New Word, I Bet

[LeftAngle]

With all of the attention Overhaulin has gotten of late, I'm willing to bet there'll be a new word showing up in our vocabulary:

Fooseify, or maybe Foose-iffi (pronounced Foose-if'eee)

At any rate, here's my entry: 

flared fenders, rear under-spoiler, split exit on hood for centered radiator,  Pressure relief louvers on top of front fenders (Datona Prototype style), racing stripe, bug-eye relocation (protected by aluminum splitter) and Mirua style headlights, or small lights fitted inside non-mechanical tilted lenses, to look like Mirua lights... That's about it.

[exarkun1178]

humps over the rear wheels need to be lessened.  that line needs to be softer to work with the rest of the car.

other then that,  i thought the headlights sail scope, and hood scope all look good


how does one wire new lights like that into the old electrical?

[LeftAngle]

I'm glad you like the NACA sail intakes.  They're are already in, but everything else still needs to be molded.  I'll consider your comment about the rear fender line, but my design is based on the short, high rear, typical of 1970 era race car design.  From the side, the rise is the same as the Type 62 of that time.  Back then, the additional rise was in line with Colin Chapman's wedge concept and necessary to add downforce.  This was an era where the rear wing was only being experimented with and the first attempts were disastrous, so downforce had to be accomplished via bodywork.  The rising, flat rear sections of the Ferrari 512M are a testament to how far designers went to accomplish this.  Being from the times of the Canadian American Challenge, the lines have nothing to do with the current rules of aesthetics, but are based on the rule of form follows function.

I had to leave earlier, so I didn't have the opportunity to finish my thought.  The other, more odd design feature of these mid-engined cars was the nearly complete removal of any vertical rear section that could trap air at the rear.  some cars extended the rear as evidenced in a few Porsche 917 long tails, but others removed as much of the rear surfaces as possible, other than keeping enough for strength and for keeping within tail and stop light rules.  From the rear, the transfer case, rear suspension and all the other mechanical bits became a part of the visual excitement of watching these cars in action.

I'm torn between removing the lower horizontal fiberglass between the tail lights on my car, and adding additional surface area beneath the existing bodywork in the form of an underspoiler.  I like the look and function of the underspoiler, but it's not 1970s technology.  I guess we all have to make compromises

Sorry exarkun, I forgot your question about wiring.  The only answer I can come up with and the one I'm probably going to have to do, is, Rewire.  I've about exhausted my patience with the PO's method of wiring and think new stuff would be the better route.  At least, everything would be labeled and if I start replacing the Lucas and Smith stuff with more contemporary gauges, it should work with everything else that I add.
Bruce

[LeftAngle]

Exarkun:

Last night, I analyzed the rear humps and ran tape about 1.5" beneath the original line.  I'll stand corrected in my statement.  I used the long curve of the 1969 McLaren M6GT's fender next to me as a guide for the height of the rise.  As you so wisely pointed out, the lower curve is much better.  Thanks.

[LeftAngle]

Along with the correction to the rear fender, I also worked on the headlights.  A 6" high intensity lamp and reflector is now mounted to the stock retainer.  I made a cardboard template that I'll transfer to 1/8" aluminnum plate and mount the stock inner chrome ring to that.  A 6" lens can then be set inside that. 

From the front, the headlamp has an oval shape that softens the hard look of the stock Europa.  The opening is still a tad bit too high and the reflector behind may have to be reduced to 4" and brought forward a bit to get legal coverage, but I won't be able to know if that needs to be done until the lens is in place.

There's also going to be more black surrounding the light than the Mirua has.  Maybe I'll be add more "bling" and try those eyebrows (the eyebrows I was referring to earlier were actual eyebrows that make the car look like those in a Disney movie).

To my eye, the whole thing is starting to come together, visually.  Woo, woo

Oh, now comes the work.  I take that woo, woo back.