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Vacaville Velo Rossa


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Started and finished the passenger side today. It was quite a bit easier than the driver side. Adjustments went much faster since I already had fairly accurate starting points.

 

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Operates even smoother than the driver side.

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  • 4 weeks later...

More minor progress.

Found these generic power window switches here, Express Parts.

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They were cheap, easy to wire and fit nicely in the center console.

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Gathered together all the seat belt pieces for reinstallation. Problem!! The unibody reinforcement interferes with the original mounting locations on the door side. Not confident that I can make modifications to the original units, so I guess I'll be looking for after market solutions.

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Started to move the gear shift lever to the center of the console opening today.

 

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The old lever is made up of an outer hollow tube attached by rubber to an inner solid steel post. Using my small grinder with a cut off wheel, I cut off the upper portion of the tube just above the rubber, split the lower portion and rubber down to the post and peeled each section off with a screwdriver.

 

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Scraped most of the remaining rubber off with a utility knife...

 

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and ground the post clean with the grinder and a 3M flappy pad.

 

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Back in the car, I'll do some eyeballing to get the right angle before welding an adapter plate to the post.

 

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After hours of trial and error, the gear shift lever is in it's final position. A small metal plate is welded to the shortened shift post. The gear shift lever (from a Datsun 510) is bolted to the plate. The lever has flat sides from the bottom threads to just below the bend. If it starts to spin in the bolt hole, I'll add some flat stock on top of the plate to keep it straight.

 

 

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It looks pretty simple, but it took forever to get the plate angled just right. Too much twist one direction and the lever was hitting the console in 1st,3rd and 5th gears. Too much in the other direction and I'm knocking my drink out of the cup holder in 2nd, 4th and reverse.

Edited by Fauxre
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Awesome workmanship! Great job building this kitcar... there is something odd about the kitcar shape though, if you compare

it to the real Ferrari 250 GTO, i can't put my finger on it but all the kit cars i've seen look like they have been shortend or something... maybe it's just me?

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It's not 'just you'. The Datsun based kits look much taller than the original GTOs. And that's just fine with me, since my intent was to make my own custom car... not a replica. The Velo Rossa is really just inspired by the curvaceous Ferrari. Boy from Oz is doing a 250 GTO that is much truer to the originals. Here are a couple of his pics from the GTO Owners thread that depict the different profiles and some of BfO's work to create a true replica. His attention to detail is amazing.

 

 

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I don't know much about the original 250 GTOs, but it's my understanding that they were all hand built, giving them each their own unique set of dimensions anyway. No two alike. I don't even know if they all had the same wheelbase.

 

Dropped mine off at the muffler shop today... she'll be purrin' by Wednesday.

Edited by Fauxre
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Here's the exhaust. Pretty simple. Unbolt at the collectors and one more at each muffler, and the whole thing drops straight out. And everything tucks nicely in the center tunnel with no ground clearance issues.

 

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The pipes extending through the valance are just wedged into the muffler outlets, so I can play with some tips.
biggrin.gif

 

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But now that engine noise is low, the fuel pump noise is very loud. I'll need to deal with that at some point.
frown.gif

Edited by Fauxre
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I decided on an inexpensive stereo for the time being. Basically all I need is a radio for a ball game and a way to play my ipod music. I chose an inexpensive Boss unit with a pop-out ipod dock... no CD/DVD player. Once it arrived, I immediately saw that in the stock mounting configuration, my ipod would hit the plastic heater surround. I modified both the console and the surround to move the stereo forward.

 

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It will even take an iPhone now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Exciting news today.

I can get new synthetic leather seat covers with a custom VR logo from the guys at Interior-innovations! for a great price.

 

Just gotta decide on colors. Some photoshop magic using a couple of their sample colors. I like the high back Z seats with the two tone european style...

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or something like this maybe...

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Edited by Fauxre
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

There's actual progress to report on several fronts.

 

1. I simplified the mods to the center console and heater facia. The way I originally moved the stereo forward, to accommodate its iPod dock, covered up the emergency flasher switch, eliminated space for other switches (most likely for the seat warmers) and gave the whole console a bulky look. sad.gif Tacky!!!

post-4015-021935000 1350788635_thumb.jpg As for the heater facia, I filled in the seat belt warning light and the corresponding empty box on the opposite side of the map light, and smoothed out all the textured surfaces in preparation for the hydro-printing process. Still a lot of sanding to be done.

 

 

 

 

2. I stripped the seats to their skeletons, disposing of the ripped vinyl upholstery and broken-down smelly foam underneath. Disassembly was not an easy task! I had to heat at least two bolts on each seat to break them loose. Where ever there was adhesive, there was rust. And where ever there were moving parts, I found thick half dried grease. What a mess. wacko.gif The nooks, crannies and springs got sandblasted... the seat-back shells got hit with the grinder... the bolts and reclining mechanism pieces went into the vibratory cleaner for a couple days... then, after a coat of rust treatment, everything got a couple coats of black paint and reassembled.

post-4015-017413600 1350788639_thumb.jpg They look good and operate perfectly. New foams, butt warmers and custom seat covers (still haven't decided on the color combo) to be ordered next week... barring unforeseen circumstances.wink.gif

 

 

 

 

3. Picked up door panels with speaker pods from Pete today.

post-4015-044184900 1350788637_thumb.jpg Nice, quality pieces. So, as soon as I got home, I went to work on the drivers side panel. The metal top piece was a mess. Just like the seats, there was rust everywhere there was glue. No problem for my trusty grinder and a flappy disk. More rust treatment and some primer later...

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...and behold a solid, like new base for a custom interior.post-4015-012156000 1350788638_thumb.jpg

 

 

4. And lastly, I've begun the process of title/registration with Ca. DMV.ohmy.gif I figured I'd get the ball rolling and have everything in order when the new year rolls around so I can get one of the 500 Certificates of Sequence issued each year for special built vehicles. If you don't know, a Certificate of Sequence (COS) allows the vehicle owner the choice to title a "special built vehicle" as the year of the engine or the year that the body most represents. Thus exempting it from the current years smog requirement. I know from other owners of replica cars, that DMV usually runs out of COS's in the first few days of the year.

I made an appointment, gathered all my receipts and required forms and marched into DMV feeling pretty good. That feeling didn't last long. The poor guy who helped me had never done this procedure before. He spent a lot of time referring to a DMV procedure manual and consulting a supervisor. Eventually he informed me that there was good news... and bad news. The good news is that there are still COS's available for 2012. It seems that there have been changes in the law concerning the way custom shops go about registering their creations now. They no longer need COS's, leaving them for home builders like me. The bad news is that I've lost bills of sale for a couple of the major components used in my project. Since I can't prove ownership of these parts, I'll need to get a motor vehicle bond in order to title the car. The only word that flashed into my head was "EXPENSIVE"!!!! cry2.gif I left DMV pretty depressed.

 

A few hours later I began researching bonds on the internet. As it turns out, a motor vehicle title bond is easy to get and not expensive at all, at least not for the fair market value of my car. And it actually simplifies the title process by substituting for all those receipts. 2thumbs.gif

With the mystery that is the titling/registering procedure fairly clear now, I'm feeling a lot better. I don't have to rush toward a deadline of January.

Edited by Fauxre
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New seat foams arrived yesterday. Still two weeks before the new skins and butt warmers get here. In the meantime, I'll be looking for the clear acetate material to cut new protective pieces that go between the skins and seat mechanisms.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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