Thread: Stirlsilver's Disco Ute Project

Originally Posted by Casper

Definitely glass it all and at least to about 6" or more over the roof line.

Really? 6 inches of fibreglass might a little heavy don't you think?

Or did you mean 6oz?

Originally Posted by disco2hse

Really? 6 inches of fibreglass might a little heavy don't you think?

Or did you mean 6oz?

I think he ment overlap onto original roof by 6" not 6" thick.

Now that you mention it, probably.

Epoxy is difficult stuff to work with in a high stress area like that. Cracking is a potential risk in any event, I think.

Originally Posted by disco2hse

Really? 6 inches of fibreglass might a little heavy don't you think?

Or did you mean 6oz?

Really?

Yes I meant OVERLAP the joint by atleast 6"s or it will crack at the joint for sure.

Cheers Casper

Thanks for all of the advice guys, i'm taking it all onboard. From what I have been able to read, it seems like Epoxy is the best resin to use for this application. So I am thinking along the lines of sanding the metallic surface of the roof with a very coarse sand paper to give the resin something to key strongly onto. At this stage i'm thinking of perhaps using 2 or 3 layers of chopstrand matt with each layer being staggered. It will be fun blending it into the existing roof!

Originally Posted by Casper

You have me contemplating doing a similar job, any idea about engineering implications of doing a 10 to 20" chassis stretch along with the cut down?

Based on my talks with the engineers so far on this project, they had no concerns on my chassis cut down, mainly because what I put in is huge compared to the original structure.

As for the chassis stretch, that would be a completely new scenario, off the top of my head there would be two things that would concern the engineers, the first being the structural integrity of the extension. If you can prove that what you have done for the extension is equal or stronger than the original structure you should be fine. The second would be the effect of the dynamics of the vehicle which would be harder to determine, then again I seem to remember someone else has already done an chassis extension here and had it engineered? That could be used as a reference case.

Back on the project, I was in the workshop again today. Since I haven't organised any of the fibreglass materials yet, there wasn't any progress on the roof. So I worked on the rear wall.

I finished trimming off the majority of un-necessary steel from the donor wall:



I then split the wall as I need the overall assembly to be higher so I plan to add a sheet of steel in between the top half and the bottom half to get the required height.

I sat the rear window frame up against the back of the car, and then I realised how much of a curve to top of the glass actually has. I had realised that the top was curved but I had figured I could get away with it since the roof of the disco is curved. But since I have the horizontal gutter it does look a little unusual...



It's strange how these sorts of things don't become apparent until you bring them together... I could go about modifying it so the top is flat, but then I will end up with a non standard rear window and a hell of a lot more sheet metal work. I'm going to have to think on this...

Here is the lower part of the wall:

A few sheet metal bits to fill in the difference.


Still looks a bit odd.

Originally Posted by slug_burner

A few sheet metal bits to fill in the difference.

Still looks a bit odd.

It almost needs a rectangular window doesn't it. Thing is I don't think I have seen a rear wall with a rectangular window large enough. The only thing I can think of is the rear wall of a truck, but they are rare at wreckers.

What about the rear door of a disco? Someone else used some mazda van, I'll see if I can find the thread and post a link to it.

Ok found it. here is a pic


it is roversmith's conversion, this is his thread Discovery 2a ute

And here is the statement about the rear panel which I think he selected for the close match to the side panel behind the door, the profile is very similar.

the panels that I used,they were off about mid 80s Mazda B1800's.

He had to use two rear panels to stretch across the back of the disco.

Somehow I suspect that you will have known about this thread as it is one of the first well done conversions I remember seeing on this site.