The next step will be be to glue and screw the top rails in place. I will do that once the glue on the ribs has cured.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Body work part 4
So after getting some more liquid nails this evenings job was to glue in the plywood ribs. I ran a large bead of glue down the center on the back of the rib then place into position. Then I ran two corking type beads down either side. This should give a really good bond and it gave a nice curve for when I also fiberglass over the ribs.
The next step will be be to glue and screw the top rails in place. I will do that once the glue on the ribs has cured.
The next step will be be to glue and screw the top rails in place. I will do that once the glue on the ribs has cured.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Body work part 3
Just a veryquick update. I tried using one og the liquid nails product to glue the plywood, After a test, I decided to use that for all the wood gluing. I also tried it gluing the plywood to the fiberglass. It bonded really well. And since is a lot cheaper I will used that for the rest of the bonding.
Below is the trusty bandsaw with all the off cuts from the make of the ribs
Starting the gluing of the double layered top rail. After the glue dried is was super strong.
Below is the trusty bandsaw with all the off cuts from the make of the ribs
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Body work Part 2
So after sitting and head scratching and reading on the interweb I finally bit the bullet and got stuck into the body work of the RattyT. My first task was to create the back plate for the internal wood frame.
This is all been done in 18mm marine plywood for its strength and resistance to water / rot.
Marking out the shape of the back plate.
Cutting out of the back plate with the use of the trusty skill saw.
Next was to cut out the ribs that will be used to creat the inner wood frame, that will be fiber-glassed to the glass body.
I have gone back and forward on the best way to do this, and have tried a few ways, but finally decided to have the ribs stick out perpendicular to the body, not flat as shown above.
Next search was for a good sealent / adhesive to glue the plywood to the glass body, to hold in them in place before fiberglassing and to add much needed extra strength. After a fair amount of research I settled on Silkafix227. Its a polyester adhesive, I did a test shown above to make sure that is was going to do the trick. After letting it cure for 48 hours I could not pull the plywood off, I had to use a chisel to wedge it off. As you can see it ripped the plywood before the adhesive let go So was pretty happy.
Next I needed to create the front firewall plate. Once again made out of 18mm marine plywood.
Test fitted and trimmed to be a snug fit, ready to be glued in.
To give the back plate some extra strength I added places where I could screw the fiberglass to the back plate while the glue cured. I think Ill leave them in place once the whole thin is done. not sure yet.
Time to just do it and start gluing things in, So after a good spread of the wonder goop the back plate was place in the body and screwed on to place.
Next the process was repeated for the front plate, I also screwd that in place using the firewall holes already in the body.
now that the front & back plates were firmly hold the floor in place I was able to lift the body and start the gluing of the floor. I ran a large bead in gap on the undersid first and also screwed the floor to the firewall plate.
Once the bottom side was don the process was repeated on the top. Then a seam run around the firewall plate and around all the floor body joint. After that I left it to cure for a day before continuing to work on the internal framing.
This is my jerry rigged level tool, to mark the height of the internal ribs.
After marking the spaces for the ribs on the floor it was time to mark and cut all the ribs, this was a long process as each of the 20 + ribs had to be cut to shape. Since there is not one straight edge or line on the old fiberglass body. The process involved marking the rib with a vivid by running it down the body to draw the curve on the rib, then cuttung the rib on the bandsaw and then fine tuning the fit.
Progress on the drivers side
The ribs done on the drivers side with the double layer top rail getting test fitted. Now I had to repeat the whole process on the passenger side. Its going to be a long process to get the body all sorted.
This is all been done in 18mm marine plywood for its strength and resistance to water / rot.
Marking out the shape of the back plate.
Cutting out of the back plate with the use of the trusty skill saw.
Next was to cut out the ribs that will be used to creat the inner wood frame, that will be fiber-glassed to the glass body.
I have gone back and forward on the best way to do this, and have tried a few ways, but finally decided to have the ribs stick out perpendicular to the body, not flat as shown above.
Next search was for a good sealent / adhesive to glue the plywood to the glass body, to hold in them in place before fiberglassing and to add much needed extra strength. After a fair amount of research I settled on Silkafix227. Its a polyester adhesive, I did a test shown above to make sure that is was going to do the trick. After letting it cure for 48 hours I could not pull the plywood off, I had to use a chisel to wedge it off. As you can see it ripped the plywood before the adhesive let go So was pretty happy.
Next I needed to create the front firewall plate. Once again made out of 18mm marine plywood.
Time to just do it and start gluing things in, So after a good spread of the wonder goop the back plate was place in the body and screwed on to place.
Next the process was repeated for the front plate, I also screwd that in place using the firewall holes already in the body.
now that the front & back plates were firmly hold the floor in place I was able to lift the body and start the gluing of the floor. I ran a large bead in gap on the undersid first and also screwed the floor to the firewall plate.
Once the bottom side was don the process was repeated on the top. Then a seam run around the firewall plate and around all the floor body joint. After that I left it to cure for a day before continuing to work on the internal framing.
This is my jerry rigged level tool, to mark the height of the internal ribs.
After marking the spaces for the ribs on the floor it was time to mark and cut all the ribs, this was a long process as each of the 20 + ribs had to be cut to shape. Since there is not one straight edge or line on the old fiberglass body. The process involved marking the rib with a vivid by running it down the body to draw the curve on the rib, then cuttung the rib on the bandsaw and then fine tuning the fit.
Progress on the drivers side
The ribs done on the drivers side with the double layer top rail getting test fitted. Now I had to repeat the whole process on the passenger side. Its going to be a long process to get the body all sorted.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Body work Pt 1
I think I have gone as far as I can on the steel work until I get the engineer to do the finishing welds. Hayden came around and looked at whats required, hopefully it will be off to his place this week.
The next step was to start working on the body. I was going to just place a new floor underneath the exisiting floor, but once I started looking at it I soon realised that I was going to have to put a whole new floor in.
The first step to this was to remove all support struts and then the floor. When I started it soon became apparent that the fibreglass that was used to hold the struts and floor in place was very ineffective. It was a simple process to remove the struts and strip the old fiberglass off as it had not properly adhered to the glass of the body.
So out with the electrics, Now that is going to be fun putting it back in.... I hope I can.
Firewall exposed, ready to start the removal of the floor.
With the back seating removed, you can see on the right side how easy it was for me to remove the side struts.
The rear of the seat and padding all gone.
The TBucket glass body all stripped. I then spend about an hour scraping off the old fiberglass that was used to hold the struts in place. This got the body back to the raw fiberglass. I still have to decide if Im going to do the fiberglass work, or shop that out.
As you can see there was not other way besides replacing the old floor it.
The next step was to make the new floor. So on another fine day I got stuck into making the new floor. I used the old floor as a template.
I placed the old floor on top of the new plywood. The old plywood floor was only 12mm, I am using 18mm marine ply. I got the base cut out with the jigsaw, ready for some trial fits.
After numerous trial fits and trimming to make it a snug fit, the next step was to work out what was needed to be removed for the transmission tunnel. I overlayed the old floor to get a rough idea.
Once I had the bits cut out a trial fit on to the car. Was all pretty darn close, a few tweaks and it was done.
Next I also placed the body on the frame again and then the floor to make sure that everything was going to line up and everything worked, like pedal travel, I also cut the holes for access to the bolts that hold the brake booster bracket. I will need to do the same for the pedal box once I have the body bolted down.
Looking much tidier, The next step is to create the steel subframe that I am going to make to replace the wooden one I have just removed and make the transmission tunnel, Steering mounting and a new dashboard yet to be designed....
Oh I am so not going to make my 1st October deadline, Not now considering how much extra work I have just created for myself.
The next step was to start working on the body. I was going to just place a new floor underneath the exisiting floor, but once I started looking at it I soon realised that I was going to have to put a whole new floor in.
The first step to this was to remove all support struts and then the floor. When I started it soon became apparent that the fibreglass that was used to hold the struts and floor in place was very ineffective. It was a simple process to remove the struts and strip the old fiberglass off as it had not properly adhered to the glass of the body.
So out with the electrics, Now that is going to be fun putting it back in.... I hope I can.
Firewall exposed, ready to start the removal of the floor.
With the back seating removed, you can see on the right side how easy it was for me to remove the side struts.
The TBucket glass body all stripped. I then spend about an hour scraping off the old fiberglass that was used to hold the struts in place. This got the body back to the raw fiberglass. I still have to decide if Im going to do the fiberglass work, or shop that out.
As you can see there was not other way besides replacing the old floor it.
The next step was to make the new floor. So on another fine day I got stuck into making the new floor. I used the old floor as a template.
I placed the old floor on top of the new plywood. The old plywood floor was only 12mm, I am using 18mm marine ply. I got the base cut out with the jigsaw, ready for some trial fits.
So after measuring from the chassis and using the old floor as a starting point I marked out the transmission cutout.
Once I had the bits cut out a trial fit on to the car. Was all pretty darn close, a few tweaks and it was done.
Next I also placed the body on the frame again and then the floor to make sure that everything was going to line up and everything worked, like pedal travel, I also cut the holes for access to the bolts that hold the brake booster bracket. I will need to do the same for the pedal box once I have the body bolted down.
Looking much tidier, The next step is to create the steel subframe that I am going to make to replace the wooden one I have just removed and make the transmission tunnel, Steering mounting and a new dashboard yet to be designed....
Oh I am so not going to make my 1st October deadline, Not now considering how much extra work I have just created for myself.
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