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Build Diaries => Reventon => Topic started by: lance345 on January 10, 2013, 08:49:28 PM
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Hey all,
After moving in and taking what felt like 100 years to set up the garage, I'm finally starting the lambo build. I'm a little behind in ordering parts as I wanted to get them shipped to the new address, so hopefully my stuff starts arriving soon ;D
I spent a couple days stripping down the mr2 and all I have left to do is take out the front windshield and get under the car to remove the protective plates and drain/cut lines. I hope there is no huge surprise waiting for me there. I'll start posting some pics soon, and my friends have asked me to do some videos of my progress as they all have 0 mechanical experience, so this is just plain weird to them.
My bio has most info on my build. Feel free to ask questions, or critique me. I won't learn if no one points stuff out. Disclaimer: I now understand that there are "kit builds" and "replica builds". I am going to try and make things as close to oem as I can, but with only going from pics and having no experience it may look to most of you like a kit build. Be gentle.
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Hello Lance and congrats on the start. Looks like we have them same kit/body and you will have lots of work ahead of you. Feel free to hit me up with questions, we are all here to help and learn.
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Going to try and post some quick pics I took just on my way out the garage. Haven't got much done in the last couple days, but hope to get some good time in after the weekend. Basically it's just stripped.
Shows the kit I got from CKI, and I'll do a vid talking about the kit pretty soon. MR2 is stripped except for underneath. I don't have a lift so I need to get my stands from my shop. And my rims came on Friday. I really debated a long time about what I would do. I know that Zinik Z28 rims are really good look alikes, but only come as wide as 8.5. I would have to order them, then ship them to have the rears widened, and I just didn't think it was worth it all. It's not like I'm passing this off as a real rev, so oem lambo wheels that were very affordable is the way I went. Maybe I'll regret it, but right now I'm really excited about the rims I got.
If anyone would like me to do a vid of how I stripped the car, or any probs I came across, just ask.
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Ok, it literally took me 6 hrs to get the gas tank out yesterday.
Tips for others: Do not try and do it on jack stands. Just don't. Even if you have the clearance like I did - I would have given anything for a lift. Also, it would have taken probably 1-2hrs if I had someone helping me. I undid everything in about 20 mins and pulled it to the side, drained the tank and dropped the front of it on the ground. What took hours and hours is the 4 things you need to undo in the engine compartment while you stand in the trunk and reach over the engine, then have to go back under and pull the tank forward just to realize that the fuel filler line won't come off so you go back out, then under and you have no leverage because your elbows are on the ground already so you go back out....grrrr.
So now that the fluids are drained, my brake lines are cut, my coolant lines are cut, and the e-brake is unclipped I can finally cut the body. I have a couple of housekeeping things to do on the body first and then my first cuts should be tomorrow. As always let me know if there is anything in particular that you would like pictured as I go.
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Really nice wheels
Are they narrow and wide (sure they are) and what size and price?
Cheers
Jackal
:) It is really funny. Whenever you see these builds there's always an offroad bike in the back. My earlier pics were no different! Looks like we all fit a similar phsycological profile.
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The wheels are 19", 11 or 11.5 rear (putting 305 on them), and 8.5 front. They were on ebay for 4k shipped brand new and seem to be oem as advertised. Being in Canada the shipping killed me on a lot of options, and I like these wheels. I know they are gallardo wheels but they are what fit in the budget.
Anyone (Maybe Tex) know how wide of spacers we need on an mr2? I bought 2 1.25" adapters and while I didn't mount the rim and body I mocked them up and I think they will be too thin for front or back. Where is a good resource for adapters? I found lots of spacers that go up to 3", but not adapters. Are people putting spacers then adapters? That seems kinda crazy to me.
I love bikes. We only get a few good months of riding here in summer but I'm out for every one of them. Trail, track, and a crazy type of riding called trials. If you want to see some really amazing stuff, youtube motorcycle trials ::thumbup
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The wheels are 19", 11 or 11.5 rear (putting 305 on them), and 8.5 front. They were on ebay for 4k shipped brand new and seem to be oem as advertised. Being in Canada the shipping killed me on a lot of options, and I like these wheels. I know they are gallardo wheels but they are what fit in the budget.
Anyone (Maybe Tex) know how wide of spacers we need on an mr2? I bought 2 1.25" adapters and while I didn't mount the rim and body I mocked them up and I think they will be too thin for front or back. Where is a good resource for adapters? I found lots of spacers that go up to 3", but not adapters. Are people putting spacers then adapters? That seems kinda crazy to me.
I love bikes. We only get a few good months of riding here in summer but I'm out for every one of them. Trail, track, and a crazy type of riding called trials. If you want to see some really amazing stuff, youtube motorcycle trials ::thumbup
Sorry bud I am not sure about an MR2. However there are many adapter company's out there that can make you the size you need. I measured the distance from one rear wheel opening to the other and my measurement was 81in wide and this may vary from one car to another so you will need to get all the measurements on your car rather then people throwing numbers at you. When you get the body on the MR2 put the car on jackstands with the weight of the car on it's suspension then test fit the wheels so they have the right clearance then measure from the hub to the wheel and you will have the measurement you need for the spacer/adapter. I am having custom wheels made so I can minimize the spacer distance so the best advise I can give is to measure many times then recheck before you make the leap. ::study
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Thanks for the reply Tex, I appreciate the advice.
All the housekeeping on the car is done in prep for the stretch. I was hoping to get that and the cutting done today, but people keep stopping by to see this magical process they don't believe. I'll take some pics I think tomorrow of the little things I did to try and - hopefully- make the stretch easier (thanks in a huge part to aspara). This is my first time so I won't learn if it works until I cut and pull, but I have faith. There are many people on here smarter than I am, and I'm stealing all the ideas ::)
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Got the stretch done today (not welded, just stretched)
I have 2 quick pics attached. The first is just a pic of the stretch of 10.5", and the second is the idea that I stole from apsara in solrac's reventon build diary. I didn't want to use round tube as I'd find it really hard to weld to the frame, so I used square tubing - 1and1/4 pieces that are 6" long before and after the cut, then slid in a 2ft long piece of 1" and tacked it to one of the tubes. Just like the diagram in the other thread it worked perfect. As soon as I was all the way through the car it sagged a bit since the tubes weren't perfect (they had a bit of play) but they held up fine. I walked side to side sliding the car along the rail 1" at a time until I hit my 10.5" stretch. Took maybe 2hrs altogether from starting cutting to getting it stretched and the rails just tacked up for now so the rockers will stay at 10.5 while I take measurements and tweak.
Quick note: I cut behind where the rails were before I welded them on, otherwise it would suck to get the body cut and not hit the rails.
So now the car is sitting on one low rise jack on each side, and I have a 2x1 beam held up with a jackall under the center console. Just trying to take some pressure off my rails, and the tube under the console eliminated the rest of the sag in the frame that I DO NOT want to weld in. I've done about 6 diagonal measurements and seem to be within 1mm, but I'm going to do more then start the welding. I'm thinking of putting a piece of 4x1 in the rocker panel to start, then sleeving the rest of the rocker, sleeve the center console, angle iron at the top and bottom of it, then the quickie floor pans. We'll see how it goes, but I think this is my plan.
I'm very interested to see if anyone has some advice or OMG STOP for this part, as it's the most critical that I can think of. No comments on my welding though :'( , I know it's not pretty but it worked, and I think I'll get a welder friend of mine to do the seam welding for me. I'll just tack everything up for him. Not sure though. I'm quite indecisive until I decide ;D
edit: why do my pics always go sideways? they are taken vertically and on my comp view vertically.
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Turn your phone sideways when taking pics.
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Thanks 01Lambiero, I'll try to remember to do that from now on. Sorry to all that are getting weird neck cramps.
Just got my wheels today and ran them to a shop to be mounted and balanced. Happened to talk to a friendly mechanic that likes cash so I may have someone to do my clutch and brake lines for cheap so I don't have to buy a flarer, bender, etc...
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Those rims look really good! ::thumbup
Chris
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Just a quick update, I'm in the process of sleeving the rocker and the center console. It's been way more time consuming than I imagined, especially when I set myself back about 4 hours from a stupid weld or cut, but it's a real gray area here if what I'm doing is even allowed. Anything I don't like the look of I redo.
Hopefully have the welding done by the end of the week, and then pics and vids. I've been taking some as I go, but I'm too lazy to post them most times I sit down at the computer.
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Finally put the pics on my computer. I took tons, so I'm trying to just put up the ones that give a good representation of what I'm doing.
I was asked by a friend of mine that looked at the thread, "what is sleeving". I'm sure most people here know, but I'll give a quick description for those people I refer here that have little experience :)
Sleeving (some people call it fish scaling) is where you double up the metal along the seam of a weld. This is done by making a piece of metal that fits inside/behind where the butt weld will be, and you spot weld it on both sides of the seam weld. This creates a lot of reinforcement of the seam weld both in terms of the metal being double thick, but also if for any reason the weld would fail, there is a great deal more holding the weld. Why do it? Well to start with here where I live you have to. Any time you are dealing with a structural part of the car it has to be sleeved. Aside from that it creates a much safer weld. Odds are far, far greater that the metal will fail than my weld area. NOTE: you will notice that sleeves aren't pretty or perfect, they just need to be functional to reinforce the seam.
If you compare the pics I attached here with pics I attached previously, you'll notice the sleeves have been spot welded in everywhere except the floor pans. This gives a good example of what I'm talking about. The floor pans won't be sleeved as 1. They aren't a load bearing part of the car 2. It is 22 gague steel, which makes it really hard to weld. It burns back really bad, so we have another way to deal with it in autobody.
Sorry if this is useless info to most, but to those it isn't I hope it helps ;)
As always, please feel free to critique, comment, or ask questions.
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Stretch is about 90% done. All the welding is done, so all I have left is the stretch some lines under the car (brake, clutch, coolant, AC) and put the gas tank back in. I'm expecting the gas tank to be a situation all to itself since it's perfectly molded to the inside of the center console. Lots of tweakin to get it back in I'm sure, but I'm waiting for a lift I ordered to get here to do it all. I jacked up the car and tried but got claustrophobic. It's also been -30C (I think that's about -25F?) and I don't have a heated garage, so I work until my feet go numb then head inside.
While I wait I'm getting the body ready to go on. I spent the last couple days slowly cutting away what I needed to from the car and I'm pretty close. Might start welding some supports onto the car and fiberglassing or panel bonding some metal plates onto the bodykit.
If Tex happens to get on would you have any pics of attaching your windshield support? The bottom of mine does not match up even close to the bodykit - it's about half way into the door opening on each side. I don't know if it's an overall too wide problem, or an angling problem.
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Well, I finally had something (arguably) worthy of taking a picture of, so I did. If not for more than motivating myself.
I had a long hangup waiting for the lift to arrive. How do people do these stretches without one? I tried and finally had a breakdown and bought one. My pocketbook is in therapy on Tuesdays due to it. That allowed me to finish the stretch, get everything back in, and GET THE CAR RUNNING!! That was maybe the proudest moment for me so far. Wasn't hard at all, just the uncertainty of it being my first time I kept wondering 'did I miss something?'
Huge thanks to Texas for helping me out with ordering rims. His contact has been great so far, and after talking with him today my rims should be going to polishing and powdercoating tomorrow. As you can see the car looks pretty funny with the mr2 rims. On that note I now have OEM lambo rims "Calisto" with Hankook Evo rubber on them (all brand new) for sale. See my earlier pics.
I'm holding off on attaching the body or repairing the rocker until I have the wheels so I can make sure everything looks good and aligns well. In the meantime I'm starting bodywork. The whole body comes with a ridge from the seams of the molds, and as Texas has shown, a ton of problems. I have most of the ridge down, and I'll probably be cutting the sail panel and rocker vents out soon to do a redo. I also have the front headlight buckets sanded and ready to paint black, and I bought carbon fiber to lay in them for a more OEM look. I'm debating doing some more carbon fiber work on the car. It's not OEM, but I think it'd look good and this is a Lancoghini now! I also think I'm going to go with a factory paint color, but do some fun stuff to make it mine. I will have to practice my airbrushing again ::thumbup
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Looks like its coming together nicely ::thumbup
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Your making some great progress nothin like getting the car stretched starting to motor with the body on...! That was one of my first mile stones was getting the motor wired and running.... ::headbang
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Good decision on getting the lift, I use mine all the time, beats lying on the floor. Car is looking good, did you also get all the interior pieces?
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Don't mean to be late in the game, but I posted a thread a while back showing how to stretch a car for less than 20 bucks in materials to help keep alignment straight and square using telescopic rods. you dont need special alignment tools doing it this was, all that money spent on a lift and you could have spent it on something else.
Also, where you cut the car in half you will have trouble installing the tank back in place. So before you weld up that 10" gap or however long it is, put the tank back in place so you can see where you have to weld around. Welding a straight plate across it will not work, it will block the end of the tank from going back up in to its home. Make sure theres no gas and all holes plug before welding around the tank.
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@autopro - yes I have interior pieces, but the pieces are going to need a lot of work. As you can see my car is a RHD (I saw debate on this, it's just how we refer to it here - the steering wheel is on the right when you are in the car) so the dash will have to be destroyed and remade. Not sure what I'm going to do for interior to be honest. I got a really good deal on some race seats that in a pinch will pass off for lambo seats, and that's as far as I've made it on decisions for the interior.
@apsara - your post on how to stretch the car and keep it aligned saved my life. I did exactly that with square tubing though instead of round. It was just easier to weld to the car. I did a ton of measurements and the only thing that happened is it sagged a bit on the supports. I supported the car and re-measured before I welded in the sleeves, then the stretch metal. Turned out really well. I think I have more pics and maybe even a video if anyone is interested. I used a jack-all with a piece of 2x1 tubing under the center console, and a scissor lift (used for spare tires) horizontally between the front section and the rear section of the roof. I did not cut off the roof until after the whole stretch was done. This was a very important measure for me to make sure there was no sag.
The main reason for the lift was all the work that had to be done under the car. Also, I have never felt comfortable working under a car on jacks. I'd gladly pay $2000 for peace of mind, an extra parking space, and a great deal of time saved. It means something will have to wait to get done, but it means I could progress without frustrating myself.
The place I cut actually made the tank re-install really easy. I cut in the narrowest part of the console AFTER the fat part of the tank. So it made my decision of where the tank was going back in really easy. The fat part was still fat, the skinny part was where my extension was, and the fat front (the tank is like an hourglass) was back around where the handbrake is on the inside of the car. But, since the handbrake comes down through the floor, I just used the scissor lift to fatten out the area, and the original supports of the tank still worked excellent. I can take pics of under the car if anyone would care.
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I made the rocker support today.
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lance345 it,s coming together , i just realized your car is right hand drive , did the kit come with inner doors or just a outside door skin ... can you post a picture of the rear lower diffusor under the rear bumper 8) ::thumbup
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Lance again great work! ::headbang
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I have inner door cards (I think that's what you call them? I've always called them inner door trim).
Here is a pic of what you asked for. I wish I could mock it up on the car, but I have a ton of trimming to do before I can do that. The bodykit sits really high in the back, so a lot of cutting will need to be done under the car. Probably even completely new exhaust :-[ I love the sound of the Japanese factory exhaust. It's not what you'd expect.
edit: thanks all for the encouragement. I don't know how only 3% of these get done when there is a supportive community for it.
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its the motivation to get it done is what keep guys from completing their builds and the lack of interest when time goes on. You get excited the first day you start getting parts and pump to dive in and start building, time goes on and you just stare at it instead of building, and eventually you just end up selling it.
Glad that the post helped you out in your stretch. Maybe I should make a video of it next time and post some how too's
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Looking good Lance! I haven't made it to the windshield just yet, it's next on the list though. The windshield frame that comes with these bodies are crapola. I am not even going to attempt to make mine work. This part of the car is/ should be the same as a Murcie ,so IKR is making me one that will be a big improvement over what was there. It will fix the a-pillar, the door jam/ hinge area, and the glass wont sit so deep in the frame.
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Just wanted to post something to fool myself into thinking I'm making progress.
I bought some racing seats that are passable to me, and were ridiculously cheap. I had to make a lot of the bracket to fasten them into the car, but it's done now. I spent about 4 hours just sitting in the car and listening to music. Was very relaxing.
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Just wanted to post something to fool myself into thinking I'm making progress.
I bought some racing seats that are passable to me, and were ridiculously cheap. I had to make a lot of the bracket to fasten them into the car, but it's done now. I spent about 4 hours just sitting in the car and listening to music. Was very relaxing.
Many of us have been to "that point" in our build. It's the moments and milestones like this that help motivate us to reach the next step. Enjoy the journey and you'll appreciate the destination even more once you get there.
Chris
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^^^^ X2 ^^^^
::LAMBO2
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Many of us have been to "that point" in our build. It's the moments and milestones like this that help motivate us to reach the next step. Enjoy the journey and you'll appreciate the destination even more once you get there.
Chris
This (in my humble opinion) is the difference between someone that wants a lamborghini, and someone that wants to build a car. Not reaching your end goal immediately might be why people that just want a lambo for the sake of owning a lambo never finish their builds. For the people that want to build, it's the moments of seemingly endless lack of progress that make the milestones that much higher highs. Again, just my opinion.
I appreciated this comment No Bull. Can't really put my finger on why, just was nice to read. Thanks. And Bulter for the X2 ;)
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I envy how great Texas has done fixing the flaws in his body. I started tackling the rocker vents. I'm not at all familiar with fiberglass work, so it's been a learn as I go. I figured the best way to learn, is just to start doing. Here is my first ever attempt at making a fiberglass part (simple as it is).
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lance345 anymore updates on your build
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yeah I've done a bit. I've worked a little more on the side scoops and I cut out the batwing area that looks like garbage on the kit. I spent an afternoon trying to get the back of the kit to sit lower on the donor too, but there are a lot of parts of the MR2 holding it up that it's looking like a losing cause. I might just have to mount the kit higher than I wanted and buy lowering springs.
I took a little over a month off the car to study for and write my GMAT. Now that it's over I'll be back to working on the car, and as soon as my rims arrive I should be ready for a sprint. I just don't want to attach the body permanently until I have them, and they have taken over a month and a half to come.
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GOT MY RIMS!!!
Huge thanks to Texas who got me in contact with his custom rim guy. Overall I'd give the guy 9/10. He was really good with communicating with me for the whole process. He even texted me a few times to make 100% sure he had dimensions/colors/bolt patterns etc... correct, so that was really nice to see that level of care. I only take off 1 point because he did take a month and a half to get the rims to me (though in his defense he warned me he is really busy right now) and when the rims came the lips were scratched. Part UPS fault, but also they were just packed in a box with no foam or anything :( I was surprised because his level of service through the process was awesome. Ah well, I can touch them up really easy. I'm actually thinking of doing a red pinstripe on the lip like the Veneno rims. Looks so good.
Anyway, so I have my rims now. I believe I will be able to completely eliminate spacers all the way around which is what I was trying to accomplish. I have tires on the way (it is so much cheaper to order them online from the US for me it's crazy, like 30% less) and I hope they will be here this week. As soon as they are in I'll mount them and throw the rims on the car. Then comes the mounting of the bodykit. I'll spend the week finishing up the supports for the kit. I've spent a lot of time trying to get the back of the kit to sit lower on the MR2, and I just can't get it any lower without taking out a ton of metal, so I'm going to have to add some height to the rocker extensions I made. No biggie.
I have a ton of ideas, but one thing at a time. I have a tendency to get ahead of myself, and with being indecisive it can turn into a mess. But, this has been fun as hell and I'm excited to get back to it and be able to just sprint to the finish. However, with the huge purchase of different rims I think that sprint might be shorter than I originally planned. The interior will have to wait, I'll just be doing a quickie job and I'll work on it as I have more money. I'm sorry to those that this offends :-[ as I set out with intentions of doing a "replica", but my inexperience and lack of budgeting have hindered me. At this point anything I can do with labour will be done, and the rest will be a work in progress. Plus to be honest, I'd love to see some progress so it doesn't become a relic up on the lift.
Question - what should I be taking pictures of? I've kinda wondered that all along the process and I think "well this isn't interesting, it's a piece of metal". Even looking at some of the pics I've posted it seems like they are boring, or am I just not at an exciting stage? (I noticed someone else took their thread down because they weren't far enough along) Any tips from other builders?
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Post pics of ure rims for sure!! Lol
I post pics of everything just in case someone else needs to know that info.
All my build has been easier by looking at others builds. The simple things or less important things can come in handy for someone else.
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Your making good progress and I'm glad you like the wheels. Keep up the good work. Take pictures of everything and post for anyone that it might be useful to. ::beers
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Pics of the rims. They are really really deep dish because I needed to try and eliminate 6" spacers in the back, and 2.5" up front. This means that they can never be used on another car, but I'd rather that than the alternative (huge spacers).
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Pics of some unfortunate destruction that needed to occur in order for me to get the body sitting on the MR2 better.
These are the taillight housings, and the body is way way too high in the back if the body is placed on top of the rear frame rails. So, I tried to cheat and put the body sitting on the taillight housings (cut away the lip under since it can be covered by the rear diffuser), but that still left it a few inches too high. After many nights thinking on it, and many days staring at it, I decided that I just had to cut out space for the frame rails to go into. What this means is the honeycomb plastic will not be able to go diagonally down deeper into the housing, and instead I marked the dotted line where the honeycomb will be if it is flush with the face of the housing most of the way down (until the flare out). It won't be the same, but I really need the space. The only other alternative is to cut away about 5ish inches of the frame rails and probably the trunk area. That takes away a ton of space for my exhaust, and the choice I went with seemed the lesser of two evils.
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WHEELS LOOK AWSOME!!!! ::headbang In regard to posing pictures just look at my build thread, I take pictures of freaking everything look at how many times each picture has been viewed and that is what people want to see ::tongue
The issue with your frame/grill area. It would be better to trim that area of the frame off and go back with a piece of plate metal at the correct angle to fit the body curve there and weld it up then it would double as a mounting position for body. The other thing you could do is leave it like you have it and glass all around that area and make it look like it belongs there and hide it behind the grill. Just a couple ideas I had ::study
Looking good however!!!! ::rocker
Dustin ::wave
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The issue with your frame/grill area. It would be better to trim that area of the frame off and go back with a piece of plate metal at the correct angle to fit the body curve there and weld it up then it would double as a mounting position for body.
Exactly, this is what I would do also. ^^^
Wheels look awesome the deep dish is sweet.
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Thank you guys for the input. I agree I really didn't like how it looked so I did some asking around, and everyone agrees that as long as I don't go past a crumple zone in the frame I should be ok. Luckily the crumple zone in the back of the car is pretty far in, so I started cutting away (too bad I already cut out some body kit, but that's a pretty easy fix).
I took a L shaped chunk out of the frame so far, and may do more. I look at this as cutting hair - it's easier to take a bit at a time than it is to put back on. I'm leaning toward actually cutting away most of the trunk (not as far as crumple zones though) and rebuilding the whole back of the car. The only problem with this is that the exhaust space gets cut in half :o It's a work in progress, but will be solved soon.
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Pics of my new wheels on the car. Right now the rears have no spacer at all, and the fronts have a 2". I think I will put 2" in the back as well. I didn't want to, but we did everything possible to avoid spacers and unfortunately the mr2 just has such a narrow width. At least we got from a 6" spacer which was nuts to a 2" spacer which is much much safer.
I also think I have the body kit height at a pretty good place. I'll buy some lowering springs and be good to go. I've been waiting a while for wheels finally on the car so I could get things lined up and I'm happy to move forward finally.
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::headbang impressive work so far.
Remember, you are building a Reventon, and there are only 20 real ones and maybe 5 Replicas being produced worldwide - we've got to see this in all stages :) and research, mistakes, and fixes are IMPORTANT stages.
The rims! who did this and what are the specs on those rims to start with and what are the specs now? Please detail the work on them as this might solve problems for many people!
I am using an MR2 on my Murcielago-Type build and I am in the same stage (Body fitting on the MR2) and my rims are 18x12 -44 and 18x9 -1
This is the most agressive lowering spring for the MR2
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181112576138?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/181112576138?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649)
but I think I will be using Megan Coilovers for the lowering
http://www.ebay.com/itm/161015468672?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/161015468672?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649)
because with such offsets we are doing we need to camber the wheels and allign them properly.
Cheers ::beers
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Since I just got the wheels on for the first time yesterday I've spent some hours doing research on suspension (as I obviously need to lower the car). I'd love other people's input on this subject as I have limited experience with it, so all I can go by is what others say.
From researching suspension in general:
Lowering springs and shocks are a more cost effective way to lower the car. It is not recommended to buy lowering springs and put them on stock shocks as it can blow the shock. Coilovers cost substantially more and unless the car is being raced or "stanced" it isn't worth the money.
From researching MR2s:
Because of the crazy amount of aftermarket parts for the MR2, it's easy to get good lowering springs and shocks for cheap. In many cases you can get this setup for far, far less than good coilovers. Especially since the majority of "entry level" coilovers leave a lot to be desired. However, this is just people's opinions from forums I've read. I didn't actually find anyone that said "they blow up" or "after 1000mi they were crap". The entry level coilovers I saw referred to again and again as worth the money, but still affordable was BC Racing Coilovers.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BC-Racing-BR-Coilovers-9099-Toyota-MR2-SW2021-C12-Full-Kit-/321127343207 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/BC-Racing-BR-Coilovers-9099-Toyota-MR2-SW2021-C12-Full-Kit-/321127343207)
Though I did see Megan mentioned many times, rarely negatively.
My opinion:
Yes, it will cost twice as much to buy coilovers. No, I'm not going to get much out of them as I'm not going to race the car. But, the adjustability is priceless for our needs. Being able to fine tune the ride height, stiffness, and damper is important since we change so many things so far from stock. I'll probably go with coilovers, but for right now I don't need them to work on the car. I would really like it if I got some other people's opinions on this that have maybe had some experience with the different suspensions, or other builders letting me know why they went the say they did. I read through the suspension section and found a lot of discussion on what springs, how much to lower, but not much on why people decided to go one way or the other.
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Yes it seems to be a little high but only a little. I wouldn't go more then an inch more. The Chassis will settle after you start driving it plus the whole car will go down as you add weight.
I think ride height is one of the last things to do and with all the weight you will be adding you should hold off buying anything until the end.
Lastly, be sure to keep the rake of the car. You don't want a draga$$ look like the gold Neon for example.
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Ok, failed posting twice now. Just seems to time out. I'll try this in two posts.
Pics of untrimmed back for reference.
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Pics of the back trimmed. I took people's advice and trimmed to match the bodykit so the framing will be nicer.
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Lance345: How did you widen the track in the front and rear suspensions? With your rear wheels mounted, how close is the center of your tire tread to the center of your rear wheel bearing? Jim
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Lambiero: The widening is all done with the wheels. I searched for a way to widen the wheelbase of the MR2, and couldn't find any at all. Maybe it exists, but I wasn't able to find it. So when I spoke with the wheel guy I told him we needed to have as much of a negative offset as possible. The rear wheels were made with a 7.5" outer lip and a 7" inner with a long (about 3") mounting pad. Without going out to measure I'd say the center of the wheel is about 3.5 inches outside of center, but I think I have to use the 2" spacer, so I'll be almost 6" outside center.
I read that this will cause a lot of wear on the bearings, but I will probably only put 1000mi on the car a year at most. Is there anything else having the wheels out this far will cause?
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Lance. How wide are the rear wheels and how wide are the front ones? If the car is really light it will cause minimal wear.
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This website has somewhat cheap coilovers.
www.racelandus.com (http://www.racelandus.com)
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Lance: You are not the first build on an MR2. There must be other builders on the forums who can help you. I wouldn't have cut the taillight housing to clear the frame rail. You should have been able to trim it and box it in to achieve clearance. What is the year of your MR2? Your front suspension is another situation that I feel must be corrected even more. You shouldn't use spacers to move your wheels outward. The car will drive very radically causing an unsafe condition. My $.02 Jim
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Lance, you can always go back and purchase wide track suspensions for the front if you're unsatisfied with the turning radius in the end. No need to factor that cost into your budget now. Push on and worry about the little details later on.
-Jayso
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First two pics are the sub structure I built in the rear. It's 1" 1/8 tubing, so pretty strong. The top rails will be where I actually bolt the bodykit down as they are directly underneath the lip of the bodykit's trunk opening.
Third pic is just showing that I'm going to completely rebuild the rear trunk. I only have the one piece up there now, but I hope to finish it tomorrow after I buy more sheetmetal.
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lance345,
It is a little too late for you with your build but for future builders using the MR2 look into widening the entire chassis. Nobody thinks twice about stretching the chassis to correct the wheelbase. This is done routinely. I know it would take work but if the chassis is sliced front to rear down the center, held in proper alignment (just like it is done when stretching lengthwise) and widened, not only would it solve the location of the tires it would give more room at the rear for engine and drivetrain.
I say this without ever seeing a MR2 chassis and the amount of work involved but EVERYTHING is work on these builds. I think the advantages would be worth it.
Maybe the next builder could investigate and lets us know the feasibility.
For now, I just throw out the concept.
lance345, you are doing a great job. Keep going.
RT
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Lance fine work on the rear section! Looks great ::headbang
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lance345,
It is a little too late for you with your build but for future builders using the MR2 look into widening the entire chassis. Nobody thinks twice about stretching the chassis to correct the wheelbase. This is done routinely. I know it would take work but if the chassis is sliced front to rear down the center, held in proper alignment (just like it is done when stretching lengthwise) and widened, not only would it solve the location of the tires it would give more room at the rear for engine and drivetrain.
I say this without ever seeing a MR2 chassis and the amount of work involved but EVERYTHING is work on these builds. I think the advantages would be worth it.
Maybe the next builder could investigate and lets us know the feasibility.
For now, I just throw out the concept.
lance345, you are doing a great job. Keep going.
RT
it requires alot of time and a specialized frame machine to do that. I don't think there is even a machine out there designed to do that. Theres really no point in widening a car, all you really need to do is just make new longer control arms. I did one for an mr2 build, made new control arms in the front. Had to extend the lower control arms, extend the steering, replace the front shocks with a push rod setup and made a longer upper control arm, because the shocks are connected to the spindle and acts a upper control arm. There is no upper control arm in the mr2. Extending the control arms throws the pivot point out of wack if you use the orginal shocks.
For the rear was just extending the lower and up control arm and extending the drive shafts. Doing this is less work than trying to slice a car down the center line. Theres really no point in doing that, you'll weaken the frame even more.
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apsara, you posted:
"it requires alot of time and a specialized frame machine to do that. I don't think there is even a machine out there designed to do that."
The builders here don't use a "specialized frame machine" to lengthen their chassis. This is usually home garage ingenuity at work and they turn out just fine. You need to trust that builders will not make anything unsafe for their use.
Some builders make a complete home-built chassis and they probably don't use any specialized frame machine. Widening a chassis will require the same skills as lengthening. Done properly, it can offer its own advantages. I would not suggest anyone try this without good skill sets and ability.
"Theres really no point in widening a car, all you really need to do is just make new longer control arms."
Anyone who makes new control arms better have good fabrication skills. Without proper construction they could fail with disastrous results.
I appreciate your comments. They come from someone who has solved their own construction problem the way they knew how and it works for you.
This hobby is all about innovation and solving problems. Sometimes we have to think outside the box.
RT
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true, skill set is a must if taking this on. But its not impossible, and yes stretching a car is easier than widening a car. I personally wouldn't cut a car down the center and weld it back together. Anything that gets cut creates stress points, avoiding any type of stress on a frame is key. I'll post up a build thread later on in the following month to show how to do a stretch with out cutting into the main frame structure and widening the wheels at the same time. The less you have to cut, the safer the end results will be.
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IMO any structural cut that is not strengthened in the end is a waste of time. You can't cut for a stretch and put tin foil back in the gap. Listen to the wisdom from those who have traveled down the replica road or really have the experience to do the job right. I certainly wouldn't want to tackle a suspension modification after attaching the body. Jim
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Does the car run properly at this stage of the build ::beers
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Wow, widening a car with a cut sounds like so much work it's crazy. I wouldn't tackle that at all.
I'm jealous that you were able to do it all apsara, but unfortunately I know that is beyond my current skill to tackle myself, and paying to have that all done would be far more than the donor is worth. For now I'm unfortunately going to have to stick with the spacers.
I understand what you're saying Lambiero, but the bodykit will be completely removable. I planned to do this from the start as I intend to do an engine separately down the line and swap it in. That's the hope at least. Regardless, the body will come off to make suspension work, or any work on the donor, easier.
Am33r, yes the car runs. I still have to bleed the brakes and clutch, and extend my shifter lines though. I keep meaning to do this, but always get sidetracked. It's on the list though so I don't forget to do it. ;)
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Bled the clutch today, did my e-brake and finished up my shifter extension. I read a few different people's ways to do this, and decided on a not-so-permanent solution. It's adapted from someone, I just don't remember who.
Here are pics of the shifter extension. It's completely removable so I can change my transmission without remaking lines, or change my shifter. I think I might add another bracket just behind the shifter plate that keeps the flat iron pieces from lifting. Just as peace of mind (it doesn't now but redundancy isn't bad). I played with it a bit after it was in and so far no problems.
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Keep up the good work mate! Good job. Btw I changed my fuel pump while the tank is out lol seemed like the right thing to do. I think CKI should rethink some of their advices cause they all suck x_O
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Nice Job Lance! Those are helpful pictures ::beers
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Keep up the good work mate! Good job. Btw I changed my fuel pump while the tank is out lol seemed like the right thing to do. I think CKI should rethink some of their advices cause they all suck x_O
I read that a supra pump works very well in this car, and will handle enough fuel for a lot of upgrades. I did not change it as my donor had low KM and is not getting any engine love. I don't know about the US but up here the turbo engines are a dime a dozen. I'm hoping maybe next summer to buy one and learn more about engines while I tinker with it. I do agree with you though, it is a very smart thing to do, and a good time to do it.
I agree that CKI has some questionable suggestions. But, they are trying to sell the whole "supercar for $12000" or whatever. Doing things right costs more. I've learned that the hard way through this for sure. The thing that scares me the most is their suggestions for the brakes and clutch. Non flared connections for a brake? I wouldn't drive that car. But, at least they show you what needs to be done, and then you can do it correct. For that I give them kudos.
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Keep up the good work mate! Good job. Btw I changed my fuel pump while the tank is out lol seemed like the right thing to do. I think CKI should rethink some of their advices cause they all suck x_O
I read that a supra pump works very well in this car, and will handle enough fuel for a lot of upgrades. I did not change it as my donor had low KM and is not getting any engine love. I don't know about the US but up here the turbo engines are a dime a dozen. I'm hoping maybe next summer to buy one and learn more about engines while I tinker with it. I do agree with you though, it is a very smart thing to do, and a good time to do it.
I agree that CKI has some questionable suggestions. But, they are trying to sell the whole "supercar for $12000" or whatever. Doing things right costs more. I've learned that the hard way through this for sure. The thing that scares me the most is their suggestions for the brakes and clutch. Non flared connections for a brake? I wouldn't drive that car. But, at least they show you what needs to be done, and then you can do it correct. For that I give them kudos.
The law in Michigan requires a double flare.
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I've been really busy lately but try to get to the project any few minutes I have. One night I worked on it from 12pm to 2am. I have a lot of dry time going on, so overnight is always the best to get that done.
These two pics are just showing my trunk area all finished. I'm sure there is an easier way, and a better way to do this, but it's the way I decided to do it after many sleepless nights. I'm no fabricator. The framing is 1/8 thick 1" tubing and is what the bodykit will bolt to. The sheetmetal is all 18 gauge. It's tack welded and then metal bonded all on the inside. Probably even stronger trunk than factory. The sheetmetal is formed to the bodykit in many places so it offers further support. I think I have a really good idea for my tail lights, so what I did will be great for their install.
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Looks great :) hey lance, I thought of making a fiberglass sheet that I would blend in with the Engine-Opening area of the kit and will have an oval opening that exactly fits the MR2 Engine-Area Opening without any gaps around - Are you thinking along these lines too?
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Just filler pics really. Blacking out my headlights. I am going to carbon fiber them after I fix a couple more problems. Black really makes it easy to see (and the arrows) that there are some "rounding errors" with the headlights. The banks would be proud ::)
I made some extra money after considering Lambiero's suggestion, and ordered some coilovers. So while the kit is getting really close to mounting, I'm holding off and doing some time killing stuff until they arrive and I put them in. The rear suspension wouldn't be hard to get to with the kit on, but the front really would. My kit will be removable, but I highly doubt I'll be excited to do that down the line when it's on and painted and driving and....yeah.... Thank you for the advice. Was a great observation.
Last pic is just showing the underside of the kit. You have to grind down a huge ridge all over the kit, and while I got it nice and flat it scared me that it's transparent. So just for peace of mind I fiberglassed in a bandaid. Probably useless, but makes me feel better.
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Looks great :) hey lance, I thought of making a fiberglass sheet that I would blend in with the Engine-Opening area of the kit and will have an oval opening that exactly fits the MR2 Engine-Area Opening without any gaps around - Are you thinking along these lines too?
Sorry am33r, I'm having a really hard time picturing what you mean. This is to dress up the engine compartment or for functional reasons? I have an idea of what I need to do for function of the engine cover, but I think you are implying something far more complicated than my brain can handle.
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lol ::salute
Assume the kit is orange and the MR2 is blue. When we place the kit over the MR2 Engine Compartment there will be gaps between the kit edges and the engine compartment oval edge. are you planning on extending the fiberglass to the gap area in the pic below?
(http://)
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@ am33r - I will be doing a bit of work around there. It's not so much that I care about seeing the donor under the engine cover, it's that the bodykit actually sits too far forward to get it lined up for the wheel wells. So the trunk hinge support is actually 4" inside the engine bay instead of directly on the original trunk hinge wall, and the engine cover hinges will be overhanging about 5" into the passenger compartment. I will be doing something to dress this up, but that's all I have planned now. I'll try to take a pic of it when I have the kit back on.
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I got my coilovers today and had time to put one in. I put in a front to show why I was pushed over the edge to make the purchase. In part Lambiero made a really good point that it's really hard to change the suspension after the kit is on. I didn't think about that, and agree 100%, and then add to that the fact we only have mere millimeters between the strut and the tire WITH a 2" spacer on. It had to be done. Obviously doesn't eliminate spacers because my wheelbase is just plain too narrow, but if someone wanted to sacrifice the look of the front wheels to go deep dish (I just don't like that look on front wheels at all) or if they had the skill or money to do all the mods that were discussed earlier in my thread, you COULD eliminate spacers using coilovers. Again, it's just that the coilovers are so much skinnier, and the oversized tires we use on these projects come so close to the stock struts.
Just my thoughts, and I'm glad I pulled the trigger.
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Awesome job getting those Coilovers bud. That's next on my list - how much does this set lower the MR2 - and how much is the thread distance on the cool over arms for front and rear?
Thanks in advance
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I only have one in, but the they are advertised as coming set for a 40mm drop. I think that's almost a 2" drop. Just from comparing one side to the other I'd say this is accurate, but that's just an eyeball. I don't think I'll need all that drop though.
They are fully threaded.
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Lance, very nice coil overs. what brand are they?
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Got the suspension all done for the moment. The coilovers came with new front drop links, so I ordered new rear ones. Figured why not. It's all back together for now until they arrive. I looked into new sway bars for the future, and I'll decide down the line if I put in the high hp engine. They are pretty reasonable, but not at all needed now.
The coilovers I got were CXRacing. I did a lot of reading on mr2 forums and apparently Megan, CXRacing, and BC are all made at the same factory in Asia. Anyway, I don't have much option being in Canada. These were the only ones I found that would ship to me. I ordered some Megans, but immediately was refunded. Luckily these ones came the second time around.
Also did some prep today for fiberglassing tomorrow. The release agent I have takes a long time to dry, but works really well. I'm going to focus on the tail lights for the immediate future and hope to have a series of pictures.
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Keep in mind the relationship of the tire center of tread in relation to the center of your wheel bearing. This is usually not mentioned in the same post as using wheel spacers/adapters. When your tire center moves outward, you change your geometry and bearing load. Try to get a happy medium and achieve good handling. ::thumbup
Jim
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Keep in mind the relationship of the tire center of tread in relation to the center of your wheel bearing. This is usually not mentioned in the same post as using wheel spacers/adapters. When your tire center moves outward, you change your geometry and bearing load. Try to get a happy medium and achieve good handling. ::thumbup
Jim
True mathmatics jim, but I'd like to comment on this matter.
So my car came with wheels that are severely positive in offset. If I consider the original geometry associated with them to be the engineer's idea of perfection then I must automatically conceed that that ANY changes to size and offset will result in an inferior design, and therefore an inferior functionality.
I have added larger rims and larger tires, in addition I have 1"-2" spacers all around. Should I consider this more a problem than the fact that I sliced my MR2 in half then rewelded it together resulting in a sever change of geometry? Even when you use a Fiero and change the Steering Column, the Engine, Transmission, Axels, Brake System, Weight of the car, shape of the Cradle, Etc. is there a happy medium?
The idea of a happy medium is just NOT REALISTIC - I know there are EXTREMES like having 22" rims on a Fiero and 4" Spacers... and yes that is just rediculous, but what we end up doing is the barely possible safety barrier without thinking "is this a medium of two exterems"
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Just want you to have a safe ride. Watch your front tires clearance in the wheelwell with full turn left and right.
Jim
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Thanks Jim. I appreciate your comments. It is something I am going to consider in my build(s).
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I'm lucky I can get a full left and right turn with my wheels after flattening a spot weld lip in the wheel well.
I'm still messing around with the tail lights so hopefully I'll have a mini build diary for those. In the meantime here are pics of me carbon fibering the front headlights. Real CF, not the vinyl stick on. Though it might have been easier to vinyl it ::scratch
I also made the headlight lenses out of lexan. Anyone have a good way to attach these? I'm leaning toward using dum dum all the way around with three points of a chemical bond. Would make them watertight and removable with a bit of effort later. Does windshield urethane work well?
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Looks great! always happy to follow this build!
Megan refunded my coil over purchase too lol I just bought a diff one like you.
I think I will make my headlights full unites with the screens on them. I want to bolt them to the kit after i make them compete with a universal 4 pin harness (like the u-haul trailer ones). I thought of fiber grassing 3 of the 10mm screws in the bottom of them - that also helps in adjusting their height...
Looking forward to see what you do.
Cheers
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I'm still messing around with the tail lights so hopefully I'll have a mini build diary for those. In the meantime here are pics of me carbon fibering the front headlights. Real CF, not the vinyl stick on. Though it might have been easier to vinyl it ::scratch
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What resin did you use on your carbon???
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Epoxy resin. Everything I read and the guy at the supply said it's just the best overall.
More specifically I'm using an eco friendly, indoor use, blah blah blah... brand because I'm doing it in my attached garage.
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My headlights are pretty much done. I don't have the projector or bulb in, but I want to put them in when I am finally attaching the bodykit, and I'm really really close. I made the supports for the batwing area, so the rear of the kit is very well supported. I need to make one more brace in the front, and modify the rocker braces I made. Taillights are still a work in progress but I'm hoping to have them done soon and then in one day I'll fully finish headlights, attach kit, then doors and windshield (my windshield support is off :( ) and onto bodywork and paint. Somewhere in there I have to finalize the fuel filler, but I'm holding out to see if any progress was made on the Reventon Fuel Filler door.
I can't finish the interior for now unfortunately. I found out I start my grad studies aug.12 so I hope to get the car on the road by then to have some fun this summer. Our summer ends in October here. I also have gone over budget (surprise) so I'm intending over winter to do the interior and finish up the car nicer. I think a couple drives in it would keep me motivated to work on it over those cold months. Without that little push I'm worried it'll just sit on the lift.
What do people do for splash guards? I've been trying to decide if I want to modify existing ones or make fiberglass ones.
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Now this is what I like to see (: great work so far man! Very proud of the enthusiasm and professional planning!
I have 6 more weeks on my build too so I can get it on the road for a few summer trips. Get the main things done and drive it... I see project camaros, trucks, jeeps etc all need primer & body work & paint but on the road none the less. Once you're there you are done!
For splash guards use the cheap rubber floor mats from Walmart & cut them to your liking. This week I'm mounting my kit and I will use all thread to connect wheel well bottom edges to main mr2 body - the guards can hang on those.
Pics my friend - pics !!! Cheers from Cali
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Haven't worked on the car much, and haven't taken many pics as I did. Been super busy and I'm getting less and less time. I'm determined to get the car on the road this summer though, and then finish it over winter. Here's hoping.
Anyway, first pic is from the inside of the headlight. There are 2 clamps holding it in place while it dried, but it's a bracket I made to hold the projectors I bought. The projectors are too long, so installing them the way they are designed to be installed puts them too far forward and the lexan headlight cover or "glass" hits it, so I had to make a bracket to hold them farther back so instead of about 3" sticking out only <1" does. This bracket also allows me adjustment. I can move the top nuts forward to tilt down, left ones in more to shoot more right, etc.. etc... I'll then cover it all up with a triangle or pyramid piece of fiberglass attached with push clips so nothing can hit if from below.
Second pic is just my fuse box move. I don't think I posted this but I did it a while ago. I just moved the box over and fabricated a new arm to hold the other side. I can get to the gold bolt easily when the kit is on to move the arm and have full access to the fuse box. Not fancy, but works and gives me access.
Third pic is the batwing area supports. I'll bolt the kit to this as well as be able to attach hinges to the side of the support to have working batwings. I took some rear glass motors out of a van at the junkyard the other day so I hope to make them work.
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Great work lance! Keep it up brother - you're getting much closer to the finish line (:
Speaking of mounting (which I am doing this week) I now see that the MR2 actually offers several planes of contact with native screw points that mount without extra bracing. Mounts it nicely, but a few more lines of contact meed fabrication. That is an awesome find I hope your Rev kit has those planes & points available too.
My catalog will leave instructions of a little different trimming to accommodate for those bat wings lol we should have left that metal and bent it up & flat and the wings panel will just sit on them
Great work on the headlight. I think I'm using a drilled panel to mount my 3 bulbs on it (-adjustable too).
It's been over 100 degrees here for over 10 days now I can't get much done lol glad you are working on yours! Not sure what's up with the rest of the builds x_O
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Headlights and signal lights all done in the front, and the front clip is all mocked up to be final attached. I really like the HID kit I got from retrofit inc. Took me about 20mins to wire everything and worked first shot. I have some tweaking and finishing to do, but it all works.
I hope to squeeze out the tail lights this week and do the final kit attach on the weekend. Then doors (no glass for now, I hope to down the road) and then windshield and finally the wiper. After that bodywork and paint to hopefully have it inspected and on the road by the end of the month-ish. Again, I won't be close to done, but working on a driving car is substantially more motivating to me than a non moving one. Just me, but I like to get a bit of enjoyment, then put in a bit of work. It's like rewarding yourself as you go I guess.
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::headbang awesome can't wait to see it running around - you're doing the right thing... get the detail wor later - I'm also glad you've chosen HID's that's what I have everything HID and LED except oem tail lights.
::beers
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One door frame made and installed along with latch and striker. Just need to put the door skin on it and do the other side.
Kit is bolted down now too. Fully removable but very secure. I think I went overboard with my supports but I'm happy I did. Kit is going nowhere.
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Wow it's been a long time since I put up a pic. Been super busy and working on the car very little, hour here and there. I finally got a few solid hours in and almost finished one door so I took some pics and thought I'd post.
First pic is just showing all my bare metal primed, and I used a half inch thick foam mat (it's actually mechanic's kneeling mat) with 3M two sided foam tape as a cushion for the kit. Will eliminate noise from any vibration.
Second - door in the upright position. Gas shock took some messing around to get right but it works now.
Third - door down. Latch works well, but I feel I need to slam it to get it to catch fully.
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First - Shot from the inside of the car showing a brace I made quickly to support the front of the wheel well/brake vent area. My kit seems to be a little twisted so I needed to make one on each side to make the kit sit symmetrical.
Second - showing a brace for the latch. This eliminates vibration on the kit from slamming the door, and stress on the kit. for one piece of flat metal and a tube I would highly recommend it. However, it might be the only piece I need to cut to get the kit off. Worth it though.
Third - door skin finally going on. I glued the top for now, I'll let that set, then I'll glue the bottom. Like everything else, door is a little twisted so going top to bottom will let me get it perfect.
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The reason why you have to slam the door is b/c you need to fabricate a shim to sit between the striker and body where it is mounted. Mine had same issue. This shim is wedge shaped and here is how to make it.
This was what Murci-me had helped me with except he used maybe a clay to make a the shape, then used fiberglass to make mould and had a fab shop make one out of metal if memory serves correct. However, I am just using the quick steel stick you can buy from any auto store and it works just fine so far.
Take the striker off and put on the latch fully engaged with the door open. Then take some clear tape and mask approx where the striker will mount on the fiberglass body. Also mask the backside of the striker while it is on the latch. Then take some jb weld stick or quick steel stick that you can buy from any autozone or oreillys and mix it up ( about half a stick) and blob it on the masked portion on the backside of the striker while it is on the latch. While the jb stick is still soft and maliable close the door fully and hold and get a good shape. It will be wedge shaped thus giving you the appropriate angle on the striker so the latch will travel straight down into the striker now. Wait till jb stick hardens and now you have the proper piece. You can use this as it is after you clean up the edges or you can have a custom piece fabbed for you. Drill out the holes and mount it between striker and door jamb. Now your door will close easier.
Also, you can use that steel stick weld they sell at autozone or oriellys.
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Good info on the latch, this needs to be posted in a "how to section"
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yeah, I never would have thought of this being the problem. Thank you for the heads up and I'll give that a go.
I might try using clay or something malleable as I would make a plastic shim with the mold, as long as it doesn't distort too much upon opening the door again. We'll see.
Again, thanks for the help ::beers
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Hey great work so far... Is that a cki Reventon kit your using ? If so how is it I'm thinking of getting one. Thanks!
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I haven't been on in quite a while and I had some questions in my inbox that it's easier for me to address en mass. Sorry for those that wanted a personal message back, I just don't have time because most of these answers are just in my thread.
1. Is that a cki rev kit? Yes, as mentioned a couple times. I bought it in late 2012 I think. It is nice and sturdy so I'd say the quality is decent, it just isn't very accurate to OEM. Rockers and rocker/rear brake vents need to be redone, doors are a disaster, and various little things are wrong. If you want to just build a car for fun like I did it's fine. If you want very accurate, you won't be happy.
2. Why am I not updating? I'm in an MBA program. I don't sleep let alone work on the car. I will get back to it next spring I hope.
3. Where do you start with a build? Read other people's diaries, read my diary (disorganized as it is), and be flexible. Honestly if you have to ask "what do I do" you probably will not finish. There are lots of ideas on this forum and it has been invaluable to me, but you will have to solve problems as you go.
Hope that helps.
Quick note to people that have helped me along the way - thank you. I hope to impress you when I finish. I'll be back ::thumbup
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Miss seeing your progress and well said. Good luck
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I got my last assignment done so the car came down and I have the other door almost done. Took me about an hour to figure out what I was even doing and where I put stuff.
I hope to get a windshield this week and start tying up loose ends. With any luck I'll be on to the bodywork soon then paint.
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It only took you an hour after so long? Man I can put down a screw driver and not find it for an hour even though I swear I just put it down beside me LOL.
Glad that you are back at it.
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I got my last assignment done so the car came down and I have the other door almost done. Took me about an hour to figure out what I was even doing and where I put stuff.
I hope to get a windshield this week and start tying up loose ends. With any luck I'll be on to the bodywork soon then paint.
Congratulations on finishing! I was going to get my MBA and realized I had to take a couple accounting classes. F-that noise! I agree with what Autopro said. If I need something after it has been a while, I look at the floor. If it is not laying there, and often times it is not thanks to my tidy spouse, I am pretty much up a creek!
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Haha, yeah I am really bad for losing some stuff. My cell phone is a big one, my wife has to call it at least once a day for me to find it. Tools I've always been pretty good about putting back. I worked in a shop for about 5 years and when you work flat rate looking for tools makes you feel stupid.
I bought a windshield and have made the frame for it. It's welded onto the car and I have a bit more tweaking to do and then I'll be attaching the windshield. First, I made a huge sheet of thin fiberglass so I can create filler panels for all the areas that need it that are going to be hard to work in once the windshield is on. I also had to relocate the windshield wiper motor. I'm using the one off the MR2 just for convenience for now. Maybe I'll go to a single down the road but for a roadworthy-ness inspection it just needs to wipe the glass.
Hopefully I'll have a pic of my windshield on, doors, and the three "lids" soon. All three lids took a lot of trimming but they are coming along. I'll be painting them black and wrapping them in one layer of carbon fiber. The doors I've also completely redesigned the shocks to be more OEM, and quite frankly it just works better than the way I had it.
I hated accounting going in as well. Financial was my worst class in my bachelor's. I found the one in the MBA to be very interesting though. We did a lot of "accounting decision making" so things like skirting the leasing rules to keep assets off books, goodwill adjustments, etc. Revenue recognition is particularly interesting to me now, though not enough to become an accountant.
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Some pics. Doubt these will help many people, but I'm surprised at the things people have asked me so I'll take more progress pics to show how I did things.
I made a template out of cardboard for a filler panel that goes in front of the factory dash.
Filler panel cut out of fiberglass from the template.
It's hard to see but the third pic is of some little plates I welded onto the underside of the windshield frame. They will hold up the filler panel to be nice and tight to the windshield so there isn't a big ugly gap.
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Progress pic of the car in general.
Showing my recreation of the sail panel/batwing area. The CKI kit seems to be modeled after the spyder pic I see on the internet, but I wanted to do it like the roadsters. That metal bar is giving me the curve I need since it is much more vertical at the front and then tucks under the batwings. I made a big sheet of fiberglass only 1 layer thick so it is very flexible, and now I'll layer it up to strengthen, properly attach it to the body from the underside, and fiberglass a reinforcement behind so if people use it to get in or out of the car it won't break.
Third pic is just showing my estimate of the opening that is there, and the drop to create that little channel. It's just glued roughly in place so I can fiberglass on the car.
As soon as the sail panels are all done I'll be cutting out the parts of the door I don't need and then putting the windshield on. I guess then it's technically a car again, but still lots to do.
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use this as a reference
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/italianknightrider/revspiderdecklidopen.jpg) (http://s18.photobucket.com/user/italianknightrider/media/revspiderdecklidopen.jpg.html)
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/italianknightrider/lproadsterenginecoverframetxt.jpg) (http://s18.photobucket.com/user/italianknightrider/media/lproadsterenginecoverframetxt.jpg.html)
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Thanks IKR. That little scoop in the engine bay answers a lot of questions for how to hide the gap between the sail panel and the seat humps.
Quick update. It's not a lot done but I cut the doors, mocked up the windshield, created the rest of the interior filler panels under the windshield, and glassed up the sail panels so they are pretty strong. I hope to have the windshield actually on for good by the end of the week. I'm just taking my time and making sure I didn't forget anything before it's on. It makes it much harder to get to some areas.
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Hey Lance, it's really looking good but don't get in a big hurry to get that windshield in permanently as that is one of the easiest things to put in place. It will only cause you headaches and there is a good chance you will break it before your done. Windshield are mounted after paint in almost all cases. I would think you still have to make the outer posts before you call it good. Here is a pic I took of the oem windshield post inside edge where the door seals. ::beers
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Hello all. I've spent quite a few hours here and there working on the car. This weekend is nice and warm here so I'm hoping to do some fiberglassing and carbon fiber, then putting up some pics of progress.
I'm hoping after this weekend I'll be onto interior, then bodywork. For the interior unfortunately the CKI stuff will not work at all. The dash is a normal North American driver side, and my car is a Japanese "RHD". So I'll be making about half new interior components and leaving the dash/center console for now. This has been the plan for a long time. After I drive it a bit I have some things I'd like to still do, but it's been long enough. Time to enjoy all the fruits of my labor.
The sheer size of the project starts to wear on me. Maybe that's why there are so many unfinished cars. I can only enjoy the car maybe 6 months a year, so I'm really hoping to enjoy this summer, then over winter start getting into the finer detail points.
If Texas is still on here, thank you for the advice on the windshield. I got the frame all done and I'm glad I didn't seal it in. I decided instead of doing the frame gloss black I'm wrapping it in carbon fiber. Same with the front hood, engine cover, rear trunk lid, and rockers. I think it'll look really good with the reventon color.
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I was lazy and didn't take any pictures. I'll take some tomorrow. I'm into the little details now so the appearance of the car won't change much until I do the bodywork and paint. So do people even care about pictures?
I did write up a full list of EVERYTHING that needs to get done. I actually have it to the point now that it will pass a safety inspection, but the list is only 30ish things left to do. May sound like a lot, but people that have finished their project I hope would agree that THERE IS LIGHT DOWN THAT THEM THERE TUNNEL! With a bit of luck and my wife toughing it out with baby all day a few more times I'll be driving soon.
Hope everyone else is doing well and making progress.
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Oh yes, pics are worth 1000 words. The devil is in the details. Just take it one step at a time. Keep it up.
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I can't read good! Pics please!!! ;)
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First Pic - I had to cut off the top of the door and remake it. No matter how I tried i couldn't get the skin on the door and the top of that part of the door to both line up. I put the skin on the door so the back of the door lines up with the quarter, and remade the part in the pic. I used a hot glue gun to glue cardboard to the back of the door, then also down to the window frame. I then fiberglassed it and when dry just cut the hot glue. Worked pretty well for what I needed.
Second pic - Just a pic of the back of the car for fun. I have the taillights done, and wired in. I had to make mesh grills. Every time I see some on Ebay they won't ship to me :( but eventually I'll find some. In the meantime I made my own that I'm sure will give the hardcore replica guys a heart attack, but I wasn't going to put nothing there, or hold up the whole build over it. One day...one day...
Third pic - Rocker finally attached without a 2x4 holding it together. For those that don't want to read all the way back CKI cut my kit in half to save me shipping charges. You'd be surprised how hard it was to get those to line up nice again. I don't think there was possibly another way for it to twist unless Hawking has discovered another dimension or something.
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First two pics - Just showing progress on the windshield surround. This was done a long time ago, but I haven't put up a pic in about a year. I glued Styrofoam blocks to the metal frame I made, then wrapped that in fiberglass. I used long strand fiberglass filler to shape it more, and the pink is regular body filler. I have a bit more to do; I don't like the curve up in each corner, and the doors have created a bit more work (see one post back) so I'll have a bit more bodywork for the frame but then it'll be wrapped in carbon fiber.
Third pic - I filled in the gap between the kit and the body of the car with fiberglass. Same as everything else really - I glued cardboard in place, then glassed over it. The other side is actually done and painted black, but the door is on so I couldn't get a good pic. Looks good when the door is open though, hides that all-telling gap.
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First pic - Gap left from the way I fiberglassed the outside and the inside of the window frame.
Second pic - My solution to the first pic.
Third pic - Just finished the very rough glassing of the inside of the passenger door. Driver's door is a little further along, but not much. This door will need one more layer of long strand, then they both need some short strand work before they are painted.
Fourth pic - the door card just sitting on the door. It needs to be trimmed obviously, then I have no clue what to do. I would love to get the cards upholstered but I don't know how, and there is no one in my city that will do it. I'll figure something out. When in doubt, I carbon fiber it!
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First pic - random pic of carbon fiber on my hood. I got all ready and my epoxy had turned to a weird slush... I have to buy some new stuff apparently. I guess also to solve any mysteries later on of if the stuff I claim to have carbon fiber'ed are real or vinyl. Yes I will be doing some vinyl - probably interior, maybe the whole car after paint down the road, I don't know for sure I've just never done it and want to learn - but I will be doing real carbon fiber on quite a bit of the car.
Pic two - Just a pic from the front of the car. Why not.
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Looks good. Keep it up!!!
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Good work, the sides are really taking shape now!
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Keep in mind the relationship of the tire center of tread in relation to the center of your wheel bearing. This is usually not mentioned in the same post as using wheel spacers/adapters. When your tire center moves outward, you change your geometry and bearing load. Try to get a happy medium and achieve good handling. ::thumbup
Jim
I wanted to add a comment on the rim/spacer view.
having rims with a massive deep dish causes more load on the wheel bearing than a hub centric spacer does, during corning the weight and the force is transferred to the outer edge of the rim putting all the strain on the bearing, when the Lambo rims are used with a spacer the outer edge is reduced so this strain is also reduced, that's why the genuine 335 wide rims don't have a large offset, a deep dish rim it looks better.. I agree, but its not a better solution over a hub centric spacer
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Spent the entire day today messing around with my shock positioning for my door. I wasn't happy with how high it went. I finally got it where I was happy and took the doors off to do some more inner finishing. I think we are on hour 200 for the doors. Mostly my fault though.
Just fyi - I have no idea why I have never used fiberglass cloth before. I've been using chopped strand mat, and it is a real pain in the butt to work with. The cloth is so much easier... where has it been all my life? I will still be using the chopped stand for a couple spots I need to build up (it is much thicker); I'm an idiot for not realizing earlier.
I've said this more times than I care to count in my thread, but "if all goes well" I really hope to have the carbon fiber done by the end of the weekend. My friend will be helping me with the interior I hope next weekend. The list is getting very short!
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We progress! Not quite there yet but that light at the end of the tunnel is pretty bright.
It would take me a very long time to list all the things I've done since my last post, and even longer to take pics. So here's a pic I snapped quickly on my way in tonight.
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Ahhhh Nice!!!! you are making good progress there sir!! ::salute
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Looks awesome!!! Good job.
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Nice work Lance! The color looks perfect ::thumbup
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looks great.... the lines follow the real car, most reventon replicas don't look quite right.
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Thanks all. I really tried to make it look like the roadster pictures I could find online. It meant a LOT of extra work, but I'm happy I did it. Still some work to do on small details, and the entire interior, but for now it just gets some weekend trips for coffee ::thumbup
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Ahh man, I forgot to put the front mesh in :-\
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Nice work. Those extra little things you do go a long way on the final product.
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Wow nice !! I think I've only seen two or three finished reventon replicas!
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Little update and a couple questions.
I've done some small things to the car. Side view mirrors, new exhaust, nicer carpet, finished some interior. I have more I want to do but I really like driving it instead of working on it. For anyone part way through a build - I would suggest getting it to a driving point and enjoying it a bit. I did and don't regret it one bit. Make sure not to cut corners because there is some stuff that has to be done right and can't be redone, but it has been awesome to finally drive the car after 2 years of work. Once I have the kiddie smile off my face I'll get back to work, but for now it gets driven!
Question - there are literally no upholstery people around here willing to tackle my interior. Anyone have any basic knowledge they could share? Specifically the dash. What type of foam do they use? What glue for the vinyl or leather on the dash? Is there specific auto upholstery you should buy?
If anyone makes or knows of a dash for a mercie that's got the gauges on the NA passenger side (here we call this RHD but I've seen where this isn't the case everywhere) please let me know. That would save me a lot of time. Better yet if someone knows of one and could get it covered I'll take the risk of messing up the upholstery to get it into my car. I'd literally have to ship my dash somewhere, have it upholstered, then get it back. I'm thinking that would be thousands.
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Living with a kit car (didn't know where to put this so thought I'd put it here). I say kit car out of respect for those that do perfect replicas. Mine is not the latter.
So I've been driving the car a while now. I don't drive it to work, but every weekend and some weeknights it gets a drive. As anyone that's read the thread knows I don't have the interior done, and the car is an open top. This has created a pretty fun WTF moment pretty much every time someone comes over to look at the car. "WTF, what is this?"
I'm very honest with people that I built the car and it isn't real. I have no badging on it or anything. I'm really surprised that I get better reactions about having built the car than it being a lambo. Just today I was at a parts store and a guy sees me drive up and when I get out he says "nice car" and turns to walk away. I got a bit of the feeling it was more of a "f your car". I said, "thanks, I built it". He turned around and we chatted for about 5-10 minutes. This isn't always the case. Another day about a week ago I came out of a store and some guys were taking pictures of the car. As I walked up before I could say anything they go, "it's sooooo fake. You did this wrong, and this, and this looks like crap, yada yada" so there are definitely both types of people.
I've found the same on forums. Some people want to build a car and whether it's perfect or not they are having fun and are supportive. Some people do this to actually fool people and have a replica. Different views. From my limited experience so far I've found that way more people think it's cool you built a car than that you have a lambo. Makes you more real to them or something? Maybe if mine was perfect I'd get respect for both, but I've been very pleasantly surprised so far about people's reactions to it.
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How much did you want for it
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what car did u use for your build
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Hello All,
Just thought I would say hi, and that I still have the car! Quick pic from last summer.
Still work on it once in a while - interior is mostly carbon fiber custom pieces now, exterior has changed a couple of times.
Hope everyone is well and getting builds done!
Lance