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Total from 2019
1046 hr
New Year
To continue with what's had not been done last year as first priority
and moving on to what's needed to be completed and hopefully 2020 will
be more productive. Need some more parts to be ordered to make some
adjustments to panels and mounts. The hardest and time involving
probably will be front trunk hinges and door latching as they are major
factor in aligning body panels and fit
- Door latches most likely will need to be reworked and mount
regulators. remake inner door shells
- Front trunk hinges need a lot of work and need to be finalized and the
hood bonded
- Fenders will need to be finished, but to do that head lights need to
be finalized and mounting points on bumper / chassis needs to be made.
- Need to finish headlight buckets and all mounting points so that
fenders can be finalized
- Finish circuit boards tail lights and finalize
- Windshield frame needs to be finalized. Make missing part around brake
reservoir and adjust mounting gaps.
- Make any missing mounts and mount all panels
- Finalize HVAC ducting and mixing box
- Finish rear window trim
- Finish B pillar and rear firewall panels
- Anything thats needs to be done
Jan 1 1hr
Started new year with working on HVAC mixing box. Trimmed some of the
shape and filled in making surface for evaporator fan inlet.
Jan 5 1hr
Got out and worked on the HVAC mixing box. It was bit skewed into
trapezoidal shape off by 1/4 inch on front and firewall cases. Easy to
fix just remove the extra stuff and its squared properly makes it for
half inch shorted but it will give extra space for any wiring / controls
/ etc... just hope that its still long enough to fit heating core into
it.
Filled some rough places, gaps and voids. Will have to sand down and see
what else needs fixing. Need to get heater core, AC evaporator and
blower motor to figure out how everything will fit.
Will have to switch to something else to keep momentum going.perhaps
complete back firewall panel plugs or hanging all of the interior panels
that where ready last year
Feb 17 3hr
Still cold out but wit the sun hitting windows in garage it was fairly
arm inside. First item was extension or blower motor box. Taped off side
of the mixer box and build up rough contour for the blower box. Would be
ideal to have flower motor now and get idea of how big it needs to be.
Wanted to do B pillar plugs but decided to mount outer trim panels.
After pulling the them out, noticed that I had started to fix some of
the gel chips on front kick panels. Sanded the extra overflow gel and
started to fine trim them. Mounted left outer kick panel and when
measuring the sill panel. noticed that front was cut off about 1/4 inch
short while matching contours of door seal. Its not major problem though
a redo that will need to be made later. Also the front kick panels
will need to have indentations made in order to conceal bolts mounting
it at least one under the sill panel. Not sure if that was omission or
had different thought in mounting it. Another small alteration to the
panel. While fitting the kick panel, noticed that recess mating it to
the dash does not align. Not sure yet what's happening, but with all of
the cuts some of the cutouts and bumps may had not been done properly
and something may need to be altered later after the panels are mounted.
March 22 3hr
Not having much motivation with the cold and what's happening in the
world. Never the less with some sun peeking through the clouds got out
to garage.
Moving on, build up extension to the fan motor box, will need to mount
inner kick panel and somehow mount glove box door to see how much space
there is on the bottom and get cut line for it which maybe could
eliminate the center back filler panel.
Mounted left outer kick panel, will have to add tabs to left and right
at the firewall so that they would have an additional mount and a way so
that they would not be pushed further then necessary. Trimmed right
inner kick panel, cannot decide on how to mount at tunnel edge as it
requires cutting of it. Have to think a bit as to avoid remaking or
fixing one or both parts and center tunnel is huge to remake.
Sanded down gel coat that was chipped and refilled. It a bit of hard to
sand it but it came out very well.
March 28 4hr
got out a bit, trimmed inner kick panels and the tunnel to that they
mate with each other giving a way of mounting for the panels. Additional
bolt/screw holding the kick panels should keep them in place. Trimmed
left sill plate and started making mounts for them. Will finalize them
next time out. taped up firewall so that filler would not stick to it
and filled in imperfections against it. Also filled in gap to the
kick plate which will provide mounting point for it. Unfortunately
the back fill against the firewall did not squeezed all the filler in so
will have to sand it down and will have to compare it to the mixing box
fit.
March 29 1.5hr
Went out to pull the HVAC blower box out after setting it in place
yesterday to resurface firewall mounting. Well it either got too dry or
was to tight, never the less once started pulling out it cracked in 2
pieces. AHHHHH. did a quick re-bond of the 2 pieces cut off some of the
firewall surface to allow expansion of filler and tried it again.
Again once pulling out the new stuff just piled off and stayed on the
firewall, AAAAHHHHHH. Again cleaned off the surface and
as in past in couple instances, put a second piece of isolating
material. Now if it decided to stick the 2 isolating materials will just
come apart leaving the tape on the firewall.
Cut pieces of 10guage sheet for tabs which will be used as mounting
points for sill plates
April 2 1.hr
Filled in center of air box at firewall, need that surface matched so
that it would seal against a hole that will be later made for fresh air
intake.
Trimmed, filed smooth and drilled holes in sill mount tabs. Will weld
them in next time in garage
April 4 4.5hr
Went out again to continue on with sill mounting. Something that is so
simple it ended up to be half a day work. Cut out 0.125' triangular
sheet to fill in and lift up one of the mounts up and welded them in.
made up 3 style type pedestals that will be bonded or maybe bolted up to
the sill plate and provide a way of mounting and removal of the panel
very easy. With 4 hours of work will need to now replicate that for the
left side
Apr 10 3.5hr
Never welded left side seat belt main anchor but, looked through all
boxes and tool boxes for it could not find it. Decided to make a new
one, next time doing major cleaning of
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most likely will find it as its something I would have make sure to keep
it. Somehow the left cavity is bit tighter then on right side and
thought was very symmetrical from side to side. Will have to re measure
it but needless to say its too late as its welded in. It possible that
because the belt restrain coils are same and Honda never made
symmetrical for left and right so there could be something there cause
of the wire connector. Cut out left side triangular piece to fill sill
and door lock anchor tube which also allows for welding in sill mount
higher just like on right side. because of the e-brake handle, front
part of the sill still needs to have some sort of mount fabricated as
there is only middle and back welded in. Will also need to fabricate
pedestals just like on the right side next day.
Apr 11 3.5 hr
Continued on left sill mount today. With the forward half of the sill
being thinner due to e-brake handle there is not a lot or space to fit
in pedestal type mount that would have resting plate on top for the
fiberglass to rest on. Instead made up a plate that will bolt up to the
side of the panel, however this poses bit of different challenge in
fitting the mount onto the chassis and having enough space for the pin.
Will see how this will fit once the kick panel goes in as the area under
it was primed to cover bare metal. Made up the the mid and back pedestal
just like on right side.
Apr 13 2.5
Trimmed a bit more of left outer kick panel to sit more properly,
however the front pin location
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the mount pin plate for sill are off so will have to redo those not sure
what would be the best way to do that yet. Couple options, just have to
weigh in on that and decide. pulled column cover, glove box and panel in
front of it out. cut out opening in column cover so it would fit in,
must admit its starting to to look different with it even though did not
put dash in yet. Glove box needs some trimming and did not touch it but
it looks as if it curved when it cured since it was made :/
not 100% sure yet. Affixed the front horizontal panel to the kick
panel and after looking over, with the blower motor that panel may not
be required as the fan box will occupy most of the space. Continued on,
blocked off firewall and panel with plastic and build up sides of the
fan box and making bottom
flat surface on bottom of the box using the horizontal panel.
Apr 15
pulled the fan box out, well another re-do. the filler did not get
squished far enough and the hole box sat bit off. So off with the new
stuff and try it again later.
Apr 18 4hr
Had few hours out again. Redid the spacing on the fan box with small few
patches and much softer filler this time. Much better result. box sits
straight and though not all nukes and crannies got fillet it made a very
good start in getting it fully mated to the firewall properly. Next is
to finish off the missing areas and gaps. One problem will be the AC
evaporator and fan motor, with everything closed cause of Covid-19 not
sure if scowering salvage yards is an option so the evaporator location
bottom fan motor cavity may need to wait for some time.
Next on list, front left door sill pin. With the panel out by about 3/8"
but possible that taking the pin in by 1/4" would had been enough to
bring the panel flat. Cut off the reciever with 1/8" thick blade,
cleaned the flame and tab. Cut the pin off from the mount plate as well
with 1/8" blade which brings to 1/4" total and taking the risk that the
extra 1/8' is just cause of angle the panel was sitting. The receiver
and pin where once again re-welded together. Last final adjustment was
to the flat bar on the pin that sits on the flange, because everything
was moved closer, the outer edge had to be trimmed off as well.
Adjustment was a success, the panel had enough clearance to the pin
plate for filler to make up the final spacing. Now off and bond the pins
to the sills and adjust any areas on the sill panels.
Next thing was mount for left inner kick panel or extension to center
console. Looking at it and how it swings, passenger side because it does
not have any pedals will be ok to swing out, will have to watch for
hanging blower motor not to interfere with being too low so may need to
recess in. But on the driver side not entirely sure about brake pedal,
the accelerator will have to be removed prior to removing the panel
unless its being trimmed far enough. position of inner kick panel along
with column extension cover was marked and a cardboard template was bate
for a bracket to be affixed to pedal and steering column support brace.
Sheet metal was marked, cut and edges trimmed smooth and bend up. 2
holes where drilled and with couple bolts the bracket is fastened.
Last item, trimmed sides of glove box skin, Not sure because of how it
was pulled from the mold or cause of how it cured. The skin curved and
it does not match the contour. Will need to figure out how to correct it
later
Apr 25 4hr
Started looking at dash fitment, with the outer panels in. The upper
dash panel needs some trimming, unfortunately this will require some
redo and patching. Had to trim couple corners so that it would fall down
onto the kick panels.
Did a major trimming of the fan blower box, hoping that the fan motor
will still fit in. Had to do it to get some space for flap mixing motors
and gears. Filled in some ears to cover foam used in making the sides.
Decided to try making lower B pillar panel plug. With the belt
retractor, had couple different ideas on dividing line and its still up
in the air of how i will work. The main issue is the storage cubby.
Thinking of additional wall to hide the cubby and make it flow more
flat.
Apr 26 1hr
Sanded the fan box and couple dryer spaces and filled in some low areas,
will have to do some further adjustments later and see how it fits one
it dries.
Back cut B pillar plug to make some clearance away from the retractor
and measured up angle to match up one on tunnel. Had to build up some
thickness to clear door when opening. plug needs a major drying time as
its very heavy for any further work
Apr 27 1hr
went out for a quick look at the lower B pillar plug. Decided to sand
down fan blower box and the B pillar plug. Measured resting spot to
match tunnel and build up the bump also raised back line for upper
panel. Will need to have second look at the upper belt loop and possibly
made it stationary rather then having it adjustable. It would reduce
overall thickness of the panel and provide more headroom.
May 2 4.5 hr
started with right lower B pillar plug. looking at it. it was decided
that it was too thick so sanded down 3/8" to slim it down. Extended its
height part first tube where the the part will be for upper half.
Made up left B pillar, however as its was made in one piece with out
curing its all very brittle so it will need some time to cure. While
making it plaster cured too quickl7y turning it rather hard so rather
disposing it , it was used in a large layer. Not sure if its because of
it or because the plug was still well. While taking it out so it would
have both surfaces to evaporate it broke off 2 pieces. Since plaster is
porous and it was wet, used wood glue to bond it together. Used that
method in the past on something else which worked quite well. Only time
will tell.
May 3 0.5hr
Back cut left B pillar mold, it was unfortunate that it cracked but the
crusty material is almost gone so not too much wasted material and some
of it being recycled making me feel much better. Trimed some material
around tubes to the plugs will slide in much easier as it looks like
some of it may had been in a way. All it needs now is good drying
time then sanding do level off any bumps.
May 6 1hr
went out to check on the B pillar molds and decided to re-shape them.
Got the right side to almost the correct shape and primed it. Needs some
finer sanding bit of contouring of flap rest and resurfacing to get it
smooth. Left side on the other hand is week behind and because of its
thickness still had not cured. The wood glue did wonders so shape it
down too. But because it was still curing could not do a good sanding of
it. Still needs to have flap rest added and more contouring it. It needs
a day or 2 of additional drying time. Both pieces need to have better
reveal cut into them and a recess for upper panel added into them.
Found something odd with quarter panel alignment. will have to pull them
off to confirm before moving onto the uppers. Secondly thinking of
deciding against the sliding shoulder seat pivot and may just make it
solidly mounted into one spot.
Really need to get out to look for some parts.
May 9 1hr
It had been couple of days, got the right side adjusted a bit and filled
in some areas and extended the flange and bottom for making the mold.
Will mark cut line prior to making the mold. Re shaped left side and
reduced thickness a bit. Added flange and filled in some cracks and
voids
May 12 2hr
Been some time sine last worked on fuse box. Spent couple hours
identifying some wires
May 13 2hr
more fuse box work identifying wires
May 16 3.5hr
Its been a week since last work on the B pillars, now they are dry it
was time to have them shaped and sanded smooth. Increased recess depth
on left and shaped back part behind flange then had them primed and
skimmed.
A pillar covers and lower rear diffuser had build up of gel so sanded
them down flat. More voids to be filled on the diffuser.
May 17 1hr
sanded B pillar plugs and trimmed flanges to length. Unfortunately
cracked the right plug at point where it was extended cause of missing
mechanical bond. Bonded the 2 pieces together but will have to fill in
the cracks and re-sand smooth. Will also need to correct recess for sill
panels and add recess for upper panels plus add extensions
May 18 1.5hr
Not quite 100% dried though enough to keep the pieces together. Carved
out recess for upper panels filled in some voids and extended flanges as
prep for mold making of the B pillar plugs
Primed and skimmed
May 20 1.5hr
did some reshaping of flanges and recesses around the lower B panels,
will need to see if the upper recess is deep enough for belt to fit
through or may need to add channel in the upper part which would be a
bit different.
primed and skimmed anything that had large sanding marks or voids
May 21 0.5hr
sanded down all the surfaces and re-primed. will have to knock down some
of the sharp corners and contour leading edge around the door. may need
to wait till upper belt mount is finalized
may 24 0.5hr
a very short day, never the less re-skimmed the B pillar plugs and will
need to pull molds from them soon. may also need to move the rearward
going tubes as it looks like they are shifted to the left by 1/4 inch
not much but it will be something that will sit in back of the head.
Need to get blower motor for HVAC and finish the mixing box. May go out
next weekend to salvage yard and look for one and look at some baffles
too as it will be easier then making them.
Will have to do the front trunk hinges too and have that finalized. Lots
of other little things here and there that had been started and just
need to be brought to completion before final body work can be done.
May 28 1.5hr
knocked off sharp corners and rounded off, also cut out recesses for
bolts thus hiding them under other panel, primed. unfortunately there
where some air and foam packets that needed to be reskimmed. hopefully
this is last time that they are getting re-skimmed.
May 30 4hr
went out to look at the B pillar plugs and get the mount recesses cut to
shape, finished that and the plugs are now ready for mold making. With
that done decided to try making a fin for upper intake. Good start but
not completely satisfied with its contours. Still drying decided to move
on to the pain of a front hood hinge. Came to a conclusion that the
current space allotted for the hinge is not sufficient for proper
movement, stability and non binding of the hinge and that a small recess
in the fender will be required :(. On positive side. With the
needed offset of the hinge there is more space for a weather trim around
the trunk making it water tight.
June 6 5.5hr
Went out to take a look at something in garage but ended up to be 5
hours. Unfortunate is that the temporary bar I had made up for
suspension bent and spent considerable amount of time fixing it thought
it should had been very quick task.
As I was into the metal working, the sheet metal surrounding brake
master was never cut down to size so got that finally finished. As the
attention was around it made up a card board filler made to see how it
would work. thinking of having it covered and shaped to size then making
a mold out of it as it would had serve a plug. Then a part could be
pulled from it after the fact then spliced together.
Hinge being the nightmare for the longest time it quickly turned into a
focus as it was in the works for too long of a time. Contemplated with
another geometry for it however for proper operation there is no choice
but to have one of the pivot points recessed into the fender. The new
pivot points layout will allow for smooth opening of the deck lid and
prevent it from flapping as the few previous ideas.
Benefit of this allow to have the base plate being flat with
perpendicular plate on edge for pivot points. Fortunately there is
enough space on outer edge of flame rail to do so. Drew up some initial
cut lines and will try to continue with it next time
June 7 2.5hr
following up from yesterday, fastened brake booster and adjusted
cardboard cutout to make plug for it. cut pit more of the fiberglass
surrounding it to make indentation thus better feel of the cap.
Transferred measurements from right to left side of fender / windshield
cowl. Trimmed down cowl under the fender just like on right side and cut
out openings for hinges. Made first cardboard prototype. Much better
movement and it seems that the indentation is what was really needed.
unfortunately may need to move it forward a bit as the pivot point is
indented and the arms are not as the last metal prototype. Moving
forward by inch or 2 may be the ideal length of the arms. Other good
part is that the base could be made of single bended piece rather then
having it welded. Bad thing is that the arms will be on single side
rather then on opposite to the pivot plates.
June 8 1.5hr
Sneaked out for an hour and had to take a look at that front hinge. Had
to make new base plate, extended arms and moved pivot points
forward 1.25 inches. preliminary movement looks as it will do the
job. The real test will be to make it out of metal which will be next
but before that will need to make a better cardboard cutouts. The
unfortunate part is that the packets in fenders will need to be around
1.75" deep and most likely will need drainage hole at bottom for
water to evacuate.
Continued with brake master. Filled in missing part on top and extended
around the cap and under the cowl plate. Unfortunately can not do
anything with it until the hinges are completed or pause the hinges and
do the cowl extension.
June 13 2.5hr
fine tuned trunk hinge and made better templates to work with and use
for metal cutting. Cut and bent the 2 base frames also pivot plate that
is welded into the upper mount plate. Next time out will need to cut
second one and the 4 arms. need to figure out something with the pivots,
using drill rod last time proved to be very sticy and not very smooth.
June 14 4hr
Cut out remaining parts for front hinges, bend base plate and stared to
assemble one. The rod thought to be used for the pins will unfortunately
not work so need to look for other materials to use.
June 20 4.5hr
Contrary to previous experiance with first set of hinges and making own
pivot points. Decided to do it again using drill rod as its very smooth
and hard do to its nature. After wasting a lot of time on it the hole
experiment was basically a bust. The rod is perfectly good but the
problem is with welding it. Not wanting to be woble but rather stable
the hole assembly need to be very tight. There are the 2 pieces of arm
and the plate, between it is a washer or spacer to keep them apart and
provide clearance for paint thus avoiding rubbing then 2
additional washers and the hole thing has the pin going through it with
welds on the outside. What happens is that the pin gets hot during
welding and as it cools off it tightens up which makes the hole thing
even tighter. So the hole thing binds and does not move. Ideal situation
is to press the pin in and flatten it on the outside. Well dont have
that equipment to do it properly.
June 21 2.5hr
did not expect to do any work but needed to get out and figure out what
can I find thats on hand to make up those pivot points. All shops are
closed to pick up any specialized materials and with Covid-19 not sure
if anyone would be open that would have such things. Researching for
materials would be just as time wasted.
So thought of pair of hinges that picked up, actually somehow have 2
sets one has better finish then the other and unfortunately found the
better one. They are from Audi A6 they can also be found on bunch of VW
Passat and possibly other models of either brands as they are same
family. Anyway they do have a very nice finished pivot points they are
made and cut of dimensionally same material so cutting them up and
joining would have perfect finish once done. Unfortunately not looking
deep enough in the box wasted good couple of hours. So rather then
possibly making any mess decided to cut the work hours short for the day
June 22 3hr
trying to enjoy the summer heat and not just relying on weekends and
also to "actually" make some progress this year will need to work on the
car during weekdays as much as possible. so... to continue
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with the trunk hinges, started by slicing the Audi trunk hinges that had
picked up last time from wreckers. They do have a very nice pivot points
and will be ideal for this job, started grinding the pressed part from
back on one of them but decided to just cut out small sections and weld
it into and splice it with the new parts made to suit. Got pretty far on
one side, joint on base nose has bent up arm that needed to be persuaded
to reasonable shape and with the upper part mounted to the lid it
was time to join both parts together. Well and that's where things went
sideways. somehow something got mixed up and the pivot points got
swapped between back and forward. So thinking of rather being all ticked
off and possibly making bigger mess then necessary decided to call it a
day (evening)
June 23 2.5hr
(Morning), decided to clean up pictures from yesterday and started
looking at the mess from yesterday. It actually is not that bad. What
had happened and thought had been care full to keep proper sides
together. What it did happened was thinking that while working on the
right upper part of the hinge was actually working on the left side. So
when finished with the right base and welded them together the hole
thing got messed up. So rather then possibly wasting 2 hours of cutting,
re-welding and grinding the fix will be down to 10 minutes or less. Will
just need to finish of the other halves and joining them with the proper
ones. Major catastrophe fixed just buy taking a break at right
time.
(evening)Wanting to confirm the problem and needed to finish the hinges,
got out for few hours. Case confirmed, so its only a slice of the arm
and re-weld to the other side. Started making second upper part out of
the Audi hinge pivots and trying to allign them was quite some task as
they needed to have same geometry from side to side. Got to a point
where the upper parts are all welded up, still need to do nose on the
base for left side and weld the halves together. However needed to stop
as my old trusty grinder gave up the ghost. Need to find new brushes to
bring her back to live.
June 25 2.5hr
last couple times out noticed grinder running bit funny and last time it
finally gave up the ghost, however after taking it apart and inspecting
it it looks like it was just brushes that wore down. Bought new set and
decided to do some work on the hinges again.
got the other upper half welded up and shaped and did the nose pivot on
second base. Having all 4 halves ready sliced the first apart and
re-welded proper halves together on one arm. Will need to continue it
next day as it was getting late in the night and did not wanted to get
neighbors complaining
June 26 3.5hr
got out too late in the night and only finished 1 hinge but the second
one just needs second arm welded in one spot. They both need to have
mount holes drilled and upper mount plates welded in. Hence one of the
reasons to stop was that needed to move some things around and needed
day light for alignment.
Trimmed right fender around windshield to clearance the glass properly.
Also filled in cut lines after top was lowered last year. It looks so
much better.
Started making foam support for back firewall cover panel and after
finishing off noticed that the upper B pillar trim piece would only had
been about 2 inches wide so it will be best to make the upper B pillar
part and the back panel as one piece. It will avoid of having to fab up
all the mount points for the panels
June 27 6hr
Nice hot day, one reason to be working at night. Any way very good and
productive day. Got all of the arms on the hinges all welded and ground
to shape, may need to adjust a bit for better clearance but for now they
are good. Need to finish welding upper plate used for mounting to the
skin and also drill out larger holes for bolts with enough so they would
move for adjustments. One problem though is that even though the
arms are same length they are positioned bit below surface as opposed
from first couple versions resulting not having enough clearance for
deck to clear the fenders, could had made them longer though would have
to cut into the fender further forward also the deck could be bit
wobbly. Temporary mounted and using test under panel they operate very
nicely and once the upper skin is bonded it should prevent it from
twisting. The 2 latches will hold the hood tight which are next on the
list.
Also having foam prepped yesterday for back firewall, got it covered
flat all the way across. One item to add onto shopping and redo list are
the shoulder seatbelt anchor bolts so that can continue on with back
firewall panel.
Darn good and very productive day for once.
July 1 2.5hr
with hood hinges finished time to move on to other things with short
time available sanded down back firewall, trimmed some of the foam
around window and filled in and getting ready for shaping. Need to
adjust quarter panels to get final alignment and figure out seatbelts
upper shoulder point. But more importally need to make lower B pillar
parts and mount them.
tried filling in some of the dust caps for headlights last year so got
those sanded down. Need to make bottom impression to try to get the LED
headlights going but will keep on pushing current HID.Still coule of
chips that need to be fixed before moving on.
July 2 1.5hr
The B pillar plugs had been lying around for few weeks and the parts are
needed for rear firewall / upper B pillar part. Parted and waxed the
pieces. will put PVA on tomorrow so they will be ready for later in the
afternoon or saturday
July 4 6hr
PVA the 2 B pillar plugs, gel coated and covered with fiberglass. Gelled
some of the spots in headlight dust caps, will have to do it couple more
times as trying to do this in horizontal lines to prevent run downs.
Glassed in set the mounts in interior sill plates. Awfully long
day for very few things that where done
July 5 4.5hr
Cleaned up sill panels and painted stand offs. Trimmed, took out plugs
and cleaned up B pillar molds, they are now ready to make parts of.
Ground down right fender inner return as it was rubbing on wheel when
turning and skimmed. Will need to replicate on left fender to make sure
they are symmetrical but for now will need to focus on head lights
as cutouts are needed and they need to be lifted up.
July 7 4hr (not counted)
went out to dismantlers. picked up few items
got HVAC blower fan out of 04 TL and also evaporator and wiper regulator
out of RX8
July 9 0.5hr
Quick wax and PVA of B pillar molds to have them ready for making parts
July 10 0.5hr
Busy day never the less got out to gel coat the B pillar though as they
will be upholstered it would not matter if they are gel coated or not.
Never the less got some old gel from last year used it earlier in the
week and there was still some on bottom though it was quite thick and
did not wanted to pour out. Not a major issue if it would not cure but
still would require some effort to clean it. Catalized it in original
jar and brushed it on in hopes that it will cure properly. Will see next
day
July 18 7.5hr
Long time since gel coated however fiber glassed B pillars and they seem
to be OK. Rough trimmed need furter adjustments
Template and carved out fan cut out from HVAC blower box, filled in some
missing filler
worked on right fender return lip. Shaped vertical part and started
making round piece however that will can only be fully made once the
vertical piece is completed
July 19 1.5hr
leveled blower mounting surface in HVEC box and filled in voids.
Curved fender return flange unfortunately did not survived being pulled
out so will need to make it at other time. Trimmed bolt cutouts and
re-surfaced for a flatter more curved surface.
July 25 0.5hr
A very quick sanding of right fender inner return and quick cleaning and
light priming of blower HVAC box
Aug 1 1hr
quick break from home reno. Did further shaping of right fender and
inner return. Will need to raise it and bolt it up to check on clearance
for lower mounting and champher opening
Aug 15 2hr
With house reno complete time to work on the car. With right fender
wheel arch extended outwards to cover the wheel better. Needed to do
same on the left one prior to working on the inner fender return. As the
fenders are going to be remade due to the hinge cutouts, vertical
door jamb, trunk extensions and not to mention the fact that they where
cut up and put together to change the odd shape a top of the wheels and
couple other small things that where and need to be made.
Trimmed right B pillar panel.
Aug 16 4.5hr
crappy day, on and off drizzling rain. Never the less, continued with
left fender today did not touch the wheel arch on the outside rather
turned into the inner arch to catch up to the right side. Believing that
the outer contour is fairly close to what it needs to be other then odd
areas that need to be filled and rounded off. Ground off vertical part
of the inner part of the arch coming 1/4" to the outer surface. and
after applying some separation relieve to/from chassis. inner fender was
prepped by adding relieve cuts to bolts and adding some mechanical
fasteners, area was build up with filler and left to cure/dry.
Trimmed B pillar and sill panels so that they would align and fit. Will
need to recheck rear deck and continue on with rear firewall upper
panel.
Sanded down headlight dust covers though most likely will use LED
version 4.0 headlight just to try to complete the parts to have
something as alternative and to use it for base mold making for the LED
buckets. Finished trimming left headlight bucket to see if they can be
aligned and bonded together but it looks like it might be a mute point
in trying to finish them off as there are too many close tolerances to
upper and lower parts of the housing . Will need to try doing them by
filling the mold cavity with resin and adding some glass for strength
Aug 21 1hr
Needing to move forward and since gel coated headlight molds last year
and hoping that it will still hold up and bond properly. Fastened small
cavities to bottom part of the bucket molds. Will check to see if all it
air tight and will fill mate the mold halves together and fill in resin
to join together. Hopefully it will not be too heavy cause of the solid
fill
Aug 22 1hr
cleaned up any parts of gel and bonding material from the cavities,
stuffed air cavities with fiber pieces and fastened halves together.
Need to fill in with resin hoping that it will not leak any out.
Aug 26 1hr
decided to see how the headlights will look like so poured resin into
the headlight molds.
Well experiment failed. not sure if there was too much fiber
stuffed inside and air could not escape, resin was too much catalyzed or
just the fact that it could not flow to the bottom. Anyway. Only about
half of the void got filled and rest was dry and gel was crumbling.
Need to make new filler for circuit cavities and try it again as this is
the best way to make those housing
Sep 5 3hr
Slowing down with house work. Pulled left fender off and started to
shape return to mimic right fender.
Sep 6 4hr
After failure making headlight and not to waste or wait to make another
set of the cavity molds, had the other set cut out from failed set.
Cleaned up the molds, prepped them and gel coated while embedding mat
into the gel coat. Yes, embedding mad into gel failed one time when
making front splitters but I think it was due to insufficient amount of
gel. Had the cavity also attached into the lower part to avoid having it
bonded other day. Time will see if this was good idea.
Sanded down left fender return, primed, resurfaced and filled in corners
to make it similar to the right one. Will need to shape outer surface as
it will be used to fasten parting so will need to have it painted or
primed at least
Sep 24 1hr
busy helping friend with house renovation last couple of weeks so not
much had been done to car. Filled in headlight buckets with resin
bit over 1liter per side. catalyzed it maybe too much.
Trimmed left fender and back filled both at mount points, still need to
shape the cavities but like to pull molds sunday. They may be wet but
need to proceed
Sep 25 6hr
Ground down headlight casting seperators, and after looking at the
housing noticed couple of things. Outer pivot / mount point pushes that
corner up too much, this can easily be fixed within the new bumper
modification. Second and major issue is with the projector mounting
surface, it points outwards not straight ahead, might be fixable with
spacers under mount plates.
Continued on with fenders. Ground out top inner left fender and worked
on smoothing outer surface. Worked on inner returns had almost
everything ready but had accident on left as it fell of pail and cracked
vertical part :( and had to refasten it. Hope it will dry for next day
so it could be worked out.
Sep 26 0.5hr
Had to fix oil leak on daily driver so not much time left. patch on the
crack seems to be holding so just sanded down doth sides primed and
skimmed again. Hopefully if they dont fall down they should be
ready to take molds of inner return.
Sep 28 1hr
sanded down and primed the fenders
Oct 2 1.0hr
Parted and waxed and PVA fenders
Oct 4 2hr
laid up molds of fender returns
Oct 6 1hr
pulled inner fender molds out and they came out so easily. Had them
trimmed to remove all extra flaired fibers. Thinking about it should had
make the inner returns as single piece rather then 2 parts then have
them bonded. Never the less started with first layer building up the
remaining part of return. Will most likely lay up entire inner as the
mold this way it can still be made from 2 pieces if needed
Oct 8 1hr
Cool temperatures are of no help, plaster from 2 days ago is still most
then again its thick and laid on fiberglass so it does not have proper
condition to dry properly. Anyway, cleaned up and sanded as much as
possible, filled voids and resurfaced some areas. Unfortunately run out
of material so will need to pick up some more tomorrow and extend some
spots though most probably they will get cut off.
Oct 9 1hr
bought some more plaster. Had the fenders sitting in the sun for a day,
not completely dry but good enough to sand and not clog up sand paper.
Got all of the rough spots and peeks knocked down and filled in anything
thats still shows valleys and extended out to more even width. Next day
more sanding and hopefully will not need much other then just skimming
to rid of any big scratches so it could get it to smooth surface
Oct 11 1hr
got out again today and sanded fenders further down from last filling,
they are almost there. Couple small voids so had those filled and
straightened some of the edges. This might be is as the fill coat was
fairly thick to cover all of it so once it dries it might be ready. Will
just need to put some primer and get it ready for mold making
Oct 12 5.5hr
late start to day as only wanted to look at the fenders but ended up
doing few other things. So sanded the fenders yet again and they do look
fairly decent with couple dimples that could have been taken out by
sanding them after pulling out molds, but decided to prime them and put
a very thin skim coat and fill anything then have it sanded with 220
grid and prep for molds.
Headlight.... after looking at the HID housings and trying to get them
to sit properly. Came to conclusion that they could be salvaged with
some adjustments but there are few of significant issues. 1st, the
mounting surface can be fixed by removing a small wedge on back for the
projector mounting plate but that would make one spot bit thin to hold
the smaller projector. 2nd since the inner corner was dropped and moved
forward 2 inches the entire surface contour is different too and would
need to be reworked and new molds be remade :( to have proper parts
pulled. 3rd.. by dropping the inner corners down the light beam cut-off
line is an angle and that would also need to be corrected.
....so as much as it hurts after spending so much time I think its best
to just move onto Version 4 and use LED projectors. they are much
shallower and lower so they should fit very nicely and look more modern.
Item 3 looked at was the cowl extension around brake booster. Since the
fenders are off decided to fill up the and make plug for the extension.
Got my new reciprocating tool and cut out extra fiberglass around the
filler and covered the cardboard. Hoping that this will be quick job as
its small and there is plenty of air for the filler to dry.
Oct 14 2hr
Got out to check on the fenders and the brake booster. Got the fenders
sanded down and primed. Will let them dry and cure for couple of days
and have then sanded once again with 220 grid and get them ready for
molding in next couple of days.
Shaped and flattened brake booster extension. Cut out some flexible
cardboard to use as forming for headlight basis. laid up 1/2" thick
layer of plaster with fiber mesh in middle. This hopefully should
prevent it from cracking in pieces due to its thickness and not being
fully cured. Build up further brake extension, this will need to be thin
enough to hide under lid and hopefully not need to make a bump out
Oct 15 1.5hr
quick check on the new headlight basis, shaved off some higher areas to
keep down thickness of the bases and contoured to front of bumper. Need
to mount LED projector to the vertical basis to get proper alignment but
mean time will let the bases cure further and make them very flat. Looks
like the LED housings will me much shorted then HID version making them
hide behind wheel well lining and still have some possible clearance.
Looking at it and thinking that maybe its worth while to make revision B
of HID housing, correcting all mistakes from revision A and possibly
moving them bit forward. Secondly making a different access panel to
bulbs and adjustment screws on back of the housings.
Shaped master cylinder extension but will need to try it with inner
panel to check on weather striping clearances.
Laid up another set of headlight bases, will try to make new revision of
HID simultaneously with LED, also filled in the break booster extension.
Oct 19 2hr
parted out fenders in preparation for molding inner return, Waxed and
PVA.
 While
working on left fender it slipped of the stand and cracked in couple
places. though still bad but fortunately it was no too bad. Had the
pieces sanded down to reduce cracks visibility. The tape will produce
visible bump on the mold and part will try to fix it on the mold and
hopefully not be visible. Also prepped half height return molds so will
try making parts out of them and maybe attach them to the current
fenders as trial and fit
Oct 20 3hr
Laid up fender molds but unfortunately did not had enough time for laying
up the half return parts. Contoured brake master mold and filled in any
voids. Also build up bases for headlights as part of the bottoms needs
some trimming and back end would be very thin and practically would get
cut out.
Oct 21 4hr
Got the brake booster sanded down and filled in and build up some extra
for flanges. Sanded and filled in headlight bottom housings. tried
finding out why the front is leaning to one side but could not find
anything and measurements seem to be OK. Need to look at it another time
Oct 22 5hr
A lot of time wasted but had to do it. Remembered that the top vertical
rails to mount quarter panels where shifted to the left, not sure why
most likely that wanted to bolt them directly to frame around the upper
intake. Well it may had been ok for the right side but it rather
produced 2 other issues. 1. the left side was way off and 2. top was
shifted to left and thus the roof panel was twisted as well. Well spent
few hours taking most of the upper part panels off cutting and
re-welding upper tubes at the rear firewall. maybe could had made more
attention making that part of the chassis so it would come closer to the
panels but in hinge site it might be better this way as the panel is an
angle and it would be rather hard to lay everything square. Will
need to make up couple small filler plates to take up the space where
they would be bolted up to the chassis and in turn the quarter panel
then gets bolted to the filler plate.
while mocking around noticed that the left temp spring brace got bent
just like right one hence it kind of is ;lower then right at the moment.
Sanded brake mold and light based and resurfaced hoping that it will be
smooth. Will need to pull mold for the brake and continue on with the
light housings.
With the rear rails re-aligned will now be able to continue with pack
firewall panel. May need to add some tubes for seatbelt mounting if its
not going to take too long.
Oct 23 6hr
got the back firewall all trimed out and filled in with plaster, however
will need to bolt the quarters and lower sill panels together possibly
make up the interconnecting plates around the intakes to get proper
location and shape as will deflect from final contour.
sanded down, primed and skim coated headlight bases
Finished with the brake master bump out, however getting the car back to
the garage it shifter going over the thresh hold and moved :( producing
separation crack between fiberglass and plaster ahhh. so it will need to
be fixed again filled in the crack and will try to finish it next day.
Oct 24 1.hr
sanded and primed again headlight bases and they look good with
exception of one that has slight dent to it. but will start moving
forward once primer dries.
sanded down the brake extension, and lightly primed. Got it sanded again
waxed and applied PVA and also the half inner fender return.
had to help out friend with something so did not get to do any work with
fiberglass today unfortunately.
Oct 25 1hr
temperature only got to about 8'c never the less laid up mold for the
brake master extension and pulled it off from the plug. Needs to cure
for couple of days then will need to be cleaned up and part pulled from
it. Hoping that by weekend will have extension made. Mean while will be
able to work on the headlights, back firewall and rest of the fenders.
Will need to get another pail of resin as its very close to bottom to
pull inner fender returns and make couple other changes to the fenders.
Oct 26 0.5hr
pulled off master cylinder mold from the model and roughly clean it up
and the chassis area. Should had left it cure for another day due to the
temperatures as it did not had this cured feel to it so just left it
cure for extra day
Oct 28 0.5hr
gave a good sanding and put a coat of parting wax on it
Oct 29 0.5hr
Gave another coat of wax and coat of PVA
Nov 1 3hr
Well its first of November temperatures are getting low and may need to
put fiberglass work away for couple of month. Never the less cleaned off
residue from the fenders, cut off remaining returns and generally
scuffed and cleaned up edge around front door sill area to have
reasonable mechanical bond for attaching the extra fender part. With a
chance of warmer temperature, will get the 2 pieces bonded together.
That will leave packets for the hinges that will need to be added in.
Continued on working on the headlights, contrary to the depth of the LED
projectors they are just an inch shorter of the main HID beam and the
lower (driving) beam is bit longer so the gain will not be much and more
even. Worse yet, the lens may need to have bubble to clear the LED
projector. made up a half inch thick plate that will try to bind next
time out and start building the housing from that point.
Nov 4 <10min
It had been cold over last couple of days but with bit warmer day
decided to gel coat the brake extension mold to get ready to lay up
fiberglass. Used older gel coat and it was not setting up for some time
even in direct sunlight. Guess it needs extra heat and time in
cooler temperatures as eventually hardened up. Will lay up some fiber on
top next day and by weekend will try to bond it to the main part.
Nov 5 2hr
Laid up glass on brake extension, just need to wait for it to cure then
trim, blend with proper cuts and patch it inplace. Started shaping
packet molds for front hood hinges to go into fenders. Made up some
rough blocks while back with left over plaster so hat them shaped,
unfortunately they are not big enough so had to extend them slightly.
Lastly had some 3/8 thick sheet of plaster made couple days ago and it
dried perfectly. that cut in half and bonded vertically into LED bases.
they will act as trim for the projectors and front facial for the
housings and will be used to build up material on back for mounting
points
Nov 8 2hr
trimmed brake extension, was not going to do anything with it for
another day day but decided to cut into the cowl. Once at it fastened it
down, ground feathering down couple surface sections and glassed it
effectively bonding the brake extension tot he cowl. Will still need to
do same for remaining surface areas then do same on inner side.
Made up additional half inch plaster disk for HID light housing and
build up right LED headlight
Shaped fender hinge packets, they still need to dry further before doing
any more shaping / sanding or resurfacing
Nov 10 1.5hr
got out for a short time to take a look at the brake extension thinking
that would grind down remaining parts and glass it in but ended up
shaping bumper outer edges that will hold lining. Trimmed right LED
housing a bit as it was only one that was build up some and ended
building up further both sides. With roughly shaped the LED housings
will be very thin and thinking of maybe adding something extra to make
them bit thicker.
Trimmed front of HID housings and will continue with them next time
making mounting surfaces.
Nov 15 1.5hr
Getting late into the year and its starting to get really cold now, not
sure if will be able to do any more with fiberglass this year to make
any significant progress.
Got the hinge indent models shaped further, lots of holes as they where
made out of scrap material. Had it re-skimmed and will resend to see how
they are next time out. Trimmed right LED housing but while doing it it
cracked at the outer edge so had to glue it together. Further build up
both housing to start getting closer of getting mount points for the
projectors.
Nov 19 3hr
Warm evening after few cold days. Ground down remaining parts of brake
extension and glassed it in. Entire joint will need to be sanded down
flat and top coated with gell to make it as nothing happened not to
mension before that will happen will need to flip it over ground some on
the back side and glass it in for proper joint.
Shaped further front hinge receses. One more day and they should be able
to be bonded in place and glassed it over to make recess and they can
then be finished off after pulling the plugs.
Trimmed LED headlights and filled in some areas. Also started on right
HID version 3 take 2 of headlights. just bonded in mounting surface for
main projector. Will do the smaller one next time or just for go all
together. Will see..
One thing about the second revision of the HID housings is that the
projectors will need to be set lower into the housing to clear the
fender edge as much as possible so that both LED and HID will fit into
same cut out and not having to have raise front part of the fender for
the HID lights though lens may have to bobble out rather then being
flat. Another benefit about doing both versions at same time is that the
housings are started from same mounting base rather then making the
housing fit the base.
Nov 20 3hr
Another warm evening so got out and pulled the window surround of the
chassis. Flipped over and ground back side of the joint. also left A
pillar needed to be fixed so shaped that and taped it to hold its shape
and glassed both areas in. Will probably sand some of the joints down to
make it flatter but that can be done in cold. Will try to locate
windshield washer bottle mount it and clutch reservoir and try to
make similar indentations for them as well. Though probably will need to
get air tank and compressor for air suspension and also figure out wiper
regulator so that may need to be worked on first over the winter and
body alteration can wait till spring.
Roughly trimmed HID housing to fit the projector. Will need more work
and further adjustments but it looks like the main beam may work better
then first try. Will need to fit in mounting for lower beam next.
Started carving out LED housing and got to thinking that it will be
major pain to have them aligned just by having them sit and making all
the sides and trying to fit them in and make them symmetrical. So left
it alone to decide on better approach to having it aligned and
symmetrical.
Nov 22 2hr
It might be last last days this year of any productive work, even though
garage is still tolerable outside is -2c and starting to snow. Never the
less ground down the brake extension joints, it will be just a matter of
covering it with gel coat and sanding it down and it will be as nothing
had happened. Noticed that left temporary suspension strut got bent just
like the right one while back which explains why its tilting to the
left. Easy fix but took some time to remove it, bending it back and
adding another piece of metal was few minutes of work.
Figured out how to make the LED headlights symmetrical and easier to
carve out. Unfortunately did not had time to do much with it and will
need to do this next time out
Nov 29 1.5hr
Surprisingly it was sunny and temperature came up to 10'c To take
advantage of the day and as the fender hinge packet plugs where done,
got them glued in place. Roughed up fender surrounding it for some
mechanical adhesion, put a very thick coat of wax on it the plug and
laid up glass on it. Its not going to be anywhere close to being what it
needs to be as some edges will need to reshaped, but the rough shape of
it. is good start and will adjust the opening to final shape.
LED headlights are dry cured now after a week of being left alone, Will
need to focus more time on those and start do some more work on the HID
projectors too.
Dec 5 1.5hr
Carved out the hinge packet plug/mold from the fenders, will need to do
some finishing around the opening to finish the shape. Trimmed more of
the LED headlight. One thing that is of concern of horizontal line and
how the housing will be mounted. Secondly is the outer projector and if
there is going to be enough space for it to fit in the trim ring around
it. Will need to try getting the LED lid up to get better understanding
of how it will light up.
Dec 31
Well another year ended and with only 216 work hours in garage behind it
and managed to accomplish few things this year not as many as hoped for.
major items that were done where the front trunk hinges that where
lingering for couple of years and even though had to make small packets
in fenders they still came out ok and most importly they work fantastic.
Doing so fenders though not completely altered they where reshaped and
closer to what need to be and also made returns with mounting tabs at
the rear around doors for mounting.
HID lights though failed in final functionality where also finished and
gave a good start for a redesign and hopefully plugs will be ready
for molding and making parts in the spring warm days.
Cowl extension for brake booster was made and finished, just needs some
body work to complete the final finish. Interior panels have mounting
tabs though thinking that will need to add couple more on the outer kick
panels to strengthen them as possibly speakers will be mounted in them
which most likely will need to be remade to accept the speakers shape.
HVAC semi completed as probably some of the ducting need to be reshaped
but where failed was around the mixing and blower boxes where only plugs
where made
lower part of B pilar panels where made and upper parts will be part of
rear upper firewall panel which will be the remaining part of the B
pillar and rear window surround and part of roof covering. Going that
route not only makes it a single piece but it will prevent of possible
rattles and should be much easier for mounting
And now on to next year
Total 1262. hr
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