Thread: Project Sebring GT Spyder

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Mr Hotrod46 Sir,
I've been following this thread for about four years now; and have been in awe of the way you have found answers to the trials and tribulations you have faced.
There has (as I have seen,) been a tremendous amount of thought and a great deal of skill gone into everything you have tackled.
Your latest exercise regarding the articulated hinges epitomises that.
Bloody gorgeous.
Sir: I salute you.

jb

Well, Johnboy, now it's my turn to say wow. I have to say thanks for the compliment and I'm glad you're enjoying following along. The writing is sometimes harder for me than the actual building.

Considering the restrictions that you folks down under have to go through to get a custom or modified car on the road and the creativeness that the typical rodder in your neck of the woods has to show, your compliment means even more.

Thanks again.

Originally Posted by Hotrod46

34, I thought about that, but it was going to be just too complicated and fiddly. I also thought about using plain old coil springs, but they looked a little too industrial. I would have bought stainless gas springs, but they were about $75 each! The ones I used were less that $20 each.

Those gas shocks are a really good idea. After I did my tilt front I really wanted to get some of those aluminum electric servos for it but they were pretty pricey. I rally should put a shock or 2 on it. That would keep the dumb thing open on it's own.

Originally Posted by Hotrod46

Thanks guys. I'm glad it's done and that it works.

34, I thought about that, but it was going to be just too complicated and fiddly. I also thought about using plain old coil springs, but they looked a little too industrial. I would have bought stainless gas springs, but they were about $75 each! The ones I used were less that $20 each.

Again, I think your solution is slick! Simple - effective - dare I say... elegant.? Wish I had thought of it!

Originally Posted by Hotrod46

After the initial test, I set about mounting everything more permanently. I used some rivet nuts that are made for composite materials.



They expand like a drywall plug, but are much heavier duty and really bite into the backside, as well as spread the load over a larger area. You can see the difference between a regular rivet nut for metal and the composite one. Lots of people use the metal nuts in fiberglass, but they have been known to strip and start turning if pushed too far. Of course there was a hitch (isn't there always a hitch?). My rivet nut tool mandrel was too short to grab the threads in the longer nut. I scratched around in my scrap hardware, cut a piece of tubing and came up with an adapter. It worked great.

Where did you find the RivNuts for composites? I haven't done an extensive search, but all I've seen is the ones for metal or NutSerts that thread into wood/composite building panels.

Are these the same?: https://www.amazon.com/STEEL-THREADE...70_&dpSrc=srch

Roger, those came from McMaster Carr, an industrial supplier. They have a really good website that is easy to navigate. Just type in rivet nut and a large selection comes up. We still get their paper catalogs down at the plant and they are huge!

I became aware of them years ago working in industrial jobs. They are a great company to do business with, but can be a little pricey. They ship fast and have been 100% reliable, though. Be aware that they do not add shipping into the checkout until after the item ships. That's the one thing I don't like about them, you never know the shipping charges until they charge to your card.

FWIW - That's where the gas springs I used on the hood came from.

i started using them in the early 80's when guys would cross thread mirrors on dodge vans . i learned that when using them on composites it helps to add a washer to the back. makes them much stronger.
mcmaster/carr has everything . their grinding/sanding discs are far better than 3m junk .

Thanks Mike, and Uncle Bob & Shine, too. I know McMaster-Carr, and know that our construction job sites used them a lot but I've not yet used them myself. I need to spend some time looking, but like you say they have so much stuff it's almost intimidating!! I like the washer idea, Shine.

And they have (almost) a cult following for their old catalogs.
I've saved #111 and have had others almost begging me to sell it!
Who knew?!?!?!

I'll start the posts on my revised "Chassis to Paint" list with patching the old shifter and emergency brake handle holes. This isn't quite the order they happened, though, as you will see.

The 6 speed shifter doesn’t quite line up with the old 5 speed hole and I removed the original emergency brake handle because it was exactly where I wanted to rest my arm when driving. It was also located a little too far rearward for me, making it awkward to operate.



I went ahead and installed the Hurst shifter I picked up at a swap meet so I could locate the hole exactly. It was pretty nasty and looked like it had been stored outside and gotten wet, but I got it fairly cheap. I tore it apart and soaked the parts in mineral spirits for a few days. After a trip through a grinder mounted wire brush, everything went back together nice and clean.



The original shifter hole wasn’t very neatly done, but after a little time and a little work with the welder and grinder, it looked almost like it never happened. The large drilled holes are to leave rounded corners in the new hole.



I made the hole large enough to remove the shifter from the top. I hadn’t planned this, but found out that you just about have to drop the transmission to get the shifter on from the bottom of the car.



Here is the Hurst shifter installed on the transmission. It cleaned up pretty good. There are other shifters that are considered to be better that this one, but it is head and shoulders better than the stock part and it was cheap. The stock shifter felt pretty vague and sloppy. It even had a rubber mounted handle! Yuck! This one feels nice and crisp. I think it will do nicely, but it looks like it would be easy to modify it for a quicker shift pattern. That's a project for the future, though. It works well enough now and I have bigger fish to fry.



I made a cover plate that bolts on. The trans tunnel is an integral part of the chassis and having big unsupported holes in it was not going to help it’s stiffness. I probably did get a little carried away with the bolts, though. I’m planning some kind of decorative console, so all this will be covered up eventually.

This isn’t the stick that will be on it permanently. I have something else planned.

Patching the old emergency brake hole went pretty much the same as the shifter hole, except I didn’t have to do any welding. I just enlarged the opening and made a removable cover. I also had to break out my cutting torch to cut out the last remnants of the old emergency brake handle. I think it may have been welded in at the factory. The plate that it was welded to was also used for an optional 3rd link traction bar that Classis Roadsters offered. I thought that I might be able to use this plate to mount some driveshaft loops to. That’s the reason for the removable cover.

You can just see the new driveshaft through the old e-brake hole. I'm a little out of sequence, but the driveshaft story will be next.

Once again well done and thought out. Having access panels really pays off when adjustments or replacement come back to haunt us.

Yeah, I've learned the hard way over the years that you need to think seriously about how you will service something down the road. I try to make that as easy on myself as I can, but sometimes you just can't. I do what I can though.

Thanks.

Looking good, pre planning pays off well, hopefully you'll never need the access holes.