The Zetec 'Ropacane

[Chuck Nukem]

Well my friends it has been so long that the forum is asking me if I am sure I still want to post in this thread!!

I apologize for the long over due update!!

I have some very exciting news to share...for the first time in my life...I live in a house...with a garage! Since this tremendous development took place I have been overcome with the urge to sand. I am pretty sure I have developed some sort of degenerative nerve condition from using my orbital sander so much.

My drivers side door hinge pin had rotted in to two pieces and seized at the bottom. Would not have been too bad if the door had not been yanked open by a previous owner... The bobbin in the door was totally separated. Has anyone ever tried this repair? I think I may be better off sourcing a new door. I ran in to quite a bit more body damage than I initially expected. There is a foot long crack at the rear quarter which was patched poorly, and the front fender had a previous repair that extended from the headlight to those big cracks from where a tree hit the car. She has had a hard life...

To think out loud for a second I am considering doing a euro turn signal conversion at this stage. Has anyone run in to any inspection related problems because of this? I have seen a few twin cams with shaved warts, but I am not thinking about going that far.


How is everyone out there???

[BDA]

Congratulations sure are in order for you, Chuck!! Your new house and garage and you've made good progress on sanding! The cracks shouldn't be too hard to fix. As for the door, I guess it all depends on if you can get a nice door or a trashed door. If you can get a trashed door (with the lower bobbin in place), it should be easy enough to cut it out of the donor door and graft it into yours. Otherwise, if you can find a good door, that may be the ticket. I don't know if the bobbins are available any more but even if they are, that could be an option, but grafting that chunk of the door seems easier to me.  Sports Car World is in your part of the world and I know they have been a good source of pretty rare parts in the past so I would check them out first.

Good luck and post more often!!! 

[Bainford]

Yes, congratulations indeed. Having your own garage for a project like this is surely a blessing. The progress looks great. BDA pretty much summed up my thoughts on the door repair. Cheers.

[Chuck Nukem]

Good stuff is coming guys...

[3929R]

A big congratulations on the garage and house.

To think out loud for a second I am considering doing a euro turn signal conversion at this stage. Has anyone run in to any inspection related problems because of this?

I'd think this would be dependent upon where you live. My car only needed an initial VIN inspection. Vintage plates exempt me from any other inspections.

[BDA]

Chuck, I totally missed your comment about turn signals. I did that. It wasn't difficult. You have to run your wire from your brake switch to your brake lights directly, then hook the turn signal wires to your new turn light. There maybe a little more to it than that, but not much. It's a good idea as red/white/amber lamps are available but I don't think the red/white lenses are any more.

[Grumblebuns]

The federal red/white lens are still available. I ordered a pair from SJ Sportscar in the UK earlier this year.

[BDA]

I stand corrected!  Thanks Joji!

[Chuck Nukem]

sneak peek

Just in time for me to have to drive from Dallas to Boston for work....

Anyone out there along the way have a drivers side door they want to sell me?

[BDA]

Ok, when are you going to end the suspense and tell us what the honeycomb and whatever else is in the picture will be used for?   

[Chuck Nukem]

I apologize for being a little too deliberately dramatic. It was a suspenseful week for me... my order of carbon fiber and aluminum honey come arrived the day I had to leave for a week long work trip. I had nothing else to think about on the 60 hours of driving  from Texas to Massachusetts and back!

I am going to do a carbon fiber/kevlar sandwich panel with a large piece of aluminum honeycomb to replace my old MDF firewall. Hopefully I will have time to start on that this week. I have a nice lab spec vacuum pump that I got from work. All that is needed now is to turn a few vacuum fittings on the lathe.

So ladies and gentlemen what will the outcome be? A disgruntled 3rd graders attempt at a science fair project, or someone who looks like they know what they are doing?? Tune in next time to find out!

[BDA]

That sounds like the highest tech firewall I've heard about! It should be a lot lighter than the marine grade plywood many guys use! Please post pictures while you're constructing it!

[Chuck Nukem]

I certainly will!

[Chuck Nukem]

I started my mold this week and so far things are going well. I just put my first layer of fiberglass over the gel coat and am eagerly anticipating the separation tomorrow! This is my first try at mold making. I also starting building up the cracked pieces of my chin spoiler to make a mold for that piece. Check out The Dukes of Norwich!!

I completely forgot to fill you all in to my goings on last week while I was in Mass. I stopped in Atlanta and got a nice gift from a man on craigslist....The back half of a twin cam europa! I also grabbed a drivers side door from a nice fellow with a type 62 project. That was a monster to behold...and sorry ahead of time but I did not take any pictures of it...Shame shame shame, I know 

I also happened to stop in Birmingham Alabama to see the Barber vintage motorsport museum. Let me tell you, if there is one place on earth you absolutely must see before you die...this is it! That's right, heaven is in Alabama. They had a lotus 11, sitting next to a type 47, sitting next to a type 26r, sitting next to a 23b, sitting next to a type 30, sitting next to a...you get the picture. They must have had about 40 loti of renoun sitting there to behold. Unbelievable.

To be totally honest I didn't know there were any lotus cars there when I decided to stop in. I went to see the incomparable Britten motorcycle. If any of you are not familiar with John Britten I highly recommend you watch the documentary "Backyard Visionary". He was a true individual with an uncompromising and relentless drive. In 1990 he and his friends made this bike in his garage in New Zealand by hand. It utilizes a carbon fiber body, carbon fiber suspension, CF wheels, frameless design (engine is the stressed member...which he sand cast himself!), a state of the art computer system that monitored the bikes performance. All these firsts and he decided to take it racing against the likes of Ducati. I won't spoil the movie for you...it is a real roller coaster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyht48MAOTw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV0FWljj6FE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTubQg_4_To

Hopefully I will be able to lay some carbon fiber of my own soon!

[BDA]

Having that spare back end sure helps. Good luck with it and keep those pictures coming! 

The Barber Museum is amazing. As you found out, besides motorcycles, they also big fans of Lotus and they have a nice collection of street and racing Loti. I'm not much for motorcycles, but I have to say I was fascinated by all the different ways one could build a motorcycle. They have an example of Gurney's (low CG) motorcycle. The last time I was there, I saw a motorcycle with A-arm front suspension. I hadn't heard of Britten but that was probably it. There are probably five floors of motorcycles (with some cars thrown in) from every time period and manufacturer. It reall is something not to be missed.

The videos on the Britten are fascinating, too. I don't know where he gets the time to have his kids after building all those motorcycles and his house! A very interesting guy. I think he's a brilliant lunatic! Who casts his own engine in his in his garage without the proper equipment and on a short time line?! Ok, I just finished the last video... What an amazing story!!! It's truly unbelievable! Thanks for the videos!