clubstylus

Rob
Thats great news for you.

Yes , I'm very relieved

Been busy cutting out paper templates , to make the two ' grill ' D pieces , that will hinge the flip front via my new 'A' frame. Curticy of a very good friend , I'm making them from carbon fibre . 2mm thick for the hole area and re-inforced with a 4mm thick piece around the bottom part where the rodend/spacers will be clamped to . I've never used the 'glue' that he's given me before so have experimented with some off-cuts , to see how it adheres F/glass to carbon fibre at 90 degrees , along a narrow 2 to 6 mm edge
Only having used chop strand f/glass and resin for this job when I built it , I wondered if it would be strong enough without 'matting' to hold it.
The little pieces I glued onto f/glass and themselves have been on there for 5 hours now . After 3 hours I could still move them about but now the glue is touch sticky but the pieces are rigid Tomorrow I'll glue the re-inforcing 4mm bits to the 'D' pieces ready for when the body arrives
The polycarbonate light covers will arrive with the body so a price will soon be posted for those who wanted some .

Today , after talking with someone who knows (Andy B.) , I used heat from my 3kw fan heater , to get the glue to go off and it took just 20 minutes to become secure . Still could push your finger nail into any excess glue but it wasn't sticky .
Basically the ' D ' pieces are 5mm's thick at the bottom and 2mm's thick over the rest . The little carbon circles are glued onto alloy spacers which will clamp the rodend via 1/2 inch bolts . The carbon circles will then be glued to the ' D ' pieces. That will ensure the hinge is the rodend and not the hole drilled through the ' D ' piece.

I really am impressed with this method of construction as opposed to fibre glassing , with all the slopping around , wetting matting etc. You just cut it , glue it and then only a narrow fillet ---- it's so quick and clean Then some heat and it's permanent

looks much better than fibreglass too. When do think your front will be arriving Rob? Will you still be completing this season?

Good news about the Light Pods! are they tinted or clear?

Antnicuk wrote:looks much better than fibreglass too. When do think your front will be arriving Rob? Will you still be completing this season?

Good news about the Light Pods! are they tinted or clear?

The front body should be being moulded right now apparently so then it's a matter of transport and fitting Bound to be done this month so possibly may be able to compete in April . There's a Goodwood sprint in the Championship on the 25th of April so I'd like to be there . I'm just about to send off my application to the ACSMC and if things go well (spray job can be afforded ) then I'll enter that
I won't know about the light covers till they arrive -- beggars can't be choosers so I'll take whatever he brings

well i suppose at least your little 'incident' happened at the end of last season, gave you something to do during the winter

I suppose the covers could be tinted with film or spray if required.

To be honest , when you look at the tinted covers they look pretty clear and I'll be blacking out any body colour behind the covers so being ' clear ' , if they are , doesn't bother me

Yep if I was going to ' bust ' it then the end of season was the time to do it . It is frustrating though , not being in charge so to speak . SSC not being an operating business has meant that I needed a favour from Tim , so I'm not a priority which makes planning impossible ---- and I do like to plan . Once I've made up my mind to do something I am driven to get it done
I'm just itching to cut that flip front
So far I've blown just under £600 and the flip will be £750 then the prep' and paint job which is unknown at the moment ------ I really should have stayed at home that day and lost my £75 entry fee ---- I did think about it with all forcasts giving torrential rain as a cert' , it would have been soooo much cheaper
I've considered going back to Middleton Motors , who prep'd and painted it 10 years ago but I've emailed Cheng Lim , of Thunder Sports Cars for a ball park price for the flip only. Sent photos but heard nothing yet. We met at Bruntingthorpe on a Pat Jackson track testing day in 2000 . He followed me round then came over to chat in the pits(he reckoned the Stylus looked a lot of fun ). I ended up being interviewed by a TV crew then saw it on SKY some months later.

Had a reply from Cheng Lim and the cost was a shock I sent photos so he could see the size of the job but his price was £800 for prep' and paint or £1200 if flatted and polished & plus vat of course The bonnet's only 5 feet square and the complete prep' and paint job for the whole car when built was £900 --- that's doors , bonnet , boot off and refitted plus he took out all the mould joints when he prep'd . I didn't touch it

The half body may be here next week apparently

Rob

Your origonal job was a bargan, mine was £1500 all in & I did the seams
You deserve to pay it back now

Joking aside, is not something you can do? I am assuming the quality may not be so important now the car is a track deamon.

Re the TV interview. Was that the one featured in "A Racing Car is Born" ?

kevp wrote:Rob

Your origonal job was a bargan, mine was £1500 all in & I did the seams
You deserve to pay it back now

Joking aside, is not something you can do? I am assuming the quality may not be so important now the car is a track deamon.

Re the TV interview. Was that the one featured in "A Racing Car is Born" ?

I think that was it Kevin. They asked me a few questions on camera or rather they asked me to tell the camera a little about the car and what I was going to do with it
Paint job wise -- I've always taken a pride in what the car looks like and not just performance so I'd find it very hard to arrive on track with a paint job that I'd probably have jeered at on someone else's car Yes , I'm capable of rubbing it down and spraying it BUT it would look tat compared to the rest of the car Joe Middleton did several Stylus's in our area , including mine and you could pick them out in a line up He was building a Cobra for himself and that was awesome paint wise. I was also told he got some work from Mclaren , for a few nose cones etc / urgent damage repair.
I'll just have to bite the bullet I've contacted Joe but had no reply as yet.
The other thing is , regarding a self paint job ---- it will have to be done with etch primer plus rubbing back before any paint could go on and I've no experience of that

My son has an MGTF so belongs to the MG club.He's put me on to a company called ILLUSION PAINT just north of Milton Keynes , who advertise on the MG website.
Been in touch with photos of my car as is , plus an unpainted open flip front of someone else's car for info . He's given a ' ball park ' quote for prep' , etch , two pack plus flat and polish of £350 to £400 plus VAT

I've booked it in ---------------- what a surprise

To be honest that's the price that was going around in my head after my jaunt with the tree ---- 3 or 4 hundred for a new flip plus same for paint then the mechanicals at 600 quid Bit out on the ' flip ' but beggars can't be choosers I'm a lot happier now

Hi Rob, sounds like your've made your decision, however, I painted the whole car after knocking the front off mine, with cellulose. You can still get it for DIY and it's very very easy to spray. The effort was in the flatting and polishing, as cellulose doesn't dry 'shiny'. If your not worried about 'concourse' appearance, the total cost , including primer was approx. £100.
Hope all is well with you. Mike Burke
ps keep posting the dates for the track days you do, I'll try and join in again......1 day!!!

mikeb wrote:Hi Rob, sounds like your've made your decision, however, I painted the whole car after knocking the front off mine, with cellulose. You can still get it for DIY and it's very very easy to spray. The effort was in the flatting and polishing, as cellulose doesn't dry 'shiny'. If your not worried about 'concourse' appearance, the total cost , including primer was approx. £100.
Hope all is well with you. Mike Burke
ps keep posting the dates for the track days you do, I'll try and join in again......1 day!!!

Tempting Mike , but I don't have the equipment or the confidence it'll look good when I've done it I'd need to have tried it on something that didn't matter before risking it on the Stylus . Hiring the paint gear and flatting/polishing gear without a known result

Re --- trackday fun . Once I'm rolling again with the Stylus , Matt and I fancy a trackday so if we do I'll pop it up on here . Not going to organise an all clubday though , just go to someone elses. The Lotus club have said they would accept my car after I approached them last year -- with it not being road going etc. I still like Goodwood though and Snetterton appeals too. We'll see

I would like to do snetterton, not been there yet. I have done a few track days with lotus on track, I'm taking the stylus back to abbeville (france) with them in july. Went last year and had blast in the M3 and a load of RX7's. LoT dont care what car it is.