(Re) Introducing the $2014 GRM Family Car

Next, I needed to cut the roof panel loose from the side frames, and begin building a structure to hold my mold while I fit it to the car, and made the plugs for the sides.

More Mustang hacking YEAH! :

Did you know you can actually cut the front windsheild with a sawzall, but the rear window will shatter from the friction heat? 3 months later, I've still got little pieces of glass everywhere!

Setting the side frames was important. They would determine the shape of the car, and hold every detail. I played with the angles a lot until they met my satisfaction:

I installed a piece of unistrut down the center line of the car. This was my reference line so that I could measure to insure both sides remained symmetrical:

I made my junkyard trip on clearance day. They were trying to reduce inventory, and were giving stuff away. I grabbed all the $5 wings I could find, but the Mustang one was not bad at all:

Once I was happy with the basic shape and dimensions, I built a framework to support the sides:

Crude, but effective. The final position of the side frames ended up leaning in much more than on the Mustang. It's not a muscle car- it deserves some more swoopy lines (That's the technical term).

I re-attached the roof mold to the side frames, and installed flanges at the mating joint, so the final mold could be broken into 3 pieces.

Then came the side plugs...

I had this great idea of using the interior trim pieces to build the exterior shape- the LH rear window on the RH side of the car. Sounds feasible, right?

Well, it got a little far-fetched:

After I got the shape close, I used the old glass to form the bottom of the window recess- it had a nice curve that worked better than a flat plane:

A little bit of glass, and it should all be better, right?:

Well, not exactly. I just didn't like the shape. It didn't follow the roof line consistently, and had this weird looking hole under the roofline. So, I just kept building it up, and shaping it with everything I could get my hands on- Bondo, clay, spray foam, duct tape, wood... I just couldn't find materials that I was happy working with. I fussed with the darned things for weeks.

Eventually, the shape started coming together into something I liked. Curves developed where body lines met, and new body lines seemed to grow out of no where:

Once the plugs were finished, I glassed over them:

I included mating flanges on both the roof and side panels.

And maybe, there is something more in the mix... :

Because, flares make everything awesomer, right??

What did I learn through this? The Internet is a lying pig. DO NOT attempt this crap at home. Those people are professionals!

You know, those time lapse videos and simple step by step instructionals make it look so easy! What a pile! Don't do it- you will never see your family again!

(If you haven't figured it out, I have a few hundred hours in this thing already)

So where am I now?

Well, the mold is finished, and the car has returned to my shop.

I fitted the mold to the car, and am really happy with the look:

The mold is finished, and ready to make the final part. However, I am going to take a break for a couple weeks, because my daughter is getting married.

I will post more pics when I get back to it.

I'm seeing most of this for the first time as well. All I can say is WOW-you've been busy. . Thats cool stuff man. Looks good!

Very cool!

Wow, wow, wow! That looks really incredible!! Looks like a duck bill spoiler too, which I like!

Great work. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Exceptional!

In reply to dyintorace:

The car may still end up with a duckbill spoiler (undecided), but what you are seeing is just a brace on the mold.

Woah. Didn't see this one coming. Wow.

Mezzanine wrote: Woah. Didn't see this one coming. Wow.

Yeah, don't worry...

We've still got a few un-revealed secrets about this car!

It will all get into this thread between now and the Challenge.

I'm going with wow too!

Can you show us the molds you used for the flares? Or are they fancy store bought?

In reply to VWguyBruce:

Those aren't molded by me. They are pieces I bought for my GTI, and am pulling molds from. I've got 2 coats on the molds right now. I will show them (later).

I will make a 2nd set of parts from the molds, then modify the 2nd parts for the Miata.

Dang, this takes an enormous amount of time.

Sounds like it would be easy to make an extra set for an E30 too.

In reply to VWguyBruce:

Yep. I'm sure you could do it without much trouble at all!

Bravo! This build never stops delivering.Did not see the fastback coming and am way impressed with the execution.

In reply to NOHOME:

Thank you. I needed that.

No, seriously. I am having a crappy day, and I needed a little encouragement.

I can't always hang with you guys. I simply don't have the automotive knowledge to keep up. I'm a really hard working wannabe, and some of you really impress me. So every once in a while, it's nice to know I've contributed a bit to the automotive collective brain trust.

This car has really stretched me. I have had to figure out how to manage a long distance team, swap the car around, divide up the responsibilities, do a lot of stuff I've never done, manage my own drama, and guide some creative processes with people I've never met, and know only by their screen names. At last count, I think there were more than 30 people involved, 8 or 10 board members, children, and some people working on this from 5 different states and 2 countries. But it has been really rewarding, I am pleased with the results, and we are looking forward to doing our absolute best next month.

There is more coming. I promise this thread will continue to deliver until the awards are handed out at the Challenge.

So, the last big thing we did for this car was another round of testing. I hauled the car to Gainesville, FL and autocrossed with the Buchaneer Region on the road course at GMS.

That's a cool course!

This was the closest we've been to a true "Test N Tune". All our other efforts were more like "Break N Patch Together", or "Throw a lot of E36 M3 at the car N See what happens".

This time, we were ready. The car ran well, and we were patient in our approach. We diagnosed problems, listened to our driver, and began tweaking both the car and the driver, instead of throwing E36 M3 at the wall to see what sticks.

It was a really productive day. We took 5 runs, and cut at LEAST 1/2 a second off every run (3 seconds from 1-2).

By the time the dust settled, our little $2K beater was the 6th fastest car at the event in RAW TIMES (in a field of 74 drivers). Every car that was ahead of us was a high dollar build that was extremely well prepped, and wore significant race parts, with extremely experienced drivers.

We were 3 seconds off 1st place (which was a superbly prepped and driven Lotus Elise).

I am certain that every car ahead of us had more money in their tires and wheels then we have in the whole car.

It was especially gratifying to put a thrashing on late model Ferrari.

Thanks for the tow, spinout007!

Good friends, good weather, good racing.

Tick, tock, tick, tock- 22 days left!

Sorting is the "dirty little secret" to success at the Challenge.

Awesome work!

WOW! Awesome job!

Great work. I'm really looking forward to seeing this at the Challenge!

Marjorie Suddard wrote: Great work. I'm really looking forward to seeing this at the Challenge!

There is a lot more that YOU will love when you see it (I won't post the best pics until we get there). Margie, we've had you in mind with this one for most of the last year.

SVreX wrote: There is a lot more that YOU will love when you see it (I won't post the best pics until we get there). Margie, we've had you in mind with this one for most of the last year.

Will it look like a Corvair carrying a bag of concrete?

LOL

Mind Blown. The fastback is beautiful.