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Looking good Phil, have you decided how you are going to do your speed sensor pickup for the Vapor?

Rod

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Driving a +442E with 450 Hp Ford 347 v8, T5, 8 stack EFI w/EDIS8 & MegaSquirt ITB Mode.
12,000+ enthusiastic miles as of 1/1/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqvYJlYc4GU
http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p3/beergodrod/
Now building a 1953 Chevy 1 ton panel with Frito Lay truck parts and a Cummins 4BTA
and a 1963 Nova SS

I was thinking of trying to use the Vehicle speed sensor(electronic speedometer ) output at either te transmission or at the computer. I guess when I get it running in the shop I can check the output of the vss and the supplied magnetized bolt and sensor to compare them on an ossiliscope. If they are anywhere near the same(ie rough square wave) regardless of frequency ,it looks like the vapor is very adjustable and I should be able to calibrate it using a gps while driving . by entering a correction factor in tire diameter section.

If you get it working please let me know, I'll be playing with that pretty soon.

Rod

_________________
Driving a +442E with 450 Hp Ford 347 v8, T5, 8 stack EFI w/EDIS8 & MegaSquirt ITB Mode.
12,000+ enthusiastic miles as of 1/1/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqvYJlYc4GU
http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p3/beergodrod/
Now building a 1953 Chevy 1 ton panel with Frito Lay truck parts and a Cummins 4BTA
and a 1963 Nova SS

Got a bit done the last few days. The Cooling system is done. Made up a removable diagonal engine bay brace.

that is a gorgeous car.

Life has been very busy lately, so I haven't made as much progress as I'd like. I did manage to get the rear of the frame pretty much done. The scuttle panel is also pretty much done as well. Wipers are mounted and I'm working on the windsheild mounts. Throttle pedal is in and the cable is mocked up. My steering wheel and adaptor finally came. Much better room around the tunnel now with the 12" steering wheel. I started modifying the gto engine harness to get rid of the accelerator control module and other circuits I wont need. Found a spot in the passenger footwell for the engine computer. Modified the dipstick to clear the hood and finalized the serpentine belt system to work without the A/C and power steering pump.I'm about 1/2 done fairing the fiberglass for the nose and the 2 side headlight pods. It's very messy work and I'm no bodyman.
Maybe I have got some things done ?

I wont have much time again until the kids go back to school. I'm going to try to get the frame finished up and painted and get it running (without any bodywork) before the snow flies , but I still have lots of little jobs on the list. The list is slowly getting shorter though

Phil,
Awesome car and build! Very impressive! I enjoyed reading it.

SamM

No pictures right now . The car is all apart. I've flipped the frame over to finish the welding. I'm going to try the POR-15 and I'll let you know how it goes. I've got 3 solid days to work on the car coming up soon and I'm excited to get the frame finished up. I have the marine clean and metal ready so hopefully the stuff will stick.
Pickerel fishing has been awesome this week with my kids. Its been really nice weather too!
Thanks to everyone for all the encouragement on my build and all the great info on this site . It has been very inspirational especially when design challenges seem insurmountable.

Good for you man. Family is what it's all about. Car projects will come and go, but you only get one chance to watch those kids grow up.

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

You said it chetcpo

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BARRON_V

Progress
Well I got back from the cottage and got the frame completed. I took the car all apart and flipped it over to finish all the welds.
At this point , one of my daughters came in looking very perplexed and said Dad !!!!what did you do to your car?????Priceless
Spent alot of time grinding welds and sanding the frame. I degreased(marine clean) and etched(metal ready) the frame and all the suspension pieces. Put 2 coats of por 15 on , then one coat of blackcote. By then I had made a fairly bad mess of it. The por 15 is much more "technique sensitive" than any other finish I have ever used. It reminds me a bit of the water based urethanes I have used(and will never use again) for wood finishing. Incredably hard stuff but very difficult to use as the open time is only about 5 minutes. After that If you touch it with the brush it leaves a flat spot. I tried natural brushes ,foam brushes ,rollers but wasn't happy with the finish at all.
I probably should have paid someone to spray the stuff on. In the end I had so many runs, bubbles and brush marks and hairs in it ,it really looked like the dogs breakfast. And you have the constant pressure of getting it done before it fully cures and you can't get the layers to bond together.
In the end I ended up letting it cure for a day, then sanding out most of the imperfections on the cage stucture only. I then very carefully applied 2 coats of blackote over these areas with a few foam brushes.
Its definately not an automotive finish grade, more like a steamengine paint job but it will have to do for now.
If I get real energetic I may go back and resand the rest of the frame down to smooth por and try to fix it too but at this point I'm realizing that most of the rest is hidden anyways so I'll probably leave it rough and all. Maybe Linex it to stop the rattles.
Regards Phil

I guess it all comes to how you apply it. I thinned some POR-15 and sprayed it onto my subframe, and it came out smooth and glossy. Hard as a rock, as well. I'm not going to try brushing it at all--when it comes to the frame, I think I'll let someone else spray it, because I need to have it dipped first. We'll see.

If you are unhappy with the results, I'd suggest borrowing or going to someone that has a spraygun and spraying it on yourself. 4 coats should be plenty, and it looks great.

Haven't posted in a while
After my failure with the paint , I needed to get on to something else. I started fitting the panels to the car. The firewall and bottom are 11 gauge (.090)6061T6. The sides and interior are mostly 14 gauge(.063) 5052. The removable panels to get at the dash electrics and driveshaft tunnel are a bit thicker as they will be bolted down( 11 gauge 6061T6). The hood and rear deck will be 16 gauge 5052(.050). The 5052 has been very easy to work with and seems to bend very nicely.
Once all the panels are fitted then I guess I'll get back at the paint on the frame. Probably a good thing as the panels were a bit tricky to bend and trim and I scratched the paint up a bit . By the time they go on a second time everything should fit just perfectly. LOL

Phil

Did the metal etch make that crap stick? I attributed my runny, hairy, non sticking paint to me not etching the metal but simply cleaning it with solvent. I etched my control arms before painting them with POOR 15 and it stuck somewhat better but still scratches easier than I expected. I've come to the conclusion that stuff is only good for painting over rusty metal. I know I'll never use it again. I'm going to have to completely disassemble my car and repaint the frame at some point, so I feel your pain. Way to stay after it.

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Por stuck pretty well. But in attempting to sand out all the roughness , I've gone through it in places. back to bare metal. No idea how I'll fix it . Ive only scratched it a bit with the sharp edges of the skin but otherwise it seems pretty hard.
phil