right who wants a wide body racer kit??

[turbocab]

[quote author=city_cabriolet link=board=GEN;num=1131267554;start=0#14 date=11/13/05 at 03:50:23]ummm... YES.

Mine is sitting around waiting for some repairs. How long would you have it for?)[/quote]
depends how mutch i screw around trying to get it right,and ime not even going to attempt it without getting the templates/profiles from someone in japan
then were looking at 3to4 weeks,but that aint mutch considering how long its been parked outside your house
speaking of wich if u want a hand to fit a rodeo turbo ime more than willing to help

[James]

I recon you should just glue the foam on and go nuts turbocab. If you are carefull you could end up with a really nice flowing kit. Doesnt have to be exactly the same as those racers, you could make it a bit more period.

[Nateh]

Dam having a T1  :( I'l show you all what can be done with a bumper off another car, angle grinder and bog if I ever get my f**king car back from the panelbeaters. Hes had it for a week and a half already and hasnt even started on the rust yet. Needs to have wof re-check in another two weeks. Stupid Palmerston Northian.

[Colza]

I know what you meant about people from Palmerston North. Cant trust any of em

[turbocab]

i cant seem to find the foam ime looking for enywhere >:(
i think its some sort of roofing insulation,its blue,you can sand it and shape it easily but it doesent form pits like styrofoam does...
they used it on mythbusters the other week when they made their backpack flying machine thingy,to build the ducts for the fan's,so if someone remembers what they called it let me know

[James]

Yeah its called High-density polstyrene foam. Its used often in making moulds and stuff. We use the green stuff which is medium density foam at work for making carbon fiber laminates.

Try ringing a plastics company or something, Ill find out where we get it from on saturday.

http://www.kelvin.com/plfo_polystyrene.html

Thats the shit you want.

[turbocab]

yeah thats tha s#!t.

[Henry]

I use urethane foam for all my plugs, can be shaped very easily and leaves a smooth finish, but not hot wire cut as it gives off poisonous gas. Be sure to wear a good mask, that stuff clogs your lungs up real good!

[davo]

Surf  boards are also made out of high density foam which is hand sanded. We went to a surf board manafacuter and asked him bout the stuff. It's pretty expensive but it wll do the job. We got a broken surf board and had a play round with it making different shapes.

[turbocab]

yeah i looked into surfboard foam too but the guy recons ishould be able to get other similar foam heaps cheaper

[James]

I asked the fiberglassers at work today and they said it will take you months with high density polystyrene foam. And they recommended urethane foam cause its cheaper and HEAPS easier to shape.

[turbocab]

cool thanks for the research bro
urethane foam it is
i have been thinking heaps about what i will do with the kit and ime thinking ile do a front bar all from fglass kinda like the overbumper clip on bits(like city_cabrolet's car)but bigger and more pronunced and wider at the sides to meet the guards.
ive also got a few concerns like what width we need to have the guard extensions so that the big wide wheels are still within the sides of the car and legal,and how do we do the bits up the sides of the doors so that they still open,as mutch as ide like to get into the car dukes of hazzard style it just isnt practical ::)
i should see if someone in japan can take some good close up shots of the doors and try to get some measurements for width between guards,but city of life is down and has been for a fair while

[John_S.]

Another problem with styrene foam is that although it is much more plentiful, and by far cheaper than urethane, it's biggest drawback is you can't touch it with anything that has acetone in it. i.e. thinners, plastic body filler etc. They will melt right through it. To use styrene foam you need to shape to approximate form, then coat with a couple of coats of Epoxy resin, which when fully cured is impervious the acetone products.  At which time you can do your final shapeing with fillers, primer etc. Problem is all epoxies are extremely TOXIC. And I mean potientially deadly toxic,(continued exposure), without proper protective gear.
This makes urethane foam...available in different densities...by far a better choice as it doesn't react to acetone products.
However as above mentioned, it's primamry point of safety is you MUST wear a mask when shapeing it. The particles, (fibers if you will) are extremely fine and looked at under magnification can be seen to be very sharp edged with means they are extremely abrasive to your lungs, and their size means they get into the smallest spaces and pack themselves in there.  You can  do permanent damage to yourself with this stuff if you don't handle it properly. You shouldn't even cut the stuff without a mask on. Other than that it is a great product.
As far as resins, and you will need to use something to seal the foam and allow you to put a finish on  it, there are different levels of toxicity involved there as well.
Epoxies though sronger, and cured more dimensionally stable , as above, once again are extremely toxic...fumes included.  Polyesters, once thought to be relatively harmless are now know over time to be carcinogenic...i.e.deadly as well. but it takes much more exposure.  Polyester is not nearly as good as epoxy for several reasons, however it is about one quarter the cost and this is why it is so widely used.  Best product to my mind is Vinylester resin, widely used in the sport aircraft industry due to the fact it approaches all the superior advantages of the epoxies, with no more toxicity than polyester.  It is about twice the cost of polyester, and therefore one half the cost of epoxy.
Hope this helps. I cannot overstress the safety factors though. Use gloves and a mask. work in a well ventilated space...period.

[John_S.]

Just rereading all of the entries above I noticed that it was stated twice that at least in your area urethane foam is cheaper than styrene. That is not the case in the USA where styrene panels are used to insulate in building construction and thus much easiler to source and cheaper than urethane panels or blocks. So you guys are lucky.

[turbocab]

yeah you dont need to tell me twice to wear masks and gloves and shit,i get payed out on all the time at work because ime the only one wearing muffs,glassers,a mask and gloves but the joke will be on them when they die prematurely for the sake of looking cool...

and john the reason for sticking the foam to the car is not to glass over and finish up super smooth then paint as the finished product,its just going to act as a plug to cast a mould from,then the body kit pieces are cast in the mould stuck to the car and finished off

keep the good advice coming guys ile need all the help and tips i can get
cheers matty