Ricks MantaProject.com build log

[Blueovalz]

One product I found extremely useful was "Duratec". It is a sandable alternative to gelcoat. It won't load up the paper, it will spray and build better than gelcoat. It's a great primer/filler, and can even be used with spreader for larger surface imperfections.

[Rick]

Managed to get the trunk lid cut apart today. It didn’t take long to get it apart and the lower section bolted down solidly. After checking it for square it seems to sit on the frame pretty well. I will probably end up making new inner fenders and seal off the whole back area to make a nice storage area. I will also have to make a few more braces up to make it nice and strong. It should give me a lot more room in the back of the car so maybe I won’t have to put the battery and other stuff up front.




I made up a hinge setup by welding a small piece of expanded metal onto the hinges I am going to use. I then fiberglassed the whole thing onto the trunk lid. I just put a single layer of material on it in a few spots just to hold it solidly to the panel. After it dries I can go back and add a few more layers and make it a lot stronger. Once the hinge section is reinforced strong enough I can bolt the hinges to the roll bar and have a working trunk lid.



I will work on building inner fenders and sealing off a storage area before I put the lid back on. I will probably use cardboard and form the shape then lay fiberglass on top of it to build them up. That seems like the quickest way to build up a shape that I have tried so far.

[Blueovalz]

Hinges are where I've always had some challenges in ensuring the axis of the hinge is in the correct position to prevent the panels from binding or overlapping when opening and closing (which appears to be good for you) as well as having perfectly aligned hinges (both pins lie on the same axis). I found that out on my doors, which used two separated hinges as well. The first time I opened the door after setting the hinges, it started binding because the axis for both hinges was not the same line). Visually, they looked aligned, but were not because of the ever-so-slight curve in the panel.

The expanded steel idea seems to work pretty well.

[Rick]

I am hoping the single layer of mesh holding the expanded metal on is strong enough to let me work with the lid some. I would like to attach it and make sure everything works and they don't need adjusted any before I get a lot of extra layers built up on it. I should have the hinges pretty square to each other. I spot welded one of them on the metal then clamped the other on and made sure they both moved together before welding them down solid. I will drill and tap holes on the roll bar and if it all works out then just a pair of alignment pins on either side hopefully is all it will take to get it done. I figure between getting the back of the car put back together and coming up with a little bit better dashboard it will take a lot of fiberglass. I have a 5 gallon bucket coming from amazon along with a can of duratec to try out.

I tried using a roller on the fiberglass but I seem to be able to get it better just using a cheap disposable chipping brush. I can get most of the resin out of the mesh and get it much tighter. I think it is probably since I have never tried a roller before but the brush thing works out good so I will just keep using them. Fiberglass work is much slower than metal work but it is getting faster the more I do of it and get into the swing of how much resin to mix up at one time and stuff like that.

If I can manage some free time this weekend I should be able to make the back end start looking like I have some sort of plan instead of just randomly making a mess of the car. The dash should be much easier to do something with since it is mostly just making a new gauge cluster area and I found a 14ft speedometer cable kit so I won't have to come up with something crazy to get it working. I am really wanting to try and get this car done and on the road this summer.

[Rick]

I worked out how to attach the hinges to the roll bar. It was hard to get them lined up and attached. I ended up bolting a plate onto the hinges and welding the plates on to the roll bar after I got it lined up right. After getting it welded in place and making sure everything worked like it should I then unbolted the hinges from the plates. I could then drill and bolt the plates down while the weld holds it all in place. I then cut the welds and spot welded the hinges back on to the plates.



The trunk lid now can be removed by taking the 6 bolts off that hold the plates to the roll bar and the trunk lid is free. I will measure and find a set of gas struts to hold it open once I figure out how far I want the lid to stay open. Once I get the rest of the work done on the back end I will get a key and latch setup mounted to the back. I probably won’t put a cable operated remote release on it and just put an electrical release sometime in the future.

[Rick]

With the trunk lid cut free and the back of the car mounted I need to get it all squared up good before I can build inner fenders and stuff. I tried a few different things to get everything to sit square and finally came up with a way to get it all lined up. I clamped a section of 1 inch square tubing to each side and shimmed it out to get everything sitting right. It was a simple way to hold it together and didn’t need any duct tape.



Now that I have a nice even gap around the trunk lid I can start to build up a lip in the trunk to seal the lid when closed. I am not completely sure what I am going to use to make it. I need something strong enough to not let the fiberglass warp over time so I am thinking of forming up something out of metal and fiberglassing it onto the body similar to how I did the expanded metal on the hinge setup. I thought about trying to use foam to make a form and fiberglass that in the car. I will work on some ideas and see what works best. One good thing will be if I can keep the inner fenders separate from the fenders I can make the whole back body easy to unbolt and drop off the back of the car without all the hassle of the one piece trunk lid. I will work on that after I get everything framed up stiff and can keep it from warping.



Here is what the back end looks like with all the mess cleaned out of it. It has way more room than it did before. Once the inner fenders and trunk area are done it should work out perfect.

[Rick]

I need to get the layout on where everything goes figured out. So before I start making the flange for the trunk lid to seal against I need to come up with how the rest of the stuff is going to fit. The first thing is the wall for the storage area. I used plastic from Speedway motors for it since it is easy to work with and pretty strong. I had to start with making a template out of cardboard then cutting out the plastic to fit and adjusting it to seal to the fenders tight enough to be water tight once it is all done. I didn’t get it finished but it is in place so I can get an idea of how much room I have to work with.



It will give me plenty of storage room and once the inner fenders are put together and all of it is done, the back of the car will be much more usable than it was stock. The engine will be a bit harder to get to but I am hoping the car is reliable enough I really wont have to work on it that much once it is on the road.

[Sulley]

Wow thanks for the updates on the progress!

[MKHYTEK]

That is an ambitious project, to say the least. That is a nice sized trunk you now have. You may actually have a practical car yet!

[Prostringer]

Anxiously awaiting some progress