Final Assembly-Round 2

I made good progress again today. Inching closer to the goal every day.

Fitted some more carbon fiber panels and the carbon fiber seat as well as the seat belts. Also  fitted the center back frame rail panel and crankcase ventilation tank. The yellow stuff is masking tape to protect the paint from scratches while I am fitting the panels.

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Final Assembly-The Beginning

The paint is all dry and I have started reassembling the "Black Hole" I have made good progress for the first week. There is still a long way to go but each step gets me closer to the goal.

I put the chassis out in the sun to let it cure prior to assembling everything. The color is beautiful in the sun. Here is a before and after picture with progress as of today.

Some of the accomplishments are:

1. All of the quarter turn fasteners have been pop riveted on
2. The front and rear suspension is mounted

3. Fire System mounted and hooked up

4. Fuel and oil tanks mounted

5. Ignition coil bracket machined and coil mounted

6. Oil filter and oil vent tank mounted

7. Titanium floorboard installed

8. Data collection box mounted, wires routed, and some sensors mounted

9. Electronics mounted

10. Ignition system mounted

11. Most carbon fiber panels cut and installed

12. Air system installed

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All Painting is Done!!!

I finished painting all of the brackets, four-link bars, driveshaft loops/tube, anti-roll bar, air bottle mount, parachute mount, etc. It all looks nice and I cannot wait to put this thing together.

Here are some pictures of all of the parts curing for assembly.

This candy violet is a beautiful color but is a very time consuming and tedious process to do. It takes fours spray steps to get the final result. First is epoxy primer, next is silver metallic, then candy violet, and finally a clear coat. Tedious, but the results are worth it! It would have been easier to just do black like everyone else but I like to make my projects unique!

I am going to take a break from the car tomorrow and work in my sister's house. I also have a huge mess in the garage and need to clean up all the paint supplies, dust, paint booth, etc. Once the paint cures, final assembly will begin.

I am on the final push now!

Here are pictures:

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Chassis Paint Done

Folks,

I had good enough weather to get the clear coat on the chassis, This is the last step, YEAH!

God blessed me with good weather so I could get done. This process has pretty much consumed me for a couple of weeks. Now I can slow down a bit and spend more time helping Traci with Dad. He is home now and needs lots of help.

The chassis looks very good in purple. I think it will look good with the black body.

I am very glad to have this part done. I still have a bunch of small pieces to paint but they are much easier to manage than the chassis.

After it dries for a few days, I will start assembling. I only have a couple of more items that could cause me to miss my February test session now. One would be all the distractions in our lives and the other is I am still waiting on some of my fuel system.

I don't have much control over either of these so I will just have to take it one day at a time.

Here are some pictures of the chassis with the clear coat on it:

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Second and Third Step Complete

I had good weather all day and made good progress. I put the silver base coat on and then put the candy violet color on. Only the clear coat left to go. Hopefully I will get that on tomorrow.

Painting a candy color on something with so many creases and crevices turned out to be one of the most difficult painting projects I have ever done! I spent nearly 12 hours in a respirator today and I am worn out. I hoped I would get the clear coat on but it was too late to start it tonight.

I kept the color as a surprise! Most of you probably thought I would just go back with black but I wanted to do something special. The candy violet is stunning!! It will even look better with the clear coat on it.

Here are some pictures:

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