#1104 (Gen1) Steve's 33 Rod Build - door panels

[peterh226]

I have about the same thing. Lots of work to get the trim piece to match the door. I’m going to paint them body color as I’ve made studs to hide the screws.
What part number did you use from Steele for the felt as I need to get some?

[FF33rod]

Peter, here are the part numbers I used
70-0961-60 & 70-3807-61

Another local builder used 70-0749-60 instead of that first one

Steve

[Bgardner]

Steve

Looks great, nice work on all the details.

Good weather coming later in the week, time to get some miles on there instead of under there.

Bob

[FF33rod]

The door popper solenoids are mounted and connected up. I used parts from an Autoloc shaved door kit that included the solenoids, cables, relays, a wireless activation module, etc. I didn't need a lot of those parts but the package price from Johnny Law Motors was much better priced than buying the individual bits I needed.

In the pic below you can see how I installed the solenoid facing inward and how the cable from it is attached to the door latch release cable that comes from the interior handle. Seems to work great!

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Steve

[FF33rod]

Well we all know that these projects are rarely done as in nothing left to do or nothing you're going to do. However, I have to admit that if the car is painted and one is taking it to cars and coffee and other "showings" to share with the car community and/or public then it's time to fess up and declare a graduation!!!

I had a fantastic Father's Day weekend sharing my creation. Joined a small (twenty-ish) group Friday evening at a local Canadian Tire and then Sunday morning I drove out to a local suburb of Vancouver (Langley) which is a bit of a hot bed for cars (rods, pro street, gassers and anything else one can dream up) and joined 525 (yes that's right 525) others for a car and coffee. That event ran for a few hours before the cops showed up and told us to move on or get fined for too large a public gathering in contravention of current Covid regulations. Following that I drove over to my oldest daughters place so she could see the finished beast first hand and my Granddaughter decided to try it out - instinctively she placed her hands right where they should be.... Priceless!

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Lots of great commentg from people. I'm surprised how many know about Factory Five. I'm also surprised at the few people who asked if it was based on a Prowler - no offence taken, the front suspension is reminiscent of a Prowler for sure. I even had one guy pull up next to me at a light and say it was the most gorgeous hot rod he's ever seen. I obviously thanked him very much but he was driving an Infiniti so may have to discount the comment a bit It's also surprising the number of people that you can see are purposely refusing to acknowledge the car - I mean it's loud, how can you ignore it - you see a slight movement of the eyes to understand and then a blatant "I refuse to look" action. There's a few dudes out there that need their man card revoked! LOL

Seriously though, it's fun and I'm very pleased. The highest priority item to address is the heat inside the cockpit. It is blistering in our current hot weather, like a sauna. The gap around the eBrake handle is one source of hot air, I have to find the others. The Holley Sniper needs some attention, great acceleration but still not smooth and it's going through gas like it's 10 cents a liter. I can drain the good part of a tank in just a couple of hours of driving and that includes a fair bit on the highway. The less important stuff still to do - the door cards and arm rests (the ones from FFR don't fit well at all) and the headliner.

A few pics...

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Steve

P.S. Paint Protection Film on the fronts of the rear fenders IS A MUST!!!!

[RoadRacer]

The highest priority item to address is the heat inside the cockpit. It is blistering in our current hot weather, like a sauna.

It can get hot!! I was driving around in 97º the other day and my phone lasts around 20mins generally before shutting down due to temperature. When it's that hot I can only use Waze to navigate the last few miles, not the entire trip

But.. I love it.

[FF33rod]

Been quite some time since I posted. Thought I'd provide an update on my door panels that I've made. The FFR door panel fit okay on one side but the other was horrid so I decided to make my own.
Hagan has panel board, clips and videos that make DIY fairly simple.

https://www.haganauto.com/category_s/167.htm

I used black vinyl that I believe was originally intended for the rear cockpit cover, bought some light grey suede and also 1/8" thick foam (roof liner material actually)...

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I used Landau top and trim contact adhesive. To attach the grey suede piece I originally tried velcro which Hagan recommended but it didn't work well at all. So in the end I took some #10 screws and ground the head down until there was a thin flat piece left (like a washer) and then used panel bond to attach the screw to the back of the piece in 4 places. Drilled some holes in the door panel for the screws and voila!

Steve