batbuilder's LP640 called "No Mercie"

[BigPines]

Dave, when do you get the chassis from Watson?

[Tusabes]

Batbuilder first of all I am SoO happy if you actually get these molds and start cranking out some accurate bodies for those of us who want the accurate thing . I'm in the Bay Area and would love to visit when you get them

[batbuilder]

OK here's my plan.... As I look at my G28 bodies and then real Murcies there's such a significant difference. I have a contracting business up in Northern California so building these cars is definitely a hobby for me. I looked at the pieces I needed to change and they went from curved rockers to hood and rear inners to doors skins that had been butchered. Ill be documenting it better in future posts.
So the idea is to replace many of the parts on the G28 coupe. The idea on the Roadster is to go in a completely different direction with a concept murcie idea. After I get the real Murcie chassis I hope to duplicate it twice but use more universally available corvette parts for hub assembly and brakes.
This will be a couple years of focus on the murcies, With the little molds I got already I've already built a set using carbon fiber core. I'm very interested in producing carbon fiber in my future builds and perfecting my technique.
I can't imagine building a business selling kits since my main business is pretty successful. But I will be interested in producing a few xtra pieces for my business partner and my cloney friends. I am interested in borrowing some of the pieces out there and maybe converting them to carbon fiber for those interested. My personal goal is to keep producing fiberglass pieces every week. Practice makes perfect.

[batbuilder]

Hey Guys, I wrote a nice long post yesterday and went to post it and since my time had expired it lost that big post so I'm going to try and break it down in segments. Yeah basically I bought the inside and outside molds and will buying the lambo chassis with that Audi he was not able to finish. We talked a lot about doing the right thing with orders he had not completed. I waited for a period of time before I announced it here so glad to hear the pressures on.
Yeah Tallon that seems to fall within the squeaky wheel gets the grease.... unfortunately
I had flown and met with my g28 builder but as of now there's a Reventon body still owed to me.
Yeah onewickedsvt I agree every industry has their fair share of flakes but the kit car business really preys on our belief in our fellow man or woman. Its not really that hard here to be a scam artist because our motivation is emotional but this money we spend really came from our hard work at our jobs. It really is a big sacrifice for the time it takes to save this money and of course it could have been money we could have spent on our loved ones. And instead we get scammed. I hope Watson does come through for you and the others out there. PS including myself now...

[BigPines]

Great news Dave! Did you get internal parts molds as well as external parts mold or just external? Do you plan to sell kits? If so, do you have a price or timeframe yet?

[batbuilder]

Wow Chris I really appreciate the kind words...thank you.
Hey Dustin, yeah it was a bummer missing you by a few hours but hey we had a great time in Hollywood a couple months ago.
Yeah Cmarens they will live on for a couple more cars at least.
Yeah Big Pines that would be all of them. We had discussed the fact that John owed some people some pieces so I have given him some time and have encouraged him to do the right thing. Its a funny thing but there is a lot of truth to Karma and even if a person does not believe in it, it still does exist. I believe in the ends of your days you will feel the pain that you have caused all your victims. So its always better to do the right thing and feel good about your lifes journey and how you have treated others.
Its a lot of trust I have put in John but because of his health and age this is giving him an opportunity to close this chapter of his life and move on to the country western agent/counselor that he loves. Plus its a lot less messier. I got the first little pieces from John and I have enjoyed working with these professionally produced molds.

[cmarens]

So perhaps the Watson bodies will live on??   

[usmc_butler]

Wow dave you are a BUSY man and I thought I was crazy for taking on 1 car  ! Sorry we just missed each other I was on a buddy of mines schedule and we had to be in St Louis that evening... Good to hear that you are getting Johns molds, We all know you have the knowledge and skills to make a quality product ! Hope you are planning on making parts and selling them  ??? Well, I will be headed back your way the end of they year sometime (hopefully) and this time I'll drive up to visit so you don't have to do as much driving this time 

[No Bull]

It was great meeting you in person Dave.  A man of both talent and obvious principles and integrity.   

Chris

[batbuilder]

Had a chance to go to Dayton, Ohio and meet some of the members I've been talking to but had not met in person. No Bull was gracious enough to spend a couple days with me and we talked all the geek stuff associated with Murcielagos. It didn't take very long before it was 1:00 am and I still had an hour drive back to my hotel. The next day I had a chance to meet Jason with Lambostuff. Got to check out his awesome Murcielago, Diablo and his Countach he is restoring. Seeing a countach stripped down to that level gave me a great opportunity to check out how Lamborghini put their cars together. Then got to check out Jeff's build which was put together very nicely using the front end of a grand Prix with the 3800 supercharged engine. Which is the same engine I'm using in my roadster and coupe. I missed Dustin as he was passing through Dayton but had a chance to meet him, Aaron and Aaron's wife in Hollywood a couple months earlier over at Victors house (Dr Murcielago). My biggest drive during the week was to visit Alan Shultz out in Illinois. It was a 6 hour drive one way but it was so nice talking to a fellow,clonehead. Yesterday I got the first molds from the set I bought from John Watson. I flew out to meet and spend a couple days learning from the master. Some of his simple approach to problems I found so complex blew me away.Today I got the first pieces waxed PVAd and even made the first panels. What's kinda cool is I made them using a carbon fiber core for strength and lightness.  A buddy had given me a big roll its only now I can appreciate the gift since the carbon fiber is $46 a yard. As I get the other body molds I hope to make at least two copies for my business partner and myself for our second set of cars. I'm going to go with my G28 bodies even though they are very rough and the scale is noticeable off. The coupe will be all Murcielago but I was given another idea by Chris on my trip and the concept design haunts me. If its possible I will modify my roadster body to incorporate this radical design. I still have the miniT 2/3rd Tumbler replica I am building and the swimming pool sales are off the chart but I hope to get the roadster over to my garage and get some of the mechanical stuff done. Thanks for reading and thanks to all you guys that make this crazy business of building replicas tolerable.dave

[batbuilder]

Yes Robert I agree. even when layering bondo its important to roughen it up. This bondo though is just being used to build the mock-up that I will pull a mold off later. Got much of the turbine done today but hope to get it sanded down this weekend. Also started the two rear intakes. Here's a pic of the panels having an internal frame built along the edges.
 

[Robert]

Hey tallon and autopro, Yep Tallon is right if you don't roughen up the fiberglass its hard to get the bondo to stick. But also a little trick is to over catalize  the bondo which makes it brittle and easier to pop off. The only downside is I use the cheap bondo (because I'm Cheap lol) and sometimes its a little harder to sand verses the quality stuff....
Here's the semi finished piece oh and my recent purchase of the rear tires for the lambo coupe

Use 80 grit to roughen the surface. The body filler needs something to hold on too. Applying body filler on a smooth surface will always result in lifting later on.

[batbuilder]

Had a couple hours to work on the miniT. Didn't have time to set up the welding or messy fiberglass so I worked a couple hours on the rear turbine mock up. Mostly just body work now...BWD

[batbuilder]

Hey tallon and autopro, Yep Tallon is right if you don't roughen up the fiberglass its hard to get the bondo to stick. But also a little trick is to over catalyize  the bondo which makes it brittle and easier to pop off. The only downside is I use the cheap bondo (because I'm Cheap lol) and sometimes its a little harder to sand verses the quality stuff....
Here's the semi finished piece oh and my recent purchase of the rear tires for the lambo coupe

[Tallon]

Those fiberglass panels look smooth, are they premade sheets? my guess is it doesn't allow a permanent bond with the filler and the other side would need to be roughened up
Nice technique