It HAS BEGUN!

[toy-driver]

CF is expensive and somewhat hard to work with. Use fiberglass and paint it. My buddy has a 944 Porsche and it has a top sunroof-like panel but no glass. Just a removable fiberglass panel.

[Raptor13x]

Originally Posted by fastrax203

Have someone make a CF mold out of your sunroof glass. Throw it back in place w/ some epoxy and seal it. Then get a non t-bar/sunroof ceiling

That reduces some weight over the glass, but it still leaves the whole frame around the thing, which weighs easily as much as the glass itself.

[DenverMR2]

make a mold of it all glass and frame

[toy-driver]

Well you can take out some of the frame and hinges. Just make the fiber glass panel it latch in.

[Raptor13x]

It'll be way easier to just cut out the whole thing and weld in a new panel.

[toy-driver]

It's not all that easy. I don't think the roof is flat. So shaping the metal is required. Also welding thin sheet metal is going to be hard to do without warping the hell out of it. Short welds and/or TIG would be best.

[conor]

I've got plenty of seat time in both hard top and sunroof Mk1s... and honestly, there's no real-world difference. It's allllll in your head.

Your fabrication time would be better spent reinforcing all the factory seam welds rather than hacking the roof off.

[Raptor13x]

^ Each little bit may not be noticeable on its own, but when you add them all together, they change everything.

"Simplify, then add lightness." - Colin Chapman

[conor]

Sure, but he was talking about building brand new cars. And you're using a 25 year old rustbucket. Even a stripped out MR2 is still a compromised race car. You might as well just work on making it a nice car

Besides.. Chapman said "simplify..then add lightness." Reinforcing old seam welds is a lot simpler than hacking off and replacing an entire roof structure.. and is also less likely to yield significant structural failure.

But hey.. your car. Swap's looking good so far!

[Raptor13x]

The principles of lightweight design are not limited to new cars. Sure, it would be best if the car was built from the ground up to be super-lightweight, but that's not always a viable option. I'm not planning on seriously compromising aerodynamics, aesthetics, or functionality, but there are many parts on a 2 which are useless lumps of weight to me.

I don't see much that needs to be reinforced, but I do see a lot that needs to be lightened. Besides, a lighter car needs less chassis strength than a heavier car; stripping out weight reduces chassis flex and increases component life- all while increasing fuel economy, increasing acceleration, improving braking, improving handling, and making the car more fun to drive. Hmm, not seeing the down side.


Back on topic though, I just discovered my soldering gun is broken, so I have to buy a new one tomorrow (provided my bank has taken care of this by then). I'm gonna work on getting the bodywork completed tonight. I might be able to paint it tomorrow if all goes well.

[mr2tim]

Why not go the replacement panel route with a whole mess of powerful yet skinny speakers imbedded in it. Make it removeable?

The area seldom gets seen, WHO would notice?

[Raptor13x]

What???

[Ray-088]

wow kudos to your hard work i wish i could work with cars as well as you do (Y)!

[Raptor13x]

I think I'm finally gonna get around to painting it this weekend.

[toy-driver]

I sure you've already considered this but....With the rust you have, wouldn't you want to take the fenders off and paint separately? When I finally get around to painting my car, I'm planning on stripping every panel and piece and paint everything individually. That way I don't miss rust or dirt or anything. Just a thought.

[Raptor13x]

I wouldn't dare take off the front bumper or front fenders. Those little bolts that hold them in place have a seriously bad habit of rusting and snapping off if you attempt to remove them, thus making re-fitting the body panel near impossible to get right. Besides, there's not much rust on the front end of the car, most of it was on the rear fenders, which don't exactly come off. I cleared off as much rust as possible, and sprayed everything down with some rust-inhibiting primer, so hopefully the rust demons will be kind to me in the coming years.

[Timon]

I just repainted my car, and I have a few suggestions.

Remove the door handles; I didn't and I paid for it afterward.
Remove the front side markers. This can be easily done and will make the finished product look much nicer. Simply pop the headlights, remove the 4 bolts around the plastic housing (2 on the left and 2 on the right) and pull it out. From here you just pop the lights out, no screws attached. You'll have to remove the plastic housing around both headlights.
Don't forget to cover the vents in the engine bay lid.

Looks good overall, great work.

[Raptor13x]

Thanks for the advice, I'll see if I can take care of that without it being too much of a pain in the ass.

[Raptor13x]

I *finally* got around to painting the car yesterday, and this morning I did a little touch-up. I also re-installed the headlights and front side markers. It looks "okay"... I can definitely see why more expensive paint sprayers cost more. I'm gonna see what I can do about getting rid of some of the orange peel and clear up a couple areas where I got some drips. It's not terrible, but definitely not as good as I want it yet. The car is too old and cheap for me to give two sh~ts about perfection, but I'd at least like it to look halfway decent.

[Lil Blue Bastard]

Looking forward to how this comes out! It's pretty much how I want mine to turn out!