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Monday, December 1, 2014

Nose Job - Second Surgery

The reinforcing fiberglass work is done!



It may not look like much, but the photo above represents about 14 hours of work.  The fiberglass did not want to cooperate for much of the work.  It kept forming bubbles and/or edges that would peel up, requiring hours of supervision to force all the defects back into shape until the final "set" of the epoxy.  Each of the ribs got three layers of fiberglass.  I also added a layer over the lip between the original "hood" and the nose to lock it in permanently.  With the ribs completed, the nose can now fully support itself.

This is what it looks like back on the car:



As you can see by the photos below, the vertical position is not quite right at the rear corners.  However, there is enough flexibility still in the nose that these can be forced into correct alignment with minimal pressure.  I will need to figure out how to install hood catches such that it holds the corners down and in alignment when latched. As mentioned earlier, the passenger side gap is optimal, but the driver side gap is very large, and will need to be adjusted later.

All in all, I am very pleased with the results!  The process was nerve-wracking as I had no way of knowing if the final shape would be correct until the final batch of fiberglass had set!  I also did not know if the final shape of the ribs would clear all the important bits.  Most of the clearances are not exacting, but there are a few corners where there is only a 1/4" or so clearance on each side of one of the ribs to the face of the windshield drainage channels.


While I was waiting for resin to cure, I also added a new chrome plated support plate and pneumatic struts to the rear hatch window.  For my model vehicle, originally, there was only a manual support rod on one side to hold the glass open when in use.  As the glass is quite heavy, this was less than convenient.  As you can see, the new struts easily support the weight of the window.  The bottom end of the struts have studs that are threaded into newly drilled and tapped holes in the roll bar.



1 comment:

  1. Holy Moly! It looks like...(wait for it)...a CAR! :-)

    ReplyDelete

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