roof skin smoothing

With the sections of the roof joined I decided that I was going to make a mould off the roof once I have the shape correct. The plan will be to make a full replacement carbon fibre roof skin but first I have to ensure that the shape is correct and smooth so this means many hours of filling and sanding, its not going too bad but I can see this going on for quite a while yet.

While the roof is drying I have also been building the front of the car back together and I decided that the scuttle vents I had made are going to be moulded in. The aim will be to build the car up over the next few weeks to get all the bodywork done and sorting the other issues such as the windscreen wipers which still need to be worked out.

Lots to do over the coming weeks but this it should be rewarding

Soda electrolysis results

After a few hours it is quite clear to see that it has started to work, the rust is drawn from the component to the scrap positively charged metal.

Over the next 72 hours the part was left in the tub 

The Part was taken out after its time in the tub, it was then washed with clean water. With the part cleaned it was dried and then I prepared it ready for paint

soda electrolysis start

With many of the engine components rusty from the years of being outside and the small issue of the fire I decided that I wanted to paint everything and make it as new. There are several ways to do this and sand blasting may be used on some of the components being powder coated but I wanted to try electrolysis to remove the rust from more delicate parts.

So here we have the first part subjected to soda electrolysis.

soda electrolysis uses water, tub, sacrificial metal, soda (Not baking soda but washing soda), 12v DC battery charger, any automotive unit can be used. With the positive connected to the sacrificial metal the negative on the part I wish to de-rust the rust will be drawn towards the positive.

Quite soon after connecting and switching on I could see the rust floating in the water which I will try an capture on the camera for later photos. Small bubbles are produced during the process, this is hydrogen being produced so performing this in an open space is a must.

Should take about 24 hours and then I will take another look

roof skin P2

Over the last few weeks the project had a little struggle mostly being with the roof skin, the part I was most concerned about, while cutting with the angle grinder the skin warped due to the heat, this has made me decide that I will tack the roof skin together and smooth it out. Once smooth the plan is to have a full carbon fibre roof skin made which will be as strong but will be lighter weight than the steel part.

Knowing the plan is now not to use a steel roof I am a little relieved but there is still lots of work needed.

The front section of one roof was cut and mated with the two sides, this helped to give me the shape and strength in the front of the roof

With the front section in I then looked at the side, as it stood there was 2 joins in the side, well 4 in total so I decided to remove the middle part and add a full length piece taken from a spare roof, this went in quite easily and helped with the shape.

Next I just tacked in some pieces to bridge the gap, this will be sorted later, as the roof skin will be smoothed, filled and a mould will be taken from it so strength is not important though the form will be

Well I hope to be able to get the other gaps filled quickly so I can start to filler and shape the roof.