Zach's 818R Build Thread

[Zach34]

I sweet-talked FFR into making me a set. I hope I'm not creating a problem for them by posting.

They made two sets out of carbon fiber for Wayne Presley's car. He installed one set on his gray/orange 818R and installed the other set on one of his customers' cars along with some very nice custom fender flares that you can find pictures of somewhere on this forum. Apparently they are very difficult/costly to make to the point where FFR decided not to try and mass-produce them. Mine are made out of fiberglass, which I think is easier/cheaper than the carbon fiber. Carbon is unnecessary, especially for the way I wanted to mount them.

The door vents should be available on FFR's parts website.

I'm still not decided on what to use the vents for. I'm 90% sure I'll go AWIC, so the options are intake, oil cooler, trans cooler? Hmmm...

[biknman]

Just an FYI I love Factory Five but they kind of screwed me on this one. I asked Wayne where he got the side rear quarter panel scoops he sent me to a POC at Factory Five they gave me a P/N of 81149 so I ordered them took forever to get ended up in a logistical /payment snafu on FFR's part and when they showed up they where the door scoops P/N 80849/50 which I got with my 818r kit :-(
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Because of how much a pain in the arshe it was try to get the scoops in the first place I just let it go ;-/ Guess it's the old soldier in me, use to taking it as hard as they can give it and not complaining and soldiering on. ;-P

So if any body needs a set of “DOOR” scoops I have an extra set I don’t need I'll let them go for price of course and shipping.

Thanks Zach34 didn't mean to take over your thread.

Dave

[Zach34]

No worries. Yeah, I ended up talking to Tony Zullo to get the right part on order. It took several weeks to get them, which I was fine with considering it's not a part that they want to make or stock regularly. Apparently it took them a few tries to get the layups to come out of the molds in good shape. They look great, though. I didn't hit any voids prepping them for attachment or when cutting the holes.

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I do have one problem with the way I decided to bond them in - I'll have to figure out how to blend the front edge of the new vents, just behind the doors. Can anyone recommend a filler, process, or how-to video that would help me do this? I have some Rage Gold body filler, but I have never used that stuff and I don't know if that's the right stuff for this job - I'm basically trying to blend a 1/8" step into a curve. Alternatively I could just cut away the last bit of red on the fenders behind the door and just have a weird-looking recess there. This is probably too much effort expended on aesthetics for a race car, but if there's an easy way to make it look better I want to do it.

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I also whipped up a design for the exhaust tip so I could locate and cut a hole for it. I took inspiration from a Stainless Works through-body tip design, and made it work for an oval tube.

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[Zach34]

Back from a couple weeks of vacation.



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Hm, what do we have here?....

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[aquillen]

This is going to be cool. Eyes are glued...

[Zach34]

I've had one of the busiest summers at work that I've had in a long time. In the background I have been working another ambitious project. I'm not 100% confident in what the results will be. I hope to lay up all the fiberglass this week or next weekend.

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[Zach34]

Almost forgot, I got a 3D printer!

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[Hobby Racer]

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Those are going to work really well. Can't wait to see the final result.

[aquillen]

Those are going to work really well. Can't wait to see the final result.

Totally agree - looking forward to your composite parts.

[Jetfuel]

Pink foam is the way to go for creating molds for fiberglass parts.
Painting the mold with latex house paints keeps the resins from melting the foam.
Also looking for the final product.

[Zach34]

Pink foam is the way to go for creating molds for fiberglass parts.
Painting the mold with latex house paints keeps the resins from melting the foam.
Also looking for the final product.

That's a good tip. I did a test and the epoxy-based resin I'm going to use (West System) does not melt the foam. I suspect polyester-based probably will. I've become a big fan of the epoxy stuff. Low odor, more versatile. Only downside is the cost.

[Zach34]

What a mess!! These pictures are from a few months ago. Busy fall. Little progress. Pictures of current work coming soon. I would definitely do a gel/release agent if I did it again.

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[Santiago]

Loving the build so far Zach!

One thought; if you're going through the expense of using epoxy resin (which I love), you might consider using cloth rather than mat. The finished product will be stronger and you can start to find ways to reduce the resin ratio in the finished product (making them lighter as well). A 6oz cloth works pretty well for most projects like your hood vents.

Soooo glad to see more and more folks fully ducting their radiator - you're going to help lower drag a good deal. Well done!

[Zach34]

Thanks! The first layer was cloth. The mat is quite a bit cheaper than the cloth, so that's why I used it for building thickness.

I wasn't sure how I would like them based off the foam molds, but now that I've been able to test-fit, they are going to look pretty good. I've figured out how I'm going to mount them. Next I have to figure out how to mount the fans inside. I should have considered that when I made the molds. If I had molded in some flats for the fan frame, things would be a lot easier. I've already done a lot of body filler work on the inside to try and smooth it out. It's a tough project.

I forgot to get pictures of the test-fit. Here are some of the mount points getting glassed in and one of the frame brackets. There will be slight adjustability to make sure they always line up with the hood.

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[Zach34]

Can you have a barn find if it was in your barn?...

Two years of storage to accommodate a career change, family, and life in general. To be continued...

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[Rob T]

What was once lost is found....welcome back and good luck with the build.

[FFRWRX]

One thought; if you're going through the expense of using epoxy resin (which I love), you might consider using cloth rather than mat.

I realize this was posted some time ago, but it did remind me of something. I made a hardtop for my first F5 Cobra from foam/epoxy/mat. I had trouble getting the mat to lay down nicely on corners. I found out later that the binder in most mats dissolves in fibreglass resin but not epoxy. You can still use mat made for use with polyester resin when using epoxy, but it will be a bit stiffer.

[Zach34]

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Frame reverse-engineering in CAD. Work-in-progress. Incorporates modifications to the floor I already made.

[Sgt.Gator]

Zach, Great to see you back at it. Regarding the CAD design, are you designing to SCCA cage specs? For reference the latest SCCA GCR is here, the Roll Cage section starts in Section 9.4, page 95.
https://cdn.connectsites.net/user_fi...pdf?1680197778

[Zach34]

I am indeed toying with the idea of a complete redesign. I am not trying to disrespect FFR’s design, but they had to make a lot of compromises to make the kit affordable for guys like me. When I add up all the little things I would like to tweak on it, the clean slate option looks more attractive.

I want to have some flexibility on where I can race it. I am leaning toward time attack, but it will only be allowed in unlimited-type categories and would not be realistically competitive. Thanks for the link. I will definitely be incorporating SCCA rules into the design.