Guest Fast Frog Posted January 12, 2001 Share Posted January 12, 2001 Terry: I tried emailing you this question but my stupid server said that the message was "undeliverable", so I'll ask the question here. Your Zcar body styling, is that a kit or did you and/or a good body guy build the body mod components and put them together? Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted January 12, 2001 Share Posted January 12, 2001 I had sent the same question to Terry as well (About a week ago), as I'm very interested in the hood modification... the car is simply a work of art... Mike ------------------ http://hometown.aol.com/dat74z/myhomepage/auto.html "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted January 16, 2001 Share Posted January 16, 2001 Guys, I don't know if I have the "right" to answer for Terry, but he's not been in the forum for a few days. So, I'll let you know what I know about his ride from emailing him about 6 months ago: His car body is his own creation--it's awesome! He did it in fiberglass over florist foam (the green stuff) that was shaped by sanding I believe. He encouraged me to do the same--nice guy! The hood started as a fiberglass unit he found cheap and he went from there, designing the "GT-40" style hood. Awesome work, I'm telling you. With all due respect to Terry, this information was from memory and is 6 months old. Sorry if I goofed, but me thinks me gots it all right. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted January 16, 2001 Share Posted January 16, 2001 Hi guys As DavyZ said, I was gone a few days (thanks David). The body was done by hot glueing floral foam onto the metal parts of the body that I wanted to modify. There are two kinds of floral foam. A soft crumbly (will not desolve in the presence of resin) and the hard crispy (will desolve in contact with resin) type. I used the soft stuff at the time due to the large areas of coverage. After the blocks were glued on, I used an idiot stick with 36 grit paper and sanded to body to the final shape wanted. This fine foam dust will irritate the respiratory tract somewhat. Anyway, to maintain symetry, I cut out templates from corrigated cardboard. Then I worked this template into the foam (both sides of car with same template) to the desired depth and then pulled it back out of the foam. I then sanded the foam down until the grooves left by the templates were gone. This way both sides (fenders and quarter panels) were the same shape and size. Big point to remember is that when you do this just remember that the thickness of the fiberglass must be subtracted from the foam shape to get the final outside size of the final fiberglass pieces. Once the foam was the correct size, I layed up about 4 layers of 2oz mat (total thickness of about 1/8"). I did not use a fancy chopper gun, nore any specialized fiberglassing tools. In fact I used a short knapp paint roller to squeeze out the air bubbles caught between layers. Anyway, the lay-up of the entire body took 1 afternoon, and the sanding, finishing, and painting took 2 years. TIP: learn about glass with a book or two first, then make small parts like hood scoops, vents, etc first to get a knack for the temperature/hardener relationship, and then work up to bigger parts. On the hard (crispy) foam parts (smaller parts) I would cover the foam with a single layer of 2" masking tape to provide an insulating layer between the resin and foam so that the resin would not desolve the foam. Overlap the tap only a small amount, and rub the overlaps to make sure they are tightly sealed. When finished, the foam can be broken out or melted out (with lacquer thinner) and the part finished. On my Z the hood, fenders, doors, quarter panels, and deck lid are all fiberglass. These were done as one piece, and then cut up (thus they all matched up very nicely). The air scoops, radiator opening, and vents were added after the main body was finished as well as the underlying reinforcement to keep the parts from flexing very much. Sorry for this long post, but I wanted to get as much info as possible out to you guys at one time. Any particular questions can be answered at toxandale@spp.org until I get the computer on at the house. Terry Oxandale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Frank280z Posted January 17, 2001 Share Posted January 17, 2001 Damn Terry, two thumbs up. My mouth dropped the first time I saw the pics of your ride. Thanks for the info. I was curious too. Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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