917-037
December 22, 2003
Now that
the chassis is painted, the tedious job of attaching the body
is taking place. The tape marks where we are going to put
the mat patches. The patches that you see on the right are
cloth. Because the 917 (and all other plastic Porsches) are
held together with square mat patches, it's a little weak.
The patches hold strong until stressed by the weight of the
driver's feet. We strengthen all these patches by applying
an epoxy cabosil and cloth patch. The epoxy is way stronger
than the polyester. Then, we sand these patches and cover
them with the typical polyester mat patch. This gives it the
original look but gives the body a greater attachment than
original. It also takes twice the time.
You can
see Andy laying all the patches in position.
The epoxy
cabosil is then applied between the tube and the glass panels.
Next, the area is brushed with epoxy resin and the 10 oz.
German cloth is applied. Remember, this will all be covered
up.
The tape
not only establishes index, but it keeps the edge of the patch
neat.
After
the epoxy is dry, the areas are sanded and the polyester resin
mat patches are applied.
This gives it the factory original look.
When the
body is completely attached, all the gray you see in the picture
will be repainted in dark gray. I am now applying epoxy cabosil
to the nose hoop, which will be glued.
The cabosil
is pretty thick so it stays upright before the nose is attached.
The inner
structural panel is attached with cabosil and a 75mm mat patch.
After
the nose is attached, the oil cooler air duct (compliments
of Chuck Stoddard),
will be fit and glued in.
I made
the doors Saturday and Sunday.
These pictures show the mold to the finished door before trimming.
The body
parts you see in the picture on the right are all glued together.
The cooler
is bolted in and the front cover fits perfectly. The naca
duct you see on the right is primed before assembly because
it's a MOTHER #@$%*! to get paint in the duct when it's on
the car.
The firewall
got its first round of patchwork and will be finalized when
the roof goes on.
The picture on the right is a factory new 917 headlight cover.
Only Carl
can come up with a pair of these N.O.S. beauties.
The part numbers 917.503.311.00 & 917.503.312.00 were
still on these headlight covers.
Even the
side windows are new. The wing showed up from David Piper
last Friday. Stay tuned.
Don't
forget to keep checking Carl's website at www.pbase.com/917carl
<<<
Previous Update | Next Update
>>>