and upper left tunnel piece. Filled in flanges for left outer kick
panel and tunnel extension and also build up the upper part of left tunnel
return around radio center section. Filled in low spots on dash and A pillar
resting areas. Still need to do something where dash will be resting on tube
around cluster area.
Oct 6 2.5hr
final sanding on left tunnel and outer kick panels so they are ready for
making mold off. Primed right side of tunnel and that section is ready
to go, Attached left upper piece to the front of tunnel and filled in gap in
flange between bottom and top of left tunnel side. It most likely will need
one thicker filling then final smother one. Build up resting spots at rear
window drain so that the thickness of fiberglass would not mess up alignment
of the panels. The cardboard used to make up very rear section is driving me
crazy as it separates all the time. will have to see if it can be glued or
taped somehow to keep it in place. Also cut out grove on the back sides of
the tunnel to put in cardboard as spacer as filler will net stick or would
have to be build up very thick and most likely cause surface rust even with
the rust inhibitor on the metal.
Sanded down dash from all extra fillers and splatter pumps. Pulled some
extra foam that would be in a way of making molds. Re filled all areas that
had dimples and bar resting areas or any other areas that had deficiencies.
Build up areas where other panels will be resting on. Will still need couple
more fillings before under side will bea ready for molds.
Oct 7 1hr
Sanded dashboard and filled in and build up front facia to where other
panels will rest on.
Oct 8 1.5hr
Sanded down left section of front tunnel, sanded down dashoard. Filled in
and smoothed front left side of tunnel and filled in all gaps and valleys in
under side of dash.
Oct 9 2hr
Cracked one of the mounting recesses on dashboard and cracked drip valley
for back window after sanding it. :-( made up backing out of cardboard
against rear firewall so maybe the crack is not that bad as it will take
some time to get the back flanges done. Build up left side on center console
and even though it will be hidden figured may as well and match the right
side. Make partitions for the left outer kick panel and left side of tunnel
extension, Unfortunately its starting to get bit cool and not sure when will
be able to lay fiberglass and make mold. Washed glove box mold and will have
to make some sort of outer flange on it as it was not possible when making
on flat surface. Filled in some voids on underside of dash.
Oct 12 2.5hr
Sanded down underside of the dash, tunnel and bit of front center tunnel
section and filled in some of the corners to make them round. Cleaned up
drip valley for rear windows and filled in corners and smother rear flanges.
Took a belt sander to top of tunnel arm rest and sanded down outer edges and
filled in heavily to have heavy thickness preventing melt down from curing
resin. Will still have to round of sides a bit and figure out shape of
shifter cover plate. The removable plate will allow for mounting to tunnel
around shifter and as it will be removable maybe figure out a way to have
some sort of packet in front of the shifter.
Oct 14 2.5hr
Sanded down rear firewall section and drip tray for the window. Made up a
template for arm rest to make it identical on both sides. Build up the arm
rest and filled in last part of corners in drip tray and around the
firewall. Will just have to round off the edges.
Layed up fiberglass on the 2 left kick panels. Outer one will need a small
filler to makeup the inner part to hold in under dash. All that is left from
the summer molds/plugs are the dash and center tunnel cover and the
instrument cluster pod which may have to wait till next year unless bottom
part of the front gets finalized.
Oct 15 0.5hr
Sanded down rough spots tunnel arm rest from template drag marks.
However, the roll off is a bit "slopie" and center section around the
shifter looks like a pear rather then gentle run off. Made up a new template
and refilled so it looks more rounder also raised edges around the shifter
to the top will be more flatter.
Oct 16 1.5hr
Sanded down top of tunnel arm rest and drip tray and also a bit under of
dash and got rig of sharp edges around it. Filled in voids and air
bubbles on the underside of dash and rounded off corners on the drip tray
and filled hopefully smooth enough top of the tunnel arm rest. If its close
enough will proceed to next phase of having it adjusted
Oct 18 2.5hr
Sanded down final fill in on dash and back of the tunnel and primed.
The dash is ready to be molded and the tunnel is waiting for arm rest part
to be finished and attached to complete the part. Marked down and cut
out shift lever cover out on the tunnel cover and roughly filled in cut
marks, chips and removed foam.
Started fixing and filling chips on most of the molds for parts. Will have
to trim and sand filler down.
Oct 20 0.5hr
A very quick visit to garage. With only top of the arm rest that needs to be
finished for the tunnel there really isn't much that can be done. Sanded
down and lowered gear shifter area, unfortunately it hit foam so it will be
bit longer to get that finished and as the left side is not truly square yet
only the right side could be worked on :( so lowered the deck
leaving edge on left untouched and filled in any voids on left side and
build up top where it was lowered and foam was exposed.
Oct 21 0.5hr
Trimmed down and sanded gear shift area and filled in voids on both sides
Oct 21 1.5hr
Sand down flat around shifter and edges to symmetrical proportions, There
are few pits still from foam but very mall. Shaved off extra thickness from
front section by radio section and bonded to the rest of the tunnel. Side
back left side seems bit thick will have to see how it can be sanded down
once everything dries. Filled in entire gear shifter area smooth and the
front part of it to blend in.
Pt2. OK so the back left side of the tunnel was bulging out. Took a
belt sander and did the nasty thing to it and shaved it down to foam, got a
do what needs to be done cause it will just look like shit later. Filled in
as flat as possible to match right side. Might take an extra day now to
finish bonding the arm rest.
Oct 23 2hr
sanded down any rough spots on the tunnel and cut all corners smooth.
Skimmed back left and right sides of the tunnel and around shift gear. Still
will need to get corners filled in better around the radio / HVAC face.
Filed in some edges around instrument cluster. Started making partitions on
dashboard pad.
Oct 25 3hr
Sanded down left back side of tunnel, however it seems like there is still a
small low spot so had to skim it again :/ also added more filler to
change angle on sides where speaker covers will be mounted too. Lastly
cleared all of the doodads around front and around shifter area and filled
in voids and hopefully that will be it or it may not make it for weekend to
start making molds.
Thing that made the hole thing worth it today was that dashboard pad got
parted for first top part of the mold set. Wax it and waiting to have gel
applied tomorrow, Will skip on PVA just like with other multi part molds
just so that it would not separate while making other sections of the mold
and distorting alignment and dimensions
Oct 26 2.5hr
Did a final sanding on the tunnel, finally its finished and ready for
molding. Covered all parted corners on the dash and once cured will lay
filberglass to make first section of the molds. Cleaned up most of the
all ready made molds and filled all chipped corners. Will have to clean up
the filler and be ready to make some parts.
Oct 27 1.5hr
Cleaned up all the smaller molds and refilled any smaller indentations.
Started filling up sided of glove box.
Oct 28 3hr
Cleaned up most of the smaller molds and refilled once again any of the
missed chips.
Laid up first part of the dash mold. Fairly easy section however due to the
size it still took some time to have it done.
Oct 29 2hr
Pulled parting from dash in the morning to make sure everything is cured.
Waxed and assembled B pillar molds along with right outer kick panel. Parted
small sections of under dash and waxed for a second part of the molds.
Made up second set of dividers and filled up outer corners of glove box door
Oct 31 1hr
Made up back partition for glove box plug and build it up. Will sand it down
and fill if necessary and be ready for pulling part from. Brushed PVA on A
pillar molds and front mounting surface of dash as they will need to be
pulled off when making a different mold once it and the back bottom are
made.
Nov 1 2hr
Made some progress tonight. Took some time to cut up more mat and laid
fiberglass on mounting face of the dash by windshield which also has flange
to make a podium for cross bar to sit on for perfect location and back plate
around instrument cluster to make a return for for the surround and again
will partially provide resting spot to sit on the cross bar. 2 more mold
sections and dash will be complete. Lastly made a second part of left outer
kick panel the mold has been waiting for completion for couple of weeks.
Nov 3 0.5hr
Made up couple small partitions for next part of dash mold. Waxed it and put
a coat of PVA. Rough trimmed left outer kick panel still needs bit
more trimming and pulled plug out from it.
Nov 5 2.5hr
Gelled corners on dash to get sharp corners and A pillars as prep for parts.
Laid 2 layers of mat on A molds to make the parts and laid up the bottom of
dash nose (3rd mold part). Will most likely trim some of the
plug and make another molds for transition of bottom and provide some extra
resting are for cross bar.
Nov 6 2hr
Trimmed A pillar covers, now just want to make the dash even more :/
Trimmed and drilled bolt holes in the dash molds. Pulled pack and bottom
nose parts. Cut down bottom of the plug to lower stance of the mounting face
of the plug and filled in to cover cracks and cut lines. Doing this to make
an extra filler plate molds not sure if they are going to be used but better
to have it then not having and needing
Nov 9 1hr
Sanded down the bumps on underside of the mount points on dash. Filled in
valleys and missing spots and hopefully will be enough so it will be ready
for final mold. Pulled some of the plug from the mold, could not resist. It
actually comes of fairly easy even with out the PVA. Sanded left back side
of tunnel and filled in cracks, damn... she is cracking may have to tape it
for making mold and will just have to sand down the gel once part is laid
Nov 10 0.5hr
As stupid as it may be and not sure if the last mold will be used but never
the less after yesterday filling it still had small valley and it may bad
been in under side but it would drive me crazy so had to fill it in plus at
same time filled in some of the corners to make them sharper even though
they most likely will be sanded down round.
Nov 11 0.5hr
sanded down last fill ins and primed
Nov 14 0.5hr
Masked off some of the outer areas around the bottom of the dash and waxed.
Started to sanded down A pillar trim, still needs more sanding to get
rid of the high spots so that they would lay flat against the body and give
clearance for top fabric or leather or what ever it will be upholstered
with. Sanded down sharp edges of glove box mold and primed so that
tape will stick to it
Nov 17 0.5hr
Finally got around to lay up the last dash mold, Not sure if its going to be
used however its better to have it then needed and not have it. Any way its
very thin strip making up support for cross bar and filler around all the
bottom surfaces. One thing that would be good to make use of that mold is
section around glove box as it would finish it off nicely and maybe used for
mounting the latch catch.
Now hopefully weather will hold up at reasonable temperature as its mid
month to make up the dash part. Will have to buy some extra fiber mat though
as just running out from last roll.
Nov 24 1hr
got out for a bit today, trimmed last dash mold and couple other small
pieces. It seems like there are 6 pieces ready for part molding and weather
turned fairly nice but don't have enough matt to do anything. Would have
liked to make molds for the tunnel cover as well so that the plug would not
be in a way and not get damaged. Might do something with the fenders
as most likely that's all I can do
Nov 26 1.5 hr
More on cleaning up interior molds. Cut up underside chin part of the mold
and waxed main part. Filled in few other pieces that have not been touched
jet and cleaned up steering column from plug pieces.
Dec 31
Another year had passed and very little progress can be seen looking at the
car even though 348hr (that's 8.7 of 40hr week's) was accumulated on
the project. Thou looking back at some of the notes there was still lots of
work accomplished and lots of planning was put into it in regards to the
headlights though not as productive as other parts. Inner door shells
where finished mind it that it was just the fixing of the initial molds /
plugs, well parts in reality though they are going to be sacrificed as test
mules as adjustments will need to be made to door handles and window
regulators need to be fitted in with holes in correct location so that the
actual final part will just have a proper size that they can be mounted in.
Other part was the inner front trunk panel plug/mold and few parts pulled
from it. This was another major accomplishment as now the fenders can be
finished and adjusted to final shape. Headlights can also be worked on as
making the plug was holding light making process.
Majority of time was put into interior panels, luckily the dashboard top pad
was virtually already done as this saved tons of time and only small
adjustment to the cluster opening was done. There are still few panels in
the back firewall and B pillar that will need to have plugs/molds/parts made
but those are fairly small/easy pieces when compared to what was made this
summer. We have a full set of molds starting rocker panels all the way to
the front kick panels, dash and A pillar's. Top of window surround and roof
trim has to be added to the to be made list but those need a bit more
planning and further progress on doors. Tunnel plug was finished but
unfortunetaly with cold weather no molds where made. Due to its complexity
it might take few days to make the molds of it
On to the next year and hopefully
Total
767 hr
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