Project 'Too Much': 1969 P1800S - soon to be P1800 GT

[daemon2]

I have uncovered a mess of lap joints from the last person who worked on this thing. I'm not too excited about the extra work this will bring.


I took a break from replacing a few of these lapped patches to layout the C4 front end.


Here's the two together:

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

That looks pretty cool, but I do have a question. Do you plan on cutting away the original unibody structure on the front end? From my experience, the original body structure will not support the upper control arms at that length and width. The unibody upper control arm relief is not wide enough to accept any standard width arm through the opening.

I had to engineer some custom length arms, that would fit outside the unibody frame rails, in order to prevent the cutting away. This also added more engine bay room over the OEM, because the typical upper control arm intrusion was gone.

[daemon2]

Yea, I've pretty much moved away from any existing limitations of the original. Preserving the original unibody frame or internal body work wasn't a priority for me.
It's custom all the way now.

[daemon2]

This may help explain why:


When I opened up the frame rails all I found was rust, the construction makes them prone to collecting water and causes them to flake apart from the inside out.

I will end up with a custom frame under this car, so far I am about 150lbs lighter with the new frame and floor than what I cut out. Also a big advantage for where I am headed.

I should also note that this car, although appearing in great condition when I started, was nowhere near original.

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

Ah, I got it.. LOL I totally understand, and was really just curious how much of the original unibody front rails and body structure you were keeping.. From the looks of the unit, it didnt appear you were keeping much.. ha ha

[daemon2]

The rendering arrived, thanks to Shawn@Mascoll Designs!
I have taken some cues from the 2009 Voxx rendering, its a shame no one has built that car.

I wanted more width and I think it came together very well.

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

I am building that car (Project Changling)... LOL I have done about everything, and am hitting about 90 percent of the Vox Rendition. My glass company has started on the full glass treatment, including the full greenhouse roof/back glass and quarter glasses, and that should put the rendtions reality over the top..

Your rendition is very very cool, and you definitely got the correct stance. But you are going to find the front end is off a bit.. I ran into alot of issue with the front nose of this car, and the Vox Rendition.. There are so many compound curves that have to be dealt with, and in the drawing it is much easier than in reality, because the compound curves are not easy to translate in the drawing..

One question, do you plan on buiding up the trunk to surface? In the rendition, it is more squared off, and doest match up with the actual compound curve of the factory body. It looks as though you built up the trunk panel, to take away from the height of the fins?

[daemon2]

definately a lot of compound curves on this car, you're right. The deck lid may come up, I will see how things look back there after I fit the wheels in.
Thanks for the comments.

[daemon2]

One of my most frustrating weekends with the car since I got the thing. Finished some work on the rear crossmember but found more rust inside the rear rocker that I have to deal with now.
I suppose the good news is it will all be solid after I replace everything....

[daemon2]

I was letting the rust get to me then I found this:



It looks like this one failed in the same places that I am fixing rust issues now on mine.

This weekend I hope to finish the front clip and possibly gets the front brakes and suspension put on before fitting it to the car.

I will have to re-enforce my sills and have a few ideas on how to approach this, more pics to come in a few days hopefully.

This is a P1800e, looks kinda cool: