This is the page where I will mainly track the progress of the mold and body panel making. The making of the plugs is mainly covered in Bodywork 1.

All references to pictures are to those above the relevant text.

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The reason...

For this extra page was that the the plug making took so long and so much web space on one page that it was better to split it, like I should have done with this sentence...:-)

There will be a little overlap between the two pages and each should be read in conjunction with the other.

Tooling up

Getting equipped for battle, with a gel gun, catalyst dispenser, brushes, and rollers.

Preparing the rear

Picture 1 shows the waxing set up, 3 coats are applied and buffed up. Picture 2 shows the parting flange in progress being trial fitted. It is made from tile board (thanks Jack, good tip). For UK readers it is a kind of hard and smooth coated hardboard designed for lining bathroom and kitchen walls. It is about $10 for a 4' x 8' sheet. You may not be able to see, but I have a 2" x 4" piece of wood glued behind the flange on the top edge. This is required to keep the flange very straight because, this is a parting/shut  line between moldings. If it were a mold split line it would be slightly less crucial. Picture 3 shows modeling clay (UK - Plasticene) being being applied to the gap, using the rounded end of the marker to finish the fillet. Picture 4 shows the complete filleted and flanged plug ready for PVA mold release liquid to be applied. When applied (which it is now, but not shown) it gives the plug a slight greenish tint.

Gel coat for the rear

Pictures 1 and 2 are applying the gel coat with my new cup gun. You mix it in a disposable paper cup and just have a nozzle and cup holder to clean, very simple and easy clean up. Pictures 3 and 4 are of the finished job of 2 cups (about 1/2 a gallon). The finish is a bit orange peel like because the gel is so thick, but it doesn't really matter because this is the laid up side. Another few hours and I can start the lay up, when it is still slightly tacky, it will show a fingerprint, but not show on your finger.

Hey up!....lay up

Various pictures of lay-up in progress. 

More molds

Pictures 1 and 2 show the preparation and lay up of the rear section of the main body mold.

Picture 3 shows the right hand side of the body during final preparation. Picture 4 shows the PVA having been applied (not much to see really except a slight greenish tint), picture 5 shows the gel applied. The wheel arch flange former is Styrofoam, but painted in Kilz which effectively keeps the polyester away from the polystyrene.

Picture 1 is the right hand side laid up. Pictures 2 and 3 , of the left hand side, are really a bit superfluous, as they are virtual mirror images of the right hand side pictures above, although the camera angles are different. That's the theory at least.

You may notice a higher standard of masking off on this side, the fine speckles of gel overspray seem to travel far and are quite stubborn to remove. Lesson learned :-)

First mold

Picture 1 is the new-born rear mold. And strangely it's beauty is like that of a newborn, only this is covered in PVA, modeling clay and dust! It separated quite well, with no damage and should polish up very well. I've already sanded off some small protrusions (which were pinholes on the plug, remember?) and I'm confident it will be a decent mold. There are some dust speckles that were in the air which show on the picture, but I left them on as I wanted to show an accurate shot of the mold. Picture 2, at 12/21/02, shows the rear mold with flanges, clay fillets applied and partly waxed. It needs more waxing then PVA and it's gel time again. I spent quite a few hours just wet flatting and polishing, getting rid of the minor protrusions that came from the plug pinholes (as predicted) The flange mounting holes on the body interface flange (white) are all reamed 5/16" which means I can use any 3 or 4 holes for dowels while I put some bolts to ensure good alignment. Why does alignment matter on the flange? Well, I will be putting holes through to locate latches, guide pins etc. and using the same flange for the body (which already has the correct hole pattern) so any hole on the mating flange will match the same hole on the body and give a good start for alignment and latching. (more later)

More on the body plug

Picture 1 shows further preparation on the front end for the last mold section/sections. I have added pieces to form the returns for the hood drain channels around the inner wheel arch (it will be clear in time!) I have yet to decide how many mold sections will complete the body, at least two, but maybe three. The advantage of more sections is easy separation, but the disadvantage is more preparation (bolting together, clay fillets etc.) and more finishing (flash removal) Picture 2 12/29/02) shows further preparation. I have decided on the split line now, it will be from arch to arch at the top of the arches. (Pictures to follow should clarify this)

First body part

Picture 1 shows the laid up rear close to breaking out. 2 shows the flange removed ready for breakout. 3 is the just released part. 3,4 and 5 show a better look outside. 6 is back inside and partially trimmed and held in position close to it's actual mounted and open position, notice the engine access (yes I'd forgotten there was an engine there under the plug !). 7 shows the rear very close to it's actual final closed position. 8 is similar to 7 but from a higher viewpoint at the rear. 9 shows the hinge attachment brackets that I have made prior to being laminated in. They are made from 16g plate with 2 x 3/8-24 screws welded on and a load of 3/4 holes drilled through to allow good lamination. I'm not sure how the resin will react with the paint I sprayed on the brackets, I guess we'll see tomorrow perhaps. Also you may notice masking tape around the threads to keep the resin away, and the fact that I placed it back in the mold to work on (moldings this fresh are still prone to distort so are better off supported in the mold) Picture 10 (01/01/03) shows the hinge mounting plates laminated into the rear. Picture 11 (01/04/03) shows the first mounting of the rear with the hinges attached (still have the pins to trim yet)

More body molds

Picture 1 shows the penultimate body mold section partly laid up. You can see clearly where I decided to split it. Picture 2, shows that you should gladly accept whatever help you get offered (It saves having to get the roller out) Picture 3 (01/01/03) shows the final section being prepared (bit fuzzy, sorry) Picture 4 shows it laid up, the body molds now are complete.

Preparing the body mold sections

Picture 1 shows me outside cleaning the PVA off the RHS of the body mold, and the mounted rear end back inside the shop. Picture 2 shows what's left of the side of the plug after the mold removal.....it's OK no problem, plugs often can break up when pulling molds off. I think the strength of the PVA bond is sometimes stronger than the plug structure, the mold was completely undamaged and that's what matters. (01/07/03) Pictures 3 and 4 show the mold sections bolted back together temporarily, so that some edge trimming can be done. You will notice that the molds are not very thick, but more than adequate for 10 to 20 moldings. Beyond that it would be wise to make some more heavy duty ones with a tooling gel coal finish.

More preparation

Picture 1 shows, from left to right, the master template for headlight covers, the RHS mold insert, and an actual head light cover (look hard!) They are made of Aluminum (0.060"), tile board (0.100")and Plexiglas (0.093") respectively, although the cover will be replaced with lexan (much tougher) The insert as you may have guessed is bolted into the mold to give a recess for the cover to sit in, and there will be one of each hand. Pictures 2 and 3 (02/02/03) show the mold close to final wax and PVA. It is very dusty in these pictures after drilling for the arch and front skirt flanges. Clearly shown is one of the headlight inserts.

The body

First pictures shortly after breakout. Some have been digitally manipulated to remove clay or flashing. Pictures 1 and 2 are self explanatory showing just a little bit of trimming. Picture 3 shows the trimming that was needed to drop the body over the roll hoop. It worked out quite well and should need minimal finishing. Picture 4 shows it back inside again with the rear end removed.

Picture 1 shows the partially trimmed (to remove sharp edges) body in the behind the seats area. Picture 2 shows where I'll need to mount the body at the rear (notice the temporary clamps and bars holding the body in the correct position while it fully cures. Picture 3 shows the front mounting area around the foot wells. Picture 4 shows the nose and the 2 chassis outriggers already in place, it also gives some ideas of what I need to do to scoop air to the radiator.

Picture 5 is another one to provoke comment. It shows my intention for the rear air intakes (if it looks the the body has actually been drawn on.......it has!)

Bonnet/hood plug

The first picture shows an earlier rendering of the proposed hood/bonnet. It will be similar to that except for having the front nose section a little higher to clear the radiator. Picture 2 and 3 show early progress framing up the plug, notice how I cut 2 (almost) semi-circles from chipboard (particleboard US) to form the inner section of conical inner wheel arch section. Picture 4, a little later on shows the basic forms taking shape.

Picture 1 shows a few more stringers in position, and also the front lowered about 1.5" . Pictures 2 and 3 show diamond mesh and black paper lath bought from the local Lowes or Home Depot (I can't recall which off-hand). It has been rough trimmed, bent and formed then nailed and tie-wrapped into place. Hopefully you can see it taking shape now.

All 4 pictures show views of the plug with an almost complete first layer of plaster (the sides at the rear still need doing yet)

The first 2 pictures show the completion of the sides and the first covering. Also apparent, in my opinion, is a certain lack of form and "blobiness" of the front caused by having to clear the radiator. Hopefully you can see what I'm trying to do in pictures 3 and 4 by redefining some bone line by continuing the existing lines down to the nose. They will not end up as ribs, but will define the edges. I hope you agree that picture 4 looks better than picture 3 in the previous set. I used temporary strips of wood to form dams to plaster against. Next stage is to finalize the rib definition and then fill back from the edges.

Picture 5 (03/23/03) shows improvements made based on a suggestion made by Geoff Noble (thanks Geoff) the "blobiness" is now much reduced by extending the nose back to the inner arches. Simple change, but very effective. Also at this stage a certain amount of unevenness can be seen, but it is of no concern as getting the basic shape is the first priority....side to side matching will come later with templates and so on. (as covered earlier) 

Thanks also to Terry who suggested I could lean the radiator the other way (backwards instead of forwards) Again, another simple solution, but one I'll keep in reserve just in case.

The first 2 pictures don't show much apparent progress, although there is in terms of filler applied and sanding performed. It does, however, show how I'm using some low angle lighting to help find the low spots and follow the shape. Also, some side to side matching has been done as per the main body using the measuring technique in bodywork one (same link as above)

Pictures 3 and 4 show some re-definition of the nose after some side matching work. I think the shape is beginning to show now. Picture 5 (04/06/04) shows the first full coat of paint to highlight the errors in shape and fill. I am going to try and see if I can actually manage without Bondo on this plug. Time will tell if works OK, but so long as a get a good sealed surface it should be OK.

  Next day...   

These two pics show the front very close to mold making....unless I decide to try and reduce the "bump" a little......knowing me I probably will, so watch this space. It may be that it wont be so obvious when it's all the same color but I'm sure reducing it a bit wont hurt. There will also be some vents/grilles to handle the air from out of the radiator so that will break things up a little. As usual comments are welcome. 

Pictures 3 and 4 do indeed show that I did modify the nose. It is hard to tell completely until all the same color, but I do think it is an improvement. The good thing is that the strength and character given by the nose is not lost either.

I'm happy with shape now so it's into the home straight for the finish. In picture 1 I have sprayed on about 10 coats of the gray colored Kilz primer/sealer and let it dry about 24 hours. Then I have started to wet sand it with 220 grit paper. Some blemishes are apparent so they will have to be dealt with, but so far the Kilz is doing a good job of sealing the white filler and leveling a lot of minor marks and scratches.

Pictures 2 and 3 (05/19/03) show the PVA and gel prior to lay up. Pictures 4 and 5 (05/20/03) show the laid up mold. The non-Bondo plug seemed to work well, it separated easily. 

The first picture shows the mold gelled and ready for lay-up. Pictures 2, 3, and 4 show the finished part in place. It's still hard to get the proper effect because it is so clean by comparison. The color is a bit darker too as the original gel color has been phased out......good job I'm painting it I guess. Normally, you leave the part in a bit longer to cure fully and not "set" distorted. However, it is in its final resting place so any distortion is actually beneficial as it settles to fit the body. It did fit pretty well, but this can't hurt either.

These are self explanatory, just 4 outside pictures.

I can't believe it's time to say this, but the story continues here.........Assembly