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

[plasticfantastic]

Hi all,

I found myself with a few spare hours today and before i knew it i was standing in a pile of fiberglass, airsaw and chisel in hand, itching all over and wondering what had i just done?! I had to keep telling myself that sometimes you have to go backward to go forwards.........

The Davrian started out the day looking like this....



Many cuts with the airsaw, prying, pulling, swearing, more cutting and it looked like this.........





The old front came off in around 4 main pieces, lots and lots of repairs and extra fiberglass in the front end from its old racing days. The front was pretty much beyond repair, atleast while it was still on the car, but being a Mk3 its a fixed front design. A few months ago i picked up a never used Mk5 front with flip up lights, the Mk5 is a removable front design and it makes working on the front end much easier. My plan is to fit this front to my car, updating it to mk5 removable design, eventually i wil then rebuild the original front end onto the car making it look like a Mk3 again but being removable.....









With the front off i can now get to the two fuel tanks......







And i started to hack into the foam........







From here they don't look too bad but i plan to replace them with stainless tanks.


I only realised the other day that it is only 4 years till the Davrian id 50 years old, so that is now my goal to have her done by 2018.


Thoughts and comments always welcome

Cheers

[jpsmit]

Oh thank thank thank you for starting this up again! Must say i prefer the mk3 look but i know you will work your magic!

[plasticfantastic]

Thanks mate, don't worry the Mk3 look will be back, i will have both fronts eventually.

Cheers

[spartacus]

Unbelievable, you are in the zone!

[plasticfantastic]

Hi all,

I got a bit more done today, after hours of hacking and stabbing at foam i finally managed to get the drivers side fuel tank out and for an almost 50 year old tank it doesnt look too bad, but I'm pretty sure it leaks because the foam under the tank was wet and smelt of really stale fuel.





















Then it was time to make a start on the passenger side tank....







Then decided i had enough of stabbing foam for one day and chose to rip off some old repairs on the front from an old accident instead, and took the high speed sander to the drivers front corner to get 40+ years of grime off.












Comments always appreciated

Cheers

[customsinc]

My comments are;

Put everything else to one side and finish the F40 so I can buy a set of panels from you!

Good work on the Dav. An old boy I do a lot of work for has a mk1 with 84 miles on the clock, not turned a wheel for 40-odd years. It's on my to-do list to get it up a running for this years season

[plasticfantastic]

Jan 15, 2014 22:19:43 GMT customsinc said:

My comments are;

Put everything else to one side and finish the F40 so I can buy a set of panels from you!

Good work on the Dav. An old boy I do a lot of work for has a mk1 with 84 miles on the clock, not turned a wheel for 40-odd years. It's on my to-do list to get it up a running for this years season

Thanks mate, hoping to get back onto the F40 soon!

Would love to see some pics of the Mk1?! Did he build it or factory build? would love to know more about it, not many early cars around.

Cheers

[customsinc]

From what I remember he bough it from the original builder in 67/68-ish, who never actually finished building it. Old boy bought it for 5 shillings and a gold coin or whatever currency it was back then and finished it. Took it out the second time or so after finishing it and the engine went pop. And that was that! It has recieved supposedly a full race imp motor since, along with a dodgy old bloke 'sports car' respray but hasn't left the garage since being pushed in after motor failure. I'll go and see him this weekend and get some photos. I've known him since I was 12, used to go up and weld up £15 MG Metro Turbos (yes you could pick them up that cheap!), since built him an X1/9 with a Dimma-esque kit on it and some other bits and bobs.

But enough of that, there's an F40 rep that needs finishing. Seriously though, I want a body from you when it's ready!

[DWDarkWheels]

Eggs and omelettes, etc.
First time I've looked at this thread, despite my own GRP addiction. Great work on both.

[plasticfantastic]

Hi all,

Got a bit further with the Davrian today. The passenger side fuel tank is now out and all supporting foam removed. I finished removing the extra bonding and crashrepairs from the front of the chassis, the front corner is now sepeate but its not a big problem, i still have to remover the battery tray as it hasnt been done very well. I have been thinning down the thickness of all the front chassis with the die grinder and a carbide burr, I'm doing this because i will relay the whole area with fiberglass/kevlar and don't want it to add excessive weight or thickness to the chassis. I have also started to clean up the peadal tray, inner arches and rear end with the da sander.

Hopefully the pics will explain more....






































Comments always appreciated

Cheers

[geoff115]

Its already looking better, keep up the good work

[alolympic]

Well done for taking the plunge and cutting so much bodywork. I'd imagine you have been pondering over doing that for quite a while!
It'll make for a better result!

[plasticfantastic]

Jan 16, 2014 21:30:27 GMT alolympic said:

Well done for taking the plunge and cutting so much bodywork. I'd imagine you have been pondering over doing that for quite a while!
It'll make for a better result!

I didnt really realise just how much i had been putting it off and it actually brought the project to a stop, but now i have momentum again.

Hi all,

Heres another picture dump of what i got done yesterday, i spent most of the day with the da sander inside the cab trying to tidy everythin up a little, I'm also removing the last screws/bolts/brackets etc getting her back to a bare shell. Now most of the extra bonding is removed from the front it means that the new front now fits a little closer, its still only dropped ontop for pics.


































Comments appreciated

Cheers

[smeden]

Love the D! But pleace make it with the MK3 Front.. Such nice Classic GT lines..

[plasticfantastic]

Jan 18, 2014 11:01:30 GMT smeden said:

Love the D! But pleace make it with the MK3 Front.. Such nice Classic GT lines..

Thanks mate, don't worry the mk3 front will be back, i had to take it off to be able to repair it!

Cheers

[mdh]

Leave the Mk5 front on, it looks way better - I might be biased though ;-)

[plasticfantastic]

don't worry mdh i plan to have both fronts for the car eventually!

Hi all,


I got more hours in yesterday and managed a couple today. I spent yesterday still sanding the inide of the cab with the da. I finished removing the cage mount on the sill, removed the old siezed steering column and gear shift.











Then today i felt like actually creating something rather than continually taking it apart. So my attention turned to the dash, with a few ideas in mind i started to cut up some cardboard and flat fiberglass sheet to roughly lay out the design.






















The yellow will be walnut in the final dash, with a black leather top,and the underside will be covered with the same leather as the seats and centre console. The yellow face will be alot smaller yet, you can see the cutlines i have marked out. It will also get smaller when i build the top and bottom faces, these will over hang the face with a rounded edge, sinking the wallnut face into the dash. All the clocks willbe sunk into the wood with the smaller dials angled towards the driver.

Comments appreciated

Cheers

[DWDarkWheels]

Like the mock-up ideas, and I admire the way they made the seats part of the tub : ideal for a racer and easy to trim. Nice cup-holder for the tea to help with planning

[plasticfantastic]

Hi all,

Heres a bit of a photo dump from the last few days of working on the Davrian. There is now no metal work left on the front of the car, the fiberglass on the front of the chassis is now almost finished being thinned down ready for repair (it took an entire day to do the front of the tub with the die grinder!) I also started to clean up the pedal tray, and used the die grinder the clean up and thin down inside where the fuel tanks go. I also spent a few hours with the da and finished removing most of the left over paint on the outside of the shell taking it back to gel coat.

This morning i started on the are behind the seats, and the rear chassis. I removed the rest of the cage, and lots more excess bonding. I have started to clean upand thin down the rear chassis, and i have cut out the rear corners as i plan to update it to a later style.



































































Comments appreciated

Cheers

[plasticfantastic]

Hi all,

I only managed a couple of hours today, so decided to have a bit of a clean up around the Davrian to make working on it a little easier. After filling 4 heavy duty sacks to bursting, with all the excess bonding and grinding dust, i weighed them at over 35kg's. That isnt including the roll cage or any bodywork, just the rubbish.

With little time left i dragged the old front end back out and decided to have a go at the jigsaw. After draping it over the car for a few pictures it doesnt look like it will be too hard to put back together. After taking the pics i started to attatck all the pieces inside and out with the die grinder to removes excess bonding/filler/paint to get it ready to bond back together.
















Cheers