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Total from 2018
906 hr
Construction and the entire progress of the project is too slow and a
lot of the goals from last couple of years should had been completed if
not 2 years ago then last year.
For this year following will need to be completed
- Finish headlight buckets version 3 and fix/finalize front bumper.
Look into finishing LED headlights version 4
- Adjust front fenders curvature and all extensions. remake new fenders
- Finalize tail lights shape and mounting. Try making lens
- Design and build hinges for front trunk and laminate the 2 halves
together
- Finalize door latch and regulator mountings. Any other issues with
inner doors. Remake final doors and bond and mount.
- Finish windshield frame mounting gap to frame. Finish missing piece
around brake reservoir.
- Finish center tunnel steel filler plate.
- Get all mounting done for all
completed panels
- Build HVAC control box and ducting under the dash
- Finish rear window
- Finish B pillar and rear firewall panels
- Build rear deck inner trim panels
- Fix side air ducting and try to get radiators mounted and body trimmed
to radiator shape.
- Start doing body work
Not the longest list, however there will be some other dependencies' on
completing some of the above items. On the other hand this could also
push hours to over 300 or 400 for this year. Let see how this will end
up by end of the year.
Jan 12 1.5hr
Started looking into revision 3 of headlights
main buckets. The upper perimeter of the lights is off by 3/8", so as
the rise of for lens mounting is being made this will be adjusted
accordingly. Same goes for bottom curvature and as the bumper upper
corners had been cut of to faciliate mounting of the lights they
will need to be checked if they arc is came left to right.
Adjusted upper arch on the headlights from last filling and resurfaced
some low spots and holes.
Feb 16 0.5hr
Got out in long time and spent some time dialing in v3 headlight
symmetry. Sanded down the ring a bit to level and re-measured to
make sure everything is still same dimensions. Added some more filler in
lower spots. Have idea for bottom but it needs bit of alteration. Thats
for next time
Feb 17 1.5hr
Ground down 3/8" lower part of light buckets and filled in to flatten
out the valleys. It may not sound like much of material that was removed
especially that it was feathered back. The little difference will make a
great deal to the look of it.
Will have to figure out how to carve out packet for marker light next
now that there will be a lens in front. Thinking of just making a grove
rather then reflectors deep enough so that PCB with SMD LEDs can be
mounted inside.
Feb 18 1hr
Sanded down first layer of the refill and primed to identify valleys
still on the plug. Re-surfaced to for a smoother surface
Feb 20 0.5 hr
Sanded down over fillings and primed
Feb 26 0.5hr
Build up front lower edge of headlight buckets. 2 fillings
Mar 4 0.5hr
Did a quick sanding of the last filling. the 1/8" vertical buildup
extends forward half of an inch which means that the hole assembly needs
to move backwards by half inch. One way of reducing the movement is to
bull nose the lower part of the bucket which will bull nose the lens as
well and may make the seal look better.
Primed the buckets and will give a sanding to see if there are any spots
that will needs to be filled.
Mar 10 2.5 hr
Fairly major work on buckets for headlights. Sanded down last fill and
carved out channel for marker lights. Not exactly sure how the
reflectors will work and secondly placing and mounting the PCB will be
much easier this way rather then from the back side and trying to align
everything. Reflectors can be placed on top of the PCB before the lens.
Primed and will fill in any voids and imperfections making mount surface
flat. May need to trim down on edge as to make them thinner. Needless to
say its getting close to final step and be ready to mold. Will
need to add bottom bump for mounts and pivot points as last step
Mar 12 0.5
Did a bit of trimming on the marker cavity and filled in
Mar 16 0.5
Sanded down marker light cavity and primed. Found a spot with foam which
will need filling. Hopefully can do it in one pass.
Mar 17 0.5
Filled corners of marker cavity and couple chips. Will still have to add
bit of thickness on back side cause of very thin spot above high beam
and glue on mount/adjuster point
Mar 18 1hr
Started enthusiastically and sanded down filling on the light buckets
thinking that it would be a quick fill on back side and ready to go for
mold making. Well... disappointingly there are couple corners that
needed extra filling and chipped fairly large chunk around the rim. With
addition of the back filling for the thin spots, it will need additional
filling to get it smooth and if nothing else that should be it.
Filled in all the deficiencies and glued on mount / pivot point and as
there are 2 points already on the dust panel, the 3 points will provide
alignment of the beams
Mar 19 1hr
So the last filler did not completely dried, never the less sanded down
and cleaned up all of the overfills. as expected some extra filling was
needed on the back side where the marker cavity wall broke through. Once
this fill gets sanded and contoured, couple coats or primer will be
necessary to blend in for smooth surface
Mar 20 0.5hr
Sanded last filling from yesterday and primed the plugs 3 thin coats.
Will wait couple of days for the primer to fully cure so that it can be
sanded down easier.
Mar 30 1hr
Picked up some cold and nasty caught last week and did not felt like
looking at anything. However now that its starting to go away may as
well go something. So started looking at the plugs and noticed some runs
and not sure how but the primer on one of the plugs looks like as if it
was too thick or had incompatible base and started to crack. Noticed
couple imperfections too and the right side was off on bottom inner
corner that made you double look at it. It would not be noticeable once
lenses got mounted but it would be something that would bug be knowing
it. So out to garage bit of sand paper to get that fixed and refill all
of the little things.
So yah, another delay. but it will be quick one
Mar 31 0.5hr
Well did some sanding today to smooth out the stuff from yesterday.
Right side is all done as there where just couple small surface fills to
be done. Left side filler did not quite dried yet cause it was in the
valleys and I kind of laid it on thick. Plus during carving chisel went
bit deep, it probably would had been salvageable with final sanding but
figured may as well skim it a bit and be happy with it.
Apr 1 0.5hr
Not sure if its a good day to say it as its April fools day. However the
headlight plugs may actually be finally done after some final sanding of
primer once cured. Shaped and sanded down left plug and primed 3
light coats It does not seem like it has any runs so maybe good but will
have to let it dry couple of days and check it for runs. If there
are runs they can be sanded down smooth and there is enough of primer
not to go through to the plaster. Wax and PVA will also protect it from
mold material from seeping into the plug.
Apr 6 3.5 hr
A major step for the light plugs. Finally buffed the 2 plugs,
flanged, waxed and PVA's to get it ready for silicone liner. Once they
are done will lay up fiberglass shell on top to hold everything nice and
stirdy
Apr 7 0.5hr
After making silicone mold for front brake splitter promised i would not
be making another one with regular silicone out of the tube. However....
with the amount of fast set mold silicone and cost of it needed would be
huge amount of money just to make the molds and pull 1 or 2 sets.
So.. grabbed 2 tubes of silicone thinking that it would be enough to
cover both sides. Well... maybe laid it too thick but it barely covered
one of them. So it looks like it will take a lot of those tubes to make
the silicone lining
Apr 8 0.5hr
Picked up another 4 tubes of silicone. Started spreading it on left side
and ended up using 3 of them. Have to admit getting bit excited to make
the molds and parts after so long making the plugs. Those headlight
shells will make the car look so different but they are also necessary
for alteration of the fenders which is next thing for the modification.
Apr 14 0.5hr
Pickup another 5 tubes of silicone. Build up second layer on right
headlight to get some thickness to it and filled in lower cavities on
right headlight
Apr 18 3.5hr
Build up thickness on the headlights focusing around projector areas and
LED marker strip. This should be now thick enough to start smoothing
surfaces prior making hard shell to hold the mold>
Started adjusting fender wheel opening. Got both sides mirrored to each
other. Right side is almost done, though it will most likely need to be
adjusted as the top of the arch is re-contoured.
Added bit of extension around windshield area of right fender closing
off gap between glass and fender and it looks so much better. Whished it
could had been done while making first molds.
Apr 21 0.5hr
Thickened up small area of headlight in front part of projectors. Need
to wait till it cures now to smooth surfaces down and start getting
ready for hard shell. After being used as table of sorts, sanded down
right fender to see how smooth it is. Will have to figure out how to cut
the top and start working on new contour. It might be best to wait for
the headlight so that the bumper can be finished and contouring of
fenders can be done at same time.
Apr 30 0.5hr
Its been few days, added some extra thickness to the brow ridges as they
seemed thin to avoid ripping the silicone padding. Added some more
thickenss into main projector cavity as it only had single layer of
silicone.
After this new layers cure it will be time to smooth things out as to
make it easier for the silicone to lay on top of the fiberglass shell.
May 2 0.5hr
Started to smooth out the silicone on the headlights. Filled in some
larger voids and skimmed over some other areas leaving perpendicular
sides for later so that the flat scraper will glide smooth and leave
flat surface
May 4 0.5hr
More of the same from 2 days ago. This time on other sides.
May 5 0.5hr
Skimmed over very gently over some spots. Its fairly smooth as it is
however might touch up couple spots just to make it smoother before
making hard shell
May 9 0.5hr
got the headlights silicone one more coat giving it smoother finish to
it for mating with the fiberglass hard shell
May 12 0.5hr
Looked at the headlight silicone mold lining and figured to see if
couple spots could be straightened out a bit. Trying to do this maybe
some spots on flatter surfaced got filled in however upper edges
still have waves. In all aspects it may have better fit with the hard
shell rather then have a a proper curvature.
Need to get fresh resin and start making hard shell and making the part
from it.
May 20 1.5hr
Started looking into front trunk hinge. First iteration of the hinge was
a good start however it did not raise the lid high enough to clear the
corners of it the deck lid from the fenders. Started making a cardboard
template of the hinge so that it would move the deck lid more forward
and up. Movement of the template looks OK but will need to fabricate
stirdier hinges for both sides to see how it will work out.
Jun 5 1.5hr
Bought pail of fresh resin. Laid layer on top of silicone coat of
headlight. Next is back side to finish it off the molds and start making
parts and on to finish off the bumper mounts and start looking at making
LED version of head light
Jun 6 2.5hr
Normally like to do this over longer time frame allowing more time
for PVA to dry. However with a warm and fairly dry afternoon, pulled all
parting from the headlights, waxed and put a coat of PVA. Brushed a coat
of gel coat to give it more tighter fit and laid up 4 layers of
fiberglass on top. Can not wait to see how the silicon layer will work.
Need to make the parts to continue on with fenders and LED headlights.
Jun 8 1hr
Trimmed headlights to get rid of rough edges. Split up the molds and
pulled silicone out. Not sure if it was me pulling the silicone out of
the small projector or somehow it was not covered with wax or PVA
however left side managed to pull some of the silicone out. Not a major
issue and will just refill the spot.
Overall it came out very good. Will need to try pulling some parts out
now.
Jun 12 2hr
Got out for a bit. Looks like the left side silicone got ripped around
smaller projector when it was pulled out from the plug. Good think is
that its soft so it can be squeezed other wise it would be really hard
due to the trapezoid type hole for the projectors. Looks like the
silicone was not spread properly too as it looks like there are some
gaps between the bands when it was applied to the plug. Over all still
not bad and happy with it. Will save a lot of other work if made
differently.
Cleaned up some of the parting from the molds and fixed silicone rips
and voids.
Looked into the fender and how it could be adjusted around the
very high area on top of the wheel. Looks like fairly large piece will
have to be cut out and re-bonded from inside. Top will have to be
reworked to get it smooth. Doing this will allow for extending return
flange under the lid by window and around trunk area giving better
finish. Will bond part of the door sill as well where it will make
the fender much stronger. One side effect, as the wheel rim is
getting reduced to go along with 18" tire, the inner return will
have to be made as separate piece then bonded as pushing fiber matt into
the very thin space be very difficult. Hoping that once bonded the
fender and inner rim will not split. Good part, because the inner
mounting flange area is much larger due to rin reduction. making the
fender as 2 parts will be much easier though more labour involved due to
bonding and reworking the edge
Jun 14 0.5hr
waxed and PVA all headlight molds early in the day. Will try to put gel
coat on and hopefully lay up some matt later in the day.
Jun 15 3hr
So the gel coat never happened yesterday :( Not a major issue
though it would had been nice to be able to pulled out the parts today.
Anyway put gel on today in the morning and glassed later in the evening.
However rather then doing normal way with bare hands tried using
brush to apply resin to the matt as to avoid getting hands burned by
Acetone.
Well the process is sooooo much slower and probably uses same if not
more resin. The other thing is that due to the longer working time have
to reduce amount of resin that is being work with or under catalized but
then risking that it will not sure or be soft which is just as bad.
Will see how it will come out after short vacation. So it will sit in
the molds for few days
Jun 19 1hr
Pulled the headlights parts out of molds and trimmed them to dimension,
bottom/back part will need to be reduced to fit around to fit the joint.
They came out quite good even the ones in silicone mold. couple small
gel chips around edges but they will have to be worked out when the 2
parts are bonded so no issues.
Jun 21 1hr
Started cutting out opening on back part to fit projectors trough and
thought about feeding wires from marker/turn indicator to the back.
Decided that a hole through the cavity would be best for it and as other
thought of making compartment for control circuit on side would be idea
way for it as it would tuck under the cavity so the hole would not have
to be very big.
Decided to make up another plug for the compartment. Unfortunately it
will delay bonding of the headlight as they need to be made out of
plaster then properly dry and prepped. Good thing is that they are small
enough and very simple wedge and should be able to make one quickly
Made up a very simple cardboard shape and filled in plaster into it
Jun 22 2hr
Trimmed and sanded the parts so they would fit better, however they
still need more sanding to fit together better as some of the walls are
quite thin so the parts will need to be sanded almost to gel and when
bonded those areas will be filled in to compensate for removal of
material from the spots.
Trimmed the plaster from the cardboard mold, well maybe bit too much. However
decided to make it bit wider at the front as it does not extend fully
across the marker cavity. Good part is that it will have bit more area
for circuit board. Covered the upper part of headlight and filled
in then pressed the plaster parts into it this way it will take on shape
of the cavity but made some spacing to compensate for thickness of the
part and to allow for boning agent to seep in when bonding everything
together. Pulled the plaster casting out once it settled down.
Jun 23 0.5hr
Hot day so took the casting out into the sun to dry off. Sanded down to
a smooth surface as it will be visible and filled in voids. Will need to
work on the nose of the cavity at later time.
Jun 24 1hr
Since the plugs are in one piece and are no longer needed and as the
headlights are not yet bonded together yet. Decided to work on the trim
for the projectors. However as the plaster sticks and surfacing the
cavity with any tape would not work as any release. So decided to use
news paper and just tape it in few spots just enough to keep form and
stay close to the plug. Filled edges around and pressed in old trim on
top. Pulled it out in few days and set it aside to fully dry.
Surprisingly aside from the news paper that will get sanded off or
re-surfaced the trim plug came out fairly good. It does need work to fit
tighter but its very good start.
Jun 29 6.5hr
So after contemplating for who knows how long now, decided to chop up
fenders in order to lower the curvature of the wheel arch and eliminate
the butterfly wing look viewed from the front. Front and rear wheel
arches where based on 19" rims and average for the aspect ratio between
front and rear. Since deciding to go with 18" in front the opening was
rather large and curvature was odd shaped and tall if I have to admit.
So the arch was reduced but it made the curvature worse after the
adjustment so something had to go. Made matching measurements for
cuts on both fenders. Cut some spots closer to the outside right through
and the inner where relive cut so they would be still attached but could
bend easier. Taped all down while pulling down after slicing 3/4" out on
the outside. Back bonded making everything all one piece again. Sanded
with rough paper just to get rid of the sharp edges. Even with the
visible cuts and mis-colored surface I think the fenders look 200%
better and as they should had been from day one. Next are the headlights
and opening for them. Started to align the both halves in preparation
for bonding but with few areas that are very thin they are virtually gel
coat now so it will be interesting when they get bonded together. While
doing all the sanding and grinding, a thought came as to why not make
them as single solid piece. By closing the molds while prepped and
filled with fiber for strength they could be simply filled with resin
and they would be ready to go... no grinding, no alignment necessary,
just fill let it cure and pill it out. One side effect would be the
amount of resin required for the pour and possibly how to fill it with
fiber to strengthen it. Secondly making a large cavity for control
circuit would be very hard or possibly impossible unless a simple large
bore would be done to pass some cables trough. Will possibly try making
one like that but will try to do the cavity somehow too.
Jun 1 2hr
More sanding and fine tuning of the controur on top of right wheel well
fender. Ground and sanded left fender to match right one. Sanded down
fillers for headlights and primed. will need to make 2 sets of those and
try bonding the 2 halves and making a solid set for second ones.
Jun 3 1.5hr
Sanded down plug for making cavity for control circuit and passing
control wire from marker lights into the control board. Waxed it and
will need to PVA tomorrow.
Decided on making another set of headlight buckets, will need to have
those cavity parts not only to crate the cavity but to reduce usage of
resin in casting it. Will try filling housing cavity with resin and
hopefully it cure and fill in properly with out making any
bubbles. Will need to cut out vent hole and fill hole in most likely
silicone lining and slowly pour resin after enclosing both halves with
some fiber mat inside.
Jun 4 1.5hr
Gel coated molds for headlight cavity, should had laid a coat or 2 of
mat on it too, well a small delay, as it should cure quick and most
likely will have to wait till tomorrow if I'm going to do any work on it.
Started cutting out material for front trunk hinges. Not sure if the
material I picked will be too heavy for the hinge though 3/16 isn't that
heavy and needs to be sturdy to hold it up properly. may need to adjust
a bit connecting arms and possibly pivot mounts
Jun 5 2 hr
Glassed headlight cavities with 2 layers of mat on top of the gel. will
pull out tomorrow and try trimming and adjusting everything to get ready
for bonding.
Continued working on hinges, cut out second bottom base and started to
make pivot points. Not completely sure about thickness of that plate.
may need to drop thickness down but then 1/16" is not that much.
Jun 6 2hr
Trimmed right fender after thickening ground extensions. Sanded down
left fender. Trimmed filler and adjusted right headlight bucket.
Jun 7 1.5hr
more front lid hinges cutting
Jun 13 5 hr
Not including the lid plate all of the parts for right and partial left
trunk hinges are roughly cut. Had to shorten arms for the hinges as they
where too close to the glass and would hit the glass. Had to shorten
them by 3/4 of an inch. One thing that will need to be redone is
the base plate. The 3/16" might be too thick and will have to revert to
1/8
Filled in old plug for headlight controller void after pulling part out.
Will need to make 2 additional fillers and try to make buckets by
filling it rather then bonding 2 parts together
Jun 14 3hr
Still need to shape longer arm for the left hinge, but most of the
pieces are all cut out. Will definitely have to remake the base plate as
its just too thick. Will have to figure out mount holes on base plate
too. One more thing is clearance for the glass, not quite sure about it
and may have to move pivot point bit higher up and clearance bottom.
With the shorter arms one thing that will need to be checked is the tips
of the lid as they may be hitting inner fenders and they may need to be
recessed.
Sander headlight controller voids smooth
Jun 15 1hr
Added parting to controller plugs and waxed. will need to PVA and
hopefully will separate better this time.
Blocked off couple parts under the dash to fill in gaps with resin to
prevent collapsing when screwed to chassis
Jun 16 1hr
Cleaned up bottom of dash around bolt mounts, blocked off and poured
resin to strengthen area. Next will be to fit and drill holes for
mounting
July 20 1.5hr
Marked and masked off under dash for air ducting for window defrost /
fresh air and possibly dash vents. Started forming first parts of the
ducts.
July 21 2.5hr
Stared on inner right fender mounts that will be used for mounting
fender to the chassis and be part of return or mounting for the wheel
liner. With the smaller cutout for wheel flange is considerable wider
which adds depth to the wheel well thus providing space to run
mechanical tubes and hoses from front to the rear of the car.
Continued on building ducts and center mount that will be used for
mating to the HVAC control/mixing box. Once the plaster dries, will have
to sand it flat and will have to start making mixing box so that both
plugs can be worked on at same time. Will need to start hanging
interior panels especially the inner ones around tunnel as they will be
required for making sure there is enough clearance for HVAC.
Will need to find heater core and AC evaporator to make sure there is
enough space for it under the dash and as most likely will expand to the
passenger side fit behind the glove box
July 27 1.5hr
Sanded down and build up HVAC duck runners. made up new inner right
fender returns mounts
July 28 7hr
Finished HVAC under dash runners to point that they will need final
surface sanding but not till they get fully dry. Unfortunate part is
cause they did not fully dried they had cracked in couple spots which
will delay a day when they get glued back together.
Cut out new set of bottom plates for front trunk hinges and additional
plate for top and long long arm. Filed them all smooth, need to
get a round bar for pivot point they they will be ready for assembly.
Aug 2 0.5hr
PVA headlights and cavity ties for second set of buckets trying to make
them differently this time
Aug 4 7hr
Gel coated light buckets and cavity also filled chips on dust covers.
Finished with right deck hinge, but what a disappointment. It does not
close properly, edge by glass stays up. It pops cause the swing radius
goes beyond the ark of the swing and the arms are not long enough.
Aug 5 4.5hr
Relocated one pivot point and fixed broken pivot points, unfortunately
the lid still is hard to open and flops by the window. In order to lift
the lid have to lift pack first then then it tilts. secondly it will
does not shut close properly down and have to push down in order to
close it properly.
Ground down one dust cover filling and edges. There are still few gel
chips hut its starting to look good.
Sanded and primed HVAC ducts. Need to try fitting them and fill in few
spots.
Aug 6 0.5 hr
Filled in voids in the HVAC ducts. will need to make sure they fit and
make returns to prep for mold making
Aug 10 2.5hr
Sanded and primed HVAC ducts. Made overlap extensions for bonding to
dash.
Drilled out holes in dash for mounting.
Started base for HVAC mixing box
Aug 11 5hr
With minor corner rounding off the HVAC ducts are virtually ready for
mold making.
Added more filler around tube resting / locating area on HVAC mixing
box. Still need to check clearances on firewall and figure out how long
can the box be.
Ground bottom opening and finished fitting of instrument pod to be
bonded together. Will decide on opening for display what holes and
mounting will be required for the display board. Ground down right
headlight to point of being ready for bonding. Trimmed some parts of
left headlight and its ready too.
Drilled out holes to mount dash to chassis. Center console will need a
bit of shaving on top to drop the dash down to the bar and allow
upholstery clearance.
Trimmed windshield surround around the A pillars and top. With the dash
in, will need to trim A pillar trim and start making plug for top of
windshield trim.
Looked at inner fender trim plug. Surprisingly can not make it as
thick as thought of cause of scrub radius of the tires which will rub on
the lining so will have to thin it down. Still good sanity check to see
how much can be routed in the well.
Aug 12 1hr
sanded HVAC ducts, filled in corners to round it off, sanded and primed
Aug 14 0.5hr
fine sanded HVAC ducts and primed again, this should be last
priming. will need to light sand and see if they will be ready for mold
making
Aug 16 0.5hr
fine sanded HVAC ducts again, Waxed and PVA. ready for making mold and
part making
Aug 18 1hr
Gel coated HVAC ducts, filled in gel in headlight dust covers and top
windshield frame. Laid up layer of fiberglass on bottom of headlight
housing. Need to fill in valleys on top part of headlight mold and lay
up layer of fiberglass to strength it up
Sep 2 1.5hr
Got away on vacation for 10 days, should have had laid up HVAC ducts
before leaving which would had been fully cured and ready for trim.
Well.... time was just not co operating.
Did laid them up today and will leave them to cure for the next couple
of days and make a mold from them by next weekend and hopefully will be
able to move on to HVAC mixing box.
Sep 7 1hr
Pulled HVAC out from plugs, trimmed and ground smooth. Prepped for
pulling plugs/molds from them thinking that the parts from them will fit
better as the plugs are actually exact fit to the dash.
Will need to see which ones will be used after parts are made
Sep 8 1.5hr
Decided to fill in edge cavity on the cluster thus effectively bonding
the 2 parts together as they where taped up together. This will now
allow to surface finish and prep mold for bezel around front of the
glass.
Secondly as the molds/parts where prepped for making second parts. Laid
up second part for HVAC ducts. While laying up thought about it and
decided to use the new parts as the actual ducts as they will be
replicas of the actual plugs and will fit perfectly in. One issue with
them is that the inner surface is not quite smooth which will pickup
dust so to avoid that the surface will have to get sanded as smooth as
possible and the surface will get a coat of enamel or gel coat for a
mirror finish.
May need to postpone that and and just temporarily mount the ducts to
setup mixing box top surface so it could be worked on wile the ducts are
getting prepared.
Sep 9 0.5hr
Pulled HVAC ducts parts apart. Decided to use the latest parts as they
will be the best tolerance fit to the dash. One thing thing that will
need to be done will be to smooth finish inside as to avoid dust trap.
Should had made them out of cloth which would had made it smooth but as
did not had it on hand the chop mat had to do.
Sep 11 1.5hr
Trimmed new HVAC ducts to fit in their respective spaces. Joints fit
could be better but I think will go with those. If so will fix the
joints overlaps for better fit.
on next will be to make up top of the mixing box then some gel chips can
be fixed and proper treaded mounts can be fabricated for it.
Sep 13 1hr
Moving on with HVAC, refitted plug for mixing box with in the rails and
build up height to mate to the runners under the dash.
Took it out after setting and set aside to it would dry and cure. Need
to locate evaporator and heating cores to figure out how to locate them
within the box and there the hose pickup need to go. Blower box still
needs to be build but first need the cores to figure out all the ducting
Sep 14
Went out to yard to look at some condensers and heater cores. All the
new ones have custom tubes wrapping around. Heater core will be easy to
modify but the evaporator will be a bit harder to do.
Picked up fuse box out of Honda accord and a wire harness from engine
compartment to back. This should be more then enough to wire it up, will
just have to figure out the fuse box and Hondas MICU.
Sep 28
Went out to a different yard looking for inspiration for front hinges.
Not sure if it was a personal focus or just not really in the mood or
the yard was just P.O.S. Not much to look at, did not look at Detroit
manufactures and just looked at European and there was not much to pick
at. Closes thing was BMW and VW/Audi, picked up set of trunk hinges from
mid 90 Passat. They are fairly simple but just don't have enough lift so
will have to look at what's at hand. Secondly had focus on Honda's HVAC
mixer and blower. problem with it is that they are huge and just so
custom fit to the contours of the firewall that they are would never
work. Mind it to be fair should take one apart and see what's inside.
But while browsing one Passat dash was ripped out. its mixer box and
blower motor are so much smaller that it might be something to
investigate more. Next time out
Oct 6 1.5hr
Dont have the drive to look at anything, but was working on daily driver
today and decided to look at the mixing box plug clearance and decided
to fill in and smooth out some surfaces. May not be a good idea to do
any work on it now as anything could change though getting surface flat
will not cause any ill symptoms.
Also poked at the front hinge and decided to move it forward using the
current prototype. Sliced the bottom a bit on the bend and make
another slit inch back which brought the pivot points forward. Though it
was a good start but decided to move it another half inch forward.
Sliced the 2 arms and added 1.25" insert into the arms. That was the
magic number. Deck clears fenders and moves it forward nicely too. Also
last week figured out the snap and binding of the hinge. As it turn's
out, original thought on the pivot points was right but just needed to
be pushed bit to further extreme. May try to make another upper part or
just may cut new prototype from start and use the new pivot points
Oct 20 2hr
Not very motivated to get out and do any thing as of lately. Though
decided to get out and look at the front trunk hinge. Did a number of
test scenarios and all are failing due to the fact that the way the
folding of the hinge is happening between the 2 planes it crosses 180'
virtual plane and its not possible to lift the lid with out binding the
2 legs of the hinge. Will have to look into some sort of artificial leg
that is mounted to the other one or have some sort of 3rd folding.
Sanded and primed HVAC mixing box. Will have to make a trip to the yard
and look at getting blower motor and see how to finish sides
Nov 3 0.5hr
Did a bit of trimming on HVAC mixing box plug. Need to locate heater and
evaporator core before moving forward with final dimensions. Can get
radio clearance depth and trim to get clearance for radio depth.
Nov 10 1.5hr
Not having much motivation to go out and getting anything done lately.
Though had to do some cleaning up of stuff and decided to look at the
HVAC mixing box. Though still with no blower motor box or motor,
measured back spacing for radio and build up some of the side walls of
the plug. They will need to be trimmed and get into shape and have
provision for bufles motor but this will give a good start. Still need
to fins evaporator and heater core though as the weather turn for the
cold now it might not be till spring now.
Tried out the Acura TL / Accord fuse box and ignition OE interconnecting
cable. The fuse box is rather large with all of those connectors, if it
was not for them it would had been quite compact. Never the less only
place to have it mounted would be on right side of side tunnel wall.
However this would mean that the kick panel would have to be re done to
cover up the bulky fuse box.
Some 3 series BMW had a smaller fuse boxes and will have to look at them
to see how big they are but again that will have to wait till probably
spring time. Same will have to be for the HVAC blower motor.
Only thing that can be done is to make brackets to mount current kick
panels, mount the doors and figure out mounting of side window
regulator. Not to mention front trunk hinge
Nov 25
Started working on Accord under dash fuse box last few days or a week as
most likely will be using it. Doing the checking and reverse engineering
of it, figured should keep track of time of it.
The block had been laid out into sections at least tried to be laid out
to logical sections.
For the most parts all connectors are logically sperated to function or
area where the bunch of wires are going too, unfortunately there
are few wires crossing connectors. Secondly there are few common power
feeds that are shared between different sections / connectors so
will have to see how they can be possibly distributed via split block so
that they can be plugged and unplugged if needed which would also allow
tapping to signals and power very easily.
The box has built in BCM (Body Control Module) which in part
interconnects the encoded switch stock to reduce number of wires being
run from various switches plus it allows control of remote relay box in
engine compartment. Trying to modify the internal wiring of the box or
even to add or change functions of the box will be very hard as its
build using layers of stammped conduits from connectors linking it to
other ones in case of sharing signals ie for power distribution or CAN
bus or to relays or fuses.
Rough back log of work
Nov 15 1hr
Nov 16 3hr
Nov 17 4hr
Nov 19 2hr
Nov 22 1hr
Nov 24 3hr
Nov 25 2hr
Nov 27 2hr
more time looking at manual and pulling schematics out related to the
fuse box
Nov 30 2hr
started labeling wires on connectors coming from under dash fuse box
Dec 17 1hr
Had to look at daily driver, so while out decided to look at what needs
to be done. Did not had much time but sanded down on the HVAC mixing box
and trimmed off extra material to allow for clearance of radio,
HVAC and other controls that maybe located in center console. Need to
fill in some spots but more importantly need to get the heater and AC cores
plus the blower fan motor. Not sure on space and have to check it out.
its possible to have at least one of the cores located outside of the
mixing box between blower motor and mixing box
Dec 22 1hr
More sanding on HVAC mixing box. Squared off the edges, made flat mating
surface for fan and AC evaporator and primed.
Year End
Yet another had passed and though some work had been but with only 140
hours spent working very few items where looked at and started leaving a
lot of work yet to be completed - Started looking at electrical system.
Got interior harness and fuse box.
- Mounted dash
Front trunk hinges give some headache and though some time was put into
it they need more time to figure out geometry
- Fenders curvature was adjusted and it looks much better and lower
somehow thou the center point was was just turned downwards due to the
outer rim edge being pulled down.
- Headlight buckets version 3 plugs/molds and parts where made. Though
made them bit to thick and most likely will try casting the buckets
differently. Unfurtunetaly never finished the main buckets which are
basis of making base for mount base for LED version 4
- Tail lights circuit boards where started but never finished
- Door latch and regulator mountings where never touched
- Mounting of panels was never completed
- HVAC ducting under the dash was made needs to have some gapping
adjusted and mixing box was started and almost at finishing point
- None of the outer panels or body work was done
- Interior B pillar and rear firewall panels had not been started
On to the next year
Total
1046. hr
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