My 1973 TVR 2500M : Renew and Restomod

In reply to Slow_M :

Thanks, man.  I appreciate it.  I met a new spine-care doc last week, and I'm actually getting some SI joint steroid injections tomorrow.  I've had all kinds of treatment over the years but not in  this area.  Will be interesting to see if it helps.

I have been holding back an update a little bit - I got on a bit of a roll this week!  Roof #2 and 3 are finished and ready to go!

Trimming wasn't too bad.  I got a ceramic blade for my oscillating tool and it worked ok, but it was really slow.  Switched to the sawzall and a masonry blade, and that was much quicker and still controllable.  A jig-saw would be the hot ticket but I don't have one.

I do have all the plies cut for the last fiberglass roof, though I think I'm going to get these two paid for and sent out first.  I really don't need an extra panel kicking around.

So a pretty good week!

I got into the expensive materials this week:

I had almost exactly enough carbon cloth for my roof panel.  About a yard and a half was just right for four full-coverage plies

I added two layers of Kevlar between the carbon layers.  My old rowing-shell repair years taught me that if you want a thin composite to stand up to abuse there'd better be some Kevlar in there.  The stuff is a little tricky to work with, but no big deal once you have the technique down.

First time I've tried putting down 3/4" masking tape on the cut-lines.  Worked really well at stabilizing the fibers, and it came off readily during the lay-up.

My "little girl" (she's grown so much the last year!) helped out with the last couple roof panels.  She really got into it, and I enjoyed having her help and company.

Underside beauty shot:

Top side:

Hard to appreciate over the internet, but it's really stiff!

And really light:

About half the weight of the fiberglass ones.  Not bad!

Maybe one more fiberglass roof to make, if one guy doesn't flake out.  Haven't heard back from him yet, but no need to assume bad things.

That's it for now. 

Your composite work is amazing. 

Astonishing what you do in the hone shop with readily available equipment and supplies and talent. 

TVR Scott said:

Hard to appreciate over the internet, but it's really stiff!

I giggled.

Stampie said:

TVR Scott said:

Hard to appreciate over the internet, but it's really stiff!

I giggled.

Yeah, that didn't really come out right.

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Your composite work is amazing. 

Astonishing what you do in the hone shop with readily available equipment and supplies and talent. 

Thank you, sir!

What you wrote was exactly my goal.  I was hoping to demystify the process, and show that high-quality composites are readily DIY.  Like anything else with car projects, it takes time and planning, and the end result largely depends on how much time you put into making things perfect.  There are definitely a few specialized tools and supplies but for the most part everything here is totally approachable.

In reply to TVR Scott :

I may try to talk with you about dumbing down the process for me. Need to make some fiberglass body parts of existing parts to reduce weight and repair damage. On a challenge budget, so no carbon fiber or kevlar.....

Would you be willing when i get there? 

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Yes!  Ask me anything!

How long would it take a sparrow to carry a coconut to our shores?

(Did you not learn anything from the "stiff" comment) 

Carry on.

Made it here as fast as I could...  and watching!

vozproto said:

Made it here as fast as I could...  and watching!

Yay!  You've got some reading to catch up on, buddy!

If one of the buyers does drop out, let me know. Mine is wearing a lift-out fiberglass panel I made a long time ago. Was going to use it as a mold for the infill, but . . . 

One question I have for you is regarding bonding panels laid up with epoxy to a body made with polyester resin. I’ve been told that fiberglass should always be made with the same type of  resin as the base material you’re repairing. Strength of the bond? 

Slow_M said:

If one of the buyers does drop out, let me know. Mine is wearing a lift-out fiberglass panel I made a long time ago. Was going to use it as a mold for the infill, but . . . 

One question I have for you is regarding bonding panels laid up with epoxy to a body made with polyester resin. I’ve been told that fiberglass should always be made with the same type of  resin as the base material you’re repairing. Strength of the bond? 

I can make another panel.  Totally no big deal at this point.  Just say the word.

For bonding, epoxy will pretty effectively bond to any resin system.  Certainly you do need to do proper surface prep - sanding and solvent-wipe.  But the finished bond will be iron-clad.  No harm in using a quality structural adhesive either - those are made with dissimilar materials in mind.  I'll probably just use West System epoxy for my own roof.

I definitely still want one Scott. Not sure if you were waiting to hear from me. We've been emailing. Email looks something like a2 b wil at gmail

In reply to CoolHandMoss :

You're on my list for the next one!  You've not been forgotten!

In reply to vozproto :

Thanks for helping out with today's layup.  I'm glad you enjoyed the vacuum bag process as much as I do.  It's so cool.

Excellent. 

In reply to CoolHandMoss :

Your roof got water-tested this morning:

There's a big storm rolling in, and I wanted to get this trimmed up.  In rain.  And strong gusty winds.  Soggy, but it did blow away the dust.  I think my hands just about froze off from the die-grinder exhaust!

Other stuff: now that the roof panel side project is wrapping up, I'm going to focus on fixing up the body.  Lots of holes cut by the PO for roll-bar-shaped-object.

In preparation I did a test.  Question: can you take a 3d print, wax it up with mold-release, and just lay up fiberglass right on it with no other prep?

Answer: yes.

The test part was an old template I had sitting around.  I coated it with 4 layers of paste wax, and laid up 2 plies of fiberglass and epoxy.  Released with zero issues.  Surprisingly, the layer-lines barely show up on the finished part.

More clean up and prep.  Insides are mostly stripped of nasty old carpet and nasty old headliner:

I'm making a photo-note here about the placement of some foam on the A-pillar:

And the floors are getting cleaner too.  I'm needing to scrape off the old carpet liner.  Gross.  I also found evidence of what looks like a big spill of carpet adhesive.

I've got some trans-tunnel mods/improvements in mind.  Probably that's my next project.

In reply to TVR Scott :

Wondering what you have in mind. I’ve been thinking about lining the front part of the tunnel with Kevlar, in lieu of a steel bellhousing. 

I was thinking thin sheet metal to cover the under side of the transmission tunnel to add some rigidity. Problem is it has to bend some. 

I think I'll be adding some structural panels to the frame, once the body is back off. 

For this next project, I'm thinking about a panel that will incorporate the lower shifter boot from the Miata.  This will mount to the underside of the body, and slightly above the frame.  Something that will give more barrier between the interior and the road than the fabric boots the factory installed.

Nothing to add.  Just cool!

In reply to Dirtydog (Forum Supporter) :

Ditto. Been reading along and soaking up info, just not much to add. 

I'm not up to much with my TVR project, so I'm sort of living vicariously through whatever progress you make! Carry on...

How about riveting some thin steel structural panels to the frame with kevlar blanket around the transmission/bell housing inside the tunnel?  The thin steel won't stop a grenading flywheel, but kevlar should.  I'm still considering adding a kevlar blanket with aluminum support around the bell housing on the TR6.