Mr. G. Brettin's Slow Motion Leg Hump

gbrettin · 03-24-2020, 09:57 AM

Waxed and buffed the hood one more time. Laid down two coats of PVA (liquid plastic). Put down a TON of gel coat. Started to lay in fiberglass but I ran out of MKEP. I'll need to buy more fiberglass and MKEP (hardner) so that the gel coat can completely cure. The gel coat will never fully harden with out a top coat of epoxy. Honestly, I might be a good thing I ran out of MKEP, because I think the gel coat was a bit thick. It will have time to dry off a bit. This mold will probably not be dry for a 1 week minimum. I suspect it will be closer to two weeks because it's still cold in MI and the shop doesn't get that warm. I'll bring a torpedo heater in later to ensure some heat makes it into the mold.

New supplies are on their way to make a plug for the cowl. That's gonna take me a lot of time to make so the timing works out.

Rusty · 03-24-2020, 10:22 AM

Be nice to have a chopper gun. You could build up the mold real quick that way.

JARblue · 03-24-2020, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rusty

Be nice to have a chopper gun. You could build up the mold real quick that way.

Those things are fun. And a mess! Never used one for it's proper application, but I've shot a few of them over the years

Rusty · 03-24-2020, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JARblue

Those things are fun. And a mess! Never used one for it's proper application, but I've shot a few of them over the years

When I worked for Champion Chassis. First floor, we built racing chassis's. 2nd floor, they made fiber glass body parts. They had a couple of different types of chopper guns. Made quick work of doing fiber glass.

gbrettin · 03-26-2020, 03:42 PM

Finished the first layer of fiberglass. It's not bad, not great. I have a few ideas I'll do different the next go around. I put in a large order to get additional supplies. I spoke with Elmo (group member name not sure if he wants me to use real name) and he said he would like a dual cooling plate that he can use on the track. I'm going to attempt to make a twin 2" cooling plate. I have an idea on how that will work so you will see some stuff come up in the future for that.

Coming up in the next few days, I should be able to get started in on making the cowl plug for the hood. The plug should be pretty fun to make. Hmmmm, I should probably make a couple plug designs... ya know... just incase one goes to sh1t.

As for the fiberglass below... I'm gonna cut out some of the air pockets and put in a TON of fiberglass this next go (hence my large order).

I feel like a lunatic doing this stuff, but I figure if I don't give it a try I will regret not doing it. Plus it's pretty fun, minus the crazy chemical stench all this puts off. My buddy wasn't too crazy about the chemical smell in the shop the next day.

Rusty · 03-26-2020, 07:34 PM

Surprised that you can still type after inhaling the fiberglass flumes.

By rights. You should be in a corner somewhere sucking your thumb, playing with your toes

gbrettin · 03-28-2020, 07:07 PM

From IG @gbrettin:
Ground out air pockets, quite bad in a lot of areas. Lots of lessons were learned and not a waste of time. Probably would start over if more materials were here. When I pop the mold I'm certain there will be additional issues. Based off that I will make the decision for a go/no go.

----------------

I have more supplies to build up additional layers on the way. Also, I hit my hands a few times with the grinder... Didn't think anyone wanted to see bloody hands. lol

JARblue · 03-30-2020, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbrettin

I hit my hands a few times with the grinder... Didn't think anyone wanted to see bloody hands. lol

Is that why the thing is so red?

I'm surprised you didn't clean up the blood

In for pics of the mangled extremities

gbrettin · 03-30-2020, 10:11 AM

A couple days ago I mixed up some more tooling gel and filled in areas that were ground out. That completely hardened and I set in on getting some ideas for a cowl. Ideally I would do mock up on the hood when it's released from the mold; but hey, I've got a little time to kill right now.

After going through some of the required dimensions, all I can say is wow... the Whipple charger sticks out of the hood like a mountain. I guess anyone that decides to go with an LS swap and uses a high ram could use the cowl too.

gbrettin · 04-02-2020, 10:32 AM

IG @gbrettin:
So close to being done. Need a bit more tooling resin for the fiberglass. Next time I'll add some reinforcement via the used fiberglass rolls.

------------------

I got a boat load more supplies and what I thought was enough tooling epoxy resin (expensive and gets ultra-hard) for fiberglass. I used two gallons of resin on this last pass. I added three additional layers in the center section of the hood and two on the flange. The outer flange needs more but I think the center is pretty darn strong. I think total support is at 6 layers inner and 3 on outer (sides of hood not the front and back of flange).

For the hood and cowl, heavy duty carbon fiber and a lighter weave was received from Composite Envisions. I have carbon kevlar for an outer layer... but I really don't want black and yellow on my hood. I need to get a few yards of silver and carbon.

With the scraps from the hood and cowl, I plan on using that for a wet layup + vacuum for Elijah/Elmo’s twin brake cooler. That will keep things simple that way, as opposed to doing vacuum infusion. But why does he need a twin cooler you might ask? From conversations with him, he said that a single 2.5 cooler isn’t cutting it on the track. I was shocked to hear that… but I’ve never tracked my car. *shrug*

The G8, which has been the bunk mate of my Z, has just been wrapped up. The car put down CRAZY numbers on low boost, to the tune where we were all scratching our heads. The owners of AutoDynamix have a fire under their a$$ to make my car’s turbo plumbing. I’m not gonna stop that train. Sooooo now it looks like I will bounce between turbo plumbing and composite build. I’m ok with that. Composite mold making takes tons of time and then there is a ton of wait time. This should balance out nicely.

I was asked not to post final numbers for the G8 on low boost due to potential grudge races. High boost is going to be quite ridiculous.

Enjoy!

gbrettin · 04-04-2020, 06:41 AM

IG @gbrettin:

One exhaust manifold repaired and the other was shaved to the correct angle. Fuel rail brackets fixed, bent them more and tightened down. Dual plenum fastened back down. Turbo mount bar bent (after I mounted the bender to the work bench).

------------------------------

Some stuff not mentioned on IG: The dual plenum has 4 bolts in it right now. Threads were chased prior to putting the plenum on and the bolts went in nice. Also, putting the plenum on is definitely a two person job and my buddy said he can understand why I stripped it out wrestling that floppy donkey d1ck around. The wood in the plenum is to stop the plenum half flopping over while I try getting the fuel rail hardware bent and fastened down. The plenum itself is two separate halves which makes it very annoying. Don't get me wrong, I love it when it's bolted down... I'd prefer to have something like the Carbon XR... but that's 5g and for an LS7 head.

Also, while wrestling the fuel rails on and off 50x times I managed to slice a few of the O rings on the injectors. On the final assembly of the fuel rail I put fresh o-rings on.

Down the road I am going to put a fire suppression system into the car. 2,500 is a lot until your on the side of a track/road watching your car burn down... Not to mention the insurance company would be likely to fight you. Bare minimum, I will have a large fire extinguisher available until the suppression system is installed.

gbrettin · 04-05-2020, 11:29 AM

From IG @gbrettin:
Turbo mount plates cut, drilled, cut and flapper sanded. Lined up the holes using a couple dots of transmission goop and a ruler. Bent bar can be welded to the plates and then to the Maven mounts.

Turbo/crash bar attached to Maven mounts. Street Carr Fabrication flange attached. Dave Diehl, @autodynamix , did some boss welding. Air to water intercoolers will be mounted on the ... Turbo/crash bar... So I guess it's a Turbo/crash/intercooler/misc bar. Things are moving!

-------------------------------

<might come back and write some more about what we did>

madwi · 04-05-2020, 11:35 AM

Everyone is trying to get me to plan some spring/early summer meetup. I was thinking maybe having a meetup at my house and cruise our way down that way. Maybe get some guys to spend some cash on a dyno run or two at the shop. Brainstorm a bit and let me know if you have any ideas. I know the yahoos read this thread too, so maybe theyll chime in.

Rusty · 04-05-2020, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madwi

Everyone is trying to get me to plan some spring/early summer meetup. I was thinking maybe having a meetup at my house and cruise our way down that way. Maybe get some guys to spend some cash on a dyno run or two at the shop. Brainstorm a bit and let me know if you have any ideas. I know the yahoos read this thread too, so maybe theyll chime in.

'on't like it.

Who you calling a yahoo? you yahoo!

I could be up for something like this.

JLarson · 04-06-2020, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madwi

Everyone is trying to get me to plan some spring/early summer meetup. I was thinking maybe having a meetup at my house and cruise our way down that way. Maybe get some guys to spend some cash on a dyno run or two at the shop. Brainstorm a bit and let me know if you have any ideas. I know the yahoos read this thread too, so maybe theyll chime in.

I'm interested. Keep me posted on plans as they develop.

03-24-2020, 10:22 AM	#2 (permalink)
Rusty Ronin Samurai - Assassin Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Fayettenam,Pennsyltucky Age: 69 Posts: 35,558 Drives: 2011 Nismo GM 6M Rep Power: 2684439	Be nice to have a chopper gun. You could build up the mold real quick that way. __________________ 浪人 - 殺し屋 "The Difficult Anytime, The Impossible By Appointment Only" http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...o-journal.html

03-26-2020, 07:34 PM	#6 (permalink)
Rusty Ronin Samurai - Assassin Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Fayettenam,Pennsyltucky Age: 69 Posts: 35,558 Drives: 2011 Nismo GM 6M Rep Power: 2684439	Surprised that you can still type after inhaling the fiberglass flumes. By rights. You should be in a corner somewhere sucking your thumb, playing with your toes __________________ 浪人 - 殺し屋 "The Difficult Anytime, The Impossible By Appointment Only" http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...o-journal.html

03-28-2020, 07:07 PM	#7 (permalink)
gbrettin A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Portage, MI Posts: 2,302 Drives: Tricycle Rep Power: 589151	From IG @gbrettin: Ground out air pockets, quite bad in a lot of areas. Lots of lessons were learned and not a waste of time. Probably would start over if more materials were here. When I pop the mold I'm certain there will be additional issues. Based off that I will make the decision for a go/no go. ---------------- I have more supplies to build up additional layers on the way. Also, I hit my hands a few times with the grinder... Didn't think anyone wanted to see bloody hands. lol Last edited by gbrettin; 03-28-2020 at 07:11 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Racing in Slow Motion IV	MightyBobo	The Lounge (Off Topic)	4	03-12-2013 08:12 PM
Racing In Slow Motion IV	Robert_K	The Lounge (Off Topic)	1	07-13-2012 11:01 AM
Slow shipping slow response slow everything	thispecialk	Nissan 370Z General Discussions	15	11-01-2010 08:23 PM
Racing in Slow Motion	MightyBobo	The Lounge (Off Topic)	2	12-17-2009 03:27 PM
IIHS Small Car Test: Three Gruesome Slow-Motion Crash Videos	AK370Z	Other Vehicles	13	04-15-2009 09:42 AM

03-24-2020, 09:57 AM	#1 (permalink)
gbrettin A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Portage, MI Posts: 2,302 Drives: Tricycle Rep Power: 589151	Waxed and buffed the hood one more time. Laid down two coats of PVA (liquid plastic). Put down a TON of gel coat. Started to lay in fiberglass but I ran out of MKEP. I'll need to buy more fiberglass and MKEP (hardner) so that the gel coat can completely cure. The gel coat will never fully harden with out a top coat of epoxy. Honestly, I might be a good thing I ran out of MKEP, because I think the gel coat was a bit thick. It will have time to dry off a bit. This mold will probably not be dry for a 1 week minimum. I suspect it will be closer to two weeks because it's still cold in MI and the shop doesn't get that warm. I'll bring a torpedo heater in later to ensure some heat makes it into the mold. New supplies are on their way to make a plug for the cowl. That's gonna take me a lot of time to make so the timing works out.

03-26-2020, 03:42 PM	#5 (permalink)
gbrettin A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Portage, MI Posts: 2,302 Drives: Tricycle Rep Power: 589151	Finished the first layer of fiberglass. It's not bad, not great. I have a few ideas I'll do different the next go around. I put in a large order to get additional supplies. I spoke with Elmo (group member name not sure if he wants me to use real name) and he said he would like a dual cooling plate that he can use on the track. I'm going to attempt to make a twin 2" cooling plate. I have an idea on how that will work so you will see some stuff come up in the future for that. Coming up in the next few days, I should be able to get started in on making the cowl plug for the hood. The plug should be pretty fun to make. Hmmmm, I should probably make a couple plug designs... ya know... just incase one goes to sh1t. As for the fiberglass below... I'm gonna cut out some of the air pockets and put in a TON of fiberglass this next go (hence my large order). I feel like a lunatic doing this stuff, but I figure if I don't give it a try I will regret not doing it. Plus it's pretty fun, minus the crazy chemical stench all this puts off. My buddy wasn't too crazy about the chemical smell in the shop the next day.

03-30-2020, 10:11 AM	#9 (permalink)
gbrettin A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Portage, MI Posts: 2,302 Drives: Tricycle Rep Power: 589151	A couple days ago I mixed up some more tooling gel and filled in areas that were ground out. That completely hardened and I set in on getting some ideas for a cowl. Ideally I would do mock up on the hood when it's released from the mold; but hey, I've got a little time to kill right now. After going through some of the required dimensions, all I can say is wow... the Whipple charger sticks out of the hood like a mountain. I guess anyone that decides to go with an LS swap and uses a high ram could use the cowl too.

04-02-2020, 10:32 AM	#10 (permalink)
gbrettin A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Portage, MI Posts: 2,302 Drives: Tricycle Rep Power: 589151	IG @gbrettin: So close to being done. Need a bit more tooling resin for the fiberglass. Next time I'll add some reinforcement via the used fiberglass rolls. ------------------ I got a boat load more supplies and what I thought was enough tooling epoxy resin (expensive and gets ultra-hard) for fiberglass. I used two gallons of resin on this last pass. I added three additional layers in the center section of the hood and two on the flange. The outer flange needs more but I think the center is pretty darn strong. I think total support is at 6 layers inner and 3 on outer (sides of hood not the front and back of flange). For the hood and cowl, heavy duty carbon fiber and a lighter weave was received from Composite Envisions. I have carbon kevlar for an outer layer... but I really don't want black and yellow on my hood. I need to get a few yards of silver and carbon. With the scraps from the hood and cowl, I plan on using that for a wet layup + vacuum for Elijah/Elmo’s twin brake cooler. That will keep things simple that way, as opposed to doing vacuum infusion. But why does he need a twin cooler you might ask? From conversations with him, he said that a single 2.5 cooler isn’t cutting it on the track. I was shocked to hear that… but I’ve never tracked my car. shrug The G8, which has been the bunk mate of my Z, has just been wrapped up. The car put down CRAZY numbers on low boost, to the tune where we were all scratching our heads. The owners of AutoDynamix have a fire under their a$$ to make my car’s turbo plumbing. I’m not gonna stop that train. Sooooo now it looks like I will bounce between turbo plumbing and composite build. I’m ok with that. Composite mold making takes tons of time and then there is a ton of wait time. This should balance out nicely. I was asked not to post final numbers for the G8 on low boost due to potential grudge races. High boost is going to be quite ridiculous. Enjoy!

04-04-2020, 06:41 AM	#11 (permalink)
gbrettin A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Portage, MI Posts: 2,302 Drives: Tricycle Rep Power: 589151	IG @gbrettin: One exhaust manifold repaired and the other was shaved to the correct angle. Fuel rail brackets fixed, bent them more and tightened down. Dual plenum fastened back down. Turbo mount bar bent (after I mounted the bender to the work bench). ------------------------------ Some stuff not mentioned on IG: The dual plenum has 4 bolts in it right now. Threads were chased prior to putting the plenum on and the bolts went in nice. Also, putting the plenum on is definitely a two person job and my buddy said he can understand why I stripped it out wrestling that floppy donkey d1ck around. The wood in the plenum is to stop the plenum half flopping over while I try getting the fuel rail hardware bent and fastened down. The plenum itself is two separate halves which makes it very annoying. Don't get me wrong, I love it when it's bolted down... I'd prefer to have something like the Carbon XR... but that's 5g and for an LS7 head. Also, while wrestling the fuel rails on and off 50x times I managed to slice a few of the O rings on the injectors. On the final assembly of the fuel rail I put fresh o-rings on. Down the road I am going to put a fire suppression system into the car. 2,500 is a lot until your on the side of a track/road watching your car burn down... Not to mention the insurance company would be likely to fight you. Bare minimum, I will have a large fire extinguisher available until the suppression system is installed.

04-05-2020, 11:29 AM	#12 (permalink)
gbrettin A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Portage, MI Posts: 2,302 Drives: Tricycle Rep Power: 589151	From IG @gbrettin: Turbo mount plates cut, drilled, cut and flapper sanded. Lined up the holes using a couple dots of transmission goop and a ruler. Bent bar can be welded to the plates and then to the Maven mounts. Turbo/crash bar attached to Maven mounts. Street Carr Fabrication flange attached. Dave Diehl, @autodynamix , did some boss welding. Air to water intercoolers will be mounted on the ... Turbo/crash bar... So I guess it's a Turbo/crash/intercooler/misc bar. Things are moving! ------------------------------- <might come back and write some more about what we did>

04-05-2020, 11:35 AM	#13 (permalink)
madwi A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: West Michigan Posts: 31,410 Drives: Granma red Z Rep Power: 2684430	Everyone is trying to get me to plan some spring/early summer meetup. I was thinking maybe having a meetup at my house and cruise our way down that way. Maybe get some guys to spend some cash on a dyno run or two at the shop. Brainstorm a bit and let me know if you have any ideas. I know the yahoos read this thread too, so maybe theyll chime in.