[rob the elder]

This is a great thread. Love this approach. My only issue is the DIC display is covered by my after market gauges so I cant see it.

I seldom access the TC switch in the Dragon. And I dont use the fog lights so moving these is an interesting intellectual exercise for me but I think its great.

RTE

 

[ChopTop]

 

[Doc-Z]

That's me! I didn't post it here yet. Now I don't have to.

This was my first time tracking the car

 

[rob the elder]

Looks like fun! Thanks

RTE

 

[Doc-Z]

@ChopTop and @rob the elder

Here's another vid. Sorry about the video framing.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE THIS CAR!!!

I kinda got a little squirrley going into turn #1, when I downshifted into 2nd gear, but it was minor. You can hardly see / hear it in the vid.

 

[ChopTop]

So...it looks like a clip of your recent YT videos ended up in this Roasting Cars That NEVER Deserved the Hate!, video @ the 11:02 mark (if you blink you'll miss it). Did you approve it for public use, or does it fall under some type of once it's posted on YT anyone can use it rule?

 

[Doc-Z]

So...it looks like a clip of your recent YT videos ended up in this Roasting Cars That NEVER Deserved the Hate!, video @ the 11:02 mark (if you blink you'll miss it). Did you approve it for public use, or does it fall under some type of once it's posted on YT anyone can use it rule?

I uploaded the video for "Public Use", however, I am going to message them and thank them for using my footage. Thanks for the heads up!!!

 

[agent008]

So...it looks like a clip of your recent YT videos ended up in this Roasting Cars That NEVER Deserved the Hate!, video @ the 11:02 mark (if you blink you'll miss it). Did you approve it for public use, or does it fall under some type of once it's posted on YT anyone can use it rule?

Cool. Just one detail, for me it showed up @ the 9:32 mark!

 

[ChopTop]

Cool. Just one detail, for me it showed up @ the 9:32 mark!

Yeah, I've always wondered if the time displayed for me, was the time displayed for others. I guess I'll have to start incorporating "around the X timeframe".

 

[Doc-Z]

Boomerang DASH UPDATE!!!

After removing the masking tape, the holes for the dash buttons / knobs, I am really liking how it is turning out...

To reiterate, this is aproximately my view from the drivers seat:

It was dark out when I was trying to line up the tape on the dash in the car. Obviously, the switches and knobs were not removed out of my car, so making this line up kind of difficult. But, you should get a good idea of how this will look and how functional it will be once I complete it.

The question now is....do I look for gauges???

Lastly, I worked on the spoiler a little bit. I have around 1 or 2 more glassings, before I feel it will be strong / rigid enough. I still have to sand and smooth this out quite a bit. At this point, all the areas I sanded through are covered and low spots are filled in most of the way

 

[Doc-Z]

I've just been doing a LOT of sanding on the spoiler and dash. Just this week, I think I put in around 4 hours on the spoiler and another 45 minutes on the dash. Sorry, no pictures.

Good things come to those who wait!!!

 

[rob the elder]

LOL

Good job

Looking forward to seeing the results.

RTE

 

[Doc-Z]

I managed to work on and actually grab a few photo's of the various projects I'm working on for my Soullstice. However, I will first state I hit a milestone on the car!

👇 👇 This is the aproximate locaiton when I hit 55,555 miles 👇👇

I will admit, I might have enhanced the backgroud in the 👆 above 👆 pic to make it look nicer!

First the dash:

There are a couple of small recesses / holes I need to fill and sand out a little better, but it's getting SO close to being completed. In case anyone was wondering, I am thinking about leaving the HVAC controls where they are and not recessing them into the dash. Instead, I might extend the screw holes slightly, to draw the knobs into the dash; so they don't look so chunky...
...not sure how I will tackle this / or if I will even do this. I am definitely going to make polished, stainless steel rings to surround the HVAC knobs.

I wasn't too CRaZy about that handle next to the radio. In my head, it doesn't fit or look right...it's just sitting there. You have this pewter colored dash with a charcoal handle - (?!?!?) - . It looks all out of place. If you look at the pictures, I am changing that bead which goes around the outer aspect of the "boomerang". I thought this would be a great place to have a change of color, like a pearl pewter dash with a flat black outer aspect to give contrast. It will also allow me to wrap the handle in leather and help tie the handle into the dash and make it look somewhat better...or not like it was placed there by happenstance.

I'm now toying around with the idea of making a new handle for that area of the dash. One thing I was considering was using some burled stabilized wood, but if I do this, then I will be forced to also do the silver-ish part of the e-brake handle, definitely the shifter knob and also some part of the steering wheel; to tie it all in. I thought about carbon fiber, but I'm not really thrilled about Carbon Fiber. Yeah, it does look cool in the light, but I also like burled wood. Plus, you can colorize wood and add pearl resin (which I can get to look like the "Brazen" paint).

I happen to have what I need to stabilize the wood; a.k.a. a 5 gallon vacuum chamber with a pump. The stabilizing resin is easy to get and there is all kinds of resins you can get to impregnate the wood with various colors. I could also use charcoal or black and help lend / blend the handle into a leather handle (kind of like using "vingnette" on a photograph).


...................................................................................

The spoiler is coming along at a snails pace. I feel that I am doing this all wrong and should have come at this at a completely different angle; using different set of tactics. Currently, I'm using paper templates, some calipers and touch to constantly check myself on the symmetry from side ot side. I will say, I'm really close on the thickness from side to side. The overall shape is sorta decent; but I have a LOT of variations at the top aspect of the spoiler. I used some foam to help shape it. It worked, but as I sand over it, it removes small chunks of foam. Once I add 2 layers of fiberglass, I will be able to smooth it out better. At the moment I took these, the foam is exposed in a few spots. This makes the top edge look uneven and terrible.

Over the past 2 weeks, I've spent around 6 hours sanding this into shape and getting it a lot more symmetrical. I thought I would photigraph this outside in the dark so it would shadows and help to see the shape, curves and contours better.

After this round of sanding, a few places got real thin. It was getting late, but I did add more fiberglass to the rear aspect of the spoiler. When I get a chance to get to sand it again, I'll also be able to glass over the top and top/forward parts of the spoiler. Again, it's shaping up, but there is a LOT more to go on this. I figure I have at least 2 more glassings to go before I can say for certain I'm getting close to completion.


Once again, thanks for showing interest and I'll keep you posted on my progress!!!

 

[Doc-Z]

Quick update.
I did some sanding on the Boomerang. I thought it looked really good, until I washed it off. I still have some holes to fill and there are a few spots that need more attention. I didn't touch the spoiler. I'm almost to the point, where I'll hit this with some adhesion promoter, primer / filler primer of a different shade. I do this, so when I sand, I know when I'm getting close to going through the layers of primer. This saves on having to add more adhesion promoter.

I was using some aggressive sand paper (80 grit) on the boomerang, whjich left a bunch of scuffs / scratches in the plastic. Those will fill in when I prime / sand it with a finer grit paper (120 / 200 / 400 - in that order).

I'll be starting on the HVAC trim rings (probably) before Christmas. I have to stop at the local metal fab / steel shop to see if there are any scrap pieces of stainless that I could use.

I have been looking (in vein) for an oil pressure and some sort of other pertinant gauge, which would match the OEM dash gauges. I can't seem to find much that I would truely be happy with; so I'm forgoing that route at the moment. I am going to make a dash handle from scratch, which I may make out of stabilized burled wood. I'll have the top and bottom ends covered in leather to help the transition into the dash. I'm also thinking it might look nice to have that reddish orange stitching to match the Street Edition interior. . . ..
.. . . which is opening another can or worms.

Once the dash is done, I will be forced to make a matching e-brake cover and shift knob for the car. I haven't decided what to do with the steering wheel. I have one I was going to use for a flat bottom wheel for my G5. That wheel is all apart and the silver spokes were removed / sanded down to remove all the paint. I might sand those down more and make an overlay for the wheel spokes out of the stabilized burled wood to match the rest of the parts of the interior.

I know I could buy a flat bottom steering wheel online from Revsol. I've seen hat they have for sale. I want something that looks almost OEM as far as the thumb bulges. I don't want Carbon Fiber, I don't want Alcantara and I REALLY don't want a top hash mark...which they WILL NOT MAKE ONE without the hash mark or with smaller thumb bulges. I did see an OEM wheel from a Corvette on ebay, but that was listed for over $1500. I absolutley cannot justify spending that kind of $$$ on a steering wheel, even if it meant getting in/out of the car would be much easier. At least I will have a few months to figure this out while the car is in storage for the ❄ winter ☃ .

 

[Doc-Z]

OH BOY!

I did more stuff to the dash / Boomerang! Don't get excited, it was ONLY some sanding, but I also removed the sissy handle from the dash!

I did this so I could start making another handle from some sort of burled, exotic or curly wood of some sort. Like an idiot, I might have obliterated that seam in the dash / Boomerang by filling in with JB Weld. I should have used some sort of rubberized plastic to mimic that seam, which would have been easy to remove after the epoxy dried. Instead, I slathered a bunch of goop over it without even thinking. Now, I am going to have to figure this out with respect to the handle. I didn't realize how stout that handle was...plus the leather wrapped plastive only clasps over the 3/4" rolled steel bar. This is going to take some time and trial / error to figure it out.


I filled in some holes, discovered a new one (after additional sanding) and tried to straighten the globs of epoxy I laid down over the seam.



BEFORE:

AFTER:

Thanks for showing interest, for glancing at my page and noting the progress I'm making...however slow it may seem.

 

[rob the elder]

It’s good you are trying something new. Keep it up

RTE

 

[Doc-Z]

I just recieved a center console / e-brake trim from @ennonne . I will be posting what I bought, my intentions with the part and progress of said part in future posts here!

 

[Doc-Z]

This is just a quick update. Sorry, no pics for now.

Last weekend, I spent some time epoxying back together the center console part I recieved. It was a little worse than I thought, as far as cracking goes, but I don't think it will wind up being THAT big of a deal. I've used JB Weld extensively on various projects and it hasn't failed me yet. I don't expect it will fail me now. I feel I will have to do some minor reinforcing of the part, but as far as the overall condition, I'm REALLY happy with the part from Tim ( @ennonne ).

I also started working on the sissy handle (the one on the dash that goes on the "Boomerang"). I spent a little time forming 3/4" rolled steel, to get the same / similar shape of the OEM part. I have a couple pictures of the part, but I didn't feel like uploading them just yet. Currently, I have to figure out what sort of wood I am going to use / stabilize for the handle ~AND~ how I am going to attach it to the steel bar. I was thinking a stabilized burled wood would look good...maybe.

I also wanted to make a replacement e-brake handle to replace the OEM silver painted piece, as well as a shift knob. This way, it will all match.

 

[rob the elder]

Great input and progress

In PunisheR we call that the OH ****! handle

RTE

 

[Doc-Z]

Here are a couple of pictures from last weekend.
This is the 3/4" rolled steel next to and over the OEM bar for the handle.

From here, I'm going to have to make some end pieces with holes, so I can secure this into place on the dash. I' also thinking I will either cut the middle section, or grind it flat, so I can weld another piece of metal to it. This way, I can thread it and/or weld a nut to it, so I can secure the new handle in place.

The piece I bent is now sitting in some "EvapoRust". I'll take it out sometime over the next weekend. This way, there will be a black coating on it and all the rust . . . well . . . It would have 'evaporated' off.

For those of you who are NOT familiar with the handle and it's construction, here's the one I removed from my car:

The OEM plastic handle is plastic and is kind of a piece of junk. Mine broke, and I was extremely careful when I was pulling the pieces apart. It's literally just tension holding one side to the other. The drivers side aspect is screwed to the bar with 2 small 7mm or 8mm screws (I forgot which one it is). There is a piece of leather over the top that is glued onto the plastic and the ends of the leather are stapled inside of the part.

I think I am going to fasten the new handle to that bar I made using two small alan bolts from the underside (which would be the shorter side of the handle. Essentially, I'll make the handle and then there will be a slot in the wood, from the underside (which will be facing forward, away from the driver / passenger). I will then make another piece to fit in that slot, which I can use other alan bolts to hold that in place.

I'm now thinking, it might be cool to use some banksia pods, which I imported from Australia, to make the handle. I have never worked with them before, but I was going to be making shift knobs, e-brake handles and steering wheel bits for the GTO. Who knows, this might look really cool, depending on how I decide to color the wood and the use of resin in the gaps. This is what a banksia pod is (it's sorta like an Australian pine cone...but the wood is really dense:

This is what I'm starting with. The circled part / arrow is what I ground down with my Dremel (took roughly an hour).

I was going to also work on the cup holder console part, but I didn't touch it last weekend. I literally, only applied a generous amount of JB Weld to the cracks and used some masking tape to hold the part to the right shape.