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  #41 (permalink)  
Old 12-18-2016, 12:35 PM
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I drove Friday to Pittsburgh from near lake Placid NY to pick up the nose. I got the nose Saturday morning and was home at 9pm. This morning I went to the shop to do some work.

The body is a nice piece by Mr Bruce. But, I decided that I was going to use smaller wheels and tires than he did when he designed the car. The result is that I narrowed the body by 8 inches. This gives me a rear width at the wheel arches of 72 inches. I like the narrower look.

The only original Cheetah roadster was created by a racer that cut the roof off. He basically put in a flat panel low between the rear wheel arches and then blended the transitions. I'm not sure that I like the look. The occupants look like they're sitting pretty tall in the car. I mocked up with some cardboard and duct tape a different treatment. If I did the rear this way I would be creating some storage space behind the seats. The occupants would look like they are sitting lower too. Still deciding on that.

There is plenty of room in the cockpit and for legs and feet. Because the seating position is so far rearward I could move the windshield rearward. That's something that I'll look at.

Because I'm using a shorter tire I will need to add to the rear wheel arches to take up the space between the tire and the body. I had some flares that I made for a different car. I attached them to just see how they look.

I'm liking the look. If I run the carbed SBC I'll need to either have the air cleaner stick through a hole in the hood or mold in a hood scoop. I've ordered a 1967 Corvette 427 hood scoop to see how that looks. Or, I could run an LS engine and it would fit with out the hole or scoop.
Having fun.









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  #42 (permalink)  
Old 12-27-2016, 05:35 PM
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- I've decided to eliminate the doors. I only gained 3.5 inches of access by having them.
- I ground off the gel coat around the edges of the body where I will be adding fiberglass. when I get the upper part of the body glassed together it will get turned over and glass will be added along all of the joints.
- I added steel to support the body at the rear deck. The gas tank will be bolted to the bottom of the frame rails and will be able to be removed by dropping it out the bottom with out removing the body.
- I'm adding foam for the rear deck, rear bulk head, and the perimeter of the cockpit. All will be shaped then glassed in. The body will lift off as 1 piece and will be supported well, and lined up when set down on the frame.
- There will be a small sealed "trunk" accessible from the rear bulkhead, from between the seats.
- The Cheetah had it's radiator behind the front axle center line. Air went through it then built up in the engine compartment. My radiator fits ahead of the center line. It will be fully ducted so that the air will flow along the sides of the frame, out side vents that i will add to the nose. No air flowing through the radiator into the engine compartment.
The pic of the radiator was only to see if it fits. It does with the nose on.
- The radiator is 16 inches tall. I had this one in my shop. I've used it on other builds and it's worked fine, even on the track. I know that it looks small. If I need a larger radiator one for a Chevy s10 V8 conversion will work. It's 16 by 28 and is a triple core. With dual fans it's $160.




I'm going to be lowering the dash




Having fun.
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Last edited by john chesnut; 12-27-2016 at 05:38 PM..
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  #43 (permalink)  
Old 12-27-2016, 06:28 PM
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I like the play-by-play. Keep em coming.
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Old 12-28-2016, 01:52 PM
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John your always up to some cool stuff
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Old 12-28-2016, 04:31 PM
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I worked on the car this afternoon.
- Before I narrowed the body I cut out the license plate holder. I cut a new hole for it today, tabbed it in, and glassed it from the back.
- I lowered the dash to the height of the body.
- I made a piece out of paneling that will get glassed to the front hood return on the body. This will seal to the aluminum skins that attach to the frame.
- I removed the foam and using paneling started fitting panels to fill the area between the body and the frame. Once I get every thing fitted I'll glass those panels in.
- I've decided make the rear deck flat between the wheel arches. I might leave the body like this or make some other design ideas to fit on the flat deck. Like, a head fairing or 2, rear spoiler, or maybe a luggage rack. The luggage rack could come in handy when I drive this car to Alaska
- I glassed in the doors.

Thanks Tommy and Bill. It's been a long time Bill. I hope that all is great with you.









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Last edited by john chesnut; 12-28-2016 at 04:39 PM..
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Old 12-28-2016, 05:21 PM
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I know head fairings aren't authentic on a Cheetah ....... but there's not much cooler than head fairings.

BTW, John. After you smooth the glassed in areas (e.g., the doors), what product do you use on top of the raw fiberglass to start preparing for paint?
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Last edited by Tommy; 12-28-2016 at 05:23 PM..
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Old 12-29-2016, 01:14 PM
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Tommy, I'm not a professional at this. The way that I finish the body might not be the best way. But, this is what I do.

You'll notice that I've ground off the gel coat and some of the fiberglass from the body where I will patch it. The idea is that I can add fiberglass and keep the new glass lower than the surrounding body. I use body filler to fill in any low areas and to blend in to the existing body. (note that most of the glass work will be done from the underside.)

Before doing body prep for final paint I'll put the body into a heated paint booth or go over every inch with a heat gun. If there is air trapped between fiberglass and the gel coat it will expand when heated and pop the gel coat. It's much better to catch and repair voids before final paint!

I make sure to wash the body and remove any mold release and wax. Then I scuff the body. Then I spray 4-5 coats of 2 part hi-build epoxy primer. Then I do sanding and final body work. The idea is that you don't want to sand through gel coat. If you do you will end up with tiny holes that will have to filled and sanded again.

On parts that that I make that have a raw fiberglass finish I use the hi build primer to get to get a finished surface.

I was thinking about the body all night. I wasn't happy with the rear deck angle. IMO it slopes to steeply to the rear. This is not a reflection of MR Bruce's body. It's a function of how I'm mounting it to my frame. (I've been very happy with the quality and symmetry of the body.)

This morning I removed the steel rear deck support that I had tacked in. I cut the body along the rear door line and down thru the rear wheel arch. I cut out about 2 inches of body length. Then bolted the rear of the body, through the upper license plate holder to the bottom of the frame. Then I angled the rear of the body to the front of the body until the angle looked right to me. I was amazed that the body line, at the cut, almost matched perfectly. I screwed the 2 parts together in prep for glassing together.

Because I'm using shorter than designed for tires there is to large of a gap between the top of the tires and the wheel arch. I temporarily screwed in some flares that I had to get an idea of what the looks will be with the gap filled. I'm trying to decide whether to lower entire rear of the body to eliminate the gap or make flares to fit. Opinions?
Pics with the changes.








Were in the middle of a snow storm so I've gone home for the day.
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  #48 (permalink)  
Old 12-29-2016, 03:27 PM
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Thanks John. That was very helpful.
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Old 12-31-2016, 12:18 PM
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Yesterday I worked on the rear deck, cockpit bulkhead and cockpit side panels.
- I am making the rear deck flat between the wheel arches. I cut some strips of birch plywood and hung them with screws under the body. Then I inserted hard board between the body and the strips. Then tightened the screws so that the hardboard is held tight to the underside of the body. I inserted and sanded foam into a gap at the rear, between the body and hardboard.
- I made the rear cockpit bulkhead out of hardboard.
- I ended up making the sides of the cockpit out of heavy cardboard. i broke it down some so that it would curve easily.

Tomorrow morning I will glass these pieces in.




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Old 01-01-2017, 02:31 PM
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I worked on the body a few hours today.
- I worked on the flares. I have them now to where I will glass them in. I need to do final tweeking to the radius around the tire. They will be blended into the body so that they don't look like they were tacked on.
- I'm going with the rear deck raised, as shown in the pictures. I don't know of any Cheetah that was done this way. But, I want to minimize the difference in height between the body and the top of the roll bar. I've seen picture where the drivers head was significantly higher than the roll bar. Stupid.
- I set the roll bar so that it's 2 inches above the top of my head when I'm sitting in the car.
- I made a mock up head fairing out of foam and poster board and set it on the rear deck to see the look. No Cheetah that I know of used a head fairing. But, I'm liking the look.
- I will not mold head fairings to the body. I'll make them a separate piece. That way I can add 1 or 2 when I want.
- I plan on making a coupe top that will bolt to the body. The windshield frame will bolt to the frame and will be easy to take on and off. I'll have a low version for the Speedster and a full height one for a coupe.
- I'm finished with mocking the body up. Tomorrow I'm going to glass the body mods. And, clean the shop!




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Old 01-01-2017, 03:29 PM
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Not that it matters, but I agree with your plan to make the fairing removable. The short rear end on the Cheetah makes the fairing look a little short too, IMHO.
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Old 01-02-2017, 12:00 PM
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Hello Tommy, When I make the final Fairing shape I'm thinking of having the top edge mimic the contour of the rear of the body as it curves under. The short deck is challenging.

- Today I glassed in the rear deck, flares, cockpit bulkhead, and interior sides of the cockpit.
- I ground down the seams of the flares so that the glass would bond better. I also sanded all hardboard pieces with 36 grit paper for better bonding.
- I like the look of the car with out the roll bar or fairing too. A single roll bar, Cobra style, would work well to IMO.
- when I got home it sunny and 39 degrees. I sat on my deck, looked at my view, and soaked up the sun. It's a great day.




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Old 01-02-2017, 02:48 PM
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Looks better at every step.
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Old 01-04-2017, 04:33 AM
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https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Even...CHEETAH-201948

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Old 01-04-2017, 04:01 PM
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Thank you for the picture. I think it's a beautiful car.

I want to have easy access to everything so I want to be able to remove the dash easily.
- I hung a strip of birch plywood under the foam to support it.
- I cut, shaped and notched the foam to fit the body and to meet up with the interior glass line.
- The dash will bolt to the side of the cockpit with the top resting on the foam (2 sided tape). The edge of the dash will fit the glass line to finish it off.
- There will be steel posts bonded to the sides of the windshield frame. The posts will bolt to the frame. I will be able to quickly unbolt the frame and remove the glass with the fiberglass surround. Then I will be able to insert a full height frame with full height glass. The glass is 63-67 Corvette.
- The glass work on the body is done. It can be removed now for glassing the underside. Then body work.






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Old 01-05-2017, 10:51 AM
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The other day I test fit a roll bar. Since then I have been able to lower my seating position. Today I shot a short video to see how I looked sitting in it. The seating position, leg and cockpit room is very good for me.

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Old 01-05-2017, 11:41 AM
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Like I said before, it looks better at every step.
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Old 01-15-2017, 02:48 PM
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Well it's been over a week since my last post. I went away for a few days to visit family and friends. Then I took some time to clean the shop. Then I decided that I needed to build a new frame!

- I found that I was able to sit lower in the car than I originally thought. The original frame is 18 inches tall. I figured that I could lower it to 16 inches and simplify the frame at the same time. Lowering the side rails and trans tunnel let me sit lower and keep my arms resting at a comfortable height.

- A friend of mine is a retired chassis/suspension engineer. He has a car built with C4 suspension. He sent me suspension measurements that improves on the stock C4 suspension.

- C4 suspension was the same from 1984 thru 1987. For 1988 there was a change to the front upper Aframe mounts. The spindle was made taller so the mounts were raised as well.

- I decided since I was building a new frame that I would incorporate my friends changes and incorporate mounting points for all years of C4 suspension.

- I've spent the last couple days building the new frame. Here's pics of progress.

- Unfortunately I'll have to do more glass work to fit the body to the new frame. I do have a sickness.





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Old 01-15-2017, 06:24 PM
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“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” - Geroge Bernard Shaw. .... Or in this case, the unsatisfied man.
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Old 01-15-2017, 10:18 PM
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John,
You are mental! That is what I've always admired about you!!!
X2 on Tommy's comment. I am the same way. If you've ever seen the movie TinCup, we are all a chip off the same block. The phrase 'give me another' has a different meaning to some of us....

Love the new frame. Might I recommend dropping the rear of the trans tunnel tubes down to as low as you can, as the reaction force of the rear happens from the rear pinion to the front upper control arms... so they say... and triangulate the rear control arm mounts upward and downward to shear that energy.

Good luck, love the progress.
Mike.
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