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| Date |
Costs |
Activity |
| 3/1/06 |
$143.40
$72.50
$100.00 |
I ordered up some acrylic sheet, turns out that anything close to the color that I wanted (medium gray) in a 3/16" was just about impossible to locate, so I modified the window gutters as follows: the upper windows I will be using 1/4" thick and the lower ones 1/8" thick acrylic. Total shipping charges came to about $100 for the 2 pieces of acrylic. |
| 3/4/06 |
|
Continued working on the doors made some supports and welded them into the existing door frames to connect the nitrogen lifting cylinders to. This was made from 1/8" thick steel, and is welded towards the inside of the tubing, the reason being is that I have to recess the cylinders into this area of the door for proper clearance.
Next I made up some brackets that will be used to connect the inside door handle to the latch mechanism, I also made up a couple of additional 90degree elbows and some nylon spacers. When I made up the doors I made sure to leave a little space for them near the back of the doors, it is tight but they fit.
There will be a rod going from the interior door handle to this and then another rod going vertical to the latch mechanism. |
| 3/5/06 |
|
I made up some 1/4" birch panels to fit inside the framework of the doors and used some hot-glue to temporarily hold them into place. I could have used foam but decided that wood is easier for me and either way weight is negligible.
I cut out an area where the handles will mount as well as a hole for storage in the door, in addition I left open the area at the rear so that I can get to the mechanism for connecting the rods later. Later on I will make some fiberglass upholstery panels that will cover up any open areas.
Once hot-glued in place and cleaned up any excess I used two layers of 6oz cloth and glassed the panels in place. Note the bottom lip on the door I hope to use it to seal against a weather strip when done. Here is a picture of drivers side door after trimming.
 |
| 3/11/06 |
|
Another short weekend, I have been having to travel for work so was only able to put in 1/2 day this weekend.
I cut some more pieces of 1/4" birch plywood to use in the front edges of the doors today. From the inside they are pretty much flush with the inside edge of the tubing and cylinder support bracket. This area will be visible from the inside of the door so flush seemed to be the way to go.
Again I used a hot-glue gun to hold them in position. Once in place I used some bondo to fill some areas around this portion of the door as well as to give me a small fillet so that the glass cloth would wrap nicely. Used two layers of 6oz cloth for this area. The pictures are a bit deceptive, they were shot from slightly different angles making one door to look lots narrower than the other, but in measuring them there is probably only about 1/4" difference
 
I probably will not do much with the inside pocket area of the doors, probably just some spray polyurethane to seal the wood up and then some paint. No need to waise time and effort in glassing and besides it would just add additional weight to the doors.
Tomorrow morning will be spent cleaning up the shop area. |
| 3/18/06 |
|
It is a lot easier workining in at least a semi-clean shop at least not tripping over trash and scrap.
More work on the doors, did around the inside door frames on both doors bondo for fillets and two layers of 6oz cloth.
Not much to see here so no pictures. |
| 3/19/06 |
|
Again more work on the inside of the doors. I had to use some small triangles of 1/2" foam to fill in an area around framework (arrow on right picture) and window frame next to where the front steel plate is that the cylinder connects to. This acted as a spacer to make this surface smooth. Eventially a mirror will be mounted on the outside edge of this space and holes will be drilled and recessed into the foam. There are some furniture buttons to hide screw heads, I plan on using them on the inside to hide the mounting bolts/nuts.
A little bit of bondo to fill in some small gaps and to create fillets so that the glass will wrap better. Some of the work areas are pretty tight had to use a die grinder to get into them.
This time I used three layers of 6oz cloth figuring that since the inside top of the doors will eventially act as a sort of arm rest I wanted to have more glass down on it. Doors are almost all set as all that is left to do is the area at the back side near the door mechainsms, but I will do it after I get all the linkages and such in place to make it easier for access.
 
I am a bit surprised at how much work has to go into making up the doors! Besides welding up the framework I have about 5 weekends worth of work that has gone into them so far... I am glad that I went the extra yard and made the framework out of steel tubing and used 1/4" birch plywood for all the inside and outside surfaces, they are pretty light and VERY strong. Using our bathroom scales they each weighted in at about 24lbs each. |
| 3/25-26 |
|
Too tired from all the recent travel for work, probably have a bit of 'project fatigue' as well so am taking the weekend off to just hang out and lounge. |
