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It takes a lot of effort and time to post and share my build with you guys so if you have any feedback I would appreciate it , at the risk of sounding pissed off , there has been no comments from anyone for a long time . Maybe I should not bother posting anymore .
Or maybe my build is in the wrong place on the site ? just saying some guy takes his Zed to a shop and has the exhaust tips changed and 200 people reply ..................
Cheers Phil
Uhh, no.
Seriously, Phil, I've been messing with cars for over 50 years and honestly, it takes a fair bit to keep me interested in the things people do. Jaded? No, there's still much out there that I am learning and am in awe of - young or old, when someone does something so far out of my league, I can't help but be impressed. The Falcata definitely falls into this category and I marvel at each post of progress and sometimes ask myself "How the heck.......?!"
The forum is somewhat quiet these days but I guarantee you, those that have been around for a while as well as those new to the world of modifications appreciate the effort in the car and in the documenting of the work going into it!
So, no, don't stop. As I've said on numerous occasions in this thread, I cannot wait to see the finished car!!
It takes a lot of effort and time to post and share my build with you guys so if you have any feedback I would appreciate it , at the risk of sounding pissed off , there has been no comments from anyone for a long time .
Maybe I should not bother posting anymore .
Or maybe my build is in the wrong place on the site ? just saying some guy takes his Zed to a shop and has the exhaust tips changed and 200 people reply ..................
Cheers Phil
Keep posting.
This forum is not what is used to be and your thread is one of the main reasons i come back.
It has nearly 14k views.
Older threads that were around in 2006 dont have that many views per/year rate and were around during the heydey of the forum.
Some people come to observe and don't comment as it can clutter up the thread, we just enjoy seeing your progress.
I don't think I've ever commented, but I'm sub'd and get excited every time I get that email that there's another update. Super impressive work, love to see the progress on such a unique build. If you want a little more love/feedback, there's a reddit page called 'project car' that gets a good amount of traction (the 350z reddit is pretty lame). Might be worth a feeler post!
Well guys and gals ........its not over yet !!!!!!
Hi everyone last update on the trunk lid bottom plug .
This is always fun an a bit nerve racking getting the part out !!!
Starting out with a thin flat pry bar it get under the edge , then put wedges in all around where you can
the danger here is breaking something on the car by prying or breaking the part , if it's a finished part coming out that is gel-coated you don't want to scratch it with tools such as screwdrivers .
I found this little gem at the tool shop on day in the line waiting to check out , it goes flatter than a piece of regular cardboard and you inflate it , it's very strong , I bought the smallest one to try it out , next time I am there I will get another one for sure .
here you see it under the part , it's great because it's not sharp and can press on a larger area .
I took a couple of videos and will try to put them on .
got it off the car ok , now to clean it up , trim the edges and wash the remaining PVA off , it's great stuff also it washes off with water .
still need to sand the edges
As you can see the carnage from the temp setup to make the part
the back
the front with the pocket for space for the hinges
test fitting looks great !!
It still needs to be bodyworked and then make the proper mold for the part , so the finished part has the finished side on the out side , fiberglass is such a lot of work , you need to make three things to get one .
1 the plug
2 the mold
3 the part
but once you have the mold you can make lots of them .
you see here there is clearance for the part to fit in .
Next will be jumping onto the roof , although I feel like jumping off the roof sometimes lol lol
this is the part I started to make a while back too attach the roof scoop , not too sure if I like it , it's going to be a bugger to glass and mold , been thinking of a better way .
While I was sitting thinking about the roof I got out the masking tape and laid some on the side of the car to get an idea of it filled in .
Wow, with the primer and masking tape, one is able to “see” the final form taking shape! Awesome. Thanks for the update! Really exciting to see where it’s going!
BTW, saw your 720 build in ratsun some time back. Didn’t pay a lot if attention then going to go back to see it!
Back with another update , been working on the nose and front fenders Well it's been a long time since I worked on the nose ,
I remember when I poured the foam in the big cardboard moat , so eager to start carving the foam !!!!
So I carved freehand got it close by eye , tape measure and some bits of paper , well that was stupid .
Should have built some wooden bucks for a guide , it turned out to be not too bad but still , I had gone too far on the passenger side by 1/2 an inch ( 13 mil ) so have been fixing stuff all week and trying to get it the same as possible to the Drivers side .
I was going to make the fenders separate and a center nose piece , but time in the shop in the forest is coming to an end and the plans have changed a bit .
I am going to make the front mold all one piece , then make one part from the mold and then cut it and make them separate later .
It will make it easier to ship and if you get hit by some bad driver you can just swap out the fender instead of the whole front .
So to do that I have to fill in the funky grooves in the center piece with two part foam.
Next is to fix the aero bar foam in the center bottom , will take way too long to fix that mess on the car , so I cut it out and made new parts from the foam sheets . it's pretty nasty , and I am too old to lay on the floor and do bodywork . So this is it cut out
yup nasty ....
So this will be way better ,I can router the soft edge for the fiberglass and glue the parts in and glass them with less bodywork .
I made a piece for the back with some 1/4 inch foam and then a 3/8 backing to keep it stiff for the glass,
Using old wood paneling for the pattern.
Here I cut the back edge off the bottom part to allow the back piece room to get glued on to the base .
Laying out grid lines on the fenders to make templates like I did on the rear quarters , using the lasers and the center jig I made a while back to keep the tops of the fenders level and even with each other
Here are the lines
Ok this is the only way I could figure out how to measure the edge of the fenders.
I tried going off the front hub but if the steering isn't dead straight would be way off .
My Dad who sadly passed away was a brilliant man , him and I built this laser , it's for pointing up , so if you were installing something like lights or ducts , speakers etc. on a ceiling , you would do your layout on the floor and then put the self leveling laser on the mark on the floor and it projects where to put your mark on the ceiling .
It has a gimbal bearing to stay level and a center point at the bottom to line up with your marks.
it's made from a piece of aluminum tube and some thick aluminum round stock and a laser .
i didn't have anything to go off to mark the floor , so I placed the 3 foot rulers on the center of the arch in the centering jig on the car , found the edge of the fender with the laser and read the ruler to check and make sure they were the same , the passenger side was out too far by 1/8th of an inch , remedied by the sander .
Ok so now the width is sort of sorted , lets start matching up the rest , yes you guessed it !!! it template and sanding and foaming , and as usual as careful as I try to be , there is always something that needs attention .
More grid lines
here i was 1/8 tall in this section so I had to sand into the foam and some of the fiberglass fender arch this is the only way I know how to get the same shape on both sides , if anyone know a better way please let me know asap .
added some filler over the exposed foam , it's very tricky , you have to sand it before it gets hard or it tears out the foam , it's a real fine line between wet and hard .
the pursuit of symmetry .......... I built this adjustable jig to measure off of it really helps but it all so labor intense . So I measure off the center line on the upper tube at the key points mark everything on tape on the tube with a T Square , and then compare each side and fix accordingly . I made a wooden template of this so I could use it repeatedly to fix the other side Here is the foam I had to add from my eager sand way back when I use everything I can to help me , I have a drawer in the tool box full of paper and cardboard and wood patterns .
this is so hard to see what's going on sometimes , too low too tall too deep ahhhhh
That explains the beverages , should have built a lambo could have just used plywood lol
and yes you have to improvise sometimes , I hope my wife doesn't see her missing knife on here lol
Thanks again everyone for fallowing my build and the great comments , the kind words it really helps to keep going on the frustrating days , been a long haul
Hope to have the nose sorted and a couple of layers of glass on it so I can bodywork it in the next couple of days , looking forward to seeing the front in primer .
I know everyone wants to know whats happening with the build .
Well as you know I was having an issue with the fiberglass shop in the forest , well the owner kept jerking me around and changing her mind , I just couldn't stand the anxiety an longer , she agreed to the middle or the end of July and a week to move after that .
That was just enough time to finish the nose and take molds off the front and back .
so i arranged to have a couple of mates come and help to accomplish this .
Then June 1st she said she wanted me out in two weeks .
so this made me furious !!!
So I was forced to purchase a 28 ft enclosed trailer to store my Nissan pickup and a @*!# load of stuff to make room to take the car to my home shop .
The last work I did on the car was the middle of June .
pics of the Falcata out side
I was totally stressed out , had to move at a moments notice , a full workshop and the car ...... all the storage places were full or too expensive , just to put the car in was $500.00 a month then to put the rest of the stuff would be another $500.00 a month , and even more if it was on the ground floor where you could drive up to it !!!! .
Another Car builder friend of mine was using his brothers car hauler to house his next project the Lambo until his storage container arrived .
If the container haden't been delayed I wouldn't have found the trailer .
It was a great bit of luck , as there is a shortage of enclosed car haulers here new or used .
So with the trailer full of stuff and my Nissan pickup in it it costs $100.00 dollars a month to store it all.
So the Lambo belongs to my friend Don who just finished a 308 build .
Had a BMW M70 V12 and a Porsche 915 gearbox to go in it , we all talked him out of that !!!.
So now he is going LS3 or LS2 So much less hassel and almost double the power .
Some time has gone by and now the Lambo project has been sold .
The Deck or balcony I am standing on taking these pics needs to be replaced , 25 years old and water has gotten in so it's not happy ( been on the list since before starting the Falcata )
I have rebuilt the deck in August in a heat wave ................ 38 degrees Celsius
before the Falcata came home it was what I call DNR which stands for Dump N Run
I had no time to put stuff away , always on the run to fix stuff or I was in the forest working on the car
this is before three truckloads in my little truck arrived from the other shop !!!!
And two loads to the dump .
So since the move I have rebuilt the deck and fixed a few cars and done some maintenance on the house .
Still a @*!# load of stuff to sort , re arrange etc.
I have a few more pics of the Falcata in the driveway will try to post them in the next few days .
I will be back on the car in December. So hang in there !!!
Stay safe and tuned in
Cheers
Sorry to hear about all of the trouble, but it sounds like things are working out for you in the end. It would be so nice if we could work on our automotive hobbies/interests without life's pesky issues always getting in the way.
05-20-2022, 12:09 PM
Hi everyone last update on the trunk lid bottom plug .
Well it's been a long time since I worked on the nose ,
