not bad - I'm thinking on similar lines -
Before -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rhole0019b.jpg
after -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rhole0019f.jpg
Printable View
not bad - I'm thinking on similar lines -
Before -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rhole0019b.jpg
after -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rhole0019f.jpg
liking that ade. i like the way the spot lights match the projector bit of the headight
i think the fogs need to be out abit more they look to close together imo
yeah - agree - perhaps If they were centred in the fog surround - I'd probably recess them too...I actually have a spare set of the chrome light housings from a spare set of punto lights I could use! the above fog light pics are also to scale - my fogs are 6.5cm in diameter...
I may also take a small line from the top of the lower vent (bottom of the numper plate) and run it right round both sides. Also the sides need to tow in a bit...
think centred in the fog light surround/housing would get my vote..
looks good and im sure whatever you do will look ace along with the rest of the car.. it really is looking good.. give yourself a pat on the back :thumb:
my 50p's worth.........
in this photo where you've added the extra foam to bring out the bumper ----->
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...erhole0002.jpg
i don't think its enough. maybe another layer on top (10mm or so) and it would really define the bumper side sections. once that is done you wouldn't have to add any fancy fog light covers, it would look cool just nice and plain :thumb:
Looks awsome Ade, keep up the class work :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Razorjack
i think that looks pretty decent there imo
:thumb:
Maybe add another 5/10mm thickness above the line and a bit of heavy shaving underneath it to put shape into the bottom half?Quote:
Originally Posted by ade
Thanks for the ideas guys. I've gone with a combination of mine and Jacks taking on board your points. See below the what I did!
Friday 22/02/2008
Took the day off work so I could crack on with my bumper. before I started I decided to order the OPC honeycombed panel that slots into the big mouth section of the Astra H's bumper. Will mod to fit mine so will be uniform from Grill to Bumper.
I started by thinking about the above changes to the fog light sections and came up with a design that's a combination of mine and Jacks idea - uses my height but with the wrap around raised section brings the entire area to the same height as Jacks idea. This reflects the Astra H's raised bit above it's fog lamps and will flow back into the bumper.
I started by drawing a template -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...erfogs0005.jpg
One of the existing Punto headlight surrounds will sit in the middle (this is taken from my rear lights build) -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...erfogs0007.jpg
I then transferred this to the bumper -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...erfogs0002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...erfogs0003.jpg
I then did some chopping, cutting and sanding and it came out like this -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...erfogs0011.jpg
A bit more sanding and shaping as well as some sanding and shaping to add a curve to the lower section of the sides flowing to the front refined it further -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00017.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00016.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00015.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00021.jpg
I'll take the honeycombe design from these panels into the backing that will sit behind the fog lights. The Punto light will fit into the middle of the centre bar and be angled to reflect the lights.
I also trimmed a small bit off the bottom section in the middle so the sides stand out more.
Saturday 22/02/2008
Was at a dinner dance last night with friends - all done up in my kilt and the wife had on a posh frock. Didnt get in till 3am and after eating what at the time was a lush chicken and mushroom pizza on the way home my ar$e feels like something climbed up it in the wee hours and died! God I feel like sh1te!
So today was a little slow...didnt get up till 12pm!
I decided to have a crack at the sections either side of the grill. Whatever I did would be temporary because I need to wait until my new OPC grill arrived. however I wanted to see what the bumper would look like with them in place...these are a wip...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00022.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00020.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00023.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00024.jpg
They dont look too bad but I think theyre a little fat/wide. The good news is the new grill has a frame around it (which I need to fettle to fit slightly!) so all I have to do is add a simple line between the bumper and bonnet which I'm hoping will be straiht forward.
My head started to calm down a bit by mid afternoon (amazing what fresh coffee can do for the soul!) so as I'd taken my bumper as far as I could until the new grill arrived I had a garage clean up. Moved most of the left side of the garage into my neighbours for storage (theyre away until June!) because I wanted to start on the next section of my build...
My side skirts!
Saturday 22/02/2008 continued...
My side skirts are based on the Monaro's side skirts and are fairly straight forward. The hardest part was getting the profile right and ensuring the depth of the skirt was level with the bumper. The bottom of the skirt will be flush with the lip on the bottom of the arch which makes the skirts 10cm deep.
I started by making a profile template to reflect the undeside of the sills in card. Although these bits won't end up on the finished item I wanted to ensure I could offer up the foam parts to the sills without any problems and they would sit flat on underside of the sills.
the skirts themselves are 166cm long. Once the template was correct I cut the foam I needed and removed the excess using my bandsaw. The assembled bases were offered up to the car to ensure they fitted -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00026.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00028.jpg
I need to add a little more foam to the back so they sit against the sill lip correctly but they fit very well.
I then drew the design onto the face of the skirt (this is very rough and a bit small )-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00030.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rfogs00029.jpg
The design will be cut from foam and bonded to the front. The main lower section is curved and sticks out slightly towards the back. this will be carved into the face and additional foam added.
Here's a few ref pics -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/mon4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/mon2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/mon5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/mon1.jpg
and if ever I get arrested in Oz I wouldnt mind sitting in the back of this one -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/mon3.jpg
looking good mate. loving the front bumper btw
Excellent work Ade.... as always.
This surely must be worthy of a TV feature.
That Monaro GTS gave me a thought... how about painting the front bumper like this?
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2.../Cars/ade2.jpg
Quote:
Originally Posted by Razorjack
i like that think it looks really smart
yeah - thats the plan - the fog light bars will also be anthracite.
mate you are a very talented fella ...
the work involved really is very impressive ...well done :)
Wow, been read whole thread and it took me about 4-5 hours!, Keep it up :)
this is looking awsome mate cant wait to see it done
Looking brilliant mate, been away for a couple of weeks and the progress is brilliant! everything is so different from the norm. one thing that dose suprise me however is the fact that loads of people arn't moaning about this project cause it's not got a GSI front bumper or cav slab wheels etc etc.. love the project myself though.
Have to admit youre right there! Everyone is v supportive and the project itself is sort of a collaboration of everyones ideas (eg the fogs in the bumper!)Quote:
Originally Posted by DW-Nova
One thing though - I'm sticking cav slabs on it! lol Will be anthracite...
^ go for some VXR rims :D proper hardcore :thumb:
Sunday 24/02/2008.
Busy day today although I didnt actually do anything till about 11am apart from drink cups of Tea! I won a set of Punto fromt lights on ebay the other day for ?60 so I arranged to pick them up from the seller - he only lives about 40 mins away from me on the other side of Stirling so was a nice drive. Came of a Y plate but theyre minted and complete! He also had 3 SPL subs in enclosures (one with a curved perspex front with a built in 400w amp). One of the subs is duff but the other 2 were fine. Only wants ?30 for the lot! I didnt have the cash on me to buy them (also not what I'm after) so if anyone wants them let me know...
I decided to carry on with my side skirts in the afternoon. I'd taken some measurements and made the backs on Saturday but I hadnt actually seen them up against the car to check theyre the same depth as the front bumper. However pleased to say theyre okay. As you can see from the pics below the fronts are a little shy so I add 2cm at the front under where the vents are to go which also helps with the design - which I modified and stretched to go beyond the door edge (not shown below) -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/skirt6.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/skirt5.jpg
Once I'd ensured the depth was okay I started to make the faces. These were cut from 15mm foam and then glued in place. I started by working out what foam I needed and laid it up to ensure it covered all points. No point cutting more than I needed -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/skirt4.jpg
After I ensured the skirts were facing the right way (last thing I needed was 2 left or right handed ones!) I then drew on the new design and cut it from the face. The strips were then glued in place -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/skirt3.jpg
This shot shows the extra 2cm I added to the front which really helps with the design -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/skirt2.jpg
The next step was to start shaping them. Along the top edge theres a 2cm angle and the bottom of the front section where the vents are is also curved -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/skirt1.jpg
That's all I managed to get done before the wife called me in for me tea.
Next job is to make the main bottom section. This is basically a traingular strip of foam (using the section I cut out from the face) but sanded to create the angle...
However this week I'm working lates so I probably wont get anything done now till next weekend.
:mad:
Mike you got any pics of the VXR rims? Also will they be the right offset? (hasnt this changed?).
unbelievable amout of work has gone in to this car hats off to you mate
18's in a 5 x 110 @ ET37Quote:
Originally Posted by ade
http://www.pistonheads.com/pics/news...stra_VXR-L.jpg
stunning work as normal ade!
Did I hear you were doing a 5 stud conversion?? lol
lol - nah - cant be ar$ed! Sticking to my "sensible" 15" cavvy slabs...
Seeing as you've put in a tremendous amount of effort ade, and that we can all see how good it is starting to look, and that I don't think cav slabs would suit it one bit, I think it would be a shame for the final product to be wearing wheels that don't suit it.
If you don't want to go to the effort of a 5stud conversion, then what about some softstars?
Quality work Ade - Coming along nicely as well :)
Looking very good as usual. As regards to the wheel's it's obviously your descision but i think that the choice of cavalier wheels will not suit the car, the rest of it is obviously really radical and different and i think that personally i would choose something different, would probably go for something 17 or 18", something that has never ever been done on a nova, i think that renault 4 stud wheels are the same stud pattern, if so the new shape meganes have some really cool looking wheels on, i had one, it was a dynamique with 17" alloys on that were really nice.http://www.direct-vehicle-leasing.ne...e%20scenic.jpg
pitty about the rest of the car though hey!!
Blimey ade I must say what you've achieved so far is deeply impressive. To pitch in with your first go at welding and metal fabricating and produce the finish as good as you have managed is very creditable. I don't know what job you do but I have a feeling your talents are being wasted:D
I'm going to sound a right thicko but what do you do with the foam to produce the finished article - is it a former/mold to make something up out of glass fibre?
The reason I ask is cos I want to sort a rear spoiler to try out its possible effectiveness but I want something nice and light.
ade, im loving this project now.. i love the bumper and lights, looks alot better than nova items imo
im looking forward to the rear bumper and rear light progress, look like they could be tricky :thumb:
Wheels wise I have a set of cav slabs and will be sticking with these at the mo - budget wise the moneys tied up in other areas however soft stars or similar maybe purchased later on. I'm not wanting to go any bigger than 15's - 16's at a push simply because of the mods involved - dont want the hastle.
CP - as you said - the foam will be the former. the idea is to lay up a thin layer of glass fibre tissue and resin this over then skim with filler to get the desired look (the foam in slightly smaller to allow fot the thickness increases) - then the idea is to mirror glaze this and take a mold of fobreglass from it (gel coat, tissue and fibreglass) then mirror glaze the mold and make a cast (gle coat, tissue glass, fibreglass, woven roven, fibre glass and finally tissue glass.
However I'm worried about 2 things -
1. Potential undercuts - even if slightly shallow will make it impossible to release the cast from the mold.
2. Mirror glaze failure - had this happen to me before and the mold attached itself to the cast ruining all the hard work!
So I'm considering the following laying up the tissue and resin and skimming to get the right shape, then removing the foam and layering up the inside.
I'll need to wait and se how the final bumper looks once skimmed before I decide...
The rear bumper for your project though should be straight forward as there wont be that many undercuts.
Ade
cheers Dave!
agreed on the wheels, once its all finished it'll look pretty much like a new car. to put it on 1980's wheels will just be criminal :eek:
i'd even advise staying away from speedlines and softstars as that'll give the game away too easily to anyone who's thinking 'what the hell is that car?'!
stick with factory vauxhall rims for the subtle look, but go for newer versions, something off the astra or corsa maybe? 16in definately :thumb:
Id agree on thee wheels comments, and like the ideal of the meganne wheels,
cant belive you dont want the hassle of fitting 17s etc, but your making your own bumper etc? Is that not more hassle?