WIDE-BODY KIT FROM SCRATCH

[Wide-body71]

I've gone cardboard happy again. Making templates for my ram air set up. Pretty simple. A flat aluminum plate will take the place of the cardboard under the hood and the aluminum air cleaner tray will have a bubble seal around the top of it to seal up to that plate. It will accommodate a 3" air filter and it all was calculated to account for engine tilt under load. Should be fun. Also kicking around a chin spoiler idea.


Another pic.


Air cleaner tray.

 

[71_resurrection]

I've gone cardboard happy again. Making templates for my ram air set up. Pretty simple. A flat aluminum plate will take the place of the cardboard under the hood and the aluminum air cleaner tray will have a bubble seal around the top of it to seal up to that plate. It will accommodate a 3" air filter and it all was calculated to account for engine tilt under load. Should be fun. Also kicking around a chin spoiler idea.


Another pic.


Air cleaner tray.

:bravo:

That chin spoiler looks pretty mean! Where do you buy all that flat unbent cardboard from? I am gonna do a grille soon and need some. Keep up the good work man!

 

[protouringstang73]

It is looking good my friend, that engine looks killer! I just got home from a car show with only American cars, and I really need to get my car done now, damn I hate that I can't cruise with all the others

 

[Wide-body71]

Door slabs are usually delivered in pallets with a large, flat , clean sheet between each slab. You may want to visit a local entry door company.


Since I was already at it I figured I'd get started with the engine bay covers. The aluminum work will take a lot longer than this cardboard work did. I fit this into a couple of days. In between base coats and top coats, waiting for my paint to dry on my work orders. One of the perks of having the car at the shop. Unfortunately I do not possess a metal brake to make all the bends so everything in cardboard needs to be traced and bent one at a time at a shop a half hour away and test fitted before I can move on to the next piece.


I think this pic is already in this thread somewhere but, these are a couple of covers I made for my 68 coupe.

 

[Wide-body71]

Lol. Turns out I have a bit of good luck. I can have a 4ft metal break in my shop today for as long as I like thanks to a friend in the eves trough business right next door to my shop.

 

[Wide-body71]

i've chosen to cut back the ram air tray 2" to expose the top of the engine and Monte Carlo bar and cut back the cover over the rad support and make it flush to the aluminum shroud to expose more of the front of the motor. Now I will have to remake every template more precisely and then transfer it to the aluminum. Hoping to have the pics of the finished pieces next week some time. I welcome any feedback on what you've seen so far. Those two tweaks I just mentioned weren't my ideas. The ram air, my cousin and the rad cover, someone else. The car is better of with more input then less I figure.

 

[Wide-body71]

In order to get as much travel room as I can buy, I've chosen to go out the sides with the exhaust. It gives me an opportunity to create a pretty aggressive rear defuser. These would be the first ideas


i think I'm going to mould it all into the current rear apron and have a second mould made with the defuser all one piece.


It will be able to be used with out the rear exhaust as well. I'm opting to just add two horizontal slots to allow air to flow through.

 

[luxstang]

I like that diffuser idea a lot!!!

 

[will e]

It's coming along nice. I like what you are doing with the engine compartment and the backend.

What kind of cardboard do you use to do your templates?

On a side note, have you seen 'Project Dinky' on youtube? They also make use of CAD (cardboard aided design). If you have some time watch the series. It is very entertaining. They possess similar skills to you.

 

[Wide-body71]

The cardboard is from the entry door industry. It really is a quick and easy way to see your lines, shapes and proportions. Very rewarding. I've not seen that build "Dinky" but I will check it out. Thanks for the info Mike.

 

[jbojo]

You do amazing work. I am enjoying watching the progress of this project. Looking forward to the next update.

 

[71_resurrection]

The cardboard is from the entry door industry. It really is a quick and easy way to see your lines, shapes and proportions. Very rewarding. I've not seen that build "Dinky" but I will check it out. Thanks for the info Mike.

So I call Home Depot today and ask about flat unbent shipping cardboard and being able to pick some up. The reply I get "Sorry sir, they are immediately banded and sent to be recycled, we keep inventory of them and aren't allowed to give them away". Oh well, keep trying other places I guess!

 

[Wide-body71]

You do amazing work. I am enjoying watching the progress of this project. Looking forward to the next update.

I probably shouldn't bounce around the car as much as I do but in order to be sure about my diffuser design I need to sort out my exhaust. I think I could have enough room to lower the rear the full 4" I had in mind as long as I get the pipes as close to the trunk floor as I can and out the GT cut outs for rear exhaust. The twist that I'd like to add is installing electronic dump actuators at the header collectors and going out the side as well. I'm going to use some flatter tubing for clearance and make my own frame connectors to get it all to clear. Quieter Magnaflows out back and "loudmouths" or something like that out the side would probably take care of my noise needs. Lol.

 

[Chris]

Re cardboard source. Recently, I got as much as I could carry (Lowes and Home Depot) after explaining I was making a prop for my daughter's fifth grade banquet. No calls -- I just showed up. Find out when they get big deliveries. Good luck.

 

[Wide-body71]

Wow. I guess being surrounded by it all the time, I never realized how difficult it was just getting your hands in some good cardboard. I know my fibreglass guy actually buys his large sheets and makes sure the corrugation runs in a particular direction so that when he wants to curve a piece it will happen without kinks. He actually showed me how to score hatch marks to the back with a blade so complex curves could be achieved without kinking. At that point you can put a 3D object together with a hot glue gun or even masking tape and coat it with 3 coats of fibreglass two part resin. Final shaping in bondo with a coat of primer and you have a part ready to be moulded.

 

[Ray]

Lot of work dude, its great, I actually considered doing stage 2 wheel flares on my 71 custom build but haven't reached a solid decision on that yet. After I cut it up and sectioned it back together it just looked awesome wide enough and low so don't want to over do it. May tape some cardboard panels on there and see it before I decide. Keep up the great work.

 

[Wide-body71]

Well I finally took the cover off the car. Don't know for how long but every little bit gets me closer. Since the car will sit about 4 inches lower than stock at the rear and the tire is 13" wide, the quarter was cut to accommodate. The flare was cut 3" higher to meet the highest point of the inner wheel wells. Then I had to re weld them so that the whole tub was as high as I could get it for tire travel. Now that it's done I can put the widened quarters on and locate where the well extensions want to live and mend them onto the quarter.

 

[Ray]

I hope you still have the cover off that thing. I'm still considering cutting my wheel wells and opening them up a bit. So many directions to go in with a big project and time changes thoughts.

 

[wandmbowles]

Just went checked all the pictures from the beginning, what vision. I havn't seen any modifacations that look right on any 71-73 till yours.

I'm sure all the followers on this site can't wait to see the end product. It's going to be beautiful/bad ass.

 

[Wide-body71]

Just went checked all the pictures from the beginning, what vision. I havn't seen any modifacations that look right on any 71-73 till yours.

I'm sure all the followers on this site can't wait to see the end product. It's going to be beautiful/bad ass.

Thank you. I too can't wait. Especially to hear it's voice as well as driving it in its new skin. Those two things should produce the attitude I'm after.