Vacaville Velo Rossa

[78zstyle]

Fauxre,

 

First I'd like to say, you are very talented for accomplishing this by yourself. Awesome progress and awesome car. Can't wait to see the finished project.

 

I might of missed it, but what are the specs on your engine?

[Fauxre]

 

 

...I might of missed it, but what are the specs on your engine?

 

Nothing exotic...

 

Block is a boneyard SBC 350 (4 bolt mains) w/stock internals, out of a '73 pick-up.

'67 GM Camel Humpback heads

Edelbrock Perfomer Intake

Edelbrock 650cm 4bl Carb

Sanderson Ceramic Coated Block hugger headers

 

I have no idea what kind of horse power or torque it makes.

Edited July 6, 2013 by Fauxre

[ry579233]

Glad to see the updates and that all is going smoothly! 

[Fauxre]

Still playing with photoshop.  Still waffling on color.  But it keeps me from obsessing over the poor fitment issue of the bonnet.  I'll need to deal with that soon.  

 

My hotrod / muscle car friends like Candy Apple red...

 

 

My Mopar buddies like Plumb Crazy...

 

 

and my surfer dudes dig the Mellow Yellow Velo.

 

[Fauxre]

Took the VR around to a couple local body shops to get a ball park figure for final body work before paint. YIKES!!   The lowest estimate was $8-10k just to get ready for paint. I know that's probably pretty average, and maybe a little low, for a high end finish, but I was hoping for something closer to my means. Looks like I'll be spending a lot of hours this winter sanding.   

In the mean time, I've been playing with more colors. Root Beer was suggested to me last week. My second car was a TR4A that was a metallic root beer w/ a wide gold racing stripe. Man I miss that car. So here's what I came up with.



It was way too hot yesterday to drive the VR for more than a few minutes...without getting heat stroke. So, I cranked up the AC and spent the day sitting at the computer... depressed... "painting" the VR in cool colors.





Think I'll try some greens next.

[Dan_Austin]

That price would not seem bad if you had:  a lot of old paint to remove, rust, dented

and wavy sheet metal.  I guess the gel coat could be in rough shape and need

significant effort (I hope not, my VR kit arrives tomorrow), so prep and body work

should be minimal.

 

Your two-tone will require extra effort to layout, but even that should not be outrageous.

 

And my wife wonders why I want to paint mine matte black when assembled.

 

Oh, and the root beer looks so very right on this shape...

Edited August 20, 2013 by Dan_Austin

[Fauxre]

Hi Dan, 

Is John W. delivering your kit?  He said he was going to be up your way this week.

 

I think the high cost is directly related to my inexperience in making custom mods and the mistakes I made installing the kit (especially the door skins).  There are a lot of "rough" areas.  It certainly isn't an issue with the quality of the kits gel coat.

Edited August 22, 2013 by Fauxre

[Dan_Austin]

He is making the delivery which saved me enough for the tail lights and

other small bits.

 

I've never worked with glass before either, so I'm glad you documented your

challenges. It was part inspiration and motivation for me jump in.  BTW, would

you object to sharing where your SPCN fell in the range of 1 to 500?  I'm trying

to decide if I go into the DMV next week or if I need to wait until January.

[Gollum]

That seems a bit high to me too, but as I've been told from several friends who've worked for body shops 75% or more of the work is prep work. If you bring in a TRULY "ready to paint" car, the price is extremely low by comparison.

 

Even typical factory five kits need a LOT of work to really come out "perfect". I can't wait to see their new 818 in person since it's their first gel coated panels that are "zero paint" or "paint ready" as they ship. I've personally never seen smaller outfits pull that off, but the early reports seem positive.

 

Which unfortunately means if you want to save money it looks like you WILL be spending a bit of the winter sanding.

 

BTW, we still need to hook up, and I know it's COMPLETELY my fault.

[Fauxre]

Dan-

My number was 135.  There's really no point in applying for the certificate of sequence though, until the car is ready for the title/registration process.  If I remember correctly the number is only valid for 90 days.  If you haven't finished the process by then, you have to start all over.  Thats's the bad news.  The good news is that the numbers are available all year round now.  There were lots available last November when I first looked into it.

 

I documented the process and fees here....http://www.madmechanics.com/forum/build-diaries/16594-how-do-car-replicas-pass-inspection.html

 

OOPS...most of my posts in the above link are duplicates of ones in this thread... but the conversation is interesting.

 

....BTW, we still need to hook up, and I know it's COMPLETELY my fault.

 

Nathan-  No worries...  I know how hectic things can get when you have a little one.  You're welcome to come by anytime or I'd be happy to bring my baby by your place or meet somewhere if you'd prefer.  I'll be around town all weekend.

Edited August 22, 2013 by Fauxre

[Dan_Austin]

That is an excellent read, thanks for that.  It is also great to know that sequence

numbers are still available.  I have an aggressive install schedule, but I can relax

a bit about starting the paperwork.

[Fauxre]

So Dan, whats the scope of your project?  Will you be doing an engine swap or other mods along with the body kit?  

 

You'll be doing a build diary for all of us voyeurs, right?

[Dan_Austin]

I've had the Z for about 5 years, after purchasing it to be my daily driver.

All the mechanicals have been refreshed or updated-

    83 ZX Turbo w/large ebay intercooler and 3" mandrel bent exhaust

    81 Wide ratio 5 speed

    Obx helical diff w/3.90 gearing & RT diff mount

    Wilwood Forged superlights in front and Silvermine Stage 4 in the back, 1" Wilwood master

    Full urethane bushings swap

    Eibach springs and Tokico blue strut inserts

    CS130 alternator swap

 

The cosmetics have always been the least of my concerns, but the missus finds it ugly.

The turbo swap happened after having major issues with the stock 76 setup passing, not for

numbers but the visual, so I decided to go whole hog with the SB100.  The wife surprised

me by liking the VR kit, so the project went from fantasy to real very quickly.

 

I stripped the front end and all lights last weekend.  I choose the bolt on cheek panels, and

hope that I can have the nose mounted this weekend, with the doors and rear tub to follow

the following weekend (but may drag out).  I've ordered a set C5 euro spec tail lights and

collected the pigtails to build the proper harness, which might happen after work next week.

I cut the rear fenders two weeks back in anticipation of starting (look honey, I cannot change

my mind now, it is even uglier....)

 

I am hoping to remember to take photos, but I often get engrossed in the work and forget to

eat or drink, much less record the progress.  Before, mid-way and after happens to be my

typical build log.

[Fauxre]

Sounds like a great build.

 

One suggestion;

 

I had a real issue installing my tail lights.  I don't know how deep the C5s are.  If they're more than an inch deep, and you mount them roughly where mine are, you may have a clearance issue with old sheet metal.  My lights are mounted roughly in the orange rectangles in the below pic.  I couldn't access the area very well after the tub was installed and it was almost impossible to cut the old sheet metal through the holes I made in the fiberglass.   There are actually three layers of sheet metal forming the seam where the floor meets the valance and the rear panel. 

 

 

 If you need to make room, do it before you mount the tub.

 

If I had to do it again, I'd weld in some reinforcement and cut out the entire rear panel.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Fauxre

[Boy from Oz]

Wes - You've frightened the daylights out of me with those quotes, not so much about the cost but the realization that there is so much work to be done. I dragged the 'Puckett' front section out from under the house today and rather than look at it I ran my hand over it... You're right, there are a lot of surface irregularities that are going to need bog and sanding. Oh well, what's another couple of years to completion.

[Fauxre]

Not sure what happened to post #194.  It posted twice and both times without the pic.  Deleted duplicate post and added pic... hopefully it makes more sense now.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2013 by Fauxre

[Dan_Austin]

The lights are scheduled to arrive tomorrow, and I will be checking that very closely.

 

The lights are between 2.5" and 4" deep from memory.  I'm playing with a couple

designs, the lights a slightly oval, so am thinking to mount them on an angle, which

would move their center up ( / /  Plate \ \ ) or the basic ( - -  plate - - ).  A big goal is to

maintain access to the bulb sockets from inside, but that seems more and more unlikely.

[Fauxre]

Dan-  I like the angled configuration idea...unique.  I think you're definitely going to have clearance issues.

You can see here where the center of the VR rear panel falls in relation to the Z sheet metal.  The gap between the old exterior and the rear tub is only an inch or so.

 

 

I'd recommend doing something like espeery did here, in order to get good access from the inside. 

 

 

The existing Z tail light holes make it awkward to access my light mounts, so I tried to make them bigger.  This resulted in a lot of sharp edges that cut my hands to shreds when ever I work on the lights.

Edited August 26, 2013 by Fauxre

[Fauxre]

...Oh well, what's another couple of years to completion.

 

 Completion???  We both know these projects are never really complete.  I've been driving mine for a month now, and even though she still needs bodywork, paint and an interior, I already want to upgrade the suspension and drive train... you know, all the things I've "completed."

[Dan_Austin]

That is a little more aggressive than I planned, but it is an option.  The housings

are fairly shallow, with the central socket 3.5" deep from the mount surface. 

 

I had another layout in mind ( _ -- plate --_ ), but that would definitely cause

a depth issue.  Since I have not bonded my tub yet, I will pick the style I like,

install the lights and check the fit.  At that point I can decide if I want to do

more cutting or make small pedestals.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Dan_Austin