In reply to NOHOME :
I used to really stress about paint spend countless hours block sanding. Making sure every square inch was as perfect as it could be.
Then take it to the race track and get all those stone chips in it. Periodically do touch ups and a lot more block sanding.
The last one I'm going to paint. I'm going for Rustoleum and it will be whatever comes out of the gun.
( I'll build one more after this but all aluminum and just buff it shiny)
Pushed it out for a pic in the sun, but the sun was not cooperating. The car is kinda silly with the giant tires out back. but Might be fun with the LS.
In reply to NOHOME :
my buddy has a steel-bodied fenderless A that weighs almost nothing. that thing will be a riot.
It looks good! What paint system did you use?
I get it on the painting. I do it just enough to be remind myself how mediocre I am at it.
In reply to TVR Scott :
Single statge.
Just for fun, took this pic.
This car is rad. However, I think this style is generally fugly.
Not to take anything away from your work. It's exemplary as usual and I enjoy this thread! I just would not want to own this.
Lolz.
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
And to be clear, I do not own the car nor is it my vision.
I am assembling this for a life-long friend who is not able to do so on his own. What I hope to provide is a really good head start so that he can make it his own. The operative scope mantra is "Red and running". Hopefully from there he can take it to where it is his vision.
That all said, I AM starting to like the car. If the chassis is up to the specs of what my friend used to build when he could still do this stuff, then it will be a decent car on the strip.
Petey was working on the exhaust today. There were some evil thoughts. Just one quick call to e-bay and this could be nuts.
Love where this is going
4.56 gears in a 2XXX lbs car with a longish stroke 454? WTH?
sorry...didn't get passed the 1st post yet.
Outstanding!
A 401 CJ said:4.56 gears in a 2XXX lbs car with a longish stroke 454? WTH?
sorry...didn't get passed the 1st post yet.
Gone to an LS, Sold the BB because it was just too hairy for any kind of street driving and this might yet get a plate on it.
On the subject of the LS: Prior to this all I knew about LS swaps is that they were easy and any 12 year old could do one for under $1000 all in.
While the mechanicals are simple enough if you stick with the non DOD engines, the digital controlling of the engine is another matter. You need to buy HP tuner and learn how to do it, not cheap, or find a person to do it for you, not cheap or convenient and then you are married to that person for any tuning changes that you might need; expensive and even less inconvenient when you are doing trial and error tuning.
Plan is to do a bit more tuning and toss most of the panels back on the car. Then I will store it in a friend's barn for the winter and finish it up next spring/summer.
A coworker is working on one of these as a kit from speedway motors.
Can you tell me what you would recommend for priming a frame for one of these? If might be awhile before it gets completed.
Budget, ease of completion, and compatible with an enamel top coat are all important!
Thank you!
wvumtnbkr said:
A coworker is working on one of these as a kit from speedway motors.
Can you tell me what you would recommend for priming a frame for one of these? If might be awhile before it gets completed.
Budget, ease of completion, and compatible with an enamel top coat are all important!
Thank you!
Epoxy is the answer to the question. You can actually buy epoxy spray bombs; not cheap, but its a thing. Question for you: Why enamel? A single stage urethane would be a much better choice in my opinion.
Update on the car:
Was running but would not idle. Messed around and found a vacuum leak, Fixed that but have not run it since.
More serious issue is that the last time I did run it, the key failed to shut the engine off when the key was turned off. That was a bit scary and not just because it was being run without coolant, but rather because I did not know how to kill a fuel injected engine in this situation. Ended up pulling the fuel pump connector. Sure as E36 M3, the ignition switch shows permanent continuity to the run position.
Radiator is now in place and full of water that is not leaking out. That is nice.
Windshield is glued in place and has not fallen out, so that is nice. Not wild about the overall tidy look, but it gonna have to do under the "red and running" rule.
The short term goal is to fire it up tomorrow and see if the engine idles better. Can pull data but not tune it till next week when the person who is tuning with HP Tuner is available.
The myth of getting an LS swap running smoothly out of the gate is just that: a myth. It still takes a lot of effort th get a new build running smooth and it really is not easier than a carb; same E36 M3 different texture. At least the fitech debacle taught me some background to work with.
If all goes well, the car will be self propelled in the next two weeks and then it gets towed to a friends barn to overwinter. I will mop up a few details in the spring and send it away before summer. I hope.
Have not updated the build in a while. It is getting pretty close to road-test ready.
Unfortunately, I missed a window and the car is going into winter storage before it can be road tested/tuned.
Looks like the windshield turned out great from zooming in on it!
In reply to MyMiatas :
About 80% happy with it. There is not a lot of surface area to work with and trim is up to the owner to invent, so that will be a thing for along the top. Wish the glass had been about 1/2" taller, but yeah, it will do!
The car does run and idle and has all the gears, so it has that going for it. It will come back for a month or so in the spring to tidy up a few details and get some road miles before it goes home.
And just like that, the lights are all doing their corresponding light stuff.
And this concludes the work until spring. "Red and Running" was the goal and here it is.
The Hot Rod needed to leave the shop and the Molvo needed to go in. So this was the shuffle.
Hopefully in the spring the Hot Rod will have plates and insurance so we can do some development miles before sending it home.
Having promised Mrs NOHOME that she could have her garage space back for the winter, the Hot Rod has been evicted to a cold barn for the winter. The weather is too cold to start putting test miles on the car anyways, so best out of sight and out of mind for the moment
In its place, the Molvo takes the second spot in the shop. There are a few things I want to do to make it even nicer to drive; chief being AC.
And with the Healey out for paint, the Red Rocket comes back.
There is a laundry list of stuff to be dealt with in order to make it drivable.
First thing was ride height was too low. Needed more clearance for exhaust.
before
After
The car cant go any higher because it has an underslung chassis and the rear axle is about 1/2" above the frame at the new raised ride height.
A thing happened in the shop today...
Those would be permanent scars in the concrete. First and second gear pull up to the rev limiter.
Got a bit stinky in the shop.
Would post the video but can't figure how to get it off of dropbox with the free version. Sounds really good.
And so concludes this thread. The Red Rocket goes home.
You'll need to log in to post.
