Plasticfantastic's project corner, Back on the F40.....

[plasticfantastic]

Hi all,

Many more hours of air sawing and die grinding and i now have the drivers side almost finished, all the foam from the sill is now removed along with most of the plywood. Pretty much all the extra bonding is now gone and ive been over most of the rear of the tub with the die grinder thinning down the fiberglass ready to re-lay the whole lot. While working in the backend i found a panel i hadnt modified, so i decided to cut the rear off the seat pan. This gives me much better access inside the rear, and once I'm done bonding i will remake it using a mold i made from a long cardboard tube, so it will be round instead of square edged.







































Cheers

[jpsmit]

I must confess that while i am mostly in complete awe of this project, a little part of me wonders why you didn't just build one from scratch as it appears every panel will be changed.

[plasticfantastic]

It would be alot easier and quicker to build one from scratch, but the molds don't exist for a car this early and to be honest i cant afford to go buy a new built Davrian. So its the long and itchy road for me! For most this would be far beyond economical repair, i quess its just a labour of love.

Cheers

[plasticfantastic]

Hi all,

I decided to have another go at designing the seats for the Davrian today. I'm hoping to get Karisma (he has a thread in the General board) to have a go at covering one in tan leather to see how it looks once I'm done making the seat pan.

















I have also had another quick look at the rear brakes. I'm now going to use a set of VW Polo rear calipers off an 02 to 05 model. They are alloy and they weigh just under 2.6kg's each, compared to the steel nissan ones i was going to use which weighed in at over 3.6kg's each.









Comments always appreciated

Cheers

[mdh]

Good to see some progress on it mate.

What size are the discs?

[darrenh]

so, do just cover it in masking tape, then pva, then your resin+matt to make the reverse mould ?

i want to make some strengtheners for carbon bonnet, was gonna use the original metal ones as mould

[rob]

Any updates ?

[BackCountry]

Love the skill and effort involved, and the results are great and should make you very proud! Can't wait to see it finished or even somewhere near. Ideas for final colour? Always think deep dark blue suit the davrian curves...

[plasticfantastic]

Hi all,

Sorry for my slow reply and lack of updates, the Davrian hasnt changed much but i have gotten a little further with a few jobs. I will do an update for it soon.

I have been back onto the F40 over the last couple of months trying to make a final push to get the shell finishd and to start making moulds, it's been 11 years now so it would be nice to move on to another aspect of the build!

It started with me spending half a day just tidying up the workshop so i could get to her, then i dusted it off and degreased the body. First i decided to build the passenger side (n/s/f) front arch as i didnt get around to it before. First i had to re-setup the tube and clamps for the top return. Once done and taped i gel'd it red and layed a few layers onto it. Then it was onto filling the big hole that was where the drivers floor pan is meant to be. I layed up a flat sheet of grp that was 6mm thick like the rest of the floor pieces, this time black instead of red as i have run out of red. Once cured i pulled the sheet from the mold and with a few measurements i trimmed it to size and dropped it into the drivers sie floor.

This was also the time to finish up where the sill, floor and inner arch meet ready for bonding, once i was happy i layed a layer over the joins. While i was at it i put a couple of layers inside the drivers side suspension turret.


The floor pans are now almost done and i have started to finish up the front of the tub. With the floor pans almost done it was time to do one of the jobs i have been putting off for quite a while.

The major down side of fitting my body to the Lotus chassis was the wheelbase being just over 2 inches shorter on the chassis than my body. Now the body has been aligned to the front wheels it meant that the 2+ inches had to be sorted out in the rear arches.

In the end it didnt work out too bad, its not easy cutting up a panel that your happy with though. To move the rear arch i cut behind the door so the join lines will be easier to blend. The arch is now 3 inches bigger which is good because i had built them with too little space around the tire before. Also i now plan to run 19 inch wheels instead of the 17's they originally had. 19's will mean i can run bigger brakes and it will be easier and cheaper to buy tires as alot more cars run the 19's. I'm now looking at running 345/30/19 on the rear instead of 335/35/17.

With the arch moved i have been filling and blocking back the arch to get the shape back and today i have started to fit the inner wheel tub back in. The arch lip still needs shaping.

Apologies for the picture dump but it seems the best way to catch you all up......































































































































Comments and critisisms always apreciated

Cheers

[tarmacadam]

No criticism's hear bud this is fantastic , is the f40 the same scale as the original ?

[plasticfantastic]

Thanks mate, she is full size, its actually a little longer, lower and wider than the originals!

Cheers

[Ian]

I only read your mad mechanics thread today, I think the idea to move the wheelbase is ideal to suit the bigger wheels. Excellent work,

[euroshark]

Fantastic work! Can't wait to see more progress on the F40.

[plasticfantastic]

Cheers guys

[Anglia68]

I'm enjoying your thread very much and am amazed by your fibre glassing skills, they're on a whole other level. Excellent.

[d34n0]

My exact words also, just unbelievable

Apr 11, 2015 8:54:29 GMT Anglia68 said:

I'm enjoying your thread very much and am amazed by your fibre glassing skills, they're on a whole other level. Excellent.

[GT4ME]

Looks great, is it going to be road car red or a BPR replica?

[sonus]

Excellent work! I wish I had your fiber glassing skills as I need to fix a few small parts on my TVR. I guess it's just a matter of getting stuck in?

[plasticfantastic]

Hi all,

It is with a heavy heart that i write this but i have to be realistic about my F40 project.

It has been over a year again now since i have managed to work on the F40 and the build its
self has been going for over 13 years now on and off. At no point in those 13 years has my
love for this car or project changed, but that hasnt stopped life from getting in the way of
the progress of the project. I am also my own worse enemy and I'm a stickler for detail and
this has seen me re-do many aspects of the car numerous times each time trying to achieve a
better level of finish while also making the end build for the customer easier. It would have
been easy to have molded the body long ago without any though as to how it would ever fit to
any kind of donor vehicle after, this would have then been upto each builder to work out on their
own which would make the final builds complicated. My decision to use the Lotus Esprit S4 V8 TT
as a donor was to enable the final build to be as simple as possible while also having a replica
who's underpinnings matched it's perfomance exterior.

Whereas a replica body like this is usually bonded and glued onto the existing body work of the
donor vehicle, with this design it completely replaces the donor body and is fitted to the chassis
with only 12 bolts, this means that there is hardly any panel alignment to be done except for hanging
the doors, as well as the front and rear end. With this being a replacement body onto an exisiting
chassis, it means that it does not need to be IVA'd to be used on uk roads.

The project is now at a stage where i need to invest money into materials to produce the molds from
the plug you have seen me building in the pictures. While this isnt an extortionate amount of money
it is enough to bring a project like this to a stop because I'm at a point in my life, with a young
family and other commitments, which mean that i connot afford to put the money into it. I will never
sell this project and if i have to chip away at it until my retirement then that is what i will do
but really this project deserves to be finished in a quicker time frame.

So realistically I'm now at a point where i have decided to see if anyone out there is interested
in investing in having the first rolling shell produced for them self. If someone was to step forward
and order the first rolling shell it would enable me to dedicate almost my entire working week to the
project which would enable it to be finished within a decent time period.

This isnt going to be the cheapest replica going, and i will make a rough list below of some of the
build costs to give you an idea:

Lotus Esprit S4 V8 TT donor around £25,000. The Lotus body, wheels and interior can be sold returning
around £10,000 or more.

F40 replica wheels tires £5,000

Ferrari 308 windscreen, door window frame + glass, replica rear screen, cab rear window + side windows,
replica headlight covers £5,000+

One of my relica bodies, molded using replice carbon/kevar wover fabric, fitted to the lotus chassis
with doors hung and the front and rear end hung. This will be around £30,000 depending on spec and
negotiations with the customer.

I'm open to negotiate with someone over the exact build spec they would like right up to a turnkey finished car,
and at minimum i am looking to work with someone to have the first body fitted to a donor rolling chassis.

If anyone out there is seriously interested in this project then please PM me and communications can go from
there.

Many thanks

[eurogranada]

Nice to see a post again. I've followed with interest your adventures...and admired your skill...

That said, wow, what a bunch of (large) numbers... I don't want to be the one to rain on your parade, bu I just can't see people lining up for one at these prices. As nice as your product claims to be. How many people do you know who want to have a ferrari F40 in their garage bad enough to spend 50+k on a fake/replica/kitcar?

That said, the cobra kits are plenty, so kitcars in general do seem to sell. But, prices for those start WAY lower. Ok, you may not have sexy lotus underpinnings, but still, even with a v8 and some more uprated parts, they would be far more affordable.

I do hope you find a client! I'd love to be proven wrong on this, but we're not in the best of economic times either.

Good luck, I WILL be rooting for you!