body repair questions

The side mounts on the chassis also have buts welded in. I use them for a platform I can stand on in the back and for a stainless steel display. I am considering using them as an extra mounting point for a custom trunk tub:

There is a lot more but my favorite has to be the removable rear window. It can be taken out in 5 minutes with an Allen wrench:

quote:

Originally posted by Husker:
Kirk,
What material did you use?

The light pods are composite and the trunk material is off the shelf available at most trim shops. It was made specifically for lining your trunk. I use to make liner kits back in the early 80s using this material and discovers you can stretch and pull it for a seamless covering. This stuff it quite tough and is great looking once installed---IMHO

Here is a shot of a rear with the seamless material installed. The bottom crack seen in the picture is a lid that covers a cavity below where you can keep cleaning and polishing goodies away from public view.

Is that symmetrical tube from an early (or late) model or one you cleaned up?

This design was scratch built. I wanted to have a symmetrical tub with a much larger condenser air cavity to improve the AC and finally to be able to hide the cleaning supplies from public view.

Here is how it started. The master model "plug" was made from wood, metal, foam, acrylic sheet, filler, and polyester primer.

Early side view of the back. You can see the start of the AC condenser cavity.

Getting close to a finished shape now. There was allot of inside and outside radius work on every edge. It took many special hand made forms to do the finish detail work.

Some of the tools for the details that were needed. The round ended shaft tools were used for the inside radius work. Others for shapes, fill work and drafting needed to make the mold pull from the master.

Master plug in primer ready to start the mold now. You can clearly see the dropped floor where the lid sits into the bottom. Plenty of room for all kinds of goodies hiding until they are needed.

Building the mold.

Ready to lift it from the engine compartment.

A bottom view of the freshly pulled mold.

A raw part right out of the mold.

Here's a tub modified with a clear bottom. The hidden cavity was removed but the lid still protects the acrylic if you want to put some luggage or folding chairs in the back to travel.

Here's one modified with an acrylic front for engine view. The bottom lid/cover is out in this shot.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by comp2:
When doing the frame rail repairs I made them from 14g. I added extra supports with grooves and holes to drain moisture. I would be jacking on the frame rails like those before me but if some one does latter, I doubt they will hurt the rails.

Nice work. I do a similar repair using 12 gauge on the full bottom following the curve. Usually only needs the area repaired in your picture. I have the entire bottom patterned so we can cut the laser-ed patch off and only do the straight area. This is a good solution.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by comp2:
My headlight buckets had individual bolts. It was a PTA. I made a nut plate which made bolting on and adjusting the buckets a lot easier:

Really nice work. Love the door holing fixtures. I use simple slip sleeve bolt locks like your door adjuster has to find the vertical location on all of my caster fixtures also.

Question---How did you mount the headlight bar back into the car? The ends are short, right? Did you add length to the bar after the install or is this a custom opening mechanism?

I mount the lid tabs to a 1/2 sleeve that attaches to the lift bar. That way you can adjust the buckets into the openings by holding the split sleeve with hose clamps. Here is a shot of the split bar mount modified to be installed on the main drive bar later. You can replace the bar bushing and use collar locks to hold the side to side position. The bar slides into the mounts in one piece but you have to have the drive gear removed. And if both fenders are still on, you will need to cut a hole in one fender to put the bar back into the car. Sounds horrible but it's simple to butt weld the hole shut and hammer the seams---there is room.

Here is the bucket mount welded to the lift bar. You can see the collar locks in the right side in the pic that hold the bar from sliding back and forth.

quote:

Originally posted by Kirk Evans:

The headlight bar? I actually eliminated it. I set up linear actuators because I reconfigured the front. All air goes out the hood now. All air under the car is blocked off:

http://www.rc-tech.net/pantera1/hood/hood.htm

http://www.rc-tech.net/pantera1/rhl/rhl.htm




I also found the headlight bucket fit quite sloppy so I welded a wire around to tighten it up:

http://www.rc-tech.net/pantera1/hl/hl.htm

I do have a question. I thought about making a stainless steel wire mesh trunk tub. It would be see through. I know it would not stop the heat but would be kind of cool. I was thinking if things in the trunk are heat sensitive I could use some sort of thermal blanket. I was curious what you might think?

Gary