Texas Manx Club

by **CoryN** » 05 Tue Aug, 2008 12:06 pm

Unfortunately my garage door faces west, so in the evenings when I finally have time to tinker with it, its like 200 degrees in the garage and I lose all motivation. Looking forward to cooler weather again.

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 05 Tue Aug, 2008 12:22 pm

Yea, same here... The wife is out on travel for work this week, so I've just toughed it out drank a lot of water and sweated a lot to get a few things done. I'd like to have it rolling again soon so that I can push everything out and clean the garage floor. Been meaning to get a thermometer in there to see what kind of temps are in the garage in the afternoon.. it was 104 on the way home yesterday.. I'm sure the garage was at least a good 10 degrees hotter.

by **CoryN** » 25 Tue Nov, 2008 7:40 pm

Been a long time since I've posted anything on my build. I haven't had much time to spend on it for quite a while, but I've been tinkering a little here and there when I can.

I took Thanksgiving week off and I've been making some progress this week. I've been doing body work.

I picked up a pair of sidepods from Rick Leddon a few weeks back. My body is not a Manx so they did not fit particularly well. As a result I had no choice but to go the route of molding them on. I had to cut off the front horns and the rear horns and graft them back on where possible. I finally elected to drop the front horns all together and make new ones for the back.

I've got them all molded in, they are sealed all the way around so I can use the space for speakers or storage down the road. I am ready to lay down some Rage Gold tomorrow and blend them in. They are pretty close so I shouldn't need much to finish them up. I hope to have the body work all completed this week.

I'll post up some pictures tomorrow when its light enough to take some.

by **Bill K** » 25 Tue Nov, 2008 11:43 pm

I'm so glad to hear you are making progress, and sure anxious to see those bodywork photos.

by **CoryN** » 26 Wed Nov, 2008 7:06 pm

Here are some progress pictures. The pictures don't look particularly good because of all the different colors, you'll have to trust me that its all smooth and blended in, once I lay down some primer it will look much better.

If you recall I was missing a fender

Before:

After:

The tail had a lot of prior surgery:

After:

Dashboard before:

After:

...to be continued

by **CoryN** » 26 Wed Nov, 2008 7:17 pm

When I got it, it had an oversized gas tank. To make it fit they removed quite a bit of the firewall:

I had to make a form for the lip over the napoleon hat:

After:

Because the firewall was cut away, it caused the fenders to spread. As they were attached to the hood, I discovered underneath some bondo, that the sides of the hood were ripped right in front of the windsheild. I don't have a before or after, just a during of that.

...to be continued

by **Bryan Porter** » 26 Wed Nov, 2008 7:24 pm

Looks good to me how about some paint on friday and pics on sat.

by **ckolek** » 26 Wed Nov, 2008 7:26 pm

patt yourself on the back, thats alot of work you've done, and it shows...

by **CoryN** » 26 Wed Nov, 2008 7:29 pm

I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but the lip along the sides of the buggy has been bridged back to the main tub, creating a tunnel along the sides. This goes all the way past the rear fenders to the very back of the buggy

That, and the fact that my body is not a Manx made the sidepods not fit well at all. They were too short in the front and too tall in the back, and the curvature of the rear fenders didn't match.

So I had to cut the front and rear horns off and cut the rear of the pods down to fit. I would have liked to have had the pods overhang the pan along the sides, but with them being too short in the front I couldn't. I cut up the rear horns enough to piece them together and make new ones that followed the curve of the fender. The pods are glassed on all the way around airtight.

And thats where I am at tonight. Still have some fine tuning to do, but all the heavy lifting is done.

Thanks for looking...

Cory

by **CoryN** » 26 Wed Nov, 2008 7:34 pm

Bryan Porter wrote:Looks good to me how about some paint on friday and pics on sat.

I'd like to at least get primer by the end of the weekend, but I've been told there are Christmas lights to hang. :roll:

by **CoryN** » 26 Wed Nov, 2008 7:36 pm

ckolek wrote:patt yourself on the back, thats alot of work you've done, and it shows...

Thanks Christopher!

by **Aquabuggy** » 26 Wed Nov, 2008 8:11 pm

Very nice!

by **wildthang** » 26 Wed Nov, 2008 9:09 pm

Looks great!!! Definitely give yourself a big hand because that is alot of hard time consuming work.

P,S. You may still have plenty of time to get into primer as long as it wasn't stated where the lights get hung. :shock:

by **Bill K** » 26 Wed Nov, 2008 10:44 pm

You have worked an absolute miracle with that body. I am totally impressed at your skill and your tenacity.

Fantastic job.

by **blackthree4me** » 29 Sat Nov, 2008 9:46 pm

great job
prime it block it

the pods look great way to belly up to thr bar

blackthree4me

by **CoryN** » 29 Sat Nov, 2008 10:02 pm

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone.

I spent today working on the hole that used to be the battery box. I've closed in the hole to the front, I'm going to make it just a drop in, from the top like Bill K's.

Still some fine tuning to go. I don't know when I'll finally be satisfied its time to prime?

by **Texasbuggys** » 29 Sat Nov, 2008 11:03 pm

Great glass work! Lots of work going on there!

by **Bill K** » 30 Sun Nov, 2008 10:52 am

Those drop in's will be a snap for a wood worker like you. :lol:

by **jspbtown** » 01 Mon Dec, 2008 8:55 am

Great job Cory! I knew you could do it!
What primer are you going to use? I would highly suggest Evercoat G2.

by **CoryN** » 01 Mon Dec, 2008 10:55 am

Thats what I'm planning on using. I'm thinking about fabbing a console now, so I might wait and get that done first before I start putting a finish on things.

by **CoryN** » 11 Sun Jan, 2009 7:29 pm

I tackled the battery box today

Here is what the prior owner left me with

So I closed the front of the hole in like so with a recessed lip all the way around

Next was to build a form for the drop in starting with some PVC pipe

Then a few wood scraps to form the bottom. I have to be able to take it apart to get it back out

Wrap it all up in some tape

Cover it with glass and resin And VOILA - a drop in battery box

Dropped it in the hole and glassed it in to place

by **Aquabuggy** » 11 Sun Jan, 2009 8:04 pm

by **Texasbuggys** » 11 Sun Jan, 2009 8:31 pm

Very nice job Cory!

by **Bill K** » 11 Sun Jan, 2009 8:45 pm

When you go to showing that car: "Before & After" photos are a must. You are doing an absolutely amazing job. Kudos to you.

by **CoryN** » 11 Sun Jan, 2009 8:56 pm

You know I was stubborn and wouldn't listen to any of y'all when you said start with a new body. Got to admit its getting a little tiresome. But I still have barely more than a thousand invested in the whole project.

I think one more decent weekend and I'll be done with the body work. I want to glass in a tube for the steering column, and work on a little filler work in the wheel wells where the pods are glassed in and I should be ready for color.

I'm going out to get a big air compressor this week and plan to order my paint too. Looking forward to getting the body done so I can start assembly.

by **Greaph** » 11 Sun Jan, 2009 10:31 pm

You do beautiful work, my friend!

by **Bryan Porter** » 12 Mon Jan, 2009 9:48 am

You make it look easy but we all know better
and how much it itches great job.
Do you have finsh date in mind.

by **CoryN** » 12 Mon Jan, 2009 10:27 am

I would really like to be able to bring it to Fredricksburg. If I can get it painted in the next few weeks, that might be possible. From there its just a huge outflow of cash, seats, windsheild, lights, gauges etc. But that is the kind of stuff I can work on in the evenings when I only have a few hours.

by **MURZ** » 13 Tue Jan, 2009 11:50 pm

Usually just a "lurker", but I had to chime in on this one. Beautiful freakin work!!!!!!!! NICE!!!!!

I was going to do the battery box deal on my old buggy too, but got too scared to cut the body......looks like you are a little beyond the scared stage :lol:

Awesome!!! The tape deal just got my mind reeling with possibilities.

When I was going to do this I went down to Walmart and picked out a suitable tupperware box to use as a mold. Your idea is much more "customizable" . Love it!!! Keep the pics coming!!!!

MURZ......

by **CoryN** » 14 Wed Jan, 2009 8:57 am

Thanks Murz - a compliment coming from you, your buggy was outstanding.

I used Uhaul packing tape. I kind of fell into it when I used some to cover the backside of a hole I was filling. I had tried duct tape, but its so porous that I couldn't get it back off, the resin would work into it. This stuff peels right off the fiberglass, especially if you get it off before its completely cured.

My body was such a basket case, that I don't think I was ever at the scared stage, I don't think I could have made it worse regardless of what I did. :lol:

by **CoryN** » 14 Sat Feb, 2009 3:08 pm

A little project for this morning. Picked up this little aero style gas cap.

after determining where it goes, I put a pin in the hood to act as a swivel point for the router and spun a recessed ring

cleaned out the inside of the hole

and dropped it in.

I left it a little bit proud, I didn't want it collecting water.

by **DannyT** » 14 Sat Feb, 2009 3:30 pm

Thats nice looking. Does it come with a key to open and close it? Also, detail....whos is it, where from, how much.....share!

by **jspbtown** » 14 Sat Feb, 2009 5:04 pm

As usual....VERY NICE!

Do you need the build up the back after removing that material? Or is it thick enough?

Great look. Stainless hardware I assume?

by **CoryN** » 14 Sat Feb, 2009 6:00 pm

I did build it up from the back side some just to be safe, turns out it would have been thick enough without it.

Yes stainless. and it has a 2 pinned key or a coin would work also to open it. The cap came from air rides technologies - I got it at Jegs for about $75.

3inch diameter and I think inch and a half neck. My gas tank only has a tube coming off with no cap of any kind. So I think I can just take radiator hose a la Murzi and connect the two. I also want to figure out some kind of vent in the process

by **CoryN** » 22 Sun Feb, 2009 8:18 pm

Finally a nice warm day with little to no wind

I'm monochrome again!

I still have a lot of work ahead of me - amazing how all the little flaws pop with a coat of primer.

by **Vee Dub Nut** » 22 Sun Feb, 2009 9:08 pm

Wow.. that body has come a LONG way. Your hard work has paid off though, it looks excellent!

by **jspbtown** » 22 Sun Feb, 2009 9:35 pm

Hey Cory...ya sprayed it! Fantastic! It looks great. I have heard some good stuff about Metal Glaze. Spread it with a razor blade for any little pin holes.

You should feel very good about how it looks!

Did you happen to see the new Kirker line.....pearls and some thicker metalics.....

by **CoryN** » 22 Sun Feb, 2009 9:48 pm

I have not seen that - but funny you should ask - I've been thinking about a pearl.

I need to master the gun better - workable for primer, but would not have laid down a very nice paint coat. I think I need a new gun - mine is just a cheapie I picked up several years ago to stain the pergola.

by **jspbtown** » 23 Mon Feb, 2009 9:35 am

Cory,
I use a gun like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DeVILBIS ... veQ5fTools

It has 3 tips. The 1.8 for the primer, the 1.5 for the base, and the 1.3 for the clear (although I use a 1.5 for the clear). For about $150 bucks its a good middle of the ground set-up. Plus after you use it you can sell it to some other member and recoup your costs.

by **CoryN** » 23 Mon Feb, 2009 9:45 am

Good to know - I was looking at HVLP guns - I'd like to have one for my woodworking - but didn't know if that was workable with automotive finishes.

by **Bill K** » 23 Mon Feb, 2009 10:07 am

Your car looks FANTASTIC :!:

You have worked an absolute miracle. Great job, Cory.

by **Bryan Porter** » 23 Mon Feb, 2009 10:09 am

Cory for your fuel filler hose rad. hose will melt in gas
but you can buy fuel filler hose ay O'Reillys auto parts
and it works fine

by **CoryN** » 23 Mon Feb, 2009 10:19 am

Thanks Bryan - I'll swing by O'reillys and see what they have.

by **Jack Duncan** » 23 Mon Feb, 2009 5:18 pm

I'll need a hose that is a 90 degree bend to mount flush on the hood. I found that cool filler cap at West Marine for $35. I don't have a way to route out the recess though. I'll just mount it on the outside with a gasket under the flange.

by **Bryan Porter** » 23 Mon Feb, 2009 5:27 pm

Go to a weld shop or steel supply and get a weld elbow in the size you need

by **jspbtown** » 23 Mon Feb, 2009 7:01 pm

A copper elbow available from your local Home Depot or Lowes can work as well.

by **freightshaker** » 05 Sun Apr, 2009 11:46 pm

Hey Cory any updates?????Want to come do some glass work on my buggy?????

by **CoryN** » 06 Mon Apr, 2009 10:36 am

I think I've had my fill of glass work.

I've been attending to the pan. I had to make a new shifter rod, the other was a half inch too short. I installed the pedals, getting the clutch cable to stay on while putting the pedals in isn't fun. My clutch pedal is really hard to depress, I think I might have too much bow in the bowden tube.

Tried getting the e'brake cables on, but they don't apply any pressure to the brakes. I don't have fluid in the system that may be the reason.

I got the rear to sit right now, 2 splines got the rear tires sitting square, but they rubbed on the body, 1 spline clears the body and is pretty close to square.

Getting sick of all the little things that take forever and don't look like I've made any progress.

by **GregR** » 06 Mon Apr, 2009 10:54 am

Cory,

If you drill 2 small holes across the hook for the clutch cable, then run a peice of safety wire through the holes after placing the clutch cable. It won't pop off when installing...or driving either.

by **CoryN** » 06 Mon Apr, 2009 11:28 am

Now you tell me.

I tried a rubber band but it kept coming off. I finally lucked out and got it to stay after about 10 attempts.

Texas Manx Club

Cory's No Name Build

Who is online