Projects Almost Funny - AWB Barracuda Funny Car Build

What's a really nice barracuda, same body style as yours, project worth? I pass one sitting off the two lane highway frequently


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this one cost a little bit, but the body is very solid. Figure $1-5k depending on condition.

 

Jim, Those fenders are turning out nice.......

 

What do you figure the fiberglass fenders will weigh?

 

maybe 10 apiece? at most?

 

I hope you go into a bit of detail when you build your molds; I'd love to see the technical aspects of that...

 

me too! suggestions welcome

 

Well, we get to learn together! LOL!

 

All said and done Squirrel won't the fiberglass be close to the steel weight?

 

Theoretically about a tenth per 100 lbs so we're looking at a theoretical.03 sec maybe?

 

There is a show on MavTV; Full Custom Garage. One of the seasons, there was a 13 part episode where the builder, Ian Rousell molded a fiberglass body for a supercar on a modern Porsche frame. Not really my kind of build but the process was pretty amazing to see.
It was pretty cool to see the process about how he built the base to pull the mold off of, and then how the mold was used to build the body.

I can't wait to see how your front end comes out. Besides the fact that the progress you're making on your project makes me feel ashamed about the miniscule progress I'm making on my junk, I love checking in on your build. This is awesome!

eagerly awaiting your next step,
Bobby

 

I’m thinking the glass parts will probably weigh half or less,depending on how thin Jim rolls the mat out.
The trick is to make up a little bit of weight in a lot of places.


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I'm getting a bunch of pre made fiberglass parts--doors, trunk, bumpers, front valence, hood. I plan to scope out how they're made, and how thick they are. The weight depends on the thickness. And the bigger and flatter a part is, the more weight it needs to support itself. So, it'll be fun to figure out how to make the parts as thin as possible, but still adequately strong.

My guess is the thickness of "race" 'glass is between 1/16 and 1/8". That would put the weight of one fender (skin only, no bracing) between 4 and 8 lbs.

 

When your chasing the clock- every bit counts!

 

Agreed. I'm sure races have been won or lost by less.

 

i am building a replica of my first car, a '54 ford sedan gasser. i have already built the molds for the hood and 1 fender and the trunk lid then ran out of resin. i went a little overboard and used tooling resin because it doesn't shrink. since i will probably never use them again i could have gotten away with commercial resin. i will most likely use commercial resin when i make the parts from them. where i get my resin, tooling resin cost about 10 dollars a gallon more and it takes a lot of resin to make them. my next race car will be '66 altered wheel base dart. will probably build molds for this one too.

 

I've used Race weight Glass fenders before. They were so thin they were unstable. I used a really thin cardboard tube from Christmas wrap and and glassed it in the corner where the side and top came together. Just 2 layers of glass over the tube and I was plenty happy with the improvement. I didn't weigh it before and after but I can say I couldn't feel anything different when handling them. Might work for you also.

 

a rag coming out of the gas filler always impresses tech inspectors.

 

“There’s nothing lighter than a hole.” - Herb McCandless.



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That bit of flair around the wheel opening and the character lines down the lower side and upper edge of the fender should add a fair amount of free strength. At least through the length of the panel. And the '65 fender has an extra ridge up there that the '66 fender doesn't. Shouldn't take too much material to add some vertical reinforcement toward the rear edge.

 

Well, except for maybe two holes. Right?

 

Following your build. I can't believe the talent that you have.

 

I've used glassed in electrical conduit to stiffen thin glass panels in the past. Cheap, light and easy to work with !

 

If I were to use metal, I'd use aluminum tube

We'll see how it goes. I've been working on installing some of the safety stuff, I test fit the 5 pt harness, and installed the window net hardware.

 

I used rope to form the ridge. Glued it down where I wanted it. Glassed over it after the glue dried. Stiffened the nose on my Vega a bunch. Before the rope I could see 180 by watching the hood scoop. When it nosed down I was running.

 

I don't think metal tubing is really necessary to add the majority of strength. I recall seeing 'glass hoods and other panels that were framed up and cross braced with strips of dense foam rubber which were then covered with mat and resin. It was just there as a form to add a U-shaped or three sided fiberglass channel on the back of the panel. The added channel is what supplied the strength and rigidity, like Rich Fox described with using rope.

 

If you use the correct resin, you can use pink foam board insulation.

 

but it's gotta be period correct pink foam board I like the idea of cardboard tubes, or balsa if it's not too big.

 

Foam is easier to deal with. Finding some the resin won't dissolve might be the major challenge.

 

An electric turkey carving knife works great on that foam board, just make sure you clean it reeeal good if you want to keep peace in the family, kind of like baking headers in the oven.