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  #161  
Old 08-11-2017, 04:16 PM
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Gojeep Gojeep is offline
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Good stuff Joel. Thanks for showing it.
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  #162  
Old 08-11-2017, 05:12 PM
Dave K. Dave K. is offline
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Joel,
Wow that is really great work! You work is inspiring! Thanks for the detailed explanation, for a novice like me, it helps me understand how you overcame problems! I really appreciate it and learned a lot! Great job!
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  #163  
Old 09-21-2017, 05:20 PM
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Post Radiator fill cover

I’ve now filled all the large body openings (e.g. doors, trunk, etc.) and it’s time to build a cover for the radiator fill opening. This opening is right out in the middle of the sloped body nose and needs to be done neat so it blends in.

I started by making a cardboard template for the shape of the hole to be covered.



I decided to use a piano style hinge and Dzus style fastener on the cover. My first thought was to keep it very simple and attach these directly to the fiberglass lip/flange on the inside of the hole. After some mockup with the hinge, I decided to fabricate a base plate to hold the hinges and latch wire. Part of this is because the cover needed two short pieces of piano hinge versus a single longer piece. The cover has a crown causing a single longer hinge to bind.

The base consists of a plate with a flange around the whole edge. I decided to weld the flange on with a series of tack welds given the curve on the openings front. My “extra hands” stand facilitated easy flange alignment to base during welding.



The base flange has slotted holes for fill cover height adjustments.



I cut a piece of Al 3003 .063 just a little oversized and then added a crown on the Ewheel.



I then used a curved template to check the crown so it would match the surrounding body area.



Fasteners for cover to hinge and Dzus are exposed on the cover surface. This made countersunk rivets the best choice as the heads are flush with the surface and shouldn’t show through the paint. I used 1/8” soft aluminum rivets.

After trimming and filing to fit the opening, here’s the completed cover in place.



Completed cover in open position. The gap at the cover back edge needed to be wider than sides/front for clearance during opening. In addition, I cut a small groove in the flange just below the body surface to give a small pocket for additional clearance.

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  #164  
Old 09-22-2017, 03:20 PM
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Post GTO hood scoops

The GTO has some rather unique hood scoops that function to provide fresh air to the car’s interior. The location and clear plexiglass material is what makes them unique. Here’s what they look like on car 3451GT.



I want to include these hood scoops on my GTO but they will just provide some fresh/cool air over the headers instead of ducting air into the cockpit. I anticipate they will serve more as “eye candy” than anything else.

I started by making a cardboard template that matches the scoop measurements and placement taken from car 3943GT.



My first impression was that spacing between hood edge, scoop, and center bubble/bulge is quite a bit larger on my GTO than the originals. Yes, my hood is wider as my GTO is 6” wider than the original and I had made the hood proportionally wider. I looked through my GTO picture archives and it turns out there’s a variance on the size of these hood scoops between the original GTOs. I decided a visual mock-up was needed so I grabbed a piece of scrap and shaped it up.





The main question I was trying to answer is if this size was good or should they be bigger. I was hesitant on bigger as I don’t want to introduce too much air into the engine compartment. Too much air could result in a high-pressure area under the car and that’s not good for high speed stability at all. With the mock-up visual, I decided this size was fine. In fact, I liked the extra spacing as compared to original GTO it looks less crowded, so better from the eye candy perspective.

Now for how to make the scoop for real out of plexiglass. I took a scrap piece of 1/8” plexiglass and heat formed it over the aluminum mock-up scoop. Given the small size, I could heat form it adequately using an electric heat gun. It sort of worked but more support was needed around the edges.

I then made up a new form that would provide support around the flange area as well as the scoop front. I could theoretically make two scoops at once with this but my real objective was just to make two scoops with the same shape. I made the form this way as it’s much easier to control the shape of a bulge when there’s a consistent frame around it.



I then gave it a go with the new form, heat gun, and plexiglass piece. Lo and behold, it worked good. I needed to press down on the warmed plexiglass in the transition area between scoop bulge and flange to get a sharper transition there. I used a smooth wooden paint brush handle to hold the plexiglass down as it cooled and this seem to work well with minimal marking.

This is my first attempt at shaping plexiglass and the result is not too bad.





As a word of caution for those who want to attempt this themselves, if you put too much heat into the plexiglass, it can form bubbles inside. So, the trick is to find the “Goldilocks” heat zone where it’s pliable enough to form but not so hot that the material gets damaged. Bottom line, I still need to make two of these if I want them both to be crystal clear all over.
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  #165  
Old 09-22-2017, 03:33 PM
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Nice results.
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http://www.allmetalshaping.com/showthread.php?t=154
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  #166  
Old 09-22-2017, 05:31 PM
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Superleggera Superleggera is offline
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Just be careful tightening the bolts as the plexiglass (especially headlight covers) can create a radial fracture from the hole outward. Common problem. Thus usually after drilling them, I take a piece of stainless rod and heat it and push through the hole to melt the tiny tears where the drill bit went through. Only had one break since doing it that way in over 24 years.
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  #167  
Old 09-22-2017, 07:47 PM
Dave K. Dave K. is offline
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Joel that is really nice work! Very cool! Thanks for showing how you did that!
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  #168  
Old 09-23-2017, 07:34 AM
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Gojeep Gojeep is offline
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Worked out well. Might become handles for lifting the hood as well.
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  #169  
Old 09-25-2017, 11:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Superleggera View Post
Just be careful tightening the bolts as the plexiglass (especially headlight covers) can create a radial fracture from the hole outward. Common problem. Thus usually after drilling them, I take a piece of stainless rod and heat it and push through the hole to melt the tiny tears where the drill bit went through. Only had one break since doing it that way in over 24 years.
Mark: thanks for the tip! I had been told cracking is an issue on the headlight covers. Now I know how best to avoid it
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  #170  
Old 09-25-2017, 11:57 AM
crystallographic crystallographic is offline
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Default tips for working plexiglass

Plexi shop tips:

One airplane guy I know uses a pizza oven for accurate heat to raise canopy parts - 325-330F.
Flame polishing the edges and holes is the old standard method.
Do not use lacquer thinner anywhere near Lexan or Lucite or it will craze the plastic.
Do not over-tighten the fasteners.
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