DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

[gizmo 5]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Looks a good solid shell , great start for the build!! Look forward too seeing the stages!! Best of luck with it

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Looks a good solid shell , great start for the build!! Look forward too seeing the stages!! Best of luck with it

Thanks but back half is not so solid. Got a few holes and a very bad arch to sort but I figure theres no point starting the repairs until all of the underseal is gone and we can see what we are dealing with.

[gizmo 5]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Thanks but back half is not so solid. Got a few holes and a very bad arch to sort but I figure theres no point starting the repairs until all of the underseal is gone and we can see what we are dealing with.

Still not to bad for a Sierra !! Your right to clean down the whole shell at least you'l know there is no nasty surprises hiding anywhere then!!! Look forward to see'n the build!!

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Before and after...







Boot floor will be made from a flat sheet of steel welded in to conform with the regs, will also need bead rolling or similar to add a bit of strength and prevent vibration.
A firewall will also be made in at the same time as the tank will probably sit inside the boot this time rather than under it.

[R5COS]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Looking good mate, the underseal on saphs and the escos is a right bitch to remove 3 doors aint as bad but when i done my escos it was a right pain... Ill keep an eye on your build have a soft spot for track saphs

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Looking good mate, the underseal on saphs and the escos is a right bitch to remove 3 doors aint as bad but when i done my escos it was a right pain... Ill keep an eye on your build have a soft spot for track saphs

Cheers Bud, yeah the underseal is well stuck on there in places. The tunnel and curved panels seamed to strip off ok but the flatter floor sections are not looking like they will be easy. At least at the back there is a couple of square feet less steel to strip now!!

[Nelly]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Cheers Bud, yeah the underseal is well stuck on there in places. The tunnel and curved panels seamed to strip off ok but the flatter floor sections are not looking like they will be easy. At least at the back there is a couple of square feet less steel to strip now!!

Nice cold day and a hammer and bolster so it cracks off in chunks

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Nice cold day and a hammer and bolster so it cracks off in chunks

Tried that, came off in very tiny pieces. Most of it scrapes off with a little heat, followed by some thinners or petrol to clean it up, but laying under the car in the cold wears a little thin after a couple of hours!! Would be a piece of cake if the car was on its side or on a spit.

[R5COS]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Nice cold day and a hammer and bolster so it cracks off in chunks

I have used the blow torch method in the past with a wallpaper scrapper had good results but be warned its very messy and keep the door open to let the smoke out..

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

I have used the blow torch method in the past with a wallpaper scrapper had good results but be warned its very messy and keep the door open to let the smoke out..

I have used a heat gun until it was basically blowing molten bits of itself at the car lol. Might try a blow torch if it gets particularly tricky..

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Todays delivery from plastics 4 performance. Shaped rear screen, smoke tint and sliders on fronts



Rear will be bonded in and they should look OE apart from sliders with a bit of luck.

[R5COS]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

I have used a heat gun until it was basically blowing molten bits of itself at the car lol. Might try a blow torch if it gets particularly tricky..

Blow tourch will work well, but remember what u have in your hand, u dont want it going very wrong very quick

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Blow tourch will work well, but remember what u have in your hand, u dont want it going very wrong very quick

Exactly, better be patient and keep on the way i am I think. At least this way i can clean it up with thinners as I go too as its always motivating to see a nice clean panel emerging

[steve m]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Looks a good shell to start with, no doubt it will be a cracker once it's done if it's anything like your old 3dr,

My old 3 dr Cos lost 23 kilos when I replaced the roof and sunroof with a carbon roof!

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Update time; a new T45 custom cages roll cage has arrived ready to fit at Graham Bahrs, Penguin motors.
I was still not particularly happy with the magenta shell as further work underneath had uncovered a few more areas where work was required, and even with repairs it wouldnt have looked pretty under there. The plan was always to get the car up to Graham this week and at the last minute Frank and Gemma (Frostracing) offered for sale their near mint white sapphire shell that Gemma was going to build up as a std road car. I jumped at the chance and by buying this shell have saved a lot of time, work and money in not having extensive repairs carried out.

The suspension off of the 3 door all got stripped, cleaned and repainted ready to go on the lovely new shell, along with the new Graham Hathaway beam;