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Post by damarble on Oct 28, 2018 14:52:44 GMT -5
After some time agonizing over the windshield issue, I decided to go the 280ZX route. So I made the deal and drug it home. There won't be any VW in this build, but mostly Ford. The drive train will be a Duratec 3.0 and MTX-75. The front end will be Mustang 2. Rather than setting it on a bug pan, I'll build a tube chassis. I know this site is full of big dreamers but this isn't my first rodeo. I'm a millwright so I fab for a living. My daily driver is a v8 manual swapped sport trac with coilovers. Cut and pasting cars together is my hobby.  |
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Post by damarble on Oct 28, 2018 19:07:36 GMT -5
This body has been laying around for some time and seems to have developed some sag. I lifted the rear to get rid of the butt sag but the doors still don't line up well. I'm thinking the windshield frame corners sagged too without glass adding strength?
I think this might have been a driving car at some point, it has an Idaho VIN tag on the driver B pillar. This should help greatly when trying to get it legal.
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Post by damarble on Oct 28, 2018 19:47:42 GMT -5
Just found the build tag. Does the serial number have any meaning attached to it? Number 01245.
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Post by damarble on Oct 29, 2018 21:01:33 GMT -5
It's off the trailer and mobile. I screwed some HD 5" casters to some 2x6s and screwed the body to those. After standing next to it I realized I could shim it up just a couple more inches and see what ride height would be. A job for tomorrow night I think.
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Post by damarble on Oct 30, 2018 12:18:46 GMT -5
I sourced a 280ZX windshield locally and the guy can even cut it. The debate now is to cut it or make it fit as is. I'm holding off on that purchase unit I have the title.
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Post by srt8abee on Oct 30, 2018 13:45:05 GMT -5
Is the 280zx almost a direct contour just,just need to be trimmed down to fit
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Post by damarble on Oct 30, 2018 14:01:31 GMT -5
From skip's pics it looks like it's curved a hair less, needing some build up on the A pillars.
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recog
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by recog on Oct 30, 2018 14:27:06 GMT -5
Best wishes on your project... Like skip20 with SUBARU engine, you have a big project in conversion... My project is just restoration (new wiring, new fuse panels, restoration of old VW engine, new steering box, new transistor switching of lights and headlight motor, replacement of bolts and nuts to stainless, clean off rust, repaint of selected parts, etc etc..) and updating and I find it a BIG BIG BIG project... Like Brad ate my life... I tell friends I'm getting a new car one part at a time?
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Post by damarble on Oct 30, 2018 15:06:02 GMT -5
Thanks. It will be a lot of work. Skip is a great inspiration.
I'm nearing that point in my life when it's time to buy a sports car, but I never could just buy anything, had to build it. So here we are....
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Post by damarble on Oct 31, 2018 10:59:50 GMT -5
I started stripping the interior last night. I want a bare bones look and it needs to be removed for body work. It's white vinyl and I'm removing it carefully incase anyone wants it.
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Post by damarble on Oct 31, 2018 20:35:10 GMT -5
Haven't been able to work in it today but I did have plenty of brainstorming time. Last night I was sitting in the shell thinking about seats.
The poor situation for tall people is well documented, as well as the problem of fitting seats because of how they sit over the pan flange. The solution is simple, instead of copying the VW pan shape with my frame, there's some serious meat further out I can bolt to. I just need more of a perimeter frame and to cut off the flange, it will gain over 2" sideways! It also puts cage tie in points in much better places.
Moving on from there, I need to figure out a rotisserie to prep the body before mating to the frame. There's a shortage of solid spots to mount to that won't also be in the way. It might be a two stage process...
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Post by jspbtown on Nov 1, 2018 8:29:51 GMT -5
The best seats for the GT2 are the factory seats. Most aftermarket seats are too wide (even with your lip mod) and you have to lay them too far back and you lose all head support. By design, most VW based kit cars are very narrow.
Also, that flange offers significant stiffness to the side panels. When you remove it you will have a lot of flex that will have to be addressed. You might be able to glass in a new flange pointing outward or add some steel stiffeners to the bottom of the sides.
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Post by damarble on Nov 1, 2018 13:14:13 GMT -5
I'll have to measure when I get home what my total inside width will be. I think my chassis design will allow me to skip having a center hump, which will give room to fudge inward too.
Just sent Jeff the money for the manual CD, that sounds like it will be invaluable for a creation like this.
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Post by damarble on Nov 1, 2018 19:49:51 GMT -5
Took another measurement and my plan leaves me with 47" of empty floor space. With a 20-21" seat that still leaves 5-7" in the middle. I measured my other 4 cars and all the seats fell between that range, so it's a safe number to plan for.
I'm even better news, I made some title progress. It was titled in 99 as a "1983 special construction" in Idaho. I have the last known address and will see if the guy is still around, but after nearly 20 years chances aren't good.
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Post by jspbtown on Nov 2, 2018 11:57:50 GMT -5
20-21" seats are tough to find. At least ones that fit in the Bradley.
Do you not have a title for it now?
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Post by damarble on Nov 2, 2018 12:12:16 GMT -5
20-21" seats are tough to find. At least ones that fit in the Bradley. Do you not have a title for it now? All 4 cars in my driveway have seats in that range, 07 explorer, 01 explorer, 06 mercury montego, 05 Toyota matrix. I did find a local guy with GT2 seats so that option is there, but I would prefer something more modern first. I'm accounting for a significant floor drop and possibly no sliders. No title yet. I'm not going to sink any more money onto it until I'm sure of getting one. I found a number listed for the last owner but it was disconnected. I'll try mailing a letter to his listed address next. I've been mulling over what can be the tail light panel, it really is quite ugly. I think more of an undercut and a gentle vertical curve like a C6 corvette would improve the looks immensely. |
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Post by jspbtown on Nov 2, 2018 19:41:50 GMT -5
Wow...I would be shocked to see Explorer (or any of those actually) seats that would fit in a GT2..but I guess the measurements are the measurements. I will be very interested to see what you end up with. Most seats are probably 4-5" tall (at least) and that eats up a lot of headroom.
In order to get something more modern you might want to consider a large floor drop AND a body lift. Unless you are vertically challenged. I did a 3" body lift on stock GT seats with 1" tall sliders in the GT I did and it was barely enough head room for my 6'2" frame.
So do you have a VIN with the pan? Or a State issued VIN with the body? Since you are creating your own frame you could really just remove whatever state sticker was applied to the body since most states that I am aware of really look at the VIN on the frame. Does your state allow you to title a specialty constructed vehicle given the frame will have no VIN number?
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Post by damarble on Nov 2, 2018 20:35:17 GMT -5
Keep in mind I won't have a VW pan, so I have a little more freedom to design extra space into it. I set the body at ride height and set a spare explorer seat on the ground. I set the lean back where I like it. I'm 6 feet, and I think I can come up with enough head room with my floor 3" below the body flange. This is with planning to set the seat base right on the floor. I have some ideas for low profile slides to try out. I'm also thinking about making or having made the T top windows with a bubble for even more room. I think this can be done with a form and oven, more research is needed of course. I set a spare wheel/tire of roughly the right size in the opening and drew a mark to try out my corvette styling idea. I think I like it, and I can afford to give up space there with a middy.  |
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Post by damarble on Nov 4, 2018 19:16:46 GMT -5
Spent time today finishing stripping the interior and then started building a rotisserie. Disappointed to find the dash is glassed in on the back. Will be cutting that out, I want my own design.
I did some research and parts comparing and figured out how to convert the Contour 4x108 hubs to 5x4.5 using Escape parts. Not sure yet if I'll go through with it, it does open up some more wheel options and gets me tophat rotors for a parking brake. It's going to be about $300 in parts which isn't bad, but then again I could put that towards 4x108 wheels. I think staggered Cobra Rs would look great.
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Post by damarble on Nov 8, 2018 9:43:42 GMT -5
Not a whole lot to report, just finished the body side parts of the rotisserie. When I pull up on the nose the door alignment improves a lot more than when I pull up on the rear end.
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Post by damarble on Nov 20, 2018 20:33:07 GMT -5
I just got off the phone with the registered owner and he still has the title after 20 years! He's mailing it out tomorrow. My day has been made!
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Post by damarble on Jan 14, 2019 21:42:21 GMT -5
Been working on other things but I did just get the donor car stripped of everything and moving on to designing the rear subframe and suspension. Mostly posting updates to Facebook.
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