KnightoftheRound Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 For instance, I am doing the whole wire tucked bay thing. I no longer need the fire wall wire harness hole or wiper harness hole. I also no longer need several screw holes. For the wiper and wire harness holes, I cut a small square piece of sheet metal and welded it behind them, but obviously its still inset there. I also need to smooth out where I welded some new metal where the battery was. Are body fillers OK to smooth out these small things in the engine bay? Last thing I want is to go through all this work having a clean engine bay and the thing crack or what not. The stuff wouldn't be much thicker than like 1/16" inch. Probably more in the battery area. -Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litman Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 I certainly hope so. I have done this and am currently in the high build primer sanding phase. I have no practical experience as to whether or not it will crack however various forms of fillers are used on a very regular basis. Based on advice from my local auto paint supply shop I can tell you the approach I have taken. I too used backing fill plates in some locations and flush welded plates in others. Flush is always better but backside works too. For those areas that had a backside plate, and any other moderately deep defect, I used a fiberglass filled compound such as Pro-Glas. It has a lot more strength and should better resist cracking. After lots of sanding this was followed by the standard filler such as Feather Rite. After copious hours of sanding it was catalyzed sealer followed by high build primer and, you guessed it, a lot more sanding. Depending on the level of perfection you want in the engine bay be prepared for a lot of filling and smoothing. The pictures below so my progression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightoftheRound Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 Looks good, you modified your bay a LOT more than I plan on doing. As mine sits, I have camber plates welded in, brackets removed, some holes I definitely will never use again welded up, wire harness holes welded up with backing plates. Sitting in self etching primer right now. Are those brackets on your shock towers for mounting a strut bar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litman Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Are those brackets on your shock towers for mounting a strut bar? Yes. I made carbon fiber engine bay bracing to go along with the Cusco STB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 very nice work!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitsnaugle Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 While on the discussion of engine bays and seeing that nice bracing work. Is there someplace to purchase weld-on brackets for rod ends like that? Im very out of touch with chassis hardware suppliers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litman Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 There may be off the shelf tabs available but I am not aware of them. I put a lot of thought into the method of connecting everything and needed a lot of unique bits to pull it off. I made templates which were converted into metal tabs & brackets by a local machine shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTHALOSISM Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Heck with the brackets how did you make them perty CF braces? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litman Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I researched for and purchased two diamters of carbon fiber tubing in 6' lengths and matched these with two lengths of 6061 aluminum rod. The aluminum rod OD is almost identical to the CF tubing OD. Lastly I bought matching pairs of left hand and right hand threaded heim joints. After figuring out the triangulation I wanted in the engine bay I measured the lengths necessary and cut the CF tubing. The aluminum rod was cut into 3" lengths, two for each tube. The aforementioned machine shop turned the aluminum end pieces to the ID of the tubing, leaving a little at end to form a lip/stop. He also center drilled and tapped the end pieces so the heim joints would thread in. In addition I had him cut a little relief into the end pieces to allow a little extra epoxy to help bond the aluminum to the CF. I am pretty pleased with the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I certainly hope so. I have done this and am currently in the high build primer sanding phase. I have no practical experience as to whether or not it will crack however various forms of fillers are used on a very regular basis. Based on advice from my local auto paint supply shop I can tell you the approach I have taken. I too used backing fill plates in some locations and flush welded plates in others. Flush is always better but backside works too. For those areas that had a backside plate, and any other moderately deep defect, I used a fiberglass filled compound such as Pro-Glas. It has a lot more strength and should better resist cracking. After lots of sanding this was followed by the standard filler such as Feather Rite. After copious hours of sanding it was catalyzed sealer followed by high build primer and, you guessed it, a lot more sanding. Depending on the level of perfection you want in the engine bay be prepared for a lot of filling and smoothing. The pictures below so my progression. I like your project. Do you have a build thread going? Nice work on the LS mounts BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litman Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I like your project. Do you have a build thread going? Nice work on the LS mounts BTW. Alas, despite numerous prods from 1TuffZ I have yet to start an actual build thread. Partially because I have had this intense fear of failure and I really didn't want the whole (likely partial) HybridZ community see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTHALOSISM Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Thanks that helps alot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Litman, that's some beautiful work. Great job ! jt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 My filler holds. But I didn't use much so my layers are very thin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightoftheRound Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 Thanks for the responses guys. I feel better now. Welding in the sway bar plates tomorrow, and beginning the smoothing and seam sealing the bay after that. Pretty sure the filler and sealer wouldn't appreciate the heat of a TIG welder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor_Zedman Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 BRAVO! on the work man do you recommend this bracing setup on a VQ35 swap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litman Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 do you recommend this bracing setup on a VQ35 swap? If you are using your car aggressively (Auto-X, HPDE, etc) anything you can do to stiffen these noodles we call Z cars is a good idea. I have no empirical data to confirm my design works however it makes sense geometrically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wedge Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Wow love the look your giving me ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.