Phase I done, Phase II-interior almost done, and now Phase III-drivetrain (454 LSX!) - Page 4 - Body - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

87CIZ · 10-13-2006, 12:51 AM

we do hear alot of bad things about it, more specifically about the hump in the drivers side about middle i believe.

90-irocdx3 · 10-13-2006, 02:57 AM

wow this is a crazy restoration/muscle car. if you don't mind me asking how much money are you putting into this car. i know these cars are easy to get carried away with i think i am but my is definatelly not that clean.

NomadTA · 10-13-2006, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

Nomad TA: I am not sure of which black metal pieces you are talking about? Hey, I might learn something here that will keep my T-tops leak free! All we had to remove was the center T-bar and of course all the weather stripping.

If you look at the pic you posted of the TTop bar there is a black metal piece on either side of the center bar that each have 4 Philips head screws in them. I'm assuming that these come loose somehow. Does the whole center portion of the TTops lift out? Mine is at the point your is except the seals are still in place.

Steve

BADNBLK · 10-13-2006, 11:14 AM

Neil that is comign along sooo great! You can really start to feel where it is heading now! My hats off to you guys at Vintage Rest. you are doing a bang up job with alot of complicated custom work - I wish you were closer to me.

Neil start hitting up the magazine editors now for a spread, cause this will definatly be worthy.

purpleZ-28 · 10-13-2006, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BADNBLK

Neil start hitting up the magazine editors now for a spread, cause this will definatly be worthy.

johnyIROC · 10-13-2006, 12:53 PM

Are there not bonding issues with Fiberglass to Polyurethane? Did he use a bonding agent?

I believe 3M makes a product which will bond to PUR... and then FRP will bond to the 3M product. It's hard to tell from the pics... but it looks like he slapped the glass right on the Polyurethane bumper cover.... this may work for structure, but I think if you want to get any kind of a durable finish you will need to use something that bonds to PUR.

I suppose he could let it dry.... then grind the entire fiberglass patch down until it is below the finish level and then apply duramix or equivalent product.. but then he would be better off to have done the fiberglass structuring from the backside.

I am very curious... maybe you can use fiberglass right on polyurethane... I have never actually tried it.

GTA91 · 10-13-2006, 04:33 PM

Very sweet project you got going there. I'll be waiting on pictures of the finished project!

*I really want to mintub mine and run 335's all under the stock quarter panels.

Stephen · 10-13-2006, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 90-irocdx3

wow this is a crazy restoration/muscle car. if you don't mind me asking how much money are you putting into this car. i know these cars are easy to get carried away with i think i am but my is definatelly not that clean.

I've been wondering the same thing. Especially with just the quarters themselves. WithnBirds, there wouldn't be a need to mod the rear bumper, or the taillights, due to the way they fit.

So...How much for just the rear quarters, no bumper mod, tailight mod, or handles?

johnyIROC · 10-13-2006, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen

I've been wondering the same thing. Especially with just the quarters themselves. WithnBirds, there wouldn't be a need to mod the rear bumper, or the taillights, due to the way they fit.

So...How much for just the rear quarters, no bumper mod, tailight mod, or handles?

What is different about a bird that would allow you to widen the rear quarters... and not widen the bumper cover?

Vintage Rest · 10-14-2006, 04:04 PM

We do work nation wide, so if you are intersted let me know. I have at least one car coming from UT and we can probably work out a good deal for you if you are interested.

Stephen · 10-14-2006, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnyIROC

What is different about a bird that would allow you to widen the rear quarters... and not widen the bumper cover?

The tail lights, don't overlap to the sides. So, the fenders could just be extended from the edges, without moving the lights themselves, at all. It just seems like the bumper itself, would open require pulling the sides out a bit, without modding the whole thing. They are just flexible urethane, after all.

Vintage Rest · 10-14-2006, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnyIROC

Are there not bonding issues with Fiberglass to Polyurethane? Did he use a bonding agent?

I believe 3M makes a product which will bond to PUR... and then FRP will bond to the 3M product. It's hard to tell from the pics... but it looks like he slapped the glass right on the Polyurethane bumper cover.... this may work for structure, but I think if you want to get any kind of a durable finish you will need to use something that bonds to PUR.

I suppose he could let it dry.... then grind the entire fiberglass patch down until it is below the finish level and then apply duramix or equivalent product.. but then he would be better off to have done the fiberglass structuring from the backside.

I am very curious... maybe you can use fiberglass right on polyurethane... I have never actually tried it.

Thanks for your interest in how we are actually doing the rear bumper, we did do the fiberglass from the rear, you will notice in earlier pictures a riveted steel background to shape the bumper section, then fiberglass and resin over that, this provides a strong backing for building the bumper and for the different ridges, we then created the ridges with dynaglas, a bit of spot putty and primed, this will be extremely strong, durable and will be a very nice finish, Neil checked it out today, so you can ask him how it looked. Again, thanks for your interest, and I hope that gives you a little insight into how we build the bumper, we had about 5 different options we were considering, including plastic welding in a new piece and then skimming the weld. We decided, that while this was certainly not the quickest or least expensive, this was the best way to go for what we were looking for. Our goal on this entire car is to create a one of a kind very well built driver, that can easily be a show car. Neil is sure to get a magazine cover from someone! Nice project Neil, thanks for letting us create your dream!

Stephen · 10-14-2006, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vintage Rest

We do work nation wide, so if you are intersted let me know. I have at least one car coming from UT and we can probably work out a good deal for you if you are interested.

I did inquire...

Vintage Rest · 10-14-2006, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 87CIZ

we do hear alot of bad things about it, more specifically about the hump in the drivers side about middle i believe.

just checked out this hood today, didn't notice any hump, is it on the side or where exactly are you talking about. This hood looks to be build very well and just fine as far as fitment.

83 Crossfire TA · 10-14-2006, 05:39 PM

I guess the question really is do you have any worries of the ‘glass separating/cracking where it meets the urethane? What kind of resin did you use (of course, the rivets or whatever that is holding the steel in there and the steel sure give it something to hold on to ).

Vintage Rest · 10-14-2006, 05:45 PM

The fiberglass mat and resin were ground down as was part of the urethane, we feathered everything in, as far as cracking, sure, if someone seriously tags the rear bumper, it might, but we have tested this out pretty thoroughly and short of a good hit, this will be fine as far as any separation is concerned, we do a lot with fiberglass, Vettes, Cobra (car is coming), other projects--- and have not had a problem with anything we have done cracking or separating from "normal" use. As far as what kind of resin....it's industrial stuff, nasty, gets very hot, you mix the resin with a hardner bonding agent and short of blowing it up, you are pretty good to go.

purpleZ-28 · 10-14-2006, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen

The tail lights, don't overlap to the sides. So, the fenders could just be extended from the edges, without moving the lights themselves, at all. It just seems like the bumper itself, would open require pulling the sides out a bit, without modding the whole thing. They are just flexible urethane, after all.

you may be right about the tailights, but it would look odd having so much metal out from the lights.
and the bumper would need to widened on either car. it is the entire quarter that was extended, top to bottom, so as to make room for those meats.
Niel correct me if im wrong on the quarter part.

Stephen · 10-14-2006, 09:16 PM

Since there is already a 1" lip at the edges, I was thinking it could just go from that "corner", and out from there, to the wheel well opening.

Since the bumper is basically a flexible plastic, I really don't see why it couldn't see why it couldn't be just "stretched" over to reach the new angle of the outer skin.

Understand what I'm getting at? Dunno if I'm explaining what I mean very well.

purpleZ-28 · 10-14-2006, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen

Since there is already a 1" lip at the edges, I was thinking it could just go from that "corner", and out from there, to the wheel well opening.

Since the bumper is basically a flexible plastic, I really don't see why it couldn't see why it couldn't be just "stretched" over to reach the new angle of the outer skin.

Understand what I'm getting at? Dunno if I'm explaining what I mean very well.

i dont really understand.

Neil · 10-15-2006, 10:11 PM

Yeah, I am definitely going to call some magazines and see if they're interested in this project! Hopefully so and if anyone has any connections please let me know cause that would be really cool to get a few pages and perhaps the cover of a magazine???

Anyway, until this project is complete i'll keep posting pics of my car and here a few more of the "widebody" bumper in primer and also photos of the Spohn strut tower mounts and BMR strut tower brace (which is actually the 3-point design). The tabs will be tack welded and i'll send the STB back to BMR to have them powder coat it in silver. They were very cool and worked with me on this, the STB you see in the pic is very similar to the '98-'02 camaro design and I wanted mine to have that same, clean look. So, they modified their jig and fabbed one up for me!

Stephen · 10-15-2006, 10:16 PM

GM High Tech Performance would probably be your best bet on getting an article.

I've been talking to Vintage about tackling my GTA, for just the quarter panel mod, no door handle changes, or under hood smoothing.

Neil · 10-15-2006, 10:27 PM

Here are the C6 ZO6 front calipers again with the re-modified hubs (had them turned down so they would fit in the I.D. of the rotor) and 14" rotor. The only thing I will have to do to the calipers now is clearance the mounting "ears" to allow a perfect fit. Right now the ears touch the adapter bracket mounting bolts (the bolts which mount the adapter bracket to the spindle).

Also, I pulled out the rear axle to try and remove the caliper mounting bracket........looks like I have to do this after John paints the car, cause I am going to have to remove a collar which appears to be press fitted on the outer shank of the axle to keep the bearings in place. Then once this is off i'll be able to slide off the caliper mounting bracket and have one re-designed. I am still entertaining the idea of having a simpler adapter bracket made to mount to the exisiting one, but we will see.

purpleZ-28 · 10-15-2006, 10:43 PM

theres actually a member on the board that is an editor for super chevy.
maybe youve seen the super chevy project thirdgen. they painted it and put on some suspension upgrades.

dubcity · 10-16-2006, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

Yeah, I am definitely going to call some magazines and see if they're interested in this project! Hopefully so and if anyone has any connections please let me know cause that would be really cool to get a few pages and perhaps the cover of a magazine???

Give CamaroPerformers a call, i always thought they needed more thirdgens

Neil · 10-16-2006, 09:29 PM

Thanks guys! I'll probably wait until the majority of the car is done (at least painted with the wheels and brakes on), then i'll send some pics in.