Body

This is a shot of the body right after it was mounted. Everything fits fine. Sure looks like a car now.

The rear of the interior aluminum was installed after the body so that it could be fit to the body shape.

Rollbar bezel kit was ordered from Finish Line. They add a nice touch and keep water out of the trunk when washing.

Roller gas cap flange had to be drilled and countersunk. A lower profile gas cap from NAPA (P/N 703-1631) fits fine under the roller cap.

A bracket was fabricated from stainless steel to secure the wiper motor. The bracket looks and works much better than the muffler clamp that is standard.

Lights, trunk lid, trunk latch, and bumper installed. Everything will have to be removed, but needs to be installed for test fitting before painting the body.

Just the hood, passenger door and some dash panel work needs to be completed before the body is removed for the body work and paint.

The fiberglass hood is flexible as is the hinge support frame so a plywood frame was made to hold the right contour in the hood.

The hood was shimmed to the right height and then the frame was attached with lots of hot glue.The frame was made wider than the hood to help align the corners.

The hood was cleaned with grease and wax remover and then sanded to roughen it up. The steel frame was roughened with a course ScotchBrite pad on a die grinder.

The hinge frame was then bonded to the hood with West Systems Epoxy (#105/205). Use lots of clamps, but only squeeze enough to ensure good contact with the epoxy.

The hood frame is faired in with West Systems #105/205 mixed with #410 microlight fairing filler and then sanded with #80 grit on a sanding block to get it flat.

The inside of the trunk is being faired the same way as the hood. It will coated with Mar-Hyde textured black coating. (except the aluminum)

The mold seams were ground out (1/8") then filled with West Systems Epoxy. The filling was done with the body mounted on the frame so the doors could be faired to the body.

After the body mold lines were filled 3 times and the body panels faired in, the body was removed and primed with Feather-Fill polyester primer.

House of Kolor paints will be used. They were purchased locally and include Kandy basecoats and pearl paint for the stripes.

A shot of the defroster vent cutouts.

Defroster duct. The duct was made by laying fiberglass cloth over some carved foam and coating with epoxy. The duct needed to be low profile to clear the glove box.

Defrost vents were purchased from FinishLine.

The side louvers came from FinishLine also. They look a little nicer than the standard louvers. (When they aren't covered with dust anyway)

After a thorough block sanding the body was primed with EP-2 primer.

The hood, trunk and doors after the second primer. The primer needs to dry for 48 hrs. before sanding and 4-6 days before painting.

This is the EP-2 primer. It's a catalyzed chromate epoxy primer made by House of Kolor. It's supposed to work especially well on fiberglass.

The center white was shot first. If you look real close you can see the pearl blue hue in the lower right corner.

The body was sprayed with KS-11 black sealer/primer, SG-11 Marine Blue, then KBC-5 Cobalt Blue Kandy and finally UC-35 clear coat.

The Kandy paint changes from a light blue to almost black depending on the angle of the sun.

The next step is to color sand the entire car to level the stripes into the paint and then apply a couple coats of flow clear.

Compared to the previous shot, you can see how dark the blue appears when it's in a shadow.

Next the body was sanded with microfine paper and buffed with 3M conpound. After all the buffing is completed the paint will be glazed.

These are the products that where used for the compounding and glazing. The foam pads work a little slower but, are more forgiving.

The paint really makes nice clear reflections.

The body was reinstalled and bumpers, lights and radiator aluminum installed.

A closer shot of the radiator inlet aluminum.

Rubber grommets for the bumper overriders and brake vent covers where ordered from 'Finish Line' and installed.

The rollbar grommets, also from 'Finish Line' were installed next.

Additional lift cylinders and brackets that came from 'Factory Five Racing' were installed in the trunk. They work really well.

The sun finally came out so I took and few photos of the completed car.

These photos are higher resolution so they will take a little longer to load.

The car has almost 200 miles on it now. It drives good with my garage alignment but still needs to be done at a shop.

Well, got to go for a ride now !

Home

	This is a shot of the body right after it was mounted. Everything fits fine. Sure looks like a car now.		The rear of the interior aluminum was installed after the body so that it could be fit to the body shape.
	Rollbar bezel kit was ordered from Finish Line. They add a nice touch and keep water out of the trunk when washing.		Roller gas cap flange had to be drilled and countersunk. A lower profile gas cap from NAPA (P/N 703-1631) fits fine under the roller cap.
	A bracket was fabricated from stainless steel to secure the wiper motor. The bracket looks and works much better than the muffler clamp that is standard.		Lights, trunk lid, trunk latch, and bumper installed. Everything will have to be removed, but needs to be installed for test fitting before painting the body.
	Just the hood, passenger door and some dash panel work needs to be completed before the body is removed for the body work and paint.		The fiberglass hood is flexible as is the hinge support frame so a plywood frame was made to hold the right contour in the hood.
	The hood was shimmed to the right height and then the frame was attached with lots of hot glue.The frame was made wider than the hood to help align the corners.		The hood was cleaned with grease and wax remover and then sanded to roughen it up. The steel frame was roughened with a course ScotchBrite pad on a die grinder.
	The hinge frame was then bonded to the hood with West Systems Epoxy (#105/205). Use lots of clamps, but only squeeze enough to ensure good contact with the epoxy.		The hood frame is faired in with West Systems #105/205 mixed with #410 microlight fairing filler and then sanded with #80 grit on a sanding block to get it flat.
	The inside of the trunk is being faired the same way as the hood. It will coated with Mar-Hyde textured black coating. (except the aluminum)		The mold seams were ground out (1/8") then filled with West Systems Epoxy. The filling was done with the body mounted on the frame so the doors could be faired to the body.
	After the body mold lines were filled 3 times and the body panels faired in, the body was removed and primed with Feather-Fill polyester primer.		House of Kolor paints will be used. They were purchased locally and include Kandy basecoats and pearl paint for the stripes.
	A shot of the defroster vent cutouts.		Defroster duct. The duct was made by laying fiberglass cloth over some carved foam and coating with epoxy. The duct needed to be low profile to clear the glove box.
	Defrost vents were purchased from FinishLine.		The side louvers came from FinishLine also. They look a little nicer than the standard louvers. (When they aren't covered with dust anyway)
	After a thorough block sanding the body was primed with EP-2 primer.		The hood, trunk and doors after the second primer. The primer needs to dry for 48 hrs. before sanding and 4-6 days before painting.
	This is the EP-2 primer. It's a catalyzed chromate epoxy primer made by House of Kolor. It's supposed to work especially well on fiberglass.		The center white was shot first. If you look real close you can see the pearl blue hue in the lower right corner.
	The body was sprayed with KS-11 black sealer/primer, SG-11 Marine Blue, then KBC-5 Cobalt Blue Kandy and finally UC-35 clear coat.		The Kandy paint changes from a light blue to almost black depending on the angle of the sun.
	The next step is to color sand the entire car to level the stripes into the paint and then apply a couple coats of flow clear.		Compared to the previous shot, you can see how dark the blue appears when it's in a shadow.
	Next the body was sanded with microfine paper and buffed with 3M conpound. After all the buffing is completed the paint will be glazed.		These are the products that where used for the compounding and glazing. The foam pads work a little slower but, are more forgiving.
	The paint really makes nice clear reflections.		The body was reinstalled and bumpers, lights and radiator aluminum installed.
	A closer shot of the radiator inlet aluminum.		Rubber grommets for the bumper overriders and brake vent covers where ordered from 'Finish Line' and installed.
	The rollbar grommets, also from 'Finish Line' were installed next.		Additional lift cylinders and brackets that came from 'Factory Five Racing' were installed in the trunk. They work really well.
	The sun finally came out so I took and few photos of the completed car.		These photos are higher resolution so they will take a little longer to load.
	The car has almost 200 miles on it now. It drives good with my garage alignment but still needs to be done at a shop.		Well, got to go for a ride now !