75 Bricklin Restomod

[JoeC]

Check out this vid

on Prius electric power steering swap.
Fred

Thanks! After I posted here yesterday, I was randomly surfing YouTube and this very video showed up as first....coincidence or really creepy algorithm?

Another one, after I shook hands to buy the Bricklin, when I looked at my phone it had an ad for polished Aluminum 351 valve covers

 

[EBEAR]

Thanks! After I posted here yesterday, I was randomly surfing YouTube and this very video showed up as first....coincidence or really creepy algorithm?

Another one, after I shook hands to buy the Bricklin, when I looked at my phone it had an ad for polished Aluminum 351 valve covers

 

[Sassy]

They're listening all right!
Randonly talk to someone, about for instance new bedding around your "smart ph, tv etc but don't search it on the internet and somehow,,,, you will get advertising for those products. Im sure most of you have experienced it!
Fred
Edit, I'll probably be able to post a screen shot of a bedding sale tomorrow,,,,

 

[JoeC]

Life vs Hot Rod

Well, here is a setback. I can't afford to retire ever, and I just left my old job for a new one (hopefully better <maybe frying pan into fire?>)

Sadly I gave up after hours use of 3 forklifts, 100 HP of air compressors, a sandblast booth and table shot blaster, TIG, MIG and stick welders, 3 mechanics, and on and on and on

The car is now home in pieces, it barely fits in my one car garage, and I had to set up a car shelter for the loose parts; much to the horror of my wife and neighbors (on the hottest weekend of all time)

Worse yet, the new job will consume all my time for at least a year....

It seems I work on everything but the car, now I have to add heat, upgraded power, air compressor, beer fridge, killer old school hi fi system, welder to my garage....

At least the big parts are sandblasted and in primer, ready for rust repair...

Does life get in the way of hot rods for anyone else?

 

[Sassy]

YOU CAN COUNT ON LIFE GETTING IN THE WAY OF BUILDING A HOT ROD--- Murphy's Law.
Thats a big part of the reason there are so many "projects" for sale.
You have now been given challenge we will be following along watching how you step up.
If it was easy everybody would be doing it.
Fred
Ps -nice place, thanks for the pics.

 

[shaune]

Yup it does but you need to keep at it. There will be weeks, months, where it will sit when other priorities need attention. The car will still be there, make time. Let the fire die down but not out.

 

[Bash and scratch]

Absolutely does. Like Shaune says it will be there when things calm down, and they don't eat anything (till you get back to building, then it's time and$) but not when they are sitting.

 

[JohnnyBgood]

Life gets in the way of all of the things that I’ve wanted to do…not just the car….you have to MAKE time for the car…carve out a few hours one or two days a week to work on it. Schedule time to do it like you do for work..or grocery shopping…you get the picture. I know I shouldn’t be giving advice because it took me 20 years from the time I dragged my car home until it got on the road…first 15 not so much work done on car…last 5 I made 4 hours on Sunday after visiting my mom to work on the car…that was my car time unless the world was coming to a end..only way it was going to get done…life is too short for…life to get in the way…don’t know if makes any sense to anyone else..it’s just the way I had to do things…..

 

[JoeC]

Life gets in the way of all of the things that I’ve wanted to do…not just the car….you have to MAKE time for the car…carve out a few hours one or two days a week to work on it. Schedule time to do it like you do for work..or grocery shopping…you get the picture. I know I shouldn’t be giving advice because it took me 20 years from the time I dragged my car home until it got on the road…first 15 not so much work done on car…last 5 I made 4 hours on Sunday after visiting my mom to work on the car…that was my car time unless the world was coming to a end..only way it was going to get done…life is too short for…life to get in the way…don’t know if makes any sense to anyone else..it’s just the way I had to do things…..

That is some great advice, I will take it and book out some car time each week, even an hour adds up over time

Things are coming together, settling into the new job, car and parts are safe and secure, and have a good line on a old air compressor (another project)

I have moved everything in the garage at least a dozen times and it looks like I will have enough room to work around it, many have done way more with way less!

Well, have to say I was pleasantly surprised at the U-Haul trailer, aside from one sketchy wheel bearing it was really well built and towed nice

 

[Sassy]

Life gets in the way of all of the things that I’ve wanted to do…not just the car….you have to MAKE time for the car…carve out a few hours one or two days a week to work on it. Schedule time to do it like you do for work..or grocery shopping…you get the picture. I know I shouldn’t be giving advice because it took me 20 years from the time I dragged my car home until it got on the road…first 15 not so much work done on car…last 5 I made 4 hours on Sunday after visiting my mom to work on the car…that was my car time unless the world was coming to a end..only way it was going to get done…life is too short for…life to get in the way…don’t know if makes any sense to anyone else..it’s just the way I had to do things…..

Exactly how I built my late model stockcar back in thd 80s!
It was my church time, 6am till noon sundays.
As well as any other time I could sneak in.
Ive noticed lately I spend too much time on a my tablet though!
Fred

 

[K13]

Missed this built. Looks super interesting and has been mentioned projects take time and lots of things in life take that time away.

Just a quick suggestion on your body work. You had mentioned that the body panels spider crack and there isn't a good way to keep them from coming back. I work for Evercoat and we have a primer that is designed to help stop these types of issues called Fiber Fill. It is basically a reinforced polyester primer (it ha fiberglass strands in it like a reinforced filler) and it was designed to basically tie down the spider cracks so they don't pass up through to the finished paint. I know you are a ways from that stage but when you get closer let me know and I can check on compatibility to what ever bonding primer is required to stick to the acrylic.

 

[JoeC]

Hey K13 - thanks for the info, I had been watching Evercoat videos for some good advice on using filler and will search out the stranded filler

Thanks JohnnyBGood and Sassy, I took your advice and spent a big chunk of Saturday on the project, mostly moving things to get organized, but I will call it progress

So here is where I am at with the body. Bricklin's idea was to use Acrylic bonded to fiberglass so scratches could easily be buffed out. This actually works well on a good panel, same steps as working clear coat

Sadly the state of the art was not there in the 70s. There was no UV stabilizer in the Acrylic so it faded badly

Also some basic material science was not considered, the two materials have different coefficients of expansion, so the top layer of Acrylic cracked and crazed. The collector cure is to keep them covered and garaged. Green in particular fades really badly

My car is an extreme worst case of both issues

Not my car, just showing the part I am working on, roof T top panel between the gull wing doors

This is mine, the orange is the original factory Acrylic color where it was protected by glass moldings

Faded to nasty pink from years in the sun

The entire body is like this, the deep cracks go right through the acrylic, everywhere else is hairline crazed

There is nothing to lose on this panel, so I decided to experiment

Acrylic is very hard (Plexiglas), so some owners have sandblasted the panels and then sanded and buffed to restore, weeks of work

I was set up to do the frame so I decided to give it a try. Started out really slow and cautious. Found out Acrylic is like a rock, took hours....

 

[JoeC]

This is 80 grit glass shot, the Acrylic seems to be about 1/8 inch thick, it really doesn't want to clean up

No hope for the through cracks....they got worse

Here is almost 4 hours of blasting, one corner

Rather than sand/polish the Acrylic up from 80 grit we wondered if we just buried it deep in clear

This is a simulated clear coat with water, looks OK from across the street

I don't think I have the patience to do the entire body, so I may leave the patina as is and call it a rat rod....can you have a plastic rat rod?

Think I'm going to call it bRickey Rat

 

[PG409]

Have you talked to anyone in the marine industry who has experience on glass boats and deterioration.
seems there should be a coating you could apply.

 

[Bash and scratch]

I can see an issue if it is plastic, Anything that is not repaired will eventually ghost through what ever you bury it in unfortunately. If it is plastic then there are so many different types it makes it hard to determine the types used to make it and which to use to fix it. Has anyone ever tried welding it? Not sure as I have only done a wee bit of clear plexi and it did make it a bit brittle but did close up the crack. I know they make a plastic welding kit, I have one, not unlike an electric soldering iron with different types of plastic rods. These days they also make flexible fillers for bumper covers and such, that would possibly work for evening out any repair work?

 

[The Big M]

This is 80 grit glass shot, the Acrylic seems to be about 1/8 inch thick, it really doesn't want to clean up

No hope for the through cracks....they got worse

Here is almost 4 hours of blasting, one corner

Rather than sand/polish the Acrylic up from 80 grit we wondered if we just buried it deep in clear

This is a simulated clear coat with water, looks OK from across the street

I don't think I have the patience to do the entire body, so I may leave the patina as is and call it a rat rod....can you have a plastic rat rod?

Think I'm going to call it bRickey Rat

Hear me out…

I’m very intrigued by the lines of the rolling shell with no body panels. Could you build a bed for it and run it as an open RPU, make a fake info board and put it in a car show, then stand just within earshot of anyone who passes by to take a look at it? The entertainment value alone makes this a winning proposition.

Seriously though, on the topic of progress (or lack thereof), I’m a firm believer in breaking large tasks into small subtasks so that any progress can be easily tracked, no matter how small the subtask is. I have the same issue where I have stuff stored in and around my truck, so I made a project board that has “tool organization” broken up into 12 subtasks, and “part organization” broken up into 5. So I would definitely count getting organized as making progress, as nothing kills productivity quite like disorganization.

 

[JoeC]

. Could you build a bed for it and run it as an open RPU, make a fake info board and put it in a car show, then stand just within earshot of anyone who pass

Had to look up RPU, I like it and agree the "bones" alone look pretty cool, kind of Mad Max

I will likely be testing it and scaring the neighbors without body skins when it gets to that point, have a cop at the end of the block, but he is more likely to want a drive than to hand out a ticket...

I hope to make it like a stock car so the body pulls off fast to allow access for future projects, we will see what happens

 

[JoeC]

Thanks for the ideas.

Yes, I have been looking at boat builders, there was a bit of activity in early 90s with acrylic for power boats but it seems to have died out as far as I can tell

Now it seems kayak makers have it going on, good UV resistance is claimed

There is an active group of Bricklin owners, and the consensus is there is no permanent fix once you have acrylic cracks, fix one and another opens up elsewhere

If I was so lucky to have an OEM acrylic body without cracks, it would polish out to jewel luster as Malcolm Bricklin claimed, google around to see the finish on a perfect example, it is awesome

But there aren’t any of those left (well maybe a few)

One person who did polish a good body said it took months after the day job, sand from 80 to 3000 in a dozen steps, then many stages of buffing…

There are 3 to4 suppliers of reproduction gel coat panels, going for about $US 5,000, then body and paint work becomes like a vette, well understood

For all the work to make these reproductions, that seems low to me…..labor of love, they are not getting rich

My current plan is to put it back together as is so she can run again, maybe later I will consider a rebody if money and time/health allows

 

[shaune]

I was at a car show this weekend and had a close look at a 63 Vette, survivor car. Not sure if your situation is the same but the cracking or crazing on that Vette looked interesting. The car was black and the swirls and lines were all over the body but from a several feet back it was not noticeable. Maybe you can live with the “damage” or adapt it into the paint, try for a survivor look.

 

[JoeC]

I have been informed by wife that I can't leave it pink, so I will have to paint it

The cracks will eventually telegraph through, but I will call them beauty lines I guess