Gt-12

[gwaii]

here's more the shape i'm going for.
i'm thinking if i build the whole thing out of cardboard and masking tape it will save a lot of time and money.i should have thought of this earlier.

for the back i was thinking of going rounded like the front,but then figured copying the back profile of the hood bulge would be a better plan.

some of you may be wondering why i'm putting all this effort into sheet metal when this thing is so close to rolling chassis stage.the fact is,the hood will determine the final position of the front wheels,and the front won't be able to get to rolling stage until i can confirm exactly where the wheels need to be.
i'm used to working on lifted trucks where the wheels have lots of room to move,and if more room is needed,you cut more fender away.with this thing,i'm working to get every 1/16 of an inch so i can get the tire as close to the fender as possible without it touching-no matter how it's turned or bumped.it's not as easy as it seems it would be just thinking about it.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

It's starting to take shape.


Richard

 

[gwaii]

bit by bit.hard to believe it's been less than two months.....of sporadic evening piddling.

 

[MountainMike]

I'm impressed Tom, it should be a fun little rig.

 

[gwaii]

I'm impressed Tom, it should be a fun little rig.

ooooh ya


even it it's slow,it should still be cool.and i don't think it'll be slow.

 

[gwaii]

so heres one of the problem areas.the vertical brace on the cage interferes with the tire when turning.i figured this would be a problem,getting the tires confirmed it.fortunately,it's easy to move.

another area of concern....it's that bump steer issue.as figured earlier,i could probably get away with it as is,but it's been bugging me.that means changing the lower arm geometry.what's there has to go.

another thing i need to do is build a bolt in brace to go between the strut towers.a cardboard template for the mount can be seen on the right tower.

with the arm removed,you can see where i cut a section out of the frame for clearance.this needs to go back.fortunately i saved the pieces i cut out,so i can just weld them back in.

the lower arm with a pivot bushing sitting where it needs to be,and the tie rod sitting in front of it.this makes the lower arm exactly the same length as the tie rod,eliminating bump steer.i'll cut the arm and weld on the bushing mount,and weld a tab for a radius arm to support fore/aft loads.the pivot mount will be bolted to the frame with the ability to shim for adjustment.

 

[AgPete139]

.

Looks great, man! Has it been ONLY 2 months already? I guess time flies, and at the same time your at a progession that most of us would be in 6 months - year!

I like the hood...




.

 

[_@_]

Dang gwaii, this is awesome.

 

[gwaii]

thanks....i've pretty much got things figured out enough that i should be able to get it to rolling chassis by monday.

had to spend a fair bit of time crawling around looking under it's skirt with a flashlight to find interference points from the front tires.

 

[Andres629]

Oi, she's tight. Time to bring out the sawzall?

 

[gwaii]

Oi, she's tight. Time to bring out the sawzall?

sawzall's already gotten a pretty good workout on this thing.

of course,when it comes to the fender opennings,i just want it as tight as i can get without contact from the tires.it's quite a challenge to make sure the are good not only when pointed ahead,but also through travel and steering.

 

[Andres629]

I know what you mean, my buddy built a drift car out of an 85 Toyota Corolla coupe, and put 15x10 rims on it and lowered it 2-3". Had a heck of a time getting the tires to not rub, even with widebody fiberglass fenders. That thing reminds me *kind of* of this build... a bit of a Frankenstein. A Mazda twin turbo rotary engine in a Corolla. Ugh...


Aaaaaaaaaanyhoo, looks great, can't wait to see the shell on 'er!

 

[gwaii]

that sounds like a fun project.those rotarys may not pull too good at the bottom,but they sure scream once you get them wound up.

 

[MountainMike]

that sounds like a fun project.those rotarys may not pull too good at the bottom,but they sure scream once you get them wound up.

And they sound like someone's revving a 2-stroke dirtbike at the bottom of a well. Only way I can describe that awesome sound they make.

 

[gwaii]

And they sound like someone's revving a 2-stroke dirtbike at the bottom of a well. Only way I can describe that awesome sound they make.

yup....had an rx7 that i used to race around-no engine mods,but stripped of everything that wasn't needed to make it go.had lots of fun with it till i sold it to someone that went full race with it.he's running road course at mission raceway.