New guy? Back to race in Lemons. Now a build thread! (Page 5 of 5)

Now that the tabs are in, we are going back to cardboard for the window template and transferring it to the lexan.

Then we test fit, figure out hole location and drill said holes.

Here we trimmed the protective layer and scuffed for some paint. We want to black out the outer portion of the windows so it looks somewhat normal.

Before

After

And on to the plastic portion of this idea. The cardboard temple worked pretty well, I just cut everything oversized, added a little heat for shape and trimmed it down to fit. Getting the fins inline and parallel to the car was a chore. Lots of measuring, lasers but mainly eyeballing it. Pretty much just eyeballing it.

Driver side

Passenger side

Great lookin build and excellent write up of your process. Thanks for including all the detail & pics so that we could follow along. At this point it is part of the routine to check for progress on your build and what ideas I can permanently borrow without permission (because stealing is wrong) when we begin our build.

Keep up the great work.

I did tint the windshield brow with some Amazon tint. Since there are no visors in the car and I know how bad the sun can be down the back straight at HPR at sunset.

So, after about 8 months of weekends and afternoons. I've had to extract ~30 bolts that were snapped off or seized. Used about 2 quarts of penetrating oil (1:1 ATF/Acetone is the best). 1 can each of map, propane and butane. Welded on many nuts to broken studs. Broke 2 left hand drill bits and 3 left hand extractors. Broke one tap, that I had to extract, LOL.

Every single threaded chassis hole had to be tapped or chased to try and save the threads. Bolts had to be die'd or chased. I cut the rear suspension off the car to do rear wheel bearings. I had to use a 50 ton press and oxy/acetylene to get the drivers ball joint taper to break free and had to extract the broken ball joint retaining bolt that snapped off. One of the rear subframe bolts won't torque to spec because it was so rusted the bolt threads came out like this )( 

Where the drivers rear sway bar mounts to the frame, there is missing metal due to rust. The threaded insert is there but the metal around it, not so much. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

So, without further ado. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, in the next post, THEE...

So, after the first test drive to bed in the brakes. There was a minor leak on the oil return line. It was leaking at the hose to hard pipe connection. Only 2.5 hours later, I had swapped the old worn out spring clamp for a new one. Super difficult with the engine in the car. Other than that, first drive went great!

Now that the car runs and drives. I just have some small things to finish up.
Here's my current punch list:

Set the shift light in the tach.
Figure out what's up with the stupid fuel light, it has a mind of it's own.
Add a second battery hold down tab
Positive terminal cover.
Verify chassis bolt torque
Witness mark bolts
Double check all fluid levels
Clean, wipe down, vacuum
Double check alignment
Clay bar the entire car
Maybe cut and buff
Livery

Here is a little bit of the hood and trunk after some clay barring. There is so much overspray, grinding dust and dirt in the paint, it's terrifying. It's also my most unfavorite thing to do. I hate detailing cars or doing paint correction. But if I don't get the garbage out of the clear coat it'll be not so good.

Here you can see the line between clayed and unclayed. However, the entire hood has been cleaned with soap and water, glass cleaner, brake cleaner, acetone, paint prep. Nothing works, it feels like 800 grit sand paper. Clay is the only thing remotely making a dent.

And I did half the trunk also. Here you can see the difference in the trunk, quarter and bumper.

Funny I just told my girls "if you want to drive, you have to clay the car". I'm still on the fence about the scoop?