Major GTX1 Surgery...
- Thread starter Kip Ewing
- Start date
Kirby Vieira
GT Owner/B.o.D
Wow. That is absolutely incredible. The top actually improves the look of the GTX1 which was already a masterpiece. It captures and accentuates the most powerful design lines of the X1. Unbelievable. Congratulations, Kip. :cheers
STORMCAT
GT
You're a brave Man !! :biggrin I hope you can come up with a good solution for the GTX guys ,,:thumbsup
shelbyelite
PERMANENTLY BANNED
- May 10, 2007
- 1
my help
My main guy is just brilliant. An excellent pattern maker and really great at the carbon. I joke that when I die, I am going to leave an endowment to exhibit his patterns and mold at the Detroit Institute of Art.
My other employee is a fine artist we have trained. He really is doing great work. I have had really good luck recruiting people with art and design backgrounds. This stuff is learn-able when you start with someone that understands "craft".
Feel free to fly over.
We'll find something for you to do!
Always happy to train people.
Actually, I've got two employees.
My main guy is just brilliant. An excellent pattern maker and really great at the carbon. I joke that when I die, I am going to leave an endowment to exhibit his patterns and mold at the Detroit Institute of Art.
My other employee is a fine artist we have trained. He really is doing great work. I have had really good luck recruiting people with art and design backgrounds. This stuff is learn-able when you start with someone that understands "craft".
Feel free to fly over.
We'll find something for you to do!
Always happy to train people.
Luggage
Greetings Stevo
Good to hear from you again!
Yes, we are tooling up new seals as part of this project.
We are close to having the luggage complete.
Most of the tooling is finished, and we have a number of sets in progress.
Photos soon!
Greetings Stevo
Good to hear from you again!
Yes, we are tooling up new seals as part of this project.
We are close to having the luggage complete.
Most of the tooling is finished, and we have a number of sets in progress.
Photos soon!
Shelby#18
GTX1 Owner/Moderator
Kip,
Would you please post the photo's after the interior is back in. Steve does not have access to the forum.
On another note, I really like the new design changes in the top.:thumbsup
Piana
GT Owner
Kip,
I've missed your updates. How are things progressing? Has the changes been fabricated for us who have already had a soft top installed? Anxious to hear from you.
Tom
I've missed your updates. How are things progressing? Has the changes been fabricated for us who have already had a soft top installed? Anxious to hear from you.
Tom
Kirby Vieira
GT Owner/B.o.D
2112
Blue/white 06'
Heck, I'm on Fox Island, only 15 miles away. I would sure like to see this car too! :thumbsup
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THamonGT
GT
I,m with Chip you guys are so talented and creative as I can't even write my name where people can read it. Keep up the great posts , work and upgrades. I just hope I can afford them on my fixed income. Tomy
Door seal planes modeled
OK, this weekend I modeled seal mounting planes for the door glass.
We are using the door seals off the current model Mustang.
Again, there is no point in inventing a solution to a problem someone has solved with more resources. The Mustang has frameless door glass, and the seals work really well. Problem solved. We just need to adapt them to our purpose.
We start with a section of Mustang door glass seal to see how it needs to be oriented to the door glass.
When I worked at ASC, I got a good piece of advice about designing sealing systems, "You can do two things: seal water, and manage water." In other words, you can seal water, but you also will have some leaks and have to manage how it drains out. You can see from this picture of the Mustang seal that there is a bulb that seals against the top of the glass and then there is a lip that forms a drain trough below the primary seal. The glass only compresses the seal a few millimeters, so you have to be pretty accurate in how it is positioned.
To figure this positioning out, I make these little "saddles" that we'll use to position a section of seal against the glass.
Now we can position our section of seal against these "saddles" and verify that we can correctly position the seal against the door glass.
Once we have the correct geometry on the "saddles" we can make a few of these and hang them across the door glass. The door glass surface is a compound curve, so these "saddles" take a different orientation across the plane of the glass.
From this photo, you can see that with the door closed, the "saddles" indicate the surface that the seal has to mount to relative the to roof. pattern.
We now position a section of hardboard against the "saddles" and bond the hardboard to the roof pattern.
With the door now open, you can see how the seal mounting plane has been transfered from these "saddles" to an actual surface on the roof pattern.
We then mounted a full section of Mustang door seal on our new seal mounting plane to check for fit.
It fit perfectly. (whew!)
OK, this weekend I modeled seal mounting planes for the door glass.
We are using the door seals off the current model Mustang.
Again, there is no point in inventing a solution to a problem someone has solved with more resources. The Mustang has frameless door glass, and the seals work really well. Problem solved. We just need to adapt them to our purpose.
We start with a section of Mustang door glass seal to see how it needs to be oriented to the door glass.
When I worked at ASC, I got a good piece of advice about designing sealing systems, "You can do two things: seal water, and manage water." In other words, you can seal water, but you also will have some leaks and have to manage how it drains out. You can see from this picture of the Mustang seal that there is a bulb that seals against the top of the glass and then there is a lip that forms a drain trough below the primary seal. The glass only compresses the seal a few millimeters, so you have to be pretty accurate in how it is positioned.
To figure this positioning out, I make these little "saddles" that we'll use to position a section of seal against the glass.
Now we can position our section of seal against these "saddles" and verify that we can correctly position the seal against the door glass.
Once we have the correct geometry on the "saddles" we can make a few of these and hang them across the door glass. The door glass surface is a compound curve, so these "saddles" take a different orientation across the plane of the glass.
From this photo, you can see that with the door closed, the "saddles" indicate the surface that the seal has to mount to relative the to roof. pattern.
We now position a section of hardboard against the "saddles" and bond the hardboard to the roof pattern.
With the door now open, you can see how the seal mounting plane has been transfered from these "saddles" to an actual surface on the roof pattern.
We then mounted a full section of Mustang door seal on our new seal mounting plane to check for fit.
It fit perfectly. (whew!)
Roof
There is only one other guy I'd trust to install this, Shadowman....
We'd have to work out the details, but I'd trust him.
All the GTX1s are a little different, so it's not a direct snap-on like a Miata or such. The door caps need a bit of fitment and centering the rear window module takes a bit of care.
Price depends on if it is painted or if we do clear carbon, custom headliner etc. Please ring me to discuss.
There is only one other guy I'd trust to install this, Shadowman....
We'd have to work out the details, but I'd trust him.
All the GTX1s are a little different, so it's not a direct snap-on like a Miata or such. The door caps need a bit of fitment and centering the rear window module takes a bit of care.