Fauxre

Coming along nicely.

Hi Dan Any progress pics?

Wow!! It's hard to believe that it has been 3 months since my last post. So much to do with the new place. No time to work on the VR or its eventual home (shop). After a week of temperatures in triple digits, it wasn't hard for my wife to convince me to push the shop construction back until the pool / spa is finished. I'll need a place to cool off during the daytime construction and some hot water jets to soothe those aching muscles after the day is done. We've settled on a pool design and it's now up to our landscape architect to work it into the over all plans for the 2.5 acres. These are screen shots from the pool designers laptop. We're hoping to start on the retaining walls in the next couple of weeks with the pool construction being completed sometime in the late fall . In the mean time I'll just keep taking the VR out a couple times a week to keep her limber.

Glad to hear your reg/license adventure (ordeal) is over. I'm expecting progress pics to be posted soon.

Nathan, there are several nice places for sale in that area, but none of them are cheap dates. Lucky for me I have a sugar mama.

Well, our first property of choice came back on the market and we snatched it up. If all goes well we'll be moving in next weekend. The 3 car tandem garage will be enough to keep the VR safe and dry until I can build the shop somewhere on the 2.5 acres.

WOW...What a can of worms. But now that you mention it, I do remember the DMV supervisor insisting that the vin should be left blank when she initiated my registration. I was concerned because I needed a vin number for the title bond. She told me to use the old vin for the bond, and that all the paperwork I submitted would be filed together thus tying it all together. No vin number would show up on the application until CHP issued a new one.

Are you sure BAR is sending something in writing? Approvals may be different, but I never received anything in written form...just the phone call from the smog station. Playing devils advocate, I do see what Bar is trying to avoid. They don't want people skirting smog requirements by simple making body mods and then claiming it's a "specialty built vehicle." I don't think the VW argument will fly since originals are exempt anyway and after market pans are not "factory cars." It seems that in order to qualify, you're gonna need a lot of major parts from different donors, the after market or a complete third party kit with a number of origin.

Well that sucks. I wonder if I would have gotten the same denial for my roadster if I hadn't also done the engine conversion. I guess it wouldn't have made much difference, since my donor was a'74 and smog exempt anyway. If there's no appeal process, I guess there's a couple of options: 1) Return the driveline to stock and register as the original year or... 2) Do an engine swap and try again for the SB100

Hi Ken. Glad to hear there's progress. Are you still planning on the Pantera style hatch? Love to see some pics.

So, you're now in that limbo phase waiting for BAR call back and give the the thumbs up, right? Fingers crossed!!

Thanks for the offer Nathan, but my son was more than happy to take it for awhile. It's great for those short drives to get pizza. And the weather has been so nice, it can be driven almost every day. Gotta love California.

Interesting... I don't have any and there was never even a hint that I needed these from my shop. Hope the BAR process goes smoothly.

Soooo, the VR has been on the road and legal now for about six months. The plan was to drive her hard while the weather allowed, then take her apart to; refine the bodywork, address fitment issues and fix any cracking that may have occurred. I'm happy to report that there are virtually no cracking issues. But it seems that I may not be getting to the bodywork and fitment for some time. After 22 years in our current house, the wife and I have decided to sell and move to a bigger place. Any work on the VR will have to wait until we relocate. The good news is that our new digs will have enough room for a proper shop to both finish the VR and work on several other projects at the same time... that is when we actually find that place. We found two properties that matched our criteria perfectly. Unfortunately, they both sold in a 24 hour period just two days before our house sold. So we are now looking for a temporary abode to live in until the right place comes along. So the VR, along with most of our stuff, will be in storage for the foreseeable future.

I spoke to a relative who owns a prototyping company. He's both a chemical and mechanical engineer and uses epoxies, fiberglass and carbon fiber technologies extensively. I expressed my concern, in that I had already bonded the rear tub using short strand fiberglass filler and secured it with expanding foam only. He assured me that by using epoxies all I would have accomplished was to spend a lot more money for the same result. He also said that the use of expanding foam is more than adequate to insure the tub will never move. I used screws to hold the door returns in place while the filler hardened, but removed them after the expanding foam cured. I suppose you could use rivets to do the same thing and leave them permanently if you wanted. I've been driving mine for over six months now, with no issues.

Glad to hear you found a rational / competent DMV employee. She must be the "REAL" Kit Car Lady. Lots of inspection stations in San Jose. If you want to shop around a little, try some of the shops listed here. http://www.yellowpages.com/downtown-san-jose-san-jose-ca/brake-and-lamp-inspection

Did you include photos of the installed body with your paperwork at the DMV office? I did. It might help illustrate that the car is a home build. The folks up here all seemed to be more into the process knowing all the work that went into the build.

The model year of his Z requires bi-annual smog checks. I believe he has modified the engine to the point that he will never pass the visual inspection. With an SB100 exemption, he can modify and swap to his hearts desire. Dan- I don't understand this business of "wasting" a sequence number. Do they really expect 200 home builders to apply for an SB100 exemption in the next 3 weeks when it has taken 49 weeks to issue 300? Is some poor guy going to have to wait all the way till Jan. 2, 2014 because all the 2013 numbers have been issued. !!!Unbelievable!!! Typical bureaucrat passing the buck. I would start from scratch with a different DMV office.

I'm sure the DMV offices in larger urban areas, like the south bay, deal with many more registration scams than here in Vacaville. Hopefully they're just being extra cautious and will see there is no intent or attempt to defraud. Just a guy building his "dream car".

Sorry to hear you're having so much trouble with DMV. This is the kind of nightmare I was anticipating when I started the process. Maybe you should come up to Vacaville DMV. I know they now understand the procedure and seem to be more interested in working within the spirit of the law, rather than enforcing the letter of the law.

Tracking down wiring issues is the most exasperating part of all the projects I've ever attempted. I'll probably go with the DEI stuff if I decide on electric poppers. I see we have he same door latches. They seem overly complicated to adjust and mine are so worn that I don't see any real possibility of getting them to work properly. I think these small latches would work much better.

Which power windows and locks did you use? My 260 doors won't latch without slamming...hard!! So, I've been considering Bear Claw door latches. Is that what you used? Any pics?

A short slideshow from the NCKCC website depicting the Knightsen event.

Yeah they took all three. My door plate was already off at my first inspection. I removed it to protect it when I did the tub bonding. The CHP officer wasn't thrilled by that, but understood my reasoning. Before my second visit, I started to pulled the dash to drill out the rivets on that plate. Turns out I didn't need to as I'd forgotten that I reattached that plate with some black silicone sealer when I refurbished the dash. Noticed it when I removed the cowling. Just popped it out with a screw driver. Not sure how I'd do it otherwise.

Aww, for some reason I thought you had a 240...makes sense now. With a current registration card and pink slip, DMV should be a breeze. And as long as the donor has never been reported stolen, CHP should be smooth also. Tip: Take some tools along to your vin verification for removing the old vin plates. The CHP inspector has to to take them before issuing you a new vin number/plate. I had to make a second trip a week later. Just don't mess with them before the inspection. As for lights... it's a kit car now!! The housings are of no consequence. And unless you're building a trailer, marker lights aren't required. I called the shop that did my inspection and asked what specifically they would be looking for. When he told me he would adjust the headlights to make sure they were within the proper range, I realized, that by mounting mine behind the fiberglass, I had covered the adjusting screws. Obviously I drilled some holes before going in. Calls to a few shops beforehand might save some time and frustration.