Pics of car that I just finished-jmc14

[jmc14]

While I am waiting to get my Sammio Spyder body and get stated on my MX5 based Sammio build I have been busy trying to finish up a couple of projects. While not a Sammio I thought that some of you might be interested to see the car that I just finished.

Some details. I built an aluminum frame into which the suspension cradles and drivetrain from the C5 Corvette bolt into. The car has the stock C5 wheelbase and Z06 track but I moved the engine rearward by 22 inches for better balance. It has a modified LS6 aluminum V8 (500hp) and a 6 speed transaxle. The wheels and tires are stock from the C6 Z06. I designed custom headers and sidepipes. This is a one off body that I sculpted. My inspiration was the Lister (Jag) - Vette. Obviously it is not a copy but it has the Lister low cowl height and swoopy look. The car weighs 1980lbs wet and has 54% rear weight with me in the car. It is the best handling car that I have ever driven and it is fast. While the "true fire" paint job may not be for everyone it matches the paint job I did on a Hot Rod that I have built. I love building and am looking forward to the Sammio!

[Mister Towed]

Gosh, four hundred and ninety three horsepower and nine hundred kilos. Sounds like you're going to need some heavy duty undercrackers to drive that one old chap.

US translation of the above kindly provided by Google translate:

Sh*t man, awesome. Gonna need some plastic coated shorts. Sh*t.

Fantastic looking car btw, and apologies for the stereotypical portrayal of both nations inhabitants.

[garyh]

How do you make the moulds?
Gary H.

[jmc14]

I have done a few bodies of my own design. In fact I have built 8 cars since 2001. I started by having a flat platform built on a flat plate that is used to set up race cars. I set the flat platform at level and use a laser to make sure it's true. I build a wooden buck that is a couple inches undersized from my desired finished dimensions. Like Gary does with his cars I glue layers of foam to the buck. I sculpt 1/2 of the body until I get the desired look. Then using a razor blade I cut a 1/4 inch sheet of foam to fit the cross contour of the body. I do this for every 2 inches. I then flip the foam template to the other side of the car, making sure that it's set at the same height. I mix up some colored bondo and lay up a thin ridge of the bondo to the bottom of the template. I lay out the shape like this for every 2 inches. I remove the foam templates. Then I spray foam across the whole body. Carefully I sand the foam away until i hit the harder bondo ridges. When I have it where I want it I skim the entire car with bondo (body filler) When I have the body sanded out to the final shape I spray it with several coats of high build 2 part polyester primer. I wet sand this and then buff it until it shines like a fine paint job. Next comes several coats of wax and then it gets sprayed with a liquid mold release. Then I spray an orange tooling gel coat over the entire surface. Because I was not looking to make tons of parts I hand laid up 6 layers of fiberglass matt. This body is pretty simple and consists of only 2 parts. I designed it so that I didn't need any seams in the mold. Both the front section and rear section are layed up as a single part and can be removed from the mold pretty easily. A lot of work? YOU BET! I finished this car on tuesday 2 weeks ago. I had it my trailer, transporting it to my vacation home. I opened it up at a stop to make sure it was traveling OK. A gentleman came up and asked how much for the car. I gave him a price that I thought would blow him away. He bought it on the spot! Now, I have to build another one!

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by jmc14

I have done a few bodies of my own design. In fact I have built 8 cars since 2001. I started by having a flat platform built on a flat plate that is used to set up race cars. I set the flat platform at level and use a laser to make sure it's true. I build a wooden buck that is a couple inches undersized from my desired finished dimensions. Like Gary does with his cars I glue layers of foam to the buck. I sculpt 1/2 of the body until I get the desired look. Then using a razor blade I cut a 1/4 inch sheet of foam to fit the cross contour of the body. I do this for every 2 inches. I then flip the foam template to the other side of the car, making sure that it's set at the same height. I mix up some colored bondo and lay up a thin ridge of the bondo to the bottom of the template. I lay out the shape like this for every 2 inches. I remove the foam templates. Then I spray foam across the whole body. Carefully I sand the foam away until i hit the harder bondo ridges. When I have it where I want it I skim the entire car with bondo (body filler) When I have the body sanded out to the final shape I spray it with several coats of high build 2 part polyester primer. I wet sand this and then buff it until it shines like a fine paint job. Next comes several coats of wax and then it gets sprayed with a liquid mold release. Then I spray an orange tooling gel coat over the entire surface. Because I was not looking to make tons of parts I hand laid up 6 layers of fiberglass matt. This body is pretty simple and consists of only 2 parts. I designed it so that I didn't need any seams in the mold. Both the front section and rear section are layed up as a single part and can be removed from the mold pretty easily. A lot of work? YOU BET! I finished this car on tuesday 2 weeks ago. I had it my trailer, transporting it to my vacation home. I opened it up at a stop to make sure it was traveling OK. A gentleman came up and asked how much for the car. I gave him a price that I thought would blow him away. He bought it on the spot! Now, I have to build another one!

Wow! So, what do you do in your spare time?

[garyh]

That you could recommend to me. Even if i could make a bonnet scoop, that would be a start!

[jmc14]

I know that there are books and dvd's out there but I have never used them. In the beginning I hired a fiberglass specialist to build my designs. I worked along side him to learn. I do know that there is a company on line called fiberglast. They sell materials as well, I believe as instructional materials. Have fun.