Body Shell Preparation

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Major System Category: Body (Shell)
Task: Handle issues on body, prime and seal
Parts: Bondo, fiberglass, Primer (6 cans) and sealer (3 cans)
Prerequisite Tasks: Seam Glassing
Additional Costs: $150
Time Requirement: 40 hours
Date Started: July 20, 2013

Date Completed:  August 3, 2013
At the risk of stating the obvious, the body shell is the largest piece. However, overall it is pretty easy to work. The major seams are basically on top and visible. The one exception are vents forward the rear wheels.

My build has some non-standard additions:

1. The roof scoop. This is a optional piece produced by Factory Five.
2. Replaced the Hatch mesh with Vraptor Hatch louvers.
3. Added Vraptor body louvers.
4. Added Vraptor Side Scoop Louvers.
5. Added Vraptor Wing Mounts.
6. Rocker Panel Extensions. This is a optional piece produced by Factory Five.

This looked nasty all winter and most of the spring. It only came together after I got started using the long sanding block. You can see the buildup along the hatch in the lower right of the photo, and I had not started on the seams.

The roof scoop introduces another set of seams and fiber glass feathering that needs attention. The nice thing about this is everything on top of the roof and easily accessible. The seams are straight and give way to the long sanding block. It all looked very ugly for a long time. The Dura-Block kit is worth its weight in gold.

These louvers are straight forward. Both of these are Vraptor products.

The hatch and body louvers are pretty straight forward, and do not present much of a challenge.

The side scoop louvers have seams top and bottom. In addition, the area has to be cut, sanded and smoothed out. There are curves everywhere. The space is really small. The area that extend out from the top of the louver is a major hassle, because it is up side down.

The side scoop louvers are going to be trouble no matter what you do. It is just very difficult to get any direct leverage inside here. There are seams that need attention and it is just a big hassle. If you have a lift, it helps to raise the car to chest level so you can use your body to apply leverage.

The wing mounts need to be welded to the transmission bracket, and they are currently on order. I don't think I'll be making the rear body cuts until later this fall.

The rocker panel extensions go along the bottom of the car wheel to wheel. They are large enough to protect the vehicle  from some rocks and road debris.

The rocker panel extensions are carbon fiber. So they go on after the body is painted and final install has taken place. If you ordered these, then you don't have to worry about another hard to get area, which is the lip that fits under the chassis.

You can see the A pillar where the hood blends into the contour. I do not have the hood latched in these photos. This gave me fits. The hood scoop certainly better in this shot than the one above.

My car had three areas that caused me headaches:

1. The contour as the seam comes up from the hood along the A pillar. It worked okay on the passenger side, and gave fits getting it smoothed down the driver's side.
2. The driver's side area along the hatch had to build up, because the hatch settled lower on the passenger side. I had to add about 3/16" to this area so the glass sits flush on the hatch.
3. The area between the edge of the hatch and the rear edge of the car. There are two sloping contours that I had trouble getting them sanded right. Maybe I just don't understand how to sand concave shapes efficiently.
   
   

   

   This is another top down shot. The contours on the end of the car that border the louvers is where I had trouble with the seams. The hatch is not latched in this photo.

   
   

Side Scoop Louvers

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Major System Category: Body (Shell)
Task: Prep and install side scoop louvers
Parts:

• Side Scoop Louver
• 8115 3M Bonding Kit
• Fiber Glass supplies

Prerequisite Tasks: Mount the body
Additional Costs: $126
Time Requirement: 5 hours
Date Started: September 16, 2012
Date Completed: September 25, 2012
The side scoops are located forward of the rear tires. The build manual calls for a mesh screen to be installed  behind the cut out. There is nothing wrong with mesh screen, it just doesn't provide for enough air flow. I believe this was done as a cost control measure. The basic kit already costs $21k plus shipping and the donor and the transaxle. All told, the basic car costs around $55k. This is a no frills, basic GTM. Engineered parts like louvers cost more and further complicate the build. There is a trade off here.

These are the different parts and pieces for 1 side scoop louver. Basically, there are two side pieces and  eight blades.

I made the decision to spend dollars to enhance the car's integrity. Items such as the roof scoop (a F5 option in the catalog), bump/steer kit, Z06 Big Brakes, larger wheels, aluminum tanks and so forth are optional. The same goes for louvers. I purchase the side scoop louvers to replace the mesh screen.

One side louver assembled. This looks like the passenger side louver.

Consideration: I definitely would want to do this before installing the fuel tanks. This is a room to work consideration.

These are louvers side by side. They are not bonded at this point and can fall apart  in your  hands.

Each louver consists of 10 pieces. To figure how to put these together, I examined the photos on the Vraptor Speedworks site and measured the install area for the scoop. The photos showed eight louvers (same as in the kit). I discovered from my measurements that the cut out is not single width from top to bottom. This helped me understand that the widest louvers need to me i the middle, followed by the slightly shorter width louvers and a top and bottom piece. The top and bottom become obvious when examining the depth of cuts on the side pieces.

This is a test fit of the louver on the driver's side. It is just sitting in there.

I assembled a left and right version of the louvers (I got it wrong a couple of times). The skinny side piece goes against the interior of the other shell and the fatter side piece encloses the inside of the scoop. (This becomes obvious when you get under the car and look.

These are the louvers bonded and painted. I ended up having to  sand and repaint parts of the louvers after they were installed. There was a certain amount of fiber glass and glazing necessary to sculpt the opening.

Consideration: I used tape on the outside of the side pieces to hold everything together. This facilitates a test fit and measurement for the cut out. I intend to use 3M 8115 panel bond to permanently secure these pieces.

Final product. The louver is bonded to the body shell. The opening has been sculpted with  fiber glass, sanded and glazed. I am sure it will need some additional attention before it is ready for paint, but that's a long way off right now.

It helps to remove the tires in order to provide access inside the body shell (thank goodness for the inline jacks). The scoop cut is basic grunt work.