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Total from 2024
1837 hr
A brand new year and the list has no end insight and
will most likely expand once items are being worked on. No point of
listing anything in particular just looking at what still needs to be
done makes the list that much bigger.
One of the huge items for this year will be to acquire some sort of
power plant and have it fitted in and running and finish any chassis in
the rear
Feb 10 3hr
A month into the tear and spring coming fast need to make some progress
on anything that can be done in the house. One of those things are the
head light buckets.
Going back on the previously made cones for the projectors and as they
are much too long started making up a shorter ones just so that the lens
will fit and but against the mounting flange. First prototype ended up
way too big, had so much empty space that could not possibly make up any
mount stand offs. After making some adjustments came up with comparable
cone that will fit the projector snugly yet still have enough clearance
for air movement and mounts could easily be placed.
Having a sample, it was taken apart and a second similar cone was made
for opposite side.
Next came the larger high beam projector cone. Identically the cone was
shrunk in size and 2 where made
Feb 12 3hr
Continuing on the projector cones. They where taped up on the outside so
that they can be later more easily pulled from the plug and also give a
smoother finish as the tape will be able to separate from the plug much
easier then the bare cardboard once it had been fitted inthe headlight
and back filled to make up the cavities.
Also added ridges to center locate in the openings. This will center
locate them all in proper locations and help in alignment of the beam
during the projector installation.
Feb 23 1hr
Cut out frames to fit on the outside in order to hold the forms square.
and filled in with plaster. The hope is that the filled in cavity for
the projector will hold shape when fitting into the main housing
Mar 15 1.5hr
its been some time and its much over due overwork on the head light so
with that marked down the projector molds with markers in hopes that the
ink will transfer onto the headlight it self so that could get some sort
of guage on how to roughly judge the packets. As to the projector molds,
they are not perfect and have some waviness around the openends as the
frames where about 15mm down but as they where still somewhat too tall
they will be cut down and thinking that the projectors should be sunk
down further in giving some clearance in the wheelwell additionally not
look better from front not being sunk into the housing.
Had the LED housings trimmed out so that the projector molds would slide
in freely and had some space around them. Mixed "soft" filler and set
all 4 plugs into the housing. As a note. as much as the housings where
made setting those fillers in showed how much of difference was between
left and right
Mar 16 1hr
Short morning visit to check up on the headlight buckets. Not cured but
perfect condition to pull out the projector forms. Maybe cause it did
not cured enough or perhaps the forms should had thinner filling never
the less pulled all of them out but made some mess and its a good
starting point to finally get them symmetrical and finished. Left side
bottom part cracked and started to separate but it was like that for
some time. Will have to try the glue trick and see if it can be
salvaged. Right had some damage as well on top of the ring.
Any way its good start and hopefully will be ready for molds on few
weeks. Now will have to wait few days for everything to dry properly and
see what can be done next
Apr 29 1.5hr
it had been some time and its much overdue. So with the LED headlights
buckets kind of altered but with issues. headed out and started some
filling in of voids and fixing anything that cracked off or was broken
off when the projector locations where damaged.
Also decided to start making mold of over head center light housing
thats in the windshield upper trim. Not exactly finalized but it will
hold general cabin light and small USB power supply for things like dash
cam. Time will tell
Apr 30 0.5hr
Too gung ho, but tried pulling out the center light plug out and it
split in half. It looked like when making the lining, too much glue from
the tape was stuck to the actual panel and did not wanted to release
when pulled on the filler.
So cleaned up the cavity and lined up again and made the bit more
spacing and using less tape filled in the cavity once again. Added some
wood screws as reinforecement to prevent spliting again.
May 1 0hr
Perhaps it was the combination of lining and screws, the plug pulled out
in one piece.
Will need to wait couple of days for it to properly cure and try shaping
it.
May 4 2hr
courtesy light plug still somewhat wet but decided to have it trimmed
and shaped, not quite sure on final shape though need to make some sort
of dimensionally proportional left to right. Unfortunately cracked one
corner, not big deal as needed to be filled in on other side. Prepped
windshield trim and had the plug filled in and bonded.
Also cleaned up head light buckets and skimmed
May 17 2.5
made a floor template and contoured over head light bucket. filled in
voids and build up thickness.
May 24 2hr
More sanding and filling on overhead light/display plug.
Fidled around with door sill and pillar trims trying to figure out how
to make final mountings. Needed to oblong couple holes in few tabs but
cracked round file and other ones where too big. Will need to get couple
replacements. looked at HVAC boxes and thought of different way to mount
evaporators. Not really productive time spent but more of planning
May 30 0hr
Received 2 Civic radiator in mail today. They are fairly small
individually and may not be sufficient just by having them pulled out of
box but having them laid on top radiator that came out of 05 GTO,
surprisingly surface area is just slightly under by few inches. They are
virtualy double the thickness and with 2 of them that will double the
coolant capacity. As they where meant for a smaller engines inlet and
outlet on them is quite small 1.25" or 32mm which flow might be of an
issue and may need to put them in parallel rather then series.
May 31 1hr
Having the radiators and having grommet holders made, Got out made out
spacing and joined the 2 holders together. Not sure if this was the
better way of waiting on the radiators and having everything made as one
piece as it would allow for making contours of the filler piece with all
the proper curvatures. Never the less it would still be needed to have
it adjusted for further clearance so maybe it does not make any
difference
June 1 30min
Extended rad support width, will start carving out one cures
June 4 1hr
trimmed and resurfaced Rad core support
June 6 2hr
shaped and build up extensively radiator core support. Got it to the
point that bottom of drain holes in rubber mount cavity will be flush
with bottom of the frame thus lowering the entire radiator to a point
that almost all of the lower tank will be hidden and air flow will
entirely hit the fins.
Made up one small mount for lower right B pillar trim. need one more tab
and get some filler put in as spacing material. Elongated sill holes,
for trim to slide in, will have to see how it will end up after
the second tab but may need to redo the pedestal mounts a
June 7 0.5hr
cleaned up and contoured rad support, As its still wet will let it
cure further before applying any skim coat
June 20 1hr
cleaned up rad support plug filled in voids o to make it straight and
also smoother out bottom of over head light and skimmed.
June 21 5.5hr
Made tabs for lower B pillar trims to ac as mount points, should have
made the other one at same time but figured it would be better at later
time. Now they are semi mounted. Trimmed loosly upper back B pillar /
firewall panel. Back filled storage cavity and speaker oppening, kind of
mased off some of the surfaces and covered with filler as starting to
storage cover. Once that is done there will not be any plug making and
will be able to fit in the floors.
Cleaned up both the rad support and windshield light and skimmed over.
They should be ready mid week for mold making provided will be able to
go out couple more times to work on those pieces.
June 29 4.5hr
Cracked over head console corner when sanding radiator support and had
to re-glue a small corner. Never the less sanded smooth the console but
will have to figure out how to make opening for LCD.
Cut off 18mm from the radiator support to clear mounting and drain pep
cock rather then carving out indentations. This will allow extra
clearance for to the frame. Both plugs are primed and had the rad
support re-skimmed. Will need to have some corners smoothed out and
should be ready for mold making. I guess it never worked out for last
week, maybe by this weekend.
Had the storage boxes / speaker covers refilled and build up, its
getting verfly close for part pulling. Will not be making plug as making
part will give a smooth back side and front will be ground smooth /
filled and covered so it will not matter how it will be made and in all
of things will make it for better looking part.
July 1 3hr
sanded down over head console corner and primed.
sanded down rad core support and filled in corners and also build up
vertical edge so it would go down to the belly pan.
Skimmed speaker / storage cover. Will need to cure as sanding semi set
plaster is hard and need it to be dry for primer and way to have it
prepared for panel making. That will unfortunately depend on temperature
and humidity
July 3 0.5hr
Sanded down radiator support and primed. Aside from rounding off sharp
corners and maybe giving second coat of primer and giving final sanding,
plug is ready for making a mould. Then will be able to pull some
parts and have it spliced with the runner.
July 4 a trip to Millers
A big day has come today, a trip from home to Millers to pickup the long
waited 6.2L power plant and she is a beautie. Came with just one motor
engine mount so will need to source one more and as already have the
isolators that will be easy mount I hope. A bonus is that it just might
fit under the lid with out modifications even with the stock tall oil
pan which is good for maintenance and in general packaging. Additionally
it does not look like any modifications will be required to have it fit
into the bay. AC compressor, alternator etc can be left in stock
location.
July 6 2hr
sanded down radiator core support smooth, wax and PVA. Not perfect but
since it will be spliced to rocker panel and reworked, figured it does
not matter if its perfect.
Looked at the engine setup. there are couple tubes that are nicked and
bent, one for oil cooler will need to be replaced. one for AC will be
custom made so it does not matter. Missing what it looks like right
engine mount that will need to be purchased. The Corvette mounts do not
fit so either going with corvette engine blocks and using the isolators
or getting Camaro block and isolators.
Guess it comes down to overall size
July 29 0.5hr
trimmed and pulled radiator support mold. It will need some cleaning and
aside from one of the rubber recesses that needed some cleaning up it
came out very nice. Will need some minor cleanup and will be ready for
making parts
Aug 5 1.0hr
Was not planning on doing anything but as was prepering some other molds
decided to fix few odd shapes around the core support. Had to fill in
couple small indentations and round off corners and rid of couple bumps
sticking out. Will do final sanding next time and prep it for pulling
first part out.
Aug 12 1.5hr
Got the radiator support sanded down waxed , PVA and laid down coat of
gel coat. There will be some glassing when bonding together still and it
will be just the bonding strip that will be needed to fix.
Started to clean up engine bay so that could drop it in and see what
will be required in mounting it. While doing it found front fender
return molds that will need parts pulled but those molds will need to
have some work done.
Will need to also get the fenders remade as well including new set of
molds for them. May leave that for next year though
Aug 17 3.5hr
removed all parts from engine bay. Found bottom door to instrument
cluster that will need to have part pulled from. Tried the engine
cardboard cut out of corvette LS3, with pan at the very bottom or
chassis rails there is still about 10cm on top, not sure how the Camaro
cover will clear. Most likely something will need to be adjusted.
Sanded down speaker covers, primed and resurfaced. Will need further
sanding to see how it will look and possibly pull parts but most likely
mold of before pulling part.
Gel coated and laid up first radiator support. Will have to wait for it
to cure and try to see how it will fit and bond into the panel.
Sanded down front fender returns and skim coated with body filler. Will
need to sanded down next time out. Hopefully will be good to have it
prepped for pulling parts out of.
Aug 20 1.5hr
sanded down speaker covers and primed
moved car outside and cleaned up as preparation for moving engine into
the bay
Aug 24 2.hr
Cleaned up the radiator support mold, waxed and PVA. Mold should be
ready for gel coat and making part.
Raised the car and put it on top of set of bricks and 2x10 (4") total
allowing for cherry picker to roll under it. Will need to do couple
other things before dropping engine into the bay, though most likely it
willbe still on top of the cart.
Aug 28 1hr
Sanded down most of the filler on the fender returns. Still the mounting
recesses need to be worked on and noticed couple areas will need more
filler.
Aug 30 4.5hr
removed quarters and surrounding paneling. Assembled hoist and put moved
engine into the bay. Also dropped transmission into the bay as well.
Initial findings.
- engine fits width wise with clearance around pulles to the side rails
and panels with room to spare.
- OE exhaust clears with room to spare
- current cross bar for lower H arms is in the way will need to have it
removed and most likely have it moved or just use part of engine mount
support. Not exactly sure how that will work out yet.
- OE engine mounts will not work and will need to fabricate something
custom.
- way it sits and with out engine cover it will not clear lid. Will have
to wait and see how it will work once engine is mounted.
- there is possibility that axels will be on 3' angle to the trans
flanges
Not a lot of actual work but more of discovery process.
Sep 2
Bought some metal for engine mounts as it does not look like OE mounts
will fit the need. Will see in time how it all will work out in time.
Sep 3 6hr
Extremely exuberant amount of time just to make set of plates, for upper
and lower engine isolators. Sliced angle plated and cleaned up set of
2x2" tubes that will be used to simulate flame
Sep 5 6.5hr
removed engine and had it leveled on dolly. Cut out the cross tube from
engine bay and had it surface prepped. Welded up engine crade and lower
mount plate. Realized that OE emgine brackets will fit directly on the
plate, one problem is that there is 2 inch gap from top of the mount to
the bracket. Thought of 2 options. 1 is to get the Camaro engine
isolators which are taller then the C5 problem is that the bolt holes
are off set. 2. Other option is to replace oil pan from corvette
with is 2 inches lower which would drop the engine down by such giving
extra clearance to the deck from top of the intake.
Sep 6 1.5hr
finished surface prep on fender liners. Waxed and PVA
Sep 7 1.5hr
gel coated inner fender liners and second radiator support. Started
making kick panel speaker trim rings
Sep 9 0.5hr
Fiber glassed radiator support while making couple other items not
related
Sep 11 1.5hr
tried pulling plug for speaker rings out however they cracked around
rim, Need to avoid using marking tape as separator as its more like way
to stick better. So will need to have it fix next opportunity.
Pulled 2nd rad support but as expected the ruber dimples have some gel
coat traped air between it and fiber, will use that as test fit piece
and need to make another support.
Prepared bunch of fiber mat for the fender returns so next day they will
be ready to go and have less work.
Contemplated on the engine mounts and in hole how it will sit in the
frame. Think way to go about it is to replace oil pan with lower profile
which will drop engine down by 1.5" (37mm) the Camaro OE oil coller will
need to go and be either replaced with aftermarket or bypassed
altogether. One problem with that is the oil capacity will drop unless
some sort of pan with kick out be used like once from corvette with
wings
Sep 12 2.5hr
laid up the front fender returns and fixed speaker trim rings
Sep 14 1hr
Cleaned up radiator support, waxed, PVA and gel coated.
Had odd thought of checking on transmission clearance. with the OE pan
for L99 there will be 20mm (3/4") clearance or there about +/- 5mm
which will be just enough to have it mounted and possibly having a
different transmission like 5hp19. If the engine drops by 32mm with
lower profile pan, transmission will hit the cros bar and as it is
structual to keep rails in place as it is right at the lower H arms. In
its place would need to make up some odd duckling huge bar above the
transmission which would make ugly like hell. And as the area is open it
would look like shit.
Sep 16 1hr
Layed up 3rd rad support, took some time to have the recesses properly
covered with mat and not having any air cavities between the gel coat
Sep 18
Split the rad support from mold, so far it seems to be OK just will need
to be trimmed off from the strings
Sep 27 2hr
sanded down and decided to refill small portion of storage filler
panels. Thought it would be OK way it was but decided to fill in more.
Also trimmed off rad support, bonded HVAC fan box and trimmed front
speaker molds
Sep 28 2hr
Sanded down storage panels, waxed and PVA coated. Sanded down top of
front speaker covers, primed and filled in centers. Waxed and PVA coated
cluster access door. Built up overhead info center and controured. Will
need to wait to dry before sanding down and doing any further work.
Sanded down speaker trim rings for front kick panels
Oct 11 2hr
sanded down overhead info center and front speaker rings.
cut up fiber mat in preparation for laying up rear storage/speaker
covers
Oct 12 2hr
Layed up speaker covers and cover door for instrument cluster
Oct 14 1hr
pulled out the new parts. speaker covers came out good, nice and light
even with 4 layers of 1.5oz mat. Cover door for cluster, well should
have layed up gel coat to match and had small bubble trapped and will
most likely redo just because and to make it look proper.
Cleaned up mold material from storage compartments
Total
1923. hr
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