Sorry for the lack of updates but aparently building a car from scratch while keeping a family and a full-time job can be pretty demanding on time. I think I need a 36 hour day...
FYI - my website
http://www.grabercars.com has tons of information and photos. You can probably spend a few hours finding out everything I did there. Like I mentioned, there don't seem to be enough hours in a day lately, so keeping up with all the questions is proving to be a bit difficult.
Let me just tell you a little bit about what I have done the past few weeks:
First to the moulds: I removed them from the plug with no problem. The surfaces look fantastic and there are only some minor fixes to make, specifically in areas that I could not completely finish on the plug - deep draft areas, etc. I have the moulds bolted back together and on stands.
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I have to say that removing the plug from the chassis under it was one of the most difficult things to do. Not physically - that was fun! - but emotionally it really tore me up to take a sledge hammer to 3 years of work.
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Within a few weeks I should start laying up a one-piece body out of that mould for fitment to the chassis.
In the meantime, the car is back together and the seats are in, I am finishing up the wiring, installing the Megasquirt and plumbing the turbo this week. I decided to make the chassis-only version of La Bala street legal. It seems like it would be pretty cool to be able to legally drive the car on the street with no bodywork, so in essence I am making a street-only dunebuggy! It'll have lights, mirrors, etc mounted right on the chassis.
If you want to see a short clip of the car driving again, (shot on a digicam by my good friend Jason) click here :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqUC2sXZxI8
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I decided to install the headlights behind the windshield. With the proper seals to prevent light backwash of course.
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Do you think there's enough room to put a v8 back there? :evillaugh
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Well, that should be enough to keep you going for a little bit! Thanks for reading!
Bodies will be just around $5K and the finish out of the moulds will be superb which should save several thousand on finish and paint prep compared to other commercially available glass bodies. Just ask the Factory Five guys about body prep... Ideally one could choose their color for the gelcoat and be perfectly good to go. I don't have a price structure for the chassis and/or plans because I have a bunch of mods I want to make to the chassis once I test at the track. But I will have that information by the end of the summer!