Nice shed!

Got the build area sorted. Workshop painted.



Have got to run cable to workshop,and sort out shelving and workbench.
But it is coming on.

Exhausting!

After posting details of my love for rear bodywork exiting exhausts, a J-15 owner from America sent me a pic of his Hayabusa powered J-15 taking shape,note the awesome exhausts.
Nice one,Chet!
That is going to be a beast!!


I am concentrating on my workshop for now,which is turning into a bit of a major project in itself!!
Normal service should be resumed shortly.
I hope!

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Inspiration

Just thought I'd post a couple of pics ...

I love the open backs of classic racers,with the exhausts coming out of the bodywork...





I love the aluminium side pods here...



And you can't beat a racing stripe or two...









I like the centre tunnel of this kit car...



I love the whole ethos of the old school racers...







: )

OOOhh!!
One workshop up,and its not even 10am yet!!
I thought it might be a bit small,but it isnt,its HUGE!!
Plenty of room. Brilliant!
They arrived at 8.30,after a 3.5 hr drive!!
Anyway,without further ado...

Before


During


And after

Stuff

Evening all.
Workshop/shed is coming tomorrow morning. I have the day off work to get it sorted out.
Mine is the first drop off,so they should be here around 8am.
I have finished both tunnel sides,but am still wondering whether to get them powder coated or not. As this car has absolutely no roof,it is bound to get a good soaking every now and again,so I am thinking that powder coating could be a better option than carpet or any other fabric. I will think some more.
I will post some pics of the great erection tomorrow morning,oooh errr missus!!!!!

LOL

I was just browsing the web for images of kit car interiors,and found this blog.
It made me giggle.
Fieroghini

First complex panel

Finished the passenger tunnel panel. Note seatbelt anchor cutout,and handbrake lever mount points. I am hoping I can use this as a part template for the drivers side panel,although that panel is longer. I am deliberating whether to get just the cockpit interior panels powder coated in black. To keep things tidy? I would leave the floor,and other panels bare aluminium.
There is a chap called Richard who is building a yellow J15 here...http://www.jpsc-online.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=45
He has powder coated all his panels,and it does tidy things up against the black chassis.

change of plan.

A small change of plan.
I got a confirmation email from the shed manufacturers today,and in a last minute change of mind,I have changed the size from 12 x 8, to 12 x 7,but they are adding an foot to the roof,so it will be 7' 6" at the tallest point. That should make it more comfortable to walk around in,and give me an extra foot of car building room,outside.

pipes

Finally installed the water pipes. A proper job,hoorah!!
I was waiting to start work on the chassis when the workshop was up and running,but this afternoon,the sun was shining,the wife was at work,so I couldn't resist.
Feels good to have actually attached something to the chassis at last!!
Cheers James.

tunnel

Did a bit of work on the tunel side today.The first one is the hardest,(I hope!)
A bit fiddly,but not too bad.Still needs finishing.I need to invest in a decent set of metal files.

floor

Had a spare hour or two over the last few days,so drilled the floor.
Looks very neat,I enjoy jobs like this,I find them therapeutic.But from what I read,I am in the minority.
Also got a bit carried away.and experimented with a "brushed" look on the underside,using a soft brass wire brush drill attachment.
Looks quite nice "in the flesh" so to speak. I am wondering whether to carry this through to the rest of the panels?
At the moment,it is just the underside of the floor.
If nothing else,I thought that airflow over the pattern might create "dirty air" behind me,ruining any slipstream fom cars trying to overtake on track days!!!!!LOL!!!!!!!!!

car extraction plan

A nice chap called Pedro has come up with a great idea for extracting the car.
A jig like this one,with wheels fixed to the side,might be just the ticket.
Fixed to the hubs on all four corners,maybe,then tipped onto its side and wheeled out?
Thanks Pedro!

Final extraction

As has been noticed.
Once the car has been built,I will have a car sat at the bottom of my garden,and no direct access to a road.This will leave me sat in my car at the bottom of my garden,making brrmmm brrmmm noises for ever,unless....
I have two contingency plans,neither of which I am willing to delve too deeply into at the present time,as it is a bit depressing!!
Evacuation route one...
There is an alley way leading from the bottom of my garden to the road.
It is at its thinnest,4'4" wide. If possible,I would like to build an A frame jig.that will lift the car onto its side,and wheel it out,down the alley.That way I can have a system in place to wheel the car back in for the winter months for any work that needs doing.





Evacuation route two...
There is a block of flats to the rear of the garden,and I reckon that the car could be lifted out by crane,over the bank of garages to the rear.
This would be a once only operation,though.The car would not be able to return ever again.

This is private property,and as such would need permission from somebody,no doubt.And as such,it could get messy with interference from a residents association etc.
I have enough on my plate at the moment,and I know it is very silly of me build the car,and then worry how I am going to get it on the road,thats just the way it is. I dont think I would manage the buid if it was completely off site. And if the worst comes to the worst,and I cant get it out,we will have a very expensive,but interesting garden feature at the end of it all!!!
Cheers James

We have a lawn!

Looks a bit like a jigsaw at the mo,but should settle down in a month or so?
Also ordered the "workshop",which should be delivered and erected on the 20th.

Magazine cover

Just thought I'd post a pic of the cover of the latest complete kit car mag.
Looks great on the road.

While we are on the subject...

Just thought I would share my thoughts on colour.
I have been planning a kit car build,on and off,since I was 15. I am now 41,and through the years,the car I have pictured me driving has changed from time to time,but my thoughts on colours has not really wavered.
Light/bright coloured cars are easy to see from a distance,you can see the shape of the car clearly,and the details and features can be readily seen.
On a darker coloured,or black car,you generally just see the shape,and loose alot of the details,in fact,you really just see a car shaped hole in the background! I have always pictured my car as being either light,(white or silver maybe). Or bright,(red,orange or yellow).But for no apparent reason,I can't see my J15 Spectre,as anything but black,albeit with the odd stripe or roundell.
It goes aginst my lifelong held image of my car.
In my mind,it should look right,in a classic,cool understated way.
Only time will tell,I guess.

And the original...

Should have included the original for comparison!
Looks really great in red.