Guest Mike Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 I just bought a trunk kit from ScorpianZ and there are no instructions. Has anyone installed one of these? It came with a fiberglass lid, fiberglass cross piece, two hinges, and 2 aluminum rectangles. Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelle Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 I've done it... and agree instructions are sorely lacking. Personally I wasn't happy with the hinges and redesigned them. Short version of the install is bond the aluminum rectangles to the underside of the trunk cross piece. DON'T go cheap with the resin, get the slowest curing Epoxy resin you can. DO NOT use cheap polyester resin like you would find in an autoparts store. You are attaching what will be the pivot point for the trunk hinge, you don't want the crosspiece or hinge mounts seperating. Once you have the aluminum bar stock glassed into the crosspiece you need to mock things up. Remove the rear hatch and the struts that hold it open and discard or sell or whatever - you won't need them anymore. Set the trunklid on the car and slide the crosspiece into place. With the parts in place use a sharpie or similarto mark off where you are going to need to grind away the paint, I do mean grind the paintaway.. don't worry about some gouges in the metal from a grinder as the rougher the surface, the better the resin will stick. With the paint ground off you need to begin fitting the pieces to prep them to bond.Try to leave at LEAST a 3/16ths inch gap in front and behind the trunk lid. You can tape some shims made from woodscraps in the gap all around to help with placement. You'll have to grind away the edges of the crosspiece to make them thinner and hammer down the stock steel body a little where the crosspiece meets the sides of the car to allow the crosspiece to fit in it's place. Once you are happy with the fit of the crosspiece drill a couple holes in each side all the way through the crosspiece and body to allow you a way to hold the crosspiece on with screws while it cures (and while you are finishing the hinges). With the crosspiece in place sit inside the back of the car facing the trunk and look at where the hinges come close to the aluminum you glassed into the crosspiece. You'll have some pieces of 90 deg. angle in the parts he sent. they are going to get bolted to the aluminum and need to sit in a position that places them alongside the ends of the hinges. once you determine where they are going to go mark the underside of the crosspiece to establish where you're going to drill and tap the holes. Remove the crosspiece and drill and tap the holes (preferably with a drill press so you don't accidentally drill all the way through the crosspiece). Bolt the angle pieces on and screw the crosspiece back in place. With the angles in place you should be able to determine how much material needs to be cut from the bar attached to the trunk. The short pieces of tube get welded to the ends of the bar in a position that will allow a bolt to go through the angle and the tube and act as a hinge. once you are happy with the fit you can unbolt the trunklid from the "hinge" and permanantly bond the crosspiece to the body. After it completely cures remove the screws holding it in place and use body filler and maybe a little more fiberglass to blend it properly into the existing car. Remeber you sstill will have to build up the back corners of the original hatch area a little as the trunk lid has rounded edges. through all this don't be afraid to sand a little off the edges of the trunklid to make the lines straight. In "as shipped" condition the edge is usually a little off. Next you just need to make a pattern for a window, and a trunk latch Many people don't end up using any window trim, I made ours out of a single sheet of aluminum.. Hope this helped, Chelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COZY Z COLE Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Chelle, I need a 5 1/2" cowl hood made of carbon fiber.... Sorry to highjack this thread... LARRY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelle Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Chelle' date=' I need a 5 1/2" cowl hood made of carbon fiber.... Sorry to highjack this thread... LARRY[/quote'] Hiya Larry, I know a few people who do carbonfiber.. I don't do it myself.. my real job is a computer techie.. you just want someone to splash a mold off a z-car hood and make a carbon fiber replica of one? Chelle ps - going to bed -will reply tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 I've done it... and agree instructions are sorely lacking. Personally I wasn't happy with the hinges and redesigned them. Short version of the install is bond the aluminum rectangles to the underside of the trunk cross piece. DON'T go cheap with the resin' date=' get the slowest curing Epoxy resin you can. DO NOT use cheap polyester resin like you would find in an autoparts store. You are attaching what will be the pivot point for the trunk hinge, you don't want the crosspiece or hinge mounts seperating. Once you have the aluminum bar stock glassed into the crosspiece you need to mock things up. Remove the rear hatch and the struts that hold it open and discard or sell or whatever - you won't need them anymore. Set the trunklid on the car and slide the crosspiece into place. With the parts in place use a sharpie or similarto mark off where you are going to need to grind away the paint, I do mean grind the paintaway.. don't worry about some gouges in the metal from a grinder as the rougher the surface, the better the resin will stick. With the paint ground off you need to begin fitting the pieces to prep them to bond.Try to leave at LEAST a 3/16ths inch gap in front and behind the trunk lid. You can tape some shims made from woodscraps in the gap all around to help with placement. You'll have to grind away the edges of the crosspiece to make them thinner and hammer down the stock steel body a little where the crosspiece meets the sides of the car to allow the crosspiece to fit in it's place. Once you are happy with the fit of the crosspiece drill a couple holes in each side all the way through the crosspiece and body to allow you a way to hold the crosspiece on with screws while it cures (and while you are finishing the hinges). With the crosspiece in place sit inside the back of the car facing the trunk and look at where the hinges come close to the aluminum you glassed into the crosspiece. You'll have some pieces of 90 deg. angle in the parts he sent. they are going to get bolted to the aluminum and need to sit in a position that places them alongside the ends of the hinges. once you determine where they are going to go mark the underside of the crosspiece to establish where you're going to drill and tap the holes. Remove the crosspiece and drill and tap the holes (preferably with a drill press so you don't accidentally drill all the way through the crosspiece). Bolt the angle pieces on and screw the crosspiece back in place. With the angles in place you should be able to determine how much material needs to be cut from the bar attached to the trunk. The short pieces of tube get welded to the ends of the bar in a position that will allow a bolt to go through the angle and the tube and act as a hinge. once you are happy with the fit you can unbolt the trunklid from the "hinge" and permanantly bond the crosspiece to the body. After it completely cures remove the screws holding it in place and use body filler and maybe a little more fiberglass to blend it properly into the existing car. Remeber you sstill will have to build up the back corners of the original hatch area a little as the trunk lid has rounded edges. through all this don't be afraid to sand a little off the edges of the trunklid to make the lines straight. In "as shipped" condition the edge is usually a little off. Next you just need to make a pattern for a window, and a trunk latch Many people don't end up using any window trim, I made ours out of a single sheet of aluminum.. Hope this helped, Chelle[/quote'] This helps tremendously. Thank you, Chelle!! You're awesome. I've never done this sort of body work. I suspected I would need to reshape the hatch with a hammer to accept the ends of the cross piece but I wasn't sure. I don't like these hinges either. What did you do for yours? Is there a ready made hinge I can modify? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelle Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Thanx The hinge arm glassed in to the trunk lid would be too much of a pain to try to remove as it's part of the structure of the lid. I modified the pivot point to extend all the way across to add some stability. Also the curve of the cross piece doesn't match exactly the curve of the trunk lid.. it is curved slightly more than the trunk (probably to account for the weight of the trunk and rear glass. You are going to want some kind of underlying support to tie into - say a piece of square tube welded to the steel body. What I did was use the screws across the lower window trim to pull the center of the cross piece down enough that the contour of the crosspiece matched the contour of the lid At work but I'll get you a few pics later Chelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Thanx The hinge arm glassed in to the trunk lid would be too much of a pain to try to remove as it's part of the structure of the lid. I modified the pivot point to extend all the way across to add some stability. Also the curve of the cross piece doesn't match exactly the curve of the trunk lid.. it is curved slightly more than the trunk (probably to account for the weight of the trunk and rear glass. You are going to want some kind of underlying support to tie into - say a piece of square tube welded to the steel body. What I did was use the screws across the lower window trim to pull the center of the cross piece down enough that the contour of the crosspiece matched the contour of the lid At work but I'll get you a few pics later Chelle I like the idea of adding the steel support under the cross brace. I'm not picturing in my mind what you did to the hinges though. I'm sure the pics will help. Have a great day... I hope to see pics soon:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelle Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 I knew I had a pic of the modified hinge next - if you look through the bottom of the back window you'll se the aluminum bar (3/4" tube, 3/16" thick) across the inside. The screws holding the window trim across the bottom are about 2" long and go all the way through the aluminum tube to help hold down the trunk crosspiece. After that was all put together I attached the aluminum sheet that is the rear firewall. Hope this helps! Chelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 I knew I had a pic of the modified hinge next - if you look through the bottom of the back window you'll se the aluminum bar (3/4" tube' date=' 3/16" thick) across the inside. The screws holding the window trim across the bottom are about 2" long and go all the way through the aluminum tube to help hold down the trunk crosspiece. After that was all put together I attached the aluminum sheet that is the rear firewall. Hope this helps! Chelle [/quote'] Wow... that looks great!!! I'll follow your recipe, Chelle. Thanks for the pics. Just a few more questions: I can see that the rear firewall is attatched to the back of the metal crossbar. Is it then screwed to the inner sheet metal? What guage aluminum did you use? Do you think using steel and spot welding it to the inner sheet metal is a good idea? What about using heavy gauge steel... will that help stiffien the body a bit? Does the firewall interfere with the tower braces, roll bar, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 how did you get the roof so even? I'm currently trying to pound out and fill all the dents on my roof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COZY Z COLE Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Mike, chelle, and Tom ..First I'd like to say I really like the kit and what people have done with it to make it a really fine looking car. HybridZ is not the place to rehash the past on the dealings that happened with ordering the kit between the three of you. Please take this off-line and get back to the original intent of this thread now. I had found it very interesting. LARRY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Scoripan Z should be glad that Chelle has an operating example of their rear hatch. Kit cars are about modifications and any modification should be of interest even to the maker. No where did I get the impression that she was bad mouthing Scorpian Z. She must have about the most kick ass privately owned GTO replica in existence with your modified hatch.Take a deep breath and relax, you will get over it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 C'mon guys. There's some good advice posted above. TOM: I do love your kit and your 100 percent okay in my book, bro'. I can only apologize so many times if I mispoke. Nothing is ever, ever, ever perfect. People will always find a way to critique some small thing... we implement good ideas and forget the bad ones. Opinions are like arse-holes... everybody has one and they all stink. 'Nuff said. CHELLE: I'm enamored with your GTO. Please don't take offense with my next few words. Your a great chick with a bunch of hot cars and you know how to build them. AND you're a computer geek. What more could a guy ask for?!? Dang... I wish I wasn't commited to forever bachelorhood. You'd be at the top of my list, baby!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COZY Z COLE Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 I have removed certain posts in this thread and will continue to if the poster doesn't stay with the original intent of this thread. Let's move on from this point. Thank You... LARRY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelle Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 Well thanx guys.. hopefully this gives you ideas for your cars.. For now I'm on way to work but wanted too at least get some more pics up for you to be able to see what I did on our car. I'll edit the post later with comments to go with the pictures. I used .060 aluminum bent on a brake, glued and rivited in place. It doesn't interfere with either the rollbar or the rear strut brace. Steel could be welded in place, ifI had it to do again I would have done it before premanantly bonding the trunk crosspiece as it was a lot easier to work on things before it and the lid were in place. Last two pics are how I atached the interior material before putting in the back window. Chelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Great Pics Chelle. Thank you... I'm fired up now!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Chelle, Nice car. How did you route the gasline with the filler relocation, or did you switch to a different tank to fit the dual exhaust? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 Anyone have photos or info on how they relocated the tank line with this conversion. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 Chelle, You are AWESOME!! I wish I had your auto skills. Well thanx guys.. hopefully this gives you ideas for your cars.. For now I'm on way to work but wanted too at least get some more pics up for you to be able to see what I did on our car. I'll edit the post later with comments to go with the pictures. I used .060 aluminum bent on a brake, glued and rivited in place. It doesn't interfere with either the rollbar or the rear strut brace. Steel could be welded in place, ifI had it to do again I would have done it before premanantly bonding the trunk crosspiece as it was a lot easier to work on things before it and the lid were in place. Last two pics are how I atached the interior material before putting in the back window. Chelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Chelle, Do you have a more detailed photo or info on the gas line to the tank Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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