Thread: Stirlsilver's Disco Ute Project

Well, see, now it looks like you're building a wing. I'm looking forward to how the bonnet turns out - it's a very interesting approach.

Originally Posted by Davo

Well, see, now it looks like you're building a wing. I'm looking forward to how the bonnet turns out - it's a very interesting approach.

Yes, I suppose it is similar to a wing's construction. But I think it is also a similar approach to the way Boats are built as well! Yes, the approach is a bit of a gamble, but it should work. I hope!

There were some more hours spent in the workshop today, though looking back, it doesn't look like much in terms of what is shown in the photos.

I had to cut out another rib to cover the very leading edge of the scoop. I thought I would be tricky and simply duplicate the 8th rib and attach it with a bend that causes the rib to bend out in the middle (towards the front of the car). Below are all the ribs screwed down onto the bonnet.


However, there was a suff up when I realised that using that approach the front rib doesn't follow the same profile of the rest of the scoop, I had designed the scoop to gradually slope down the further forward it went. So when I put a ruler over the top, you can see that there is a gap with the 8th rib.


So after cutting down the front rib, and re-drilling and thinning it down, I ended up with a shape I was happy with.






Next weekend I'll pull the ribs off again, bolt them back onto the bonnet using some wax paper, and get started with the 2 part foam.

Or a boat. I could see you building a boat.

Again, nice work there. Unless a metal-forming expert used something like an English wheel, or you made the scoop in fibreglass, the only other way I could see is what you're doing. Do you think it might increase the engine bay pressure too much? Or just blast out all that hot air?

I just thought you might like to know that I took off the viscous fan on my V8 Range Rover and put the EL Falcon thermos back on, (my third try, by the way!). Fancy high-tech incense smoke testing showed that during idle, hot air was being pushed out from under the front of the bonnet and sucked back into the front of the radiator. This was surprising. A length of left-over door seal fits over the edge of the bonnet and should help - your Disco bonnet might be similar but it should be worth looking at anyway.

Originally Posted by Davo

I just thought you might like to know that I took off the viscous fan on my V8 Range Rover and put the EL Falcon thermos back on, (my third try, by the way!). Fancy high-tech incense smoke testing showed that during idle, hot air was being pushed out from under the front of the bonnet and sucked back into the front of the radiator. This was surprising. A length of left-over door seal fits over the edge of the bonnet and should help - your Disco bonnet might be similar but it should be worth looking at anyway.

Thanks for that info Davo! It is definitely useful information. I'll do a similar test as well to make sure there is no flow recirculation like what you found. There is a lot of hot air being pushed around in the engine bay, especially with 4 thermo fans pushing air into it (2 on the radiator and 2 on the intercoolers), you can actually feel a lot of hot air rise out of the front wheel arches. More testing to be done!!

Ok, so I want to share some progress from the last couple of weekends of work. my lovely assistant Ana was there to help me out.

We laid down some wax paper, screwed down the ribs onto the bonnet and put a large garbage bag under the ribs which was had the open end of the bag sealed up after putting a small amount of air into it. This is so that it would help maintain a bit of a cavity underneath so we went through a little less foam. After that, some heavy duty cling film was run over the top of the ribs to seal across the top.





It took us two attemps to finish injecting the foam. Last weekend, we got about a third of the way before realising we didn't have enough chemicals to finsh the whole job!! So after putting in another order for 2 part foam, we were able to finish the job. The photo below is after we had removed the cling film over the top and we were just doing some localised patches which needed more foam.


Below is the finished result after removing the wax paper and garbage bag from underneath.






Then after a lot of carving, we managed to get the underside down to the ribs. Pretty happy with the result actually and it is a very solid assembly! I was worried that all the rough handling while we were sawing out the foam would cause a crack, but it held up!




After all the carving was finished, it was time for a quick trial back on the bonnet, it gives you an idea of how slender the opening will be above the bonnet which is what I wanted.




Next time will be sanding & fibreglassing the underside of the scoop and then after it cures move onto carving the top surface.

Till next time!

P.S. Does anyone else find the new limit of 10 photos per post a pain?!?

First saw it and thought liposuction a'la Fight Club.
Nice work.

Yes 10 pics is a pain... especially when its agnostic to where the image is hosted.

Will you be coating the foam with anything prior to laying the fibreglass? I am a bit worried about the resin eating / dissolving the foam.

I'm a bit worried about him finishing this project and having no more updates. 😀😀😀