Tesla Powered 33 Hot Rod

[BradC]

I'm planning on using inner pulls and electric poppers. 20230105_161848.jpgs-l500.jpg

I saw those too in my searching around last night. They look nice. Thanks!

[BradC]

Got most of my parts back from Cerakote today. The MPP suspension parts came out perfect but the professional place had the same problem I did with the larger flat panels - uneven coloring anywhere the spray overlaps. I sent an email to Cerakote to see if they have any advice. If that doesn't pan out I'll just look into finding a powder coat match as close as possible to this color and just do that. The place I took them was very cool about it and they'll powder coat them at no extra cost. I feel bad about it because they've definitely lost money on this experiment but we can both just call it a learning experience I guess...

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[BradC]

The body shop called me today with an interesting problem....

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I wrote an email to FFR telling them they sent me the wrong side panels, sorry that I hadn't caught it before but telling them I need them to send me the right panels. I figured it would probably take forever and set me back a long time in body. I had checked the deluxe grill manual and saw pictures of the right panels but no mention of them otherwise. Before I sent the email I thought to check the main manual and found a page that said you need to trim the side panels to fit your grill option. Glad I checked first and avoided appearing super dumb to FFR - just on my build thread.... Turns out this is the first deluxe grill the body shop has done so they weren't aware either.

On a good note - they have the doors fitted up! The owner said they were a total pain in the arse - and they've done hundreds of FFR cars (mostly cobras though). Yet another reason why I'm glad I just sent it in for body work.

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[Mastertech5]

Looking good Brad. While I was reading your last post I was saying to myself, didn't he read the manual but then I saw you figured out the trimming of the side panels. Carry on! I think the hoods are different lengths between the 2 grills though, maybe not?

[BradC]

Looking good Brad. While I was reading your last post I was saying to myself, didn't he read the manual but then I saw you figured out the trimming of the side panels. Carry on! I think the hoods are different lengths between the 2 grills though, maybe not?

Yeah, as a general rule I try to avoid reading manuals but I made an exception in this case...

[BradC]

Got a call again from the body shop today because they realized they were missing some hood hardware. Of course I found it at home. I decided to take a drive out there to drop it off and check out the car in person, get some more pictures. He's thinking another two weeks and then I can go get the chassis.

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[Mastertech5]

Progress! It seems funny to not see a V8 power plant stuffed in the front!

[BradC]

I keep thinking the front side panels seem a bit plain so I started looking into some options to break up the long flat sides visually. I found some fiberglass louvered panels that could be grafted in but wasn't crazy about how they would look. After a lot of modeling up different design ideas I've settled on this. The body shop said the holes would be easy to cut if I made a template. It's all sized so everything can be machined on my CNC. I think it'll look nice with a recessed bezel and vent panel sunk in a little. This will allow me to change the vent panels later if I want a different pattern or color.

We'll bond a thin panel with pressed in flush threaded studs to the inside of the side panels. Then the bezel and vent plate will just bolt in place - no visible hardware on the outside.

Sample 3.JPG CAD Image.JPG Vent Deign.JPG

Chassis is supposed to be ready to pick up this week. It'll be good to get going again on the build process!

[Tom Veale]

Hi Brad, Re: Engine Bay Side Panels (or in your case, "Battery Bay")

Here's what I did:
Hotair01.gif

Using masking tape I made a parallelagram and cut it out with a sabersaw. Then after trimming the edge I glassed the panel back in with an inch opening at the back.
I considered putting in a second one but this venting was enough to get rid of surplus engine heat and keep it from entering the footwell.

You mentioned heat dissipation from the batteries, so some form of venting will be nice to have.

Best wishes,
Tom

[BradC]

Hi Brad, Re: Engine Bay Side Panels (or in your case, "Battery Bay")

Here's what I did:
Hotair01.gif

Using masking tape I made a parallelagram and cut it out with a sabersaw. Then after trimming the edge I glassed the panel back in with an inch opening at the back.
I considered putting in a second one but this venting was enough to get rid of surplus engine heat and keep it from entering the footwell.

You mentioned heat dissipation from the batteries, so some form of venting will be nice to have.

Best wishes,
Tom

Hi Tom,

I saw yours (and that same picture) in my searching the other day! I don't remember where though. That's a good approach. Seems like it would do well venting engine heat.

Mine is just cosmetic but it will vent a little. I don't need much supposedly, plus the battery box venting is front to back. Guess I'll find out eventually how well it does!

Thanks,
Brad.

[Tom Veale]

Hi Brad, Your note reminded me I'd done some looking for louvers back about a decade ago. I put together this quicky album:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/album.php?albumid=610
Several FFR Hot Rods with side vents as well as some other cars I saw at a Cruise Night at McDonalds in Plymouth, WI.
Best wishes,
Tom

[BradC]

Hi Brad, Your note reminded me I'd done some looking for louvers back about a decade ago. I put together this quicky album:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/album.php?albumid=610
Several FFR Hot Rods with side vents as well as some other cars I saw at a Cruise Night at McDonalds in Plymouth, WI.
Best wishes,
Tom

Thanks Tom!

[BradC]

Had to take a trip out to the shop today to bring them the side vent template I made. Still on track for getting the chassis on Friday.

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[BradC]

No go on picking up the chassis today. Body shop needs a few more days to get everything perfect. That's fine with me. Next week hopefully!

[Mastertech5]

The best things in life take the most time.

[BradC]

Got my battery box panels back today - finally! Lesson learned for both me and the professional shop that Cerakote C-105 Titanium does not like large aluminum surfaces. Had to go powder coat. The match isn't perfect but it's actually better than I was expecting. Those are shadows not stripes in the images.

You'll only see the powder coated surfaces when it's in the car. From the bottom, the cerakoted panels will match the suspension and you won't really see the powder coated panels. So this'll work...

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[BradC]

Just got home with the chassis. I have a few days of work to do on it before it’s ready for powder coat. The place has a slot for me next week so I’m hoping to get it over there Tuesday or Wednesday.

[BradC]

Completely disassembled now. The bracket for the main cutoff switch I added in the trunk is welded in place, unneeded holes are welded up, and a bunch of clean up grinding here and there done. It's ready for powder coat!

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[BradC]

The chassis and 32 other parts are at the powder coater. They said 3-4 weeks, maybe sooner. So I'm back in idle mode again. Once it's back though I'll have nothing holding me back and no shortage of things to do.

I finally took a close look at the windshield frame. I had read up a bit on it so I was expecting a less than perfect surface condition on the cast aluminum - it lives up to expectations. I knew polishing wouldn't be a good option with the voids and seams, and the CA government with its undeniable logic and wisdom has made chrome plating nearly impossible (cost prohibitive at best) anywhere near me. I took a shot at glass bead blasting the frame to see how it looks. Most areas looked great but the weld seams were still really visible and there were too many small voids. I'll just go with the same aluminum looking powder coating I'm doing on the firewall I think. The place is going to spray out a few test plates for me to help decide the exact color and sheen.

[Mastertech5]

I'm sure a shop in Reno could do it. Road trip. I love Reno and you could visit the Summit store in Sparks.

[BradC]

I'm sure a shop in Reno could do it. Road trip. I love Reno and you could visit the Summit store in Sparks.

Yeah, I thought about that. Since I have a bulk job already with the chassis at the powder coaters, the incremental cost for the windshield frame is pretty small. If I like how it comes out, great. If not I can move on to plan b. Even out of state it won't be a trivial cost to chrome plate it with all the prep it will need.

[Mastertech5]

I'm sure it will look great however you have it finished. You could tig weld the flaws sand them down, polish, and clear coat it.

[BradC]

I'm sure it will look great however you have it finished. You could tig weld the flaws sand them down, polish, and clear coat it.

Yeah, only problem with that is the weld seams are really visible. The clear might mute that a little. Not sure.

[BradC]

Dash display/bezel is together. I played around with a few options for the center inlay and so far I like this the best. It's a 0.02" thick carbon fiber plate I machined and covered with a black wood grain vinyl that sits in the pocketed face of the polished aluminum plate. I tried black paint and a few other vinyl colors but didn't really like any of them. Hopefully this looks ok with the black upholstered dash. Easy to change if not but I think it will be ok.

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[BradC]

Chassis is back! It looks great. Quote from the powder coater - "I'll never complain about sprint car chassis again.." Haha. There were some difficult areas to get coverage with all the additions I made to the chassis but they got it done.

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Part of the body is primed and just lounging around in the sun with some friends...

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[Mastertech5]

Dash display looks great, very professional appearance.
Now you can get that puppy put back together!

[BradC]

Some progress over the weekend. Brake lines are in, front suspension back on, motor in, and one side of the rear suspension hung. Things are slower going having to be careful not to scratch the frame now and making some accommodations for powder coat thickness, but it's cool to see it taking shape in a final appearance.

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I went out to the body shop Friday because they still had one of my front brake lines accidentally - hour drive for a $15 part but oh well.. At least I got to see the front clip body work progress (and forgot to take pictures, duh). The panels fit like crap in the area where the radiator shroud, lower rails, and side covers come together. The standard 33 slant nose panels need to be trimmed significantly for the 32 nose which is fine but the shop had to split the radiator shroud and pivot the sides outward about a half an inch at the bottoms to match up to the natural location of the side panels. If you look close at pictures online many people just suck in the side panels to line up to the grill shroud but that puts stress on the panels and the lower rails, and adds a slight curve to them. Yet another reason I'm glad I sent the bodywork out to an experienced shop...

[33fromSD]

Some progress over the weekend. Brake lines are in, front suspension back on, motor in, and one side of the rear suspension hung. Things are slower going having to be careful not to scratch the frame now and making some accommodations for powder coat thickness, but it's cool to see it taking shape in a final appearance.

IMG_4405.jpg IMG_4406.jpg IMG_4407.jpg

I went out to the body shop Friday because they still had one of my front brake lines accidentally - hour drive for a $15 part but oh well.. At least I got to see the front clip body work progress (and forgot to take pictures, duh). The panels fit like crap in the area where the radiator shroud, lower rails, and side covers come together. The standard 33 slant nose panels need to be trimmed significantly for the 32 nose which is fine but the shop had to split the radiator shroud and pivot the sides outward about a half an inch at the bottoms to match up to the natural location of the side panels. If you look close at pictures online many people just suck in the side panels to line up to the grill shroud but that puts stress on the panels and the lower rails, and adds a slight curve to them. Yet another reason I'm glad I sent the bodywork out to an experienced shop...

Looks great Brad. One observation. I see two steering u-joints within about an inch of each other, just my opinion, but you may avoid some future wear / steering wiggle if you went with a straight coupler from the power steering assist unit spline to the joint on the steering rack. Couplers with spline on one end to double-D on the other end are pretty common..

Of course it's hard to tell from the picture, maybe going with the coupler off the power steering unit may make the angle too close to 35 degrees at the joint by the rack which is the preferred max for those ujoints.

Just a thought

Jim

[BradC]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the note. That's how FFR designed it so I would hope they thought it through and landed on that for a reason. The whole steering linkage is odd in general on these cars. Seems like a lot of compensating for lack of clearances in many areas. The output from the steering motor as is isn't a straight shot to the rack shaft (has an extra offset), so a single u-joint wouldn't work. But, they could have made it that way it seems by aligning the motor slightly different to the rack. Maybe it has something to do with ICE motor fit that I don't see or something? Not sure. I'll look at it closer when I get the rest of the linkage back in. I might be able to realign the motor to eliminate a joint since I don't have any clearance issues.

[33fromSD]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the note. That's how FFR designed it so I would hope they thought it through and landed on that for a reason. The whole steering linkage is odd in general on these cars. Seems like a lot of compensating for lack of clearances in many areas. The output from the steering motor as is isn't a straight shot to the rack shaft (has an extra offset), so a single u-joint wouldn't work. But, they could have made it that way it seems by aligning the motor slightly different to the rack. Maybe it has something to do with ICE motor fit that I don't see or something? Not sure. I'll look at it closer when I get the rest of the linkage back in. I might be able to realign the motor to eliminate a joint since I don't have any clearance issues.

Got it, Thanks for the explanation.

Ya, the FFR design is funky in general. I went with manual steering set up on mineand changed up what FFR suggested.

I ran into a similar situation on the 55 Ford F100 I'm currently building. the steering rack supplier suggested u-joint qty usage / routing and after doing it their way initially to me it was wrong and the steering just wasn't smooth and actually had one spot that had resistance / binding about 3/4 of the way through the rack travel in both directions. I redid it a different way and it's so much smoother now.

Jim

[BradC]

Rear suspension all done..

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[BradC]

Yeah - binding would be a bit of a problem in a steering system. I didn't have any of that with the FFR electric setup but there are definitely more joints than I'd like to see. I looked at it for a while when I first installed everything but didn't see any easy changes that would be obvious improvements.

[JimLev]

Looks great, you certainly won’t have any traction problems like us front mounted engine guys have.

[BradC]

Looks great, you certainly won’t have any traction problems like us front mounted engine guys have.

Thanks! I was kind of hoping I do have traction problems!! haha

[Dan Cooper]

Love the pictures, if I didn't already have some inspiration I definitely do now. I hope to maintain your level quality detail. Keep up the good work.

[BradC]

Love the pictures, if I didn't already have some inspiration I definitely do now. I hope to maintain your level quality detail. Keep up the good work.

Thanks Dan! I'm looking forward to following your build.

[BradC]

Trunk panels are done along with my charge port and main cut-off switch. I added the switch because I'd heard several places would require the HV system be disabled to be allowed on site for insurance reasons - the body shop I'm using, most indoor venues, etc. That and it's just a good idea to have one. The switch on the front of the main battery box is more of a service switch. I have to pull all the BMS leads before I can use the battery box switch so it's definitely not practical as a disconnect.

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I'm still waiting on the firewall from the power coater. They had a delay getting the material in. It should be back early next week, then I can get going on the wiring. I'm planning to do the full 12V system before I start putting the HV stuff back in - mainly for routing reasons.

I'm going to tackle the floor panels the rest of this weekend. Final install with adhesive and my first permanent rivets so far.

[Mastertech5]

Have fun with that gooey stuff. WEAR NITRIL GLOVES and put on some clothes you can throw out if need be!

[BradC]

Yep, definitely. Luckily I'm only using the top panels and no foam. So it'll be easier than it would otherwise be.

[BradC]

Floor is glued and riveted down and sound deadener is in. Glad I bought a power rivet gun! Huge time and hand saver.

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