906-127
August 3, 2004
Last week
and this weekend, I finished the mold for the firewall.
The final coat of paint on this plug is gray primer.
After
waxing the plug, I shot it with black tooling gel coat.
Then I applied eight layers of mat to make the mold.
When the
mold is finished, I remove the plug and put four coats of
mold release wax on it.
I then spray on a coat of duratech, which becomes the surface
of the part.
I want
the firewall light, like original, so it gets two 3/4 ounce
mat and one fine weave German cloth.
The part
is removed, then trimmed and fits perfectly in the cockpit.
I leave
the rear window closed because it keeps the structure stronger.
After the part is installed, I will cut the hole for the window.
The inside
panels have been fit for months, but now I am installing them.
The procedure is to sand the duratech with 220 grit paper
(easier when the part is outside the car). The part is sanded
so the gray paint will stick better. This was not done by
Porsche in the early days. The edges of all the panels are
roughed up with 36 grit. This enables a better bonding of
the mat straps.
The inside
of the floor also needs to be sanded, so the edges are masked
off with tape. This is done so the scratch marks don't go
beyond the fiberglass strap. This was not done at Porsche
so as a result, most of the original race cars have long since
de-laminated in these areas.
Here I
am sanding the edges with 36 grit paper. The picture shows
that I have already removed the tape. It is just a simulation
because you can see that it's already sanded.
Every
seam needs the same procedure. The picture on the left is
looking down at the kick panels between the pedals and the
front trunk.
We use
any means to accomplish the desired results. Here I am placing
wood stays to keep the panels compressed against the chassis.
I will use cabosil behind the panel to keep it in place. When
it's cured, I will remove the stays and place the glass straps.
To get
this done in a hurry, you need lots of sticks. You can do
this without the sticks, but your panels will be wavy and
most the time won't bond to anything. Porsche may not have
used wood this big, but I guarantee they used something to
hold these panels against the chassis tubes.
Now that
the cockpit is glued together (no straps yet), I place the
body on to start its final fit.
We are
getting close to fit the inner wheel wells. Remember, before
the wheel wells go in, the headlight buckets need to be glued
in. She is looking like a car now!
<<<
Previous Update | Next Update
>>>