Thank you very much Phil. For the body I started with an existing one and have done extensive modifications to it. I used lots of foam, wood, body filler, duct tape, cardboard to create the shapes. I used 3/4 and 1.5 oz matt to cover the mods then used filler.
The roof was an hour mock up just to see how the proportions would look. It will look much better and have a rounder, more flowing look. I used 1/4 inch foam board and duct tape then used spray can paint to put the blue on it. I'm tearing this off and throwing it out now. There isn't any glass on it. When I create the final shape I'll make a wood base then attach foam and sculpt to shape. Then cover with a couple layers of 1.5 matt. Then body filler and lots of sanding.
Then make a mold. The top will be my next winters project. I'll work on venting at that time. (there are going to operable vents to the foot boxes and cockpit even in the roadster) I think there is room under the dash for a heater or even an AC unit.
Thank you for your comment KB58. I understand about foot box and cockpit heat and comfort. I built a Beck Lister. The cramped foot boxes, driving position, and heat made it impossible to drive and have fun.
The Cheetah had a 90 inch wheelbase. The transmission was bolted directly to the Diff. The result was that the foot box and cockpit room was extremely tight. The headers went directly over the foot boxes. I'm planning on driving this car the rest of my life. I needed it to be comfortable. My wheelbase is 93 inches. I moved the engine forward and am using a 12 inch long drive shaft. I made the distance from the rear cockpit bulkhead to the dash longer. The position of the steering wheel is very comfortable. A 16 inch wide seat fits in fine. The leg room is very good and the angle that my legs are at is very comfortable. The foot box is comfortably wide. 3 pedal spacing is good. My headers pass in front of the foot boxes by about 6 inches. I ran the same arrangement in a car that I built and drove over 30,000 miles. Heat was never a problem. I think this car will be comfortable.
I build cars for fun. I built this car because I have a vision for it. It's what I want. I'm finalizing my retirement plans. My bucket list is to drive this car to Alaska. I knew that I would need to have molds made. This body is just the plug. My son wants one and a few friends have said they want to build one too. I'm having a professional fiberglass company make the molds and the bodies. A friend of mine owns a race car chassis shop. I built a copy frame and a jig. He's going to build frames as needed. I'm not capable of or wanting to go into production or to run a fabrication shop. But, because I can get the parts made for me I think I'm going to offer a kit. (I keep going back and forth on this. ) I'm thinking $9,900 for the body, frame, aluminum skins, necessary brackets and steering parts, and a parts list. I think there might be some Chevy guys that want a Cobra alternative. I know that people on this forum do their own work and strive to build for as little as possible. But, any opinions on that price?
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Stinger- first off, congrats on the coming retirement
I'm several years away myself, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't counting already
I had a problem with heat in the engine bay in my last project, mostly from the headers.. I don't know if you've experimented with header wrap, but for me it made a night and day difference in under hood (and in cabin) temps.. just my $.02 on trying to further control heat..
As for making molds/frames/kits to sell.. yes, yes, YES! This is such a sultry little design that I'd think at 10K you'd move some units- and hopefully make a nice little profit.. Like most here I fab my own stuff, but I can totally see buying in at your price point and still having room to 'make it my own' and have a killer,
unique car for around 20K..
For me, this is one of the most interesting builds I'm following, and I very much look forward to seeing it come together and take form- this will be a very cool car once completed
--ccrunner
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Dean
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"
1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=163091959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com